I'm not convinced anyone needs to supplement with calcium.
You should be able to get all the calcium you require from your diet.
Dr Davis sets a limit (600mg/D?) on supplemental calcium but only to SUPPLEMENT dietary sources to the RDA. Use one of the online calcium calculators. I'd never use a calcium/mangesium supplement either. I'd take magnesium separately from calcium (but that's hypothetical as I eat cheese/dairy/veggies etc more than enough food sources) and only take smaller amounts of magnesium with food.

==============================

Now I am going to go back and review why 1200mg.

First of all I am taking magnesium citrate.

I do this since I learned it is better absorbed than magnesium oxide.

I have also read that only 16% is elemental Mg.

So I am really taking in 192mg of elemental Mg.

I am diabetic and I also take furosemide with potassium. Furosemide affects magnesium as well.

Magnesium is good for the heart and stops cramping in legs.

So somehow I arrived at 1200mg a long while back.

I need to review it once again.

Several posts in the Trackyourplaque forum tell me I am ok with 1200mg of magnesium citrate; in fact I might be able to go higher!

Anyway, I do not have issues with loose stool with citrate as I did with magnesium oxide.

But, I am going back to the drawing boards on this one and need to recalculate the dosage.

Ralph

Thought I'd give an update to this post since my last post a week ago.

I've continued to monitor my morning FBG levels every morning and they are still dropping! I've had 3 mornings in a row now where my FBG has been in the 95-100 range. That just blows my mind!!

I'm still having issues with the Dawn Phenomenon but as my FBG goes down, so do the peak spikes from the DP.

I went and had an A1C draw the other day and will see the doc next Thurs. for the results. This will be my first numbers since I started LC'ing back in January and I had an A1C right before I began so it should be interesting.

I've also dropped a couple pounds this last week after a 6 week stall! Not sure if that is tied directly to my blood sugar levels but possibly because I've been keeping them in a pretty tight range.

So I'm still convinced the turning point has been supplementing with Mg and Vit D. I wish I had tracked better when taking only the Mg. to see if that is the reason or if it is a combo of the two. Regardless, I'm just completely thrilled that my FBG and weight are going down!

I believe that. 2500 i.u. a day and summer sun only got me to 35.7 (D, 25 hydroxy test). Last year I developed severe neuropathy in May, and got no sun all summer, and most supplements went by the wayside including D, and my last year's Vit D test result was 31.7. I'm taking 5000 iu or a bit more most days now, and since the PN has improved, hope to get some sunshine this summer.

.

Guess I'm weird........I've only tried one brand of methyl B12 in sublingual, and it did absolutely nothing for me, and the taste made me feel ill. So I went back to a cyanocobalamin sublingual which does give me the results normally expected from taking B12. And blood results do show improvement.
Any thoughts on that? FWIW, I have the same experience with benfotiamine vs. regular old B-1. Could be brand related, maybe the brands of methyl B12 and Benfo I chose just don't contain what they are supposed to. But given that I do get better results form the ordinary forms, and cost considerations, so far I don't personally see the worth of the extra money for the most active forms.
sol

FYI

In addition to the D3 and magnesium, I've found that 200 mcg of GTF chromium in the morning helps with bg control.

Sure but there are some people who think that by taking a multi that contains the Bvits they MUST be absorbing sufficient. Maybe they are but it's also the case that maybe they aren't and if they swap to the active forms they will feel better.
If they then try out the active forms and notice a difference then they should stick with those more expensive active forms. There seems little point in paying more if it doesn't make any difference.

Can someone tell me what your vitamin D levels should be at and how often to get them tested once you start taking it?

When taking extra B1 and B12 is it necessary to take extra B6(P5P) and folic acid also?

I do take a B complex in addition to my extra B1 and B12. I don't take extra folic acid, just what is in the complex. I can't remember why the decision not to do extra folic. I also used to do extra B6 in the form of P5P, but stopped that a long time ago. Don't remember my reasoning on that either.
thanks,
sol

Grassrootshealth net
It depends on what your purpose is.
If you are just wanting to meet your daily needs then above 40ng/ml would be adequate BUT aiming a bit higher 45ng/ml would give a margin for error.
If you think it's a smarter idea to have some vitamin D3 actually stored in your cells so it's anti oxidant protection can be available to the mitochondria in those cells than above 50ng/ml is better and 60ng/ml probably ideal.
For nursing mothers human breast milk is vitamin d3 replete at that level.
If you have a cancer diagnosis there is some evidence that vitamin d can act directly on those cancer cells at around 100ng/ml.
Mercola, who spends his winter working from the tropics and his summers at Latitude 42, keeps his around 100ng/ml. and he looks pretty fit, and I don't think he needs to take vitamin D supplements because not only does he have access to the sunlamps he sells but his time in the tropics will fill his vitamin D tank.
However for me at latitude 52 and no winter in the tropics I keep mine at 60ng/ml with regular UVB exposure in winter + 5000iu/daily throughout the year and full body sun exposure WHENEVER possible cloud/wind permitting from April through to September.

I test my 25(OH)D twice yearly. I suggest you may need a bit more testing initially to be sure your levels are moving in the right direction. But after you have had a 3 yrs being able to predict your 25(OH)D result so you are sure you know how your body responds to D3/SUNLIGHT then you could drop down to one test every other year HOWEVER don't give up on testing even if you think you know what you are doing.
Things change, your skin's ability to make D3 is associated with you TC cholesterol level. If you cholesterol drops it's likely your ability to generate vitamin D has also dropped.
It's also possible urban and even rural pollution levels change over time and while you probably wouldn't notice slightly higher ozone levels in the atmosphere they will block UVB and that reduces the amount of UVB reaching your skin and the D3 creation.
UVA degrades vitamin D near the skin surface. Changing your office so you spend time by a sunny window every day as only UVA passes through glass this new sunny window time would be reducing your Vitamin D status while you worked.
So both the environment and your body may change in ways that may reduce the amount of vitamin d you are making or losing so getting checked from time to time even after you are sure you've got it sussed will still be needed.
I have mind done twice yearly and I think I know what I'm doing. I usually am able to predict the result within 5ng/ml. but you never know what changes my have occurred to upset our plans so better safe than sorry.

I think it depends on what your risk for Alzheimer's is like and what your food sources are like.
Folate foods sources
Nutritional Data FOLATE
If you make sure you have liver and green veggies regularly I think you should easily be able to do without.
If you notice and changes in FOLATE indicators
after taking folate that would suggest you will benefit, but if there's no change for the better then you may be wasting money.
There was a recent Bvitamin trial for Alzheimer's which while trumpeting the homeocysteine lowering potential of Bvits had to admit that those people already taking an ordinary basic multivit didn't improve on the b vits .SO if your homocysteine level is already pretty low lowering it a bit more possibly won't make any more difference.

I would think the best way of finding out if your brain operates better when you supplement with B vits is to set up a self test trial.
Pick a test regime. It could be a game or a computer program, use it for a few days to asess your base line performance, use the test regime again and report back, better worse no different. If it don't make no difference and you're pretty sure your getting sufficient then don't waste money.

I take 10,000 iu's of Vitamin D3 every day softgel 2000iu times 5.

My 25(OH)D is tested twice a year.

I am maintaining at 67ng/ml.

At 16000iu's I was at 97ng/ml

I backed off to 67ng/ml.

Join the study group http://www.grassrootshealth.net/

I have been in the study group since its inception.

They are now collecting data on people who have optimized their Vitamin D3 and they want to see how they do versus those who are deficient.

Up to now all the views were at deficiency. This group is now looking at a population of optimized Vitamin D3 folks over a 5 year span.

I am sure they will have lots to show for the study when it is completed.

Ralph

Hi Patina,

This is great news!!! I am so happy for you!!!

It is amazing what a few extra vitamins and minerals can do for you.

If only the doctors would see it this way, too, and advise their patients to optimise their nutrient intake - preferably first of all by advising them to eat as many natural unprocessed wholefoods as possible - and, only when all options have been exhausted (good food, good water, good supplements), would they then turn to the drug-treatment route.

Sadly, though, it seems that many doctors ignore the diet route and haul out their prescription pad straight away. I wonder how many people could have been spared the side-effects of drugs like metformin (Glucophage) had their doctors started them on D3, magnesium, chromium first to see if these methods improved insulin sensitivity?

amanda

I couldn't agree more! My doc suggested absolutely nothing except to go see the dietician when I was diagnosed insulin resistant 6 years ago and we all know what the dietician recommended.

I also have to blame myself in this too though because I blindly accepted whatever they told me as gospel plus I didn't really change my habits and I certainly didn't do any of my own research into insulin resistance/diabetes ...I now regret that very much. Didn't take long for me to jump from insulin resistant to diabetes due to my doctor's ignorance and mine.

At that point, you're right, the prescription pad appeared and before I knew it I was on 5 different medications...2 for diabetes, 2 for blood pressure and a statin for cholesterol.

As I continue to educate myself I'm finding it appalling how little my own doctor actually knows about this disease. She has a cookie cutter approach to treating it and therefore is unsupportive of any treatment outside of her comfort zone. Something's wrong when I have to explain to my doctor how long term use of glucophage can deplete B12!!!

All the Doctors are cookie cutter! It is very rare to find a Doctor who is keeping up with the latest. In all fairness it is tough, but they should at least try especially when there is such large attention being paid to D3.

My friend told me she went to the Doctor and the Doc said her D3 levels were very good! I told my friend that I don't want to here subjective statements; give me the number. Here level was 39ng/ml certainly no longer "deficient" but hardly optimized. I told her to increase her D3 to 6000iu's from 4000iu's and do another test in about 3 months. I am pretty confident that 6000iu's will get her closer to 60ng/ml.

As to other drugs. I too take Metformin ER. I have not heard of any real bad side effects from this. There are diabetes drugs that try to stimulate the pancreas that are NOT worth taking since there is some indication that they may in fact kill off what you have left in terms of cells that release the phase II insulin.

I also take 10mg lipitor along with 1500mg of niacin. This had a dramatic impact on my cholesterol. It went from 190-200 down to 130, my hdl went from the mid 50's up to 70. I ended up with the real scrubbing HDL and my terrible dense LDL was converted to the soft fluffy kind.

In terms of the VAP test I went from type B and it was extreme all the way over to Type A and I also reversed my plaque progression in my heart as per my calcium scores going from 1130 followed up about a 1 3 months later at 1080 as opposed to a continued increase that if untreated could be cumulative 30% per year according to my friends at track your plaque.

I am getting ready to do all these tests again to see if I am maintaining and/or improving on all these dimensions.

Ralph