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Vit D - How much is too much? Where does all that extra (not absorbed) Vit D go?

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    Vit D - How much is too much? Where does all that extra (not absorbed) Vit D go?

    I will try to keep this simple (but given my usually odd thought process) that is a long shot. I have read many threads regarding Vit D and it amazes me what very large quanties some people take given the fact that Vit D is fat soluble. Where is all that extra (fat soluble) non-absorbed Vit D going? Say Joe is taking 2000 mg of D3 a day and has gotten his level up to 50 while for the same length of time Jack has been taking 5000mg a day and his level is only 40. Is all that extra Vit D floating around in Jack's system somewhere?

    I'm hoping someone out there has some ideas about this. Thx - M
    M.
    A question that sometimes drives me hazy: am I or are the others crazy?
    Albert Einstein

    #2
    First thing to know is that 50ng/mL is the low end of the 'safe scale'. I reached 50 this week after taking 5000iu's daily for 2 years. I started out at 29 and reached 49 after 1+ years of 5000 daily.
    Like everything in your body, all things 'fat' related turn to energy, you know, to keep the body functioning. Then there is the 'waste stream' to consider. Where does last night's dinner go?
    Second, not everyone's body absorbs nutrients all the same way, entirely. Some people have absorption trouble. That's the reason everyone should get their blood tested by a lab and keep track of this issue.
    I looked online for the symptoms of vitamin D overdose. It seems difficult to have that happen. An MD will inject 20,000 to 50,000 iu's a week if a patient presents with dangerously low levels. Does this help with your question?

    Comment


      #3
      Um, 50 isn't that low. I think that's pretty good.
      Teens and single digits is low.

      The 50,000 IU/week trial is just that, a trial. I did it for three months and didn't notice any changes. In digging around and asking my Doc, it sounds like the results aren't in yet. She's got me currently taking 2,000 IU per week which I'm supposed to "up" to 3,000 IU per week for Winter. BTW, my level at the last check-up was a 33 and everyone's happy.

      I think we need to be careful looking for causation with Vit D. Right now, it would be a mistake to say:

      -Low Vit D = more MS. The jury just isn't in yet.

      -High Vit D= less MS. There's no link I'm aware of between Vit D levels and MS progression.

      Comment


        #4
        Dang, almost forgot.
        There were no Vit D shots when I did the trial, just one (small) green 50,000 IU gel cap of Vit D each week.
        At that concentration, it could make me a little queazy but it would pass pretty quickly.

        Comment


          #5
          50 ng/mL is not low but my doctor feels I would be better served with numbers in the high 60's and I 'll find out when I get there. And there is no 1 to 1 correspondence e.g. low vitamin D numbers = more MS symptoms.
          I equate all of this vitamin and supplement stuff to straws on the camel's back. If I can take a little of the weight off with a little effort and little cost, and low risk of side effects or harm, what's wrong with that? I hope your numbers reach somewhere near 50 soon. Good luck

          Comment


            #6
            Originally posted by Bob698 View Post
            Teens and single digits is low.
            Not only low for MS, but low for the general population. The minimum level for general good health is now recognized to be 30 ng/ml. Below that is too low for the average person in the civilized world; above that, a doctor will be satisfied that the patient meets a recommendation.

            Originally posted by Bob698 View Post
            I think we need to be careful looking for causation with Vit D. Right now, it would be a mistake to say:
            -Low Vit D = more MS. The jury just isn't in yet.
            -High Vit D= less MS.
            Bob, you might think that, but the evidence doesn't support you. Check the prevalence maps/data. The epidemiology of MS has shown that MS is more prevalent in areas of lower sunshine exposure and less prevalent in areas of higher sunshine exposure. The human body makes vitamin D from sun exposure. The biological and epidemiological juries have come back on that. CTFBYP*

            Originally posted by Bob698 View Post
            There's no link I'm aware of between Vit D levels and MS progression.
            There are, though, at least a couple of small studies that link reduced relapse rate with higher vitamin D levels. One of those studies led to the recommended minimum level of 50 ng/ml for people with MS. Fewer relapses might not mean slower progression. But, really, whose life is better with more relapses?

            *Check the facts before you post.

            Comment


              #7
              Originally posted by Redwings View Post
              Bob, you might think that, but the evidence doesn't support you. Check the prevalence maps/data. The epidemiology of MS has shown that MS is more prevalent in areas of lower sunshine exposure and less prevalent in areas of higher sunshine exposure. The human body makes vitamin D from sun exposure. The biological and epidemiological juries have come back on that. CTFBYP*
              Therefore, we should all move to Venezuela?

              See what I mean about causation? There still isn't a link between MS and sunshine. What's been noticed is that people with MS tend to have lower Vit D levels, there isn't a bridge between MS and Vit D. That's like saying that miners would be more prone to developing MS than Park Rangers since they get less sun.

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by Redwings View Post
                Fewer relapses might not mean slower progression. But, really, whose life is better with more relapses?

                *Check the facts before you post.
                Slightly off-topic, that's my rationale for continuting to take Interferon - it may not make a difference in 20 years, but asside from being terrifying, an exacerbation might effect my ability to work, to walk and to be happy.

                ...and I take 10,000IU D3 per day and after 2 years, my level is stationary at 86. Here's the latest study show lower relapse rates wwith higher vitaminD. But I was always partial to hair color MS connection. Areas where people have lighter hair tend to have more MS

                http://www.overcomingmultiplescleros...+relapse+rate/

                Comment


                  #9
                  Isn't it that the important thing is where you grew up?

                  As in, how much sunshine you got as a child (up to age 15, I think) is correlated with MS risk?

                  Oh well, it didn't work for me. I am very fair, but grew up near the equator, outside all the time, and I still got MS. However, from the age of 20 until my 40s, I avoided the sun religiously (due to skin cancer risk and to make up for all the damage I'd suffered as a child). So maybe...

                  Comment


                    #10
                    Originally posted by Special Kay View Post
                    Isn't it that the important thing is where you grew up?

                    As in, how much sunshine you got as a child (up to age 15, I think) is correlated with MS risk?

                    Oh well, it didn't work for me. I am very fair, but grew up near the equator, outside all the time, and I still got MS. However, from the age of 20 until my 40s, I avoided the sun religiously (due to skin cancer risk and to make up for all the damage I'd suffered as a child). So maybe...

                    Same for me. I grew up fair in a hot climate and hid from the sun after age 20.

                    General statistics are useful for studies, but not individually. I'm a man and MS is very rare for me (lol). If I said that people are wealthier in your zip code, you don't suddenly become wealthier.

                    So there we are

                    Comment


                      #11
                      ?

                      Did anyone who replied actually read my question? I asked about the fact that Vit D is fat soluble and the absorbtion of it (which seems to differ greatly from person to person) and I want to know where that extra Vit D is being stored.

                      The question is about absorbtion (or malabsorbtion). I did not intend to restart for the 1000th time the age old debate about Vit D, it' s mythical properties and dosage.
                      M.
                      A question that sometimes drives me hazy: am I or are the others crazy?
                      Albert Einstein

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Originally posted by maitrimama View Post
                        I asked about the fact that Vit D is fat soluble and the absorbtion of it (which seems to differ greatly from person to person) and I want to know where that extra Vit D is being stored.
                        Like any chemical that's fat soluble, vitamin D can be stored in any fat or lipid tissue anywhere throughout the body. (The same is true for the other fat soluble vitamins, sex hormones, petrochemicals, etc.) It can also be transported by lipids in blood and lymph throughout the body.

                        In a way, the question isn't much different than, "Where is that extra pint of Ben & Jerry's being stored?" Some of it is hanging around internal organs, some is filling out the thighs, some is floating around in the blood, some is somewhere else.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Originally posted by Redwings View Post
                          In a way, the question isn't much different than, "Where is that extra pint of Ben & Jerry's being stored?"
                          There's actually extra Ben & Jerry's?

                          OK, so does our body store the extra Vit D in those places you mentioned for use or do we eliminate it if we take more than we need?
                          Jen
                          RRMS 2005, Copaxone since 2007
                          "I hope to be the person my dog thinks I am."

                          Comment


                            #14
                            right direction

                            Thanx Redwing & Cat Mom - that is the direction my mind is wandering. I know that your liver and kidneys (along with the large intestines) are part of the absorbtion process. I am wondering if extra Vit D being stored in fat is hanging out in the liver and/or kidneys waiting to be absorbed and potentially becoming toxic at the same time. Or if that extra (potentially toxic) Vit D is being escorted out of the body via other available waste avenues.

                            This may not even apply to me because I haven't been Dx (kind of hanging out in Limbo Land) and I am not searching for a Dx. I am trying to make some sense of the facts that I have. One such fact is that my it Vit D level is on thd low side (16) which down a couple of notches from what it was 9 months ago. I know it is an absorption issue which was first noted way back when I was 3 years old.

                            And to top it all off I keep getting stones (too large to pass) and the Urologist that the extra Vit D supplements are making my body hang on to too much calcium causing the kidney stones. I an't keeping going into ghe hospital to have these stupid stones blasted!

                            Hence my interest in the absorbtion and excretion of Vit D.
                            M.
                            A question that sometimes drives me hazy: am I or are the others crazy?
                            Albert Einstein

                            Comment


                              #15
                              As the question stands, I think I gave you a pretty concise answer the first time I replied. It is stored and absorbed by fat. And fat is used by the body to create energy. For routine energy burning tasks. And what you don't use eventually is turned to waste.
                              But since you are so adamant in knowing, what is your vitamin D level ? I posted about mine , it is 50ngt/mL, as of last weeks blood test . And the other way to look at your query is why do you want to know about extra vitamin D? Who do you know that has reached levels above 80ng/mL? And what are their toxic reactions? You are asking a question of levels that the majority of people will never approach ! Good luck

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