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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 14 of 14. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Tomatheus on December 31, 2013, at 19:44:10
If anybody here has taken vitamin D3 (preferably a high dose of at least 2,000 IU) for more than six months, could you tell me what benefits, if any, you've noticed? How did vitamin D3 supplementation seem to affect your energy and your sleep? What other effects did supplementing with the vitamin seem to have?
I'm taking vitamin D3 currently and just resumed supplementing with the vitamin after going without it for about three weeks. I had been taking it for about 3.5 months prior to that, and I'm curious as to how supplementing with vitamin D3 affects people who've been taking it for a real long time.
Tomatheus
Posted by Christ_empowered on January 1, 2014, at 18:03:50
In reply to Anybody here take vitamin D3 for ) 6 months?, posted by Tomatheus on December 31, 2013, at 19:44:10
I've been taking 4,000 (now 5,000) D3, from vitacost, for going on a year now. I didn't notice any major changes, but then again...I'm on an Orthomolecular Cocktail, so one agent isn't likely to cause huge effects. Sorry I couldn't be of more help to you.On the other hand, I'm still alive...and my meds do seem to be considerably more effective. Is it the D3? Who knows.
Posted by Tomatheus on January 1, 2014, at 18:16:41
In reply to Re: Anybody here take vitamin D3 for ) 6 months?, posted by Christ_empowered on January 1, 2014, at 18:03:50
Christ_empowered,
Thank you for your reply. I actually for now have stopped vitamin D3 again because I seemed to be feeling worse than I feel at baseline (with just Abilify and niacin). Maybe stopping it was a mistake, but I hate when "treatments" only seem to worsen my condition.
Anyway, I'm glad that your medications seem to be more effective with your orthomolecular cocktail, which includes the D3. Maybe there's something to be said about taking a lot of supplements in combination, as opposed to taking them one at a time.
Tomatheus
Posted by Christ_empowered on January 6, 2014, at 3:13:39
In reply to Re: Anybody here take vitamin D3 for ) 6 months? » Christ_empowered, posted by Tomatheus on January 1, 2014, at 18:16:41
yeah man, I can't help but scream this: TRY ORTHOMOLECULAR!The basic, old school program is loads of C, b-complex, niacinamide, sometimes b-6, zinc, vitamin E, selenium....I think that's the program from the 50s.
Of course, a lot has changed since Dr.Hoffer's days. We have so many more supplements available now. I've added in: taurine, green tea extract, beta carotene, astaxanthin, d3, grape seed extract. Sounds like a lot (it is), but its not terribly expensive (certainly not compared to Abilify).
I use time release C (2 doses) and time release b complex (1 daily...I use a b-100). The trick is to take considerably more (or at least as much) C as you do whatever form(s) of B3 you opt for.
So, I take 10 grams C (2 5 gram time release doses, AM and PM). At most, I'll take 6 grams niacinamide. That and the taurine seem to help keep my liver in tip top shape (elevated liver enzymes happen with b3 sometimes...high doses of C help prevent that, according to Hoffer).
You also have to tweak your meds, once you've got the supplement line up going. I'm not saying go crazy with the medication, but you can make adjustments.
For me, the reigning King of agitation, higher doses of Abilify are necessary. Also, I take Trileptal, which lowers Abilify levels, so I need a higher dose anyway, just to get therapeutic effects.
You might be able to tolerate a somewhat higher dose of Abilify w/o side effects or running into what Hoffer calls the "tranquilizer psychosis"--tremor, apathy, laziness, dysphoria, depression. OR you might find the Abilify works better. OR you might be able to work with somebody to get some of your residual symptoms treated, without side effects. It just depends (clearly, I'm not a professional).
Have you ever tried a stimulant? Some people with lots more negative and mood symptoms do well with a lower dose neuroleptic plus a stimulant (I seem to recall Ritalin being used a lot back in the day, although I think the Vyvanse people have some data on using amphetamines in stable patients).
Anyway, good luck to you!
Posted by Tomatheus on January 6, 2014, at 9:13:06
In reply to Re: Anybody here take vitamin D3 for ) 6 months?, posted by Christ_empowered on January 6, 2014, at 3:13:39
Christ_empowered,
Thank you for your post. I appreciate the fact that you took the time to write what you did, urging me to try an orthomolecular treatment regimen along the lines of what you're taking. I like a lot of your suggestions -- all of them, actually, at least to some degree. I will say that I've tried just about every supplement that you've suggested at one time or another without long-term success, but usually I took the supplements individually and stopped taking them after the initial benefits that I noticed from some of the supplements seemed to fade. For whatever reason, I seem to have a lot of difficulty getting supplement responses to "stick," although, as I think I said in another post, I think it's possible that I might be at least a little bit more responsive if I take more supplements at higher doses for longer periods of time.
I think that my next plan of attack is probably going to be to see a general practitioner to see if maybe somebody can get to the bottom of why my white blood cells have been elevated for as long as they have (it was almost seven years ago when I first had a blood test showing elevated white blood cells). I'm already taking l-lysine and responding to it for the time being. L-lysine, from what I understand, blocks l-arginine, which is needed for viruses to replicate, so perhaps l-lysine is helping to fight some sort of viral infection. But I suppose that I could be responding for different reasons and that my response to this supplement might end up being short lived like my responses to a lot of supplements. Anyway, my point in saying all of this is to express that even though I want to see if maybe fighting infections might help to relieve some of my symptoms, utilizing an orthomolecular treatment regimen like the one that you're having success with is something that I still want to try, especially if my next attempt at treatment doesn't lead to a successful outcome.
Finally, to answer your question about stimulants, I haven't tried Ritalin or any of the amphetamine-type stimulants, but I did try adrafinil (which is supposed to be similar to Provigil/modafinil and Nuvigil/armodafinil) and became clearly more psychotic on it (with strong ideas of reference, in particular) after a few days. I also took Wellbutrin, which is supposed to be a more stimulating antidepressant with its dopamine and norepinephrine reuptake inhibiting properties. I took it before the onset of my psychosis, which of course means that I didn't become psychotic from taking it, but the medication seemed to help my fatigue and hypersomnia very little. I'd be a bit hesitant to take another stimulant at this point, given my reaction to adrafinil, but maybe trying a very low dose of one might be something to try if all else fails.
Anyway, I appreciate all of your input, and once again, I'd like to thank you for writing everything that you did. Take care, and have a good one.
Tomatheus
Posted by Chris O on January 12, 2014, at 3:01:36
In reply to Anybody here take vitamin D3 for ) 6 months?, posted by Tomatheus on December 31, 2013, at 19:44:10
Yes, I have taken D3 for 3+ months at a time. Several years ago, I had my D3 tested, and it was at about 11. I took D3 for several months, and it went into the low 30s. Still not much movement (as 30 is the low end of normal on whatever scale they use.) In terms of energy and sleep, I noticed nothing. I briefly though it energized me, but after taking D3 fairly consistently on and off for several years, I realize that I feel exactly the same as I did before taking it. I've gotten the D3 number to go up to as high as 45, though, I assume, supplementation, but I still feel the same "high quality" depression and anxiety that knocks my on my low-functioning a** that I've always enjoyed. Oh, boy, aren't we lucky?
On a side note, I drink a lot of Honest Tea (4-6 bottles a day sometimes) and I've heard that tea, with its high fluoride levels, may negatively impact vitamin D levels. So, I've always wondered if much of what I am dealing with D3-wise is a result of 15 years of power tea drinking. Good luck.
Chris
Posted by Tomatheus on January 12, 2014, at 9:58:15
In reply to Re: Anybody here take vitamin D3 for ) 6 months?, posted by Chris O on January 12, 2014, at 3:01:36
Chris,
Thank you for your post. In the time that's passed since I started this thread, I've ended up stopping vitamin D again because my fatigue actually seemed to become worse than it typically is at baseline. For whatever reason, it seems that I seem to respond somewhat favorably to vitamin D in the short run, but not so well in the long run.
It's too bad that supplementing with vitamin D didn't seem to help with your depression. There seems to be some thinking that vitamin D might be low in depressive disorders not so much because a low level of the vitamin causes depression but more because some of the behaviors and symptoms that come along with depression (isolation, sleeping during peak vitamin D hours) cause individuals with depression to get less sun and thus less vitamin D. The fact that you (and I) didn't respond to vitamin D after taking the vitamin for some time would seem, from my perspective, to argue in favor of the notion that depression might cause vitamin D deficiency/insufficiency, instead of it being the other way around.
Anyway, thank you for responding to my thread. It was helpful to read of your experience with vitamin D supplementation, although I wish that you could have noticed better results.
Take care,
Tomatheus
Posted by Chris O on January 13, 2014, at 15:06:06
In reply to Re: Anybody here take vitamin D3 for ) 6 months? » Chris O, posted by Tomatheus on January 12, 2014, at 9:58:15
Tomatheus:
No problem. I hope you find something that helps with your symptoms as well. I've yet to find any supplement that has really provided relief for my GAD and depression. While I know that a combination of biology and horrific parenting are the root of my problems, I do feel that there is a strongly physical component, such that if I get relief from the constant tension I feel, I'm pretty much fine on the cognitive-emotional side. I just wish I could find something that works!
Good luck!
Chris
Posted by TriedEveryMedication on January 24, 2014, at 23:32:00
In reply to Anybody here take vitamin D3 for ) 6 months?, posted by Tomatheus on December 31, 2013, at 19:44:10
> If anybody here has taken vitamin D3 (preferably a high dose of at least 2,000 IU) for more than six months, could you tell me what benefits, if any, you've noticed? How did vitamin D3 supplementation seem to affect your energy and your sleep? What other effects did supplementing with the vitamin seem to have?
>
> I'm taking vitamin D3 currently and just resumed supplementing with the vitamin after going without it for about three weeks. I had been taking it for about 3.5 months prior to that, and I'm curious as to how supplementing with vitamin D3 affects people who've been taking it for a real long time.
>
> TomatheusI got prescribed 50,000 IU (taken once a week) after a blood test showed critically low vit d levels. Been on this about a year now.
I have not noticed any effects.
Posted by Tomatheus on January 25, 2014, at 10:52:37
In reply to Re: Anybody here take vitamin D3 for ) 6 months? » Tomatheus, posted by TriedEveryMedication on January 24, 2014, at 23:32:00
TriedEveryMedication,
Thank you for your reply. It helps to know what effects those who've taken vitamin D for a long time have noticed, even if they didn't seem to notice much of anything. Thanks for sharing your experience.
Tomatheus
Posted by former poster on April 14, 2014, at 19:03:35
In reply to Anybody here take vitamin D3 for ) 6 months?, posted by Tomatheus on December 31, 2013, at 19:44:10
I've been precribed 2,000 mg a day for 4 months.. I don't notice a difference.
Posted by Tomatheus on April 14, 2014, at 19:49:53
In reply to Re: Anybody here take vitamin D3 for ) 6 months? » Tomatheus, posted by former poster on April 14, 2014, at 19:03:35
Thanks, former poster. I'm about 2.5 months into my current vitamin D3 trial, and with me currently taking 2,800 IU, I've been having some ups and downs energy wise over the past week or so. I'm starting to get skeptical as to whether I'll notice any kind of long-term response, but I will continue to supplement with D3. I'm also starting to suspect that I might have toxoplasmosis and that the infection might have been exacerbated by taking aminoguanidine, which inhibits nitric oxide synthase, so maybe getting tested for toxoplasmosis might the next thing I'll look at.
Thanks again for replying.
Tomatheus
Posted by former poster on April 15, 2014, at 11:12:37
In reply to Re: Anybody here take vitamin D3 for ) 6 months? » former poster, posted by Tomatheus on April 14, 2014, at 19:49:53
Colloidal silver is a miracle anti-pathogen. Another thing that comes to mind i Moringa. Asian people believe it is able to cure rabies. Neem, Goldenseal, Berberine, Olive leaf extract. Hope you feel better...
Posted by Tomatheus on April 15, 2014, at 17:49:20
In reply to Re: Anybody here take vitamin D3 for ) 6 months? » Tomatheus, posted by former poster on April 15, 2014, at 11:12:37
Thank you for the suggestions, former poster. They're much appreciated.
Tomatheus
This is the end of the thread.
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