Mayflowers are you taking magnesium with your vitamin D? It really helps make it work.

Vitamin D co factors

http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/about-vitamin-d/vitamin-d-cofactors/

http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/about-vitamin-d/vitamin-d-cofactors/magnesium/

Mayflowers, I do well on the Blue Bonnet fish liver oil form of D but I take a magnesium
pill with every 2,000 iu of D...and my D level is up to about 76 now.  Don't know if it's your inability to absorb D or a deficiency in any one of the co-factors...or enzyme deficiency.

To absorb fish oil or any fats, you would need plenty of the enzyme lipase.  Avocado and raw
eggs (homemade mayo) would increase your chances of getting adequate lipase

Lipase information:
http://www.well-women.com/lipase.html
http://www.pickl-it.com/blog/694/lipase-lipids-health/  (has homemade mayo recipe on 2nd page)

I just had my levels re-checked about a week and a half ago. I asked my dr to send me the copies of all my labwork. Today in the mail I recieved a "summary" of my labwork- 2 pages instead of the 30 or so I got last time. I don't mind it condensed (so it's mroe than one lab result per page) but the lab results aren't all there! Specifically, the vitamin D level wasn't included in the results.   Clearly it's "within the normal range" (as were all my lab results, since she didn't call me concerned about anything) but I wanted the actual numbers!

Thanks for the replies. I went to the doctor twice to get the D level checked. The first time they didn't order it. I was really annoyed and I had to go back and get stuck again.    Ruthie are you sure they did the D level? They might had pulled what my doctor's office did. Can't you call them and ask for the number?

I think the problem was, and Niagreen and Chloe hit the nail on the head, that I listened to Dr. Oz.   when he said on one of his shows to take D in the morning instead of with dinner because it tends to give energy. Well I had been doing that too. So when my levels were higher, I was taking the D with dinner and I take 200 mg of magnesium and 2 multi mineral capsules with dinner as well. With breakfast I was just taking the D capsule and not the rest of the minerals. So, now, I switched to dinner again and I'm trying the Now 5,000 ius again to see if I can tolerate it. So far no rash...yet..or itchiness.

I'm really afraid to take fish oil now with my LDL shooting up so high from it!     It's 172!

Quoted from Mayflowers

I'm really afraid to take fish oil now with my LDL shooting up so high from it!     It's 172!

What is the ratio, LDL to HDL or LDL to Total?
Just a single number doesn't really tell us anything meaningful.

I used to have a problem absorbing fish oil, but I now take it with Lypo Gold digestives, and lecithin. I don't get discomfort in the Gall Bladder area, and I'm hoping this is helping.
Lin

Quoted from ABJoe

What is the ratio, LDL to HDL or LDL to Total?
Just a single number doesn't really tell us anything meaningful.

225 - 53 HDL, 172 LDL

Quoted from Lin

I used to have a problem absorbing fish oil, but I now take it with Lypo Gold digestives, and lecithin. I don't get discomfort in the Gall Bladder area, and I'm hoping this is helping.
Lin

If the fish oil is making my LDL go up, I think I'm absorbing fish oil a little too well lol  

I don't supplement with fish oil anymore.

Chia seed seem to be working all right for me. The oil is a diamond on my SWAMI.

Quoted from Mayflowers

Ruthie are you sure they did the D level? They might had pulled what my doctor's office did. Can't you call them and ask for the number?

It's one of many things on today's "to do list" that  got pushed off until tomorrow. I want the doctor to send me the complete list of my lab results, not just my CBC and lipid profile. I don't think she forgot to order the test because it was low last time and she had me come in to re-check it a few times last year, so it should be on my chart to keep on testing repeatedly. It's far more likely that they simply didn't give me a full listing of my labs. The top of the page does say "summary" so it's clearly not the full list.

Quoted from ruthiegirl

I don't think she forgot to order the test because it was low last time and she had me come in to re-check it a few times last year, so it should be on my chart to keep on testing repeatedly. .

Ruthie, wasn't your D level like 80? How did it get low?  

I looked at my oil list. The only beneificial oil is cod liver oil and that's not a diamond. I had been taking Iceland Health which is from anchovies and salmon oil.  Anchovy oil is not on my list and salmon oil is a neutral. duh.  My super diamond oils are apricot, black currant seed, flax, olive, and walnut. Not a fish oil there.. lol.  

Quoted from Chloe

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/QAA400434/Is-Fish-Oil-Bad-for-LDL.html

Thanks for the link. I'm going to try an experiment of staying off fish oil and losing weight only along with my diamond oils only and see in 6 months what my LDL is.  Those last results are from non fasting so I'm going to get a fasting cholesterol which is the proper way to test it.


I can't believe how the fish oil D is working well for you and not working for me, being the same blood type.

Quoted from Mark

I don't supplement with fish oil anymore.

Why Mark? Did you have issues with it?

Quoted from Mayflowers

Ruthie, wasn't your D level like 80? How did it get low?    

When it came back 83, my doctor told me to drop down to 1,000 iu per day. Rather than call back to  verify what she meant, or make another appointment to talk with her about it in person (she has a nurse make her calls for her), I stopped taking it for a while. I was completely panicked that my level was dangerously high, and I couldn't find any information at the time to tell me that levels over 80 were OK. I now know that the "safe upper limit" is 100, not 80, but I couldn't find that information at the time. It was right around the time my dad died so it got lost in the shuffle.

It was only when somebody online asked me how I was feeling  a few months later that I made the connection between "cutting back on D supps" and "feeling lousy."

Now I have no clue if my levels are high, low, or good; only that "all lab tests came back normal." Ugh. I called the dr today and left a message that I wanted ALL my lab results sent to me, not just a summary. I'm not sure if I'll get a call back or just the papers in the mail in a few days.

I have 5,000 iu pills, and I've been taking 1 or 2 a day. I want to know my results so I know if I should keep alternating like I've been doing or take 10,000 iu daily. I don't feel comfortable going as low as 5,000 iu daily because that's what I was taking when my levels were 33.

Quoted from Mayflowers

Why Mark? Did you have issues with it?

New research shows that it's decreasing n-6, not increasing n-3, that is important. Also, 95% of fish oil (even the pricey ones) are mostly rancid anyway.

I take cod liver oil, but not for the n-3. I don't like eating liver, but do like vitamin A from animals. The D3 is nice too, I guess.

Just eat grass-fed beef. Or fish...

Quoted from ruthiegirl

I have 5,000 iu pills, and I've been taking 1 or 2 a day. I want to know my results so I know if I should keep alternating like I've been doing or take 10,000 iu daily. I don't feel comfortable going as low as 5,000 iu daily because that's what I was taking when my levels were 33.

Being an Ao, I took Now 5,000 ius 5-10,000 a day and it took over  a year to get my level up from 25 to 40.   Depending on the lab who does the test, normal range for vitmin D ranges from 30-150. My lab changed their 'norm' for D. The first time it was 32-100, now it's 30-100.  I really don't think they know for sure..

Quoted from Mark

New research shows that it's decreasing n-6, not increasing n-3, that is important. Also, 95% of fish oil (even the pricey ones) are mostly rancid anyway..

Hmm. That might be the reason my LDL went up. Probably getting the omega 3's from eating fish is more complex in the body utilizing the omega 3's and the oil is missing an important componant and that affects the usage of the omega 3's properly.

Dr. D told me not to take too much A. He read studies of it causing issues, so I try not to take more than 5-10,000ius a day and the reason I was not using the cod liver oil. Ok plus the taste.  

I've been taking 5000 IUs daily of D-3 fairly consistently for the last 9 months. My next appt is in August, and last August, my D levels were at 53. I'll be interested to see how they measure.

BTW, it's nice to see you [Mayflowers].

Quoted from Drea

I've been taking 5000 IUs daily of D-3 fairly consistently for the last 9 months. My next appt is in August, and last August, my D levels were at 53. I'll be interested to see how they measure.

BTW, it's nice to see you [Mayflowers].

Hi Drea.   I never left, I just don't post much anymore. My son was in a accident last year..it was very bad. He's ok now. I got off facebook too because I don't like being so 'out there' ...something IDK, creepy about FB.  

My sister just went to see her endo and the endo told her that a level of 34 was normal, and OMG she could get toxic taking 5,000ius a day! When are these doctors going to come up to the millenium? Disappointing.

Just wanted to say that the brand I'm using...Bluebonnet -- the source is fish liver oil...not fish oil. I guess that is the same as cod liver oil...and I only chose to get vitamin D this way because I was itching from the lanolin sourced vitamin D.

My sister who has a brain tumor was also told that her D level in the 30s was perfectly fine.  

Quoted from Chloe

Just wanted to say that the brand I'm using...Bluebonnet -- the source is fish liver oil...not fish oil. I guess that is the same as cod liver oil...and I only chose to get vitamin D this way because I was itching from the lanolin sourced vitamin D. .  

IDK why the Bluebonnet brand wasn't working for me.. Maybe because I took it in the morning and didn't have enough fatty acids and minerals to use it? Now I'm afraid to take fish oil because of my LDL going up to 172...I went back on the Now and so far I'm not having any reaction. I was breaking out in a rash from Deflect. I really liked it too, it helped with weight loss and digestion..   I took it for 4 years. I'm taking the Gastro D again. That stuff is amazing for an upset stomach    !  Takes my pain right away.  But, back to the D.  I was thinking of trying the NAP brand as well.

OK, I finally got my lab tests results in the mail today- nearly a month after the blood was taken!

My vitamin D level is 54. That was with alternating 5,000 and 10,000 iu daily. I'm going to take 10,000 iu daily from now on, only lowering it if next year's lab test comes back low.