I was already taking 10.000IU a day (in winter) to battle Seasonal Affective Disorder. I live above 51N latitude though, so I practically don't see the sun in winter.

This is per day?

I have been deficient for a few years now and I take ~6000 IU per day, but it doesnt seem to make a big difference in my blood tests. I already thought 6K was a lot...

Are you taking it with food? I think it dissolves in fat, so you might want to take it with some oil for better absorption.

Yup - it's a fat soluble vitamin - this is a very good point to bring up. I made the "taking it with my low fat meal of the day" (breakfast) and made a change to correct that.

I've been told I should be taking it in the morning though, because it can affect sleep if you take it in the evening - anyone know differently?

Gwern ran a self-experiment finding that it did affect his sleep: https://www.gwern.net/zeo/Vitamin-D

I didnt know that - I usually take it shortly after breakfast, but ill try this - thanks!

My doc prescribed me 25,000 IU once a week for 8 weeks then 10,000 IU daily thereafter. The kicks of 25k were what made the diff for me. YMMV

holy smokes, thats a ton. Are there any effects of too much?

Yeah, it's fat soluble so you can take too much (but you'd have to take a ridiculous amount).

The normal doctor prescription to increase levels is a 50k pill once a week for a couple months. The previous recommended level was 20ng/ml, but they increased it to 30ng/ml.

When I got tested mine was 11ng/ml (and this is in the sunny bay area). To have the recommended value from normal sun exposure you'd need face/legs/arms exposed to sunlight for ~30-45 minutes a day which most people don't get. It's very hard to increase D from food.

I'm also not sure how they determine the recommended amount and there seems to be a ton of pseudoscience around all of this stuff so it's hard to tell what's true.

Yah like doing 25k a day. That could cause problems.

Surprisingly few problems. Wife has been doing 80k a day for the past few years and have help tremendously with her auto immune decease.

If you're going to do high doses, stay away from anything with significant amount of calcium in your food (dairy, nuts etc)

80,000 IU is a terrifying number for daily intake. Did you mean 8k and not 80k?

I meant 80k. See studies from Dr Cicero Coimbra for more background if you're interested.

Interesting. I started taking it since I've started working inside for my day job. Apparently I should be upping my dosage. I take a multi and one or two D tablets and probably get a max of ~5600 from that outside of any absorbed from foods.

I also eat a lot of eggs. My girlfriend will be pleased to know that I'll be upping our egg intake!

> Apparently I should be upping my dosage.

Get your current nmol/L value and decide based on that data.

In Germany, you have to pay around €30 for that test. It's not covered by insurance for some reason. Anyhow, if they ask for significantly more than that, they are ripping you off.

I'll be booking my yearly physical soon, so I'll ask for a test then.

edit: Just having checked I misread the dosages completely. Right now it's much less.

    Multivitamin  - 400IU
    D3 Supplement - 400IU

I thought the multi was 4000 and I occasionally take 2 of the supplements, but usually 1. Maybe the double strength next time...

Better watch out with egg intake upping, check your cholesterol and trigliceride levels. Anyway good to consult with professional nutrituonist.