THE IMPORTANCE OF VIT D

Vitamin D is another really important component. By stimulating as many as 300 anti-microbial peptides that are even more powerful than antibiotics, vitamin D helps improve and regulate your immune system and fight infections. Many RA sufferers will notice that their symptoms are at their worst during the winter, and often dissipate during the summer. This is a giant clue that vitamin D is at work.

Invariably, unless you're aggressively addressing your vitamin D level with sensible sun exposure and/or supplementation, your blood levels of vitamin D will drop to dangerously low levels sometime in January, February, or March, when sun exposure is at its lowest.

I typically recommend RA sufferers get their levels checked every month, to help them fine-tune the dosage they're taking. Your ultimate goal is to reach and maintain a therapeutic level of 40 to 60 ng/ml, and if you're using a supplement, you need to take whatever dosage required to get you there.

By Dr Mercola

Both my Primary & Rheumy monitor my vitamin D levels. I currently take an over the counter but when it goes very low, I get a prescription to bring it up to an optimal level.

Vitamin D is especially good for bone health -which is why milk is fortified with D and Calcium. I stopped dairy.

Hi, yes I was only quoting Dr Mercola, I am not MD, I was assuming that he is well known, I should maybe add some more info.

Celebrate life- I am currently in remission and just trying to help, I can't tell you to not listen to your doctor. There is a lot of people with RA and also on this forum who have problem with vit D. I was one of them I was using tons of sunscreen because of skin discoloration. After years of avoiding sun and low vit D levels I was diagnosed with RA. I never could bring it back to normal levels with suggested intake on the package of 2000 IU so once in a while it was prescribed to me by the rheumatologist.

I read a lot about vit D and decided to take more than suggested, you can not overdose vit D, only if you go over suggested levels it can become toxic.

But this is what I think is dangerous for us people with RA going low on vit D even if it is brought back to normal level, I think it's important to keep it balanced. These are only my thoughts, doctor will not tell you that but if you mention that you take higher levels of vit D they will not tell you it's wrong... I actually would wish that doctor suggested that to me years ago or mentioned that something like anti inflammatory diet exists.

OK I understand, please remove all my posts which are against your policy thank you

Yes straydog that's what I said in my second post - vit D can become toxic when overdosed that's why you check levels every few months with your doctor. Anyway I would prefer this kind of toxicity over Humira, Enbrel or steroids in my body. Everybody will choose what's the best for them.

Thank you eat2bwell! Your user name says a lot already! Some of us are sick because everybody is absorbing vitamins differently and we
do not absorb vitamins correctly. Some people will have defficiencies of vitamins because of the poor diet, lack of exercise etc., vit D for example for better absorption need to be taken with fat. And it's hard to get all the vitamins on the recommended level that's why we have supplements and everybody is different that's why we all need different amount of it. Not always as suggested intake of 2000 IU.

The problem is that we spend too much on reading articles about different medications and their side effects - I unerstand I was sick too but let's do not focus only on that! There are plenty of diets, herbs, supplements and natural stuff which can help too.

Thank you for link! I didn't paste links in my post as I thought it may be against the policy of that forum that's why I pasted Dr Mercola text.