Interesting story, and I'm glad your AFib is under control. Are you still taking 7,000 IU a day and, if so, do you plan on maintaining this level indefinitely?
Thank you, Fred. I am, and I'm not sure yet. If I continue to see a rise in the readings (I'm taking blood every two months now specifically to check this) then I might back off. Between 40 and 60 is where I need to be and if I can maintain that level, I might ease off a bit. Being in Florida I have ample time to get sunlight - though as a pasty white guy I cook more than I'd like so there's that whole other risk of cancer I'd rather avoid. But if I can get 20-30 min of good sun I might back it off further. I'll try to remember to update this as it progesses.
As it stands now, does your doctor regard the vitamin D mega-dosing as a viable long-term solution or treatment for your condition?
Its interesting you ask that. The doctor I see is supposedly one of the best Electrophysiologists (which is a cardiologist that specializes in the rhythm of the heart in case you didn't know - I didn't) in the Southeast, and she was following me really closely on the Vit D because she said she had read articles on it - particularly on vagal paroxysmal afib - and the effects. So I'm keeping her up to date with it and she says she might use it as a case in research and for future treatment. Great, so long as I keep out of afib!
She didn't say anything specifically about that. Once I hit the 50-60 level, I will back it off down to about 1500IU a day and do a test in 4-6 months to ensure my levels remain the same. If they do, I'll back it off further to just about the RDA (which is 600-800). I don't plan on keeping this level for that long beyond that. Of course, any return to issues with the heart will see me adjust that plan. But as long as levels stay somewhere near where they are, I don't expect that will happen - assuming it was the cause of the "cure" in the first place and something else isn't driving it. Causation/correlation and all that. The big risk from high levels of Vit D is calcium absorption. Vit D aids in the absorption of calcium and as you raise the level of Vit D, you simply absorb more of the calcium you take. So if you don't adjust, you get too much calcium absorption. The body then takes this calcium and sends it to the heart (arteries) and the kidneys where you don't want it. So you need to add Vit K2-7, which is a specific supplement that redirects this calcium more efficiently to bones and teeth, where you do want it. Happy to talk more about that, but read up on Calcium and K2-7. its fascinating.
I take a daily multivitamin that includes 800 IU of vitamin D, and have recently been adding 1,000 IU 3 times a week. I don't know if I should be doing the additional 3x/wk. The only think I recall about vitamin K (I'm not that informed, and never heard of K2-7 until now), is that it also promotes blood clotting, which gives me a bit of pause. Life is such a balancing act, eh? This stuff is all above my pay grade. Eyes wide open, and good luck.
K actually does not trigger clotting, just ensures that the clotting mechanism in the blood performs properly. But yeah, its a chemistry set.
I have had my vitamin d level tested several times simply because I have lived in northern climes where you gotta wonder where you are at in the middle of the winter in regard to d-levels. To be expected it was very low, can't remember the first test but low- 21 ng's I think, and consistent with your experience I had to work my arse off to get it up to 45-50 which is the top part of the 25 hydroxy test range. I was taking 15,000 units a day. Took me about three months. I didnt worry much about the high level because I was getting tests to monitor. The usual scare literature will say that if you are taking more than 700 units or so a day you are going to die. Don't count on it. It's bitch to build up in your blood and anything less than 150ng is not considered toxic and maybe some people could get up there but it would not be me. People get confused about vitamin d toxicity. Yes, it is highly toxic if you are a kid and think it is candy and a whole bottle of 5000 unit tablets at once because it overwhelms your liver but that is a different scenario. As far as monitoring calcium, lots of people think that taking lots of vitamin d automatically leads to critically high levels of calcium. No it doesn't. It could but it is not the intake of vitamin d that increases the calcium, it is the increase in the blood serum level of vitamin d that does or could increase calcium. If you are taking lots of d but it is only causing your serum levels to come into a normal range then you are in a normal range of vitamin d. Vitamin D is actually not a vitamin - it is a hormone. One of its major jobs it to help absorb and move calcium around as needed. For most people having vitamin d raise their calcium level is a good thing. But,yeh why not measure along with everything else. Not to get to far into the weeds but Vitamin K is vitamin that calcium going where it should go rather than calcifying your arteries. Google more if needed. Also, and I am sure you know this but just while we are here, I will add in that I hope you or anyone is taking Vitamin D3 rather than DL. a/k/a D2 but it will usually say DL on labels. They are both widely available and cheaper form is DL/D2. Don't do that. The absorption rate is much less than D3.