25(OH)D Test Result (!)

[Guest guest]

Hi folks:

Finally I have seen my 25(OH)D test result - from blood drawn 20th

February - so now we have data from one more mouse to add to those of

other mice reporting here.

I have been conscientiously supplementing 3500 IU of vitamin D3 daily

for many months. I probably get a few hundred IU from food sources, and

in the months leading up to the blood draw had, as near as makes no

difference, zero from sunlight. So my total daily 'intake', leading to

the 127 number, was about 4000 IU. In my case this has raised my serum

25(OH)D to 127 nmol/L (which is the same as 51 ng/ml). It had

previously been in the 90s nmol/L, both after my initial prescription of

vitamin D2 (50,000 IU per week for twelve weeks), and after a summer in

which I had gotten a fair amount of sun exposure while not taking

supplemental vitamin D (so sunlight only maintained my level in the 90s,

it did not raise it further).

I had wanted to see the test result for two reasons: first, to know if

I should be taking more to reach an 'optimal' level, and to be sure I

wasn't overdosing at 3500 IU daily. I had been keen to get my reading

up to 130 nmol/L if possible.

However, having spoken to someone who sounded intelligent at the lab

where the testing procedure was actually performed - at a local

university - I was told that this test method comes out with a somewhat

higher number than the current-benchmark 'DiaSorin' test procedure. I

do not know what the numerical difference is between the two tests, but

possibly this result might be equivalent to 115 to 120 by DiaSorin?

So my conclusion is that I am nowhere close to overdosing at 3500 IU of

D3 daily, and I would probably benefit from having a somewhat higher

blood level. As someone posted here recently, perhaps 5000 IU daily

might be considered an optimal intake. So maybe I will somewhat

increase the frequency of popping my 50,000 IU pills. If I took three

per month then that would raise my supplemental intake to 4920 daily.

FWIW. YMMV (I.E. it is very likely there are variations between

individuals in the effect a given intake of D3 will have on blood

levels.)

Rodney.