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Personal vitamin D saga:

In my early 20s, after moving to the Northwest from Arizona, I was having strange neurological problems. Fatigue, dizziness, vertigo. Dr did a full labs and my Vit D level was "severely deficient". I don't recall the exact number but I believe it was below 10 ng/ml.

I was prescribed 100,000 IUs of Vit D a day for a month, got my levels back up to a better (but not great, 20-30 ng/ml) range. Fast forward 5 years and after being sick as a dog every winter with colds & sinus infections I decided I should get tested again. 23 ng/ml. I took 10,000 IUs a day for 6 months, tested again, 26 ng/ml. Not good.

I did a bunch of research and settled upon an expensive UVB vitamin D light. Did it for 5 mins a day, almost every day, from a period of time between November and February, tested again, 59!!! ng/ml.

Now I rarely get sick, and when I do, I feel fine, I just get some congestion, ect.

I also am not vaxxed and haven't gotten covid yet....

Now it's part of my daily routine. Drink my morning coffee after a shower while using my light.

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Tough to get enough sun during the NW winter. My mom had a terrible time until she bought one of those lights. Now she feels great.

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it's tough all year around if you work an office job. I'm generally indoors from 9-5 pm, the sun doesn't do you much good after from 5 pm-sundown.

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So true! I spent many a summer staring outside at the sunshine, unable to enjoy it.

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Some people are maladapted to the areas in which we live. For example, I have no problem with my vitamin D levels and live in the upper midwest and work indoors, however, my wife does and has to take 5k IU per day to keep hers in the normal range.

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The body doesn't process vitamin d supplements the same way as it does when it produces it via sunshine(full spectrum) or UVB tech etc. So supplement only in winter if your above/below a latitude that is impossible to produce vit d in winter.

If your within a latitude (from memory 35 or less) then you should not need supplements unless your lifestyle doesn't allow you to be outside often.

We have evolved with and to use the sun, we are bioelectrical beings.

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If you are having trouble getting vitamin D blood level up, try taking vitamin K as well. My D level shot up so much when I did this, that I had to reduce the amount of D I was taking. Getting your D level re-tested is important, for this reason. When D and K are taken together, they say that calcium absorbs in the proper way for your bone health. There are lots of articles about this online. Some disagree with doing this, so you will have to judge for yourself. Just search something like "Why to take Vitamin D and K together."

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look up dr zelenko and dr mercola articles on this. D,K rock

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Super similar story. My initial vit D level was 6!! I'm a redhead and live in Upstate NY. Took the big doses of PO vit D but it took a LONG time just to get an adequate level. Never thought of using a UVB light, but I am now. Thanks for the comment! P.S. Last D level was 38 but I do make a point of getting 15 minutes of direct sun exposure in the spring/summer months and I also take 4000 IU/day. How did you find the light?

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I got mine on amazon, but you can get direct from the manufacturer as, well, it's called the Sperti light.

Interestingly I am also redheaded.

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Thanks, Doug!

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What did the doc say when 10,000iu didn't raise your limits to within range? I take 2 x 5000iu Vit D every evening with dinner. I've never had my levels measured but I get a cold once every 3-4 years and I've never had flu. And I teach elementary so I'm surrounded by viruses every winter. Vit D has to be working, for me anyway.

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at the time I was taking PPIs for acid reflux which can really inhibit the absorption of nutrients, I'm guessing that had something to do with it. Thankfully I kicked that crap and don't take any drugs on a regular basis.

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wonderful news, glad to hear you are doing better!

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You’ve probably had Covid and shook it off. Impossible to avoid

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I've tested neg for antibodies twice

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Maybe try the T cell test

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Where do you find that?

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It’s called T-detect and I intend to take it too though I KNOW I had it

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According to Dr. Peter McCullough, no MD order needed to obtain this test. May need to pay out of pocket, though.

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I'm wondering about that as well. I got antibody tests on two occasions, both of them about 7 or 8 months after I thought maybe I'd had something (mild, whatever it was). Both tests negative, although my doctor said after that amount of time I wouldn't necessarily show any antibodies in the blood test, they would be gone by then. But the T cells....that might be interesting.

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I hear T-Detect is good

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Next door neighbor is a cardiologist who treats Covid patients. Two things he’s told me: (1) if you walked through the ICU, you would not be surprised by anyone you saw; and (2) take vitamin D.

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Elderly / nursing home - not enough time outside/ reduced dietary intake.

Biggest casualty of COVID.

Obese - vit D is fat soluble/ low vit D levels associated with obesity.

2nd biggest cohort for COVID mortality/ morbidity.

Darker skinned people in low sunlight climes - disproportionately affected by COVID mortality/ morbidity.

Coincidence?

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this was quite pronounced on stockholm with immigrant communities.

they do not get the levels of oily fish and dairy that many swedes do and with the low sunlight, was a double whammy.

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Same in Norway. They were even on the news. Half the dead in my are older dark skinned immigrants.

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🥲

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Wonder if that is an issue in Germany too. Immigrant communities are more affected by severe Covid.

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Plus darker skin/more melanin = less ability to make vitamin D with sun exposure

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Toronto as well. The Globe and Mail and Canadian Medical Ass'n. Journal wrote extensively that the illness was due to the non-Caucasians being "racialized", a code word they use to signal discrimination.

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absolutely! obesity, dark skinned peoples in northern climes (with concomitant low vit D) and the nursing homes/super old. poor nutrition and a dependence on corn syrup and fast food. all of those people hospitalized this past summer in Missouri/FL/Alabama...obese. yet last year the beaches and gyms were closed with armed guards because...pandemic! How dare you want to get healthy and get fresh air and sunshine!

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nutrition is sooooo important. we are what we eat. organic, non-gmo fruits, veges, meats. low sugar and no seed oils. read your food labels.

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As we all move indoors for the winter, we will find the CCP virus increase because we lose the Sun’s vitamin D in our daily life. Indoor air becomes stale and the effect of that problem is the COVID stays concentrated in the environmental air. Going into congested areas like malls and box stores will cause issues. So do all of your shopping with caution and take your D3/Zinc.

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Thats why the cholesterol bashing thats occured by governments public health campaigns is/Has bordered on criminal. Cholesterol is critical for vitamin d production.

The racial discrepancy is due to the mitochondrial haplotypes and our overall evolution.

Light skin adapted for low light colder conditions, so absorbs more vitamin d in low light. Darker skins, less evolutionary adapted for cold dark climes. Need lots more sunshine to make the same levels of vitamin d.

So, take darker skin, add sun block, place in cold climates above certain latitudes and you have much worse covid outcomes, without even adding comorbities in.

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Yet there are other factors at work that no one can explain. In the nursing facility where my daughter works, one of her patients is a 63 year old 400 lb woman who basically spends her life in bed due to her weight. Surprisingly, she doesn't have diabetes and she never (yet) got covid. Go figure....

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Yeah, there are always the anomalies.

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My daughter works in a rehab/nursing facility. In virtually every instance of "covid death", the person was in such bad shape he/she was expected to die fairly soon anyway. People don't end up in these homes because they are healthy, after all. Also, a great many (including a 104 year old women) got covid and survived, and other quite elderly people tested positive and had slight symptoms but weren't really all that sick! Overall, the death rate wasn't really more than expected in such a place anyway.

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I read somewhere that the average length of stay of a nursing home patient (admitted for long-term care) was 3-6 months. As you said, they are not healthy, vigorous people to begin with.

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50% dead within 1 year from all causes, and that's an old statistic

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the nursing facilities have the weakest people that succumb to the bacteria in their own colons, of course a cold or flu or covid will take them out.

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Agree with all of it

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Does the vit D reside within the fatty tissue and is therefore unavailable for cellular use?

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yes it's fat soluble so fat stores it and it doesn't get into the circulation well enough to act on the end organ receptors. taking too much can cause hypercalcemia and kidney stones so it's not something you want to just pump in like others state in this thread

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Thanks, Sue. I started taking mag supplements before Covid after reading the book "The Magnesium Miracle" in which the author explained, in detail, the balance required between the various supplements. I certainly don't want to contribute to calcium deposits in my vessels. There have been so many bad things associated with the pandemic and our government's terrible response, but having substacks like this one and eugypius and Alex Berenson have afforded me the opportunity to learn so much from commenters like you. Thanks for taking the time to respond!

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Too much work just let me be a fat useless narcissistic hypochondriac sending the plebs out to fetch my Grubhub and face the dEaDLy viRuS for me. Also I get a sticker with the vaccine!! And a donut!

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You sir, have won the internet today! Nice!!!! damned funny

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A donut a day keeps the doctor away! That's how it works, right?

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Exactly how it works. Mostly because the doctors arms are too short to reach around the...erm, one's fullness to do a proper workup.

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Every day I take a supplement. Last lab test 54 ng/ml ! Why on earth aren't doing free vit D tests in the community? Talk about an issue that disproportionately affects people of darker skin pigmentation who also happen to be the least likely to go out and get tested in the first place.. Astounding. The first words out of every public health officials mouth: Exercise, if you're obese do something about it and make sure you have good Vit D levels. And what do we hear? Vax and masks.

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THIS!! A thousand times - THIS!!

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The only "leader" I have ever heard anything about loosing weight was Boris Johnson of England saying that people should loose a couple of kilos with some easy walk. It was about spring 2020. As Greg Doucet says, put the ****** fork down!

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When this mess blew up in early 2020 I went on the reddit COVID19 board and they had a lot of studies posted about the current knowledge of the pandemic and viral infections in general.

There was a very strong signal even then that "adequate" vitamin D levels was associated with better out comes from the rona. At that point, in March, we started eating vitamin D like Pezz candies. We test near 100 which some say is nearly toxic, but if you dose it with Vitamin K your toxicity which is usually expressed by hypercalcemia will be muted tremendously. D should be supplemented with K2 and magnesium to keep things in balance.

The upside for us is allergies are lessened and we have not had any cold symptoms at all. Also, we've been contact traced several times but came up with goose eggs.

One other point. Low vitamin D levels is heavily correlated with age, obesity, diabetes and oddly enough High Fructose Corn syrup consumption. The liver processes HFCS as well as the precursors for VD3. But the liver will favorably process the HFCS and leave the D3 in the queue- hence lowering the blood levels of D3. Stay away from HFCS as well as vegetable and seed oils as they suck as well!

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Fascinating comment. Thank you!

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Just sharing my story bc I literally laughed at my doctor when she wanted to test me. I’m a mom of a competitive soccer and baseball player. Between the two I attended over 50 games OUTSIDE. I don’t tend to wear sunscreen except on my face or if it’s a double header. I do tend to sit in the shade. But just walking to/from the games and setting up tents & chairs etc should be an appropriate amount of time for vit D exposure. At the end of my son’s season this particular year we made it to their World Series in Florida. We were there for 10 days! The next week I had my annual and the dr said she wanted to test me. I laughed. But look at my tan I said! Well joke was on me. I was deficient. I supplemented 2000 units a day until March 2020. I then upped it to 5000 with vitamin K2 added (from amazon). I did get covid in February 2021. I didn’t realize my “allergies” were covid until the 4th day when I lost taste and smell totally. I waited a month and tested my antibodies which were positive. Something in our foods, in our environment, idk what, is prohibiting proper vit D synthesis naturally. It is the one thing I have preached since 2020. Take vit D!!

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you can be tanned and live in FL and be deficient. your kidneys and liver have to have the right precursors to synthesize the active metabolite that gets energized in the skin by ultraviolet light. your tan blocks further absorption, paradoxically. so take the vitamins!! and stay far away from the corn syrup.

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The precursors are created via the cholesterol

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tanning is via UVA rays

which penetrate the atmosphere and reach the surface better for more hours

VitD generation when UVindex>3 is via UVB

a shorter wavelength (295-297nm)

which best reaches the surface

when the sun is 45° (there IS some question if this could be as low as 30°) above the horizon

hence you can tan well without making VitD

AND by doing so make it harder to😬

D-fortified milk has 100IU per 8oz👍

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This thread is full of valuable information!

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A couple of years ago, I think, I looked into sun-driven vitamin D availability in winter in the LA area. I recall reading that even in very high latitudes, where the sun never reaches 45 degrees, there is at least some vit D made, but I didn't keep the references. If you have a reference for the 30 degree thing, I'd appreciate seeing it.

My city, next to Los Angeles, is 34 degrees N latitude, but I'm not sure how good the D dose is in the winter months. During the spring and summer I sunbathe on my patio in shorts, so nearly full body exposure 15-20 minutes front and back. Also big egg yolk eater daily, with about weekly liver and fish servings. Light supplementation in the fall and winter. Should get tested, but so far I've been disease free.

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I read the 30° thing in this article

https://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/food-nutrition/vitamin-supplements/how-much-vitamin-d-from-sun.htm

but it is unsourced

there's mention of Dr Mercola but I haven't chased it down

I'm 32°N, and use Oct-June early-to-mid afternoon (shifts by season) walks torso&legs exposed

to get mine on

and milk

no testing no sick no problem🌞

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Hey Bad Cat, thanks for this post and the data that you show.

I would also refer your readers to Heather Heying's post today (https://naturalselections.substack.com/p/vitamind) with dozens of links to studies that show excellent data on the importance of Vitamin D and Mathew Crawford's post (https://roundingtheearth.substack.com/p/heather-heying-on-vitamin-d-for-covid) which echoes her conclusions.

I love that this community is posting information that I can share, with links and studies, with documentation. Even if I can only talk to a few people in my circle, still, I can have some small impact, and you and these other authors are so important for me to be able to do that.

Your reach is bigger than you know. Even if only by my small community.

Bad cat.

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Last 6 months Vit D levels, 50 / 70 / 86, now backing off a little on supplement. I always see the minimum and maximum or reccomended / safe dosage, but I seldom see, have your Vit D level checked by your doctor, then have doctor suggest a daily doasge, then retest in 1 to 2 months, then have doctor adjust dose to keep you in his reccomended range. I have been on this regimen for three years, primarily for metabolic health, weight (lost 80 pounds) and mood management (kicked anti-depressants and benzos). If your general practioner is not comfortable advising on this, seek out an endocrinologist to assess your baseline metabolic and cardiac markers then formulate a plan to improve all your markers that might be out of range. You can take control of your own health.

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congrats on the weight loss and kicking the drugs. Being pharma free & healthy is priceless!

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US public heath officials refuse to talk about lowering risk from getting infected with COVID and about early treatment if you get COVID. We all must worship at the altar of our GOD-- the vaccine. To them there is no other way.

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Ron Paul was talking about the need for Vitamin D in March 2020. It provides good protection against most viral pulmonary infection. It also lowers risk for heart disease and several cancers. If nothing else good comes out of this insanity, at least a lot of people learned about the benefits of supporting health with supplements.

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Funny how this works: "note that this is a FAR greater level of efficacy than that shown in societal data from vaccines." Of course, I saw articles about this more than a year ago. It shouldn't be a shock.

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Walk around in the sunshine! It tackles Vitamin D AND obesity, and is absolutely free! This is what I have been doing this whole time, and it took 3 days for me to put covid completely in the rearview mirror.

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Glad I live in a sunny locale- but I still take supplements (and love my "shrooms"!) Out on my mountain bike and hiking in the daylight hours (swim in the dark at 5 a.m. to save on sunscreen!) :-) Cats sure know best, don't they!

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I didn’t realize how important vitamin D3 is until the CCP virus hit. Now I’m a regular user of vitamin D3. Another mineral that you should take is zinc. Both are available over the counter in Quercitin.

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The public has been SCARED to DEATH to go out and get sun for decades. Hey kitten I hope you use raw milk and not that stuff with all the antibodies in it! LOTS of online testing you can do from our home. Pay for it yourself. Labs tell you should be 30 or more but if you listen to any of the Disinformation Dozen it should be above 50 at the very least! As an aside have you ever noticed that kids with autism are really, really, pale? HMM (google Dr. John Cannell he has work on that one!)

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