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I started taking pretty high dosages of Vitamin D about a month ago, after seeing this item (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15867918 https://news.ycombina

I started taking pretty high dosages of Vitamin D about a month ago, after seeing this item (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15867918 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15867918). It's really incredible how much better I've felt over that time. The impact on my mood has been really remarkable - I was pissy and irritable, short-fused and pessimistic. Nothing much else in my life has changed, but I'm feeling much more even-keeled and relaxed since starting the Vitamin D supplements.

Cenk 9y ago
How high are the doses you’re taking?
- megaman22 9y ago
  10k or 12k IUs. That might be more than I ought to long term, but I figured I was pretty deep in the hole to start with, and I'm a pretty big boy besides. I also started taking three calcium, magnesium and zinc tabs along with the D, not sure exactly what those dosages are off the top of my head, but three of them adds up to the 100% recommended amount. That might have some additional impact.
joncrane 9y ago
OK so it's not just me! I mainly noticed an increase in sleep quality, which I believe is why I feel more even-keeled.
- m_fayer 9y ago
  Same here. Increases my mood, positivity, and sleep quality, very noticeably.
mitchell_h 9y ago
I take 5000IU a day. When I miss a day or two I know it. For the price of some D3 it's cheap insurance.
- bdamm 9y ago
  How do you know it? You feel worse?
  - mitchell_h 9y ago
    Yes. There is a noticed decrease in energy, my wife/kids have confirmed my mood is effected too. I've not tested it fully but I think I get sick more often if i don't regularly take d3.
everybodyknows 9y ago
Good anecdotal evidence. But how much sun exposure have you been getting over that period? That is, total light reaching sub-dermal layer, net of sunscreen, surface area exposed, and pigmentation either natural or result of sun-tanning?
- megaman22 9y ago
  Well, it was December in New England, so it was dark when I left to go to work, and dark when I left to go home, and too far north for even the noonday winter sun to help produce any vitamin D.
- tathougies 9y ago
  Not the OP, but my vitamin d was also low, and was exacerbating my auto-immune thyroiditis. I ended up needing 10k/day to maintain levels and keep the antibodies in check. For me at least, no amount of sunshine will help. We live in the north, and I have dark skin. I almost always wear shorts/short sleeves and walk about two hours outside in the morning and afternoon (walk to and from work). Never wear sunscreen, don't tan, etc. At a certain latitude, if your ancestors were from the tropics, there's a point at which no amount of sunshine will suffice. I used an online 'calculator' (so can't vouch for its accuracy), but it basically said that at my skin tone i needed about 2 - 4 hours of sunshine in the summer months at my latitude and 16 hours + in the winter. This may be possible in the summer, but there's not 16 hours of sun in the winter at all, so there's no way this is going to work. On the other hand, my wife is white, and gets much less sun exposure and wears sunscreen, and her vitamin d level is noticeably higher when she gets sun. Mine... not so much.
karmicthreat 9y ago
I was in the same boat. I had a very low vitamin D serum value. I started taking a 1000 IU D-3 and and it did nothing. But once I upped it to 10K my depression and panic cleared up. It makes a large difference when you do not have enough D.
- pbhjpbhj 9y ago
  > I had a very low vitamin D serum value. // How did you test it? Are there companies who do a wide range of basic tests for common vitamin deficiencies? Like can I send a sample and them say "you're a bit low in D and marginal in A", or whatever?

Cenk 9y ago

How high are the doses you’re taking?

megaman22 9y ago
10k or 12k IUs. That might be more than I ought to long term, but I figured I was pretty deep in the hole to start with, and I'm a pretty big boy besides. I also started taking three calcium, magnesium and zinc tabs along with the D, not sure exactly what those dosages are off the top of my head, but three of them adds up to the 100% recommended amount. That might have some additional impact.

joncrane 9y ago

OK so it's not just me! I mainly noticed an increase in sleep quality, which I believe is why I feel more even-keeled.

m_fayer 9y ago
Same here. Increases my mood, positivity, and sleep quality, very noticeably.

mitchell_h 9y ago

I take 5000IU a day. When I miss a day or two I know it. For the price of some D3 it's cheap insurance.

bdamm 9y ago
How do you know it? You feel worse?
- mitchell_h 9y ago
  Yes. There is a noticed decrease in energy, my wife/kids have confirmed my mood is effected too. I've not tested it fully but I think I get sick more often if i don't regularly take d3.

everybodyknows 9y ago

Good anecdotal evidence. But how much sun exposure have you been getting over that period? That is, total light reaching sub-dermal layer, net of sunscreen, surface area exposed, and pigmentation either natural or result of sun-tanning?

megaman22 9y ago
Well, it was December in New England, so it was dark when I left to go to work, and dark when I left to go home, and too far north for even the noonday winter sun to help produce any vitamin D.
tathougies 9y ago
Not the OP, but my vitamin d was also low, and was exacerbating my auto-immune thyroiditis. I ended up needing 10k/day to maintain levels and keep the antibodies in check. For me at least, no amount of sunshine will help. We live in the north, and I have dark skin. I almost always wear shorts/short sleeves and walk about two hours outside in the morning and afternoon (walk to and from work). Never wear sunscreen, don't tan, etc. At a certain latitude, if your ancestors were from the tropics, there's a point at which no amount of sunshine will suffice. I used an online 'calculator' (so can't vouch for its accuracy), but it basically said that at my skin tone i needed about 2 - 4 hours of sunshine in the summer months at my latitude and 16 hours + in the winter. This may be possible in the summer, but there's not 16 hours of sun in the winter at all, so there's no way this is going to work. On the other hand, my wife is white, and gets much less sun exposure and wears sunscreen, and her vitamin d level is noticeably higher when she gets sun. Mine... not so much.

karmicthreat 9y ago

I was in the same boat. I had a very low vitamin D serum value. I started taking a 1000 IU D-3 and and it did nothing. But once I upped it to 10K my depression and panic cleared up. It makes a large difference when you do not have enough D.

pbhjpbhj 9y ago
> I had a very low vitamin D serum value. // How did you test it? Are there companies who do a wide range of basic tests for common vitamin deficiencies? Like can I send a sample and them say "you're a bit low in D and marginal in A", or whatever?