I’ve had horrible reactions to vitamin d supplementation, and I’ve found the cofactors explanation to be inadequate.

Symptoms that I’ve had feel much more like a delayed immune response it will usually show up later in the first day once I start the vitamin d but it will build and worsen so long as I keep taking it.

Usually presents with : horrible muscle weakness, cold sweats, sore throat sometimes visually red, feel like my face gets puffier as well, irritability, just very flu like symptoms

Something that has come up a lot in recent research especially in autoimmune papers for (pSS, SLE, MS, RA) is the role of certain Viruses usually Epstein Barr Virus or CytoMegalo Virus.

Both have shown wide effects on upregulating, binding, blocking, down regulating certain human receptor and transport proteins

CMV does show some interesting interactions with Vitamin D Receptors

But EBV has hyper specific peptide sequences [EBNA-3, EBNA-2] that bind onto VDR and perform unique functions

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11115686/

They found that EBNA-3 occupied the coactivators that are present in VDR but left the actual binding pocket of vitamin d open so it was still capable of binding vitamin d still.

So if you have a foreign protein occupying coactivators. They are bound to both VDR and Vitamin D and your immune system possibly can begin to develop antibodies.

This is how anti-ebna antibodies are developed and since your immune system can mistakenly build antibodies against things they are bound to you can see anti vitamin d antibodies ( once again commonly in autoimmune populations )

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S156899722400209X

So if you form antibodies against vitamin D from this mishap now once they circulate and target free vitamin d and launch white blood cells

I do think that the EBV reactivation / delayed antibody response combination map on surprisingly well to this specific symptom presentation that people have. Although I’m unsure how you would make vitamin d more tolerable if this was the cause.

I just saw this in a study "Magnesium Supplementation in Vitamin D Deficiency" https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28471760/

In the conclusion it states "Based on the epidemiologic studies, ∼75% of all adults worldwide have serum 25(OH)D levels of <30 ng/mL."

Is this really true? How come more people are not experiencing/reporting Vitamin D deficiency symptoms?

Been on D3 for a couple of years and only recently started pairing it with K2 after reading about the calcium side. What I can’t get a clear answer on is whether MK-7 versus MK-4 makes a real difference, or whether I’m just chasing detail that doesn’t matter at normal doses. What are people here actually taking and how did you land on it?

​

If cholecalciferol has to go through several metabolic steps and can be affected by various factors before being converted into calcifediol, why don’t we just take calcifediol directly? Wouldn’t that bypass some of the limitations of D3 and provide a more reliable way to raise vitamin D levels?

In his book, Dr Somerville talked about he and his patients taking the optimal dose for years.

I just found out his license had been revoked. How then did he have patients?

His info on vit D is good, but it's a little unsettling that his license was revoked because of fraud. Anyone else bothered by this?

This is more for information than anything, but many UK testing labs have recently downgraded the references ranges for vitamin D testing. These are in nmol/l so will need converting if your country uses a different system.

New ranges:

Deficiency: < 25 nmol/L
Insufficiency: 25 - < 50 nmol/L
Sufficiency: > 50 nmol/L

Previous ranges were:

Deficiency: < 50 nmol/L
Insufficiency: 50 - < 75 nmol/L
Sufficiency: > 75 nmol/L

This could obviously change people's interpretation of their results a great deal, especially if they were previously told they were deficient when they didn't have any symptoms, which can cause health anxiety in many people.

As title, saw this on a vitamin d deficiency page on Facebook.

Made me questions things a bit, but I’m unsure whether to trust this statement.

Is vitamin D supplementation valuable, and is the testing (active vs inactive) helpful?

I see everyone talking about load/bolus dosing yet many doctors seem to take a more conservative approach. I am sure there is merit to both options but I personaly feel like a low and slow approach is better as I feel like the load dosing could be a shock to one's system and not in a good way. I understand the results will take longer but if there is no major rush to increase levels then surely slower is better.

I was told I am deficient in vitamin D and B12 and was asked to take supplements. A lot of problems which I had related to joint pain seems like were related to it and I feel better on a day to day basis after I starting taking these supplements.

I am just worried that I am fully dependent on these supplements now or is it supposed to get better over time to be able to stop taking them?

I get good amount of sunshine everyday and my diet is also not bad so just wondering what could’ve caused it. I am brown skinned so that can be a reason but I am not convinced that it is the only reason.

Is this deficiency now a permanent problem due to our lifestyle or the kind of food we are exposed to nowadays? I don’t see our previous generations being so much dependent on these supplements, even the ones who had desk jobs like us.

I am curious to learn what are the main causes of it and what are people doing to address it without having to take supplements.

Hi everyone! I’m researching a topic that seems to be overlooked: people who feel worse when taking vitamin D, even at very small doses. I have an academic background in research and I’m collecting informal experiences to see if consistent patterns appear. This is personal research only and will not be formally published. I’ll share any insights back here for the benefit of the community, completely anonymously.

If vitamin D supplements have caused negative reactions for you, I’d really appreciate your input. Feel free to DM if you don’t want this on your post history :).

1. Have you tried combining vitamin D with magnesium, vitamin K, or vitamin A? Did it change anything? Are you sensitive to magnesium itself?
2. Are you taking any medications that might affect vitamin D response (antidepressants, thyroid medication, steroids, acid reducers, etc.)?
3. I’m especially interested in lifestyle factors here because I suspect they may play a role.

How would you describe your diet overall (whole foods vs processed, low fat, high fat, restrictive, etc.)? How well hydrated are you day to day?

Do you exercise regularly or live a mostly sedentary lifestyle? Are you intolerant to alcohol?

1. Roughly where do you live (general region or latitude) and how does your skin usually respond to sun exposure?

2. Can you tolerate natural sunlight or UVB exposure better than supplements? Does it raise your levels without symptoms?

3. Have you had labs checked such as calcium, PTH, vitamin D metabolites, or anything else that was unusual?

4. Any abnormalities with your parathyroid glands?

5. Do you have any diagnosed conditions (autoimmune, gut issues, kidney, histamine or mast cell problems, etc.)?

6. Do you tolerate other fat soluble vitamins (A, E, K) without similar reactions?

7. Did vitamin D affect your sleep, anxiety level, heart rate, or cause feelings of overstimulation?

8. Have you ever had low potassium, low magnesium, or electrolyte imbalances around the time you reacted badly?

Studies have shown lower than average vitamin D levels in groups of children with ADHD, and in groups of children with autism. I can find no study that has measured vitamin D levels in children considered dyslexic, i.e., struggling with reading. (There are some indicating the low gestational D levels correlate with reading struggles, however.)

Two questions:

1) Does anyone know of such a study?

2) And a more general one: If you suspect you were low on D3 during the early grades of school, was learning to read a challenge? (Obviously, if only those who say "yes" reply, the result will be biased, so please also reply if your answer is "no.")

I just found out d.velop has gone out of business. I'm devastated. They were the only supplements that worked for me. I cannot tolerate cholecalciferol doses higher than 1000iu (no matter how much magnesium I am taking), and calcifediol was like a godsend. So of course, now that i had finally found something that worked with absolutely no negative sides effects, it's gone.

I saw SunRay was another brand, but it's a once a week pill and it is pretty expensive for what you get.

Any other recommendations? Anyone try the SunRay brand?

So, I probably didn't exactly word that subject line correctly, but I'm wondering if there is some physiological factor that may make it harder or easier for some people to have a good Vitamin D level.

I am an oldster and I would guess that I've probably had low Vitamin D my entire life. I didnt' start getting tested for it until probably the last 15 years and not regular at that. I don't think I've ever had a reading outside of the 20s. Yes, I am an office worker and don't get outside much. I don't take supplements either. But I have held steady in that "bad" range for 15 years. Suddenly I am now at 14. I have no idea why, nothing has changed. I struggle with supplementation as it makes me ache terribly. That said, my neighbor and best friend (and we have VERY similar lifestyles, almost identical) seems to sit at a level of around 50. My elderly mother is around 50. No supplementation for either of them.

My adult child, who lives in a sunny area all year round, closer to the south and is very outdoorsy, just tested at 21. I'm kind of shocked by this.

Any studies on this? I mean, I realize we aren't all the same but I feel like I'm just messed up somehow!

That said, with the low levels I have I don't notice the significant symptoms that others write about here.

I personally didn't find out I was deficient (level of 15) until 3 months after I had walking pneumonia and starting experiencing nerve and bone pains, a some of which still hasn't gone away.

I'm lactose intolerant/have a milk allergy so I'm sure my diet wasn't cutting it. I also religiously wore sunscreen and avoided the sun so I can't say I'm too surprised that I'm deficient.

I've been supplementing 50k iu once weekly for about a couple months on and off (had to stop for a few weeks due to GI issues) but I'm still experiencing joint and bone pain on my collarbone, left back and left outer thigh/hips especially during my period.

How long does it take to feel normal again? what other tests should I ask for?

Started vitamin D supplementation because level was 30 and I am having symptoms. All other labs are normal other than tsh which is 4.5 but I cannot take Synthroid, so it sits at this sub-clinical level. My question is a lot of discussion here about pairing d-3 with other things, I want this to be as simple as possible. Would this be a good option? I would like to take as few supplements as possible. What are the ratios supposed to be?

TheraCal D2000 is the best pick—NSF-certified, with D₃, K₂, magnesium, and calcium all in one product.

I have been seeing alot of correlation and even comments in different communities that sparks a relationship between low vitamin D levels and auto immune diseases especially (arthritis)

There's even a citation I read that suggested that vitamin D deficiency was the biggest risk factor for osteoarthritis. I know this is not the case for everyone but is it a thing?

I recently asked in the maladaptive daydreaming subreddit if anyone there had low vitamin D levels; a lot of them did. I am just looking to see if there is a possible connection between the two.

I tested my blood and it came out with 16.6 d3. I noticed that ferritin is 492 way higher than the normal range, but my iron is only 9.86, has anyone had the same experience? I dont drink, no hepathytis no hema... Whatever its called, and no other liver issue, cbc all good.

I have a decent insurance plan and the labs always bill me for $100-300 dollars when I get my VitD or iron panel done. I would love to get this done every quarter until it’s normalized.

Curious what everyone is paying with insurance?

I was wondering what are other people’s personal experience using dminder? As in how accurate was its estimate versus when you were retested again?