I am trying to figure out what my dosage of vitamin D should be. I do take Coromega which is a fish oil supplement. It doesn't list vitamin D on its nutritional information panel. It does list C and E. It doesn't make sense to me that it wouldn't have D!

AFAIK, it is Cod Liver Oil that has the Vitamin D and Vitamin A, not the regular 'fish oil'. Additionally, I'm fairly sure any significant amount of C and E present in a fish oil has been added as an anti-oxidant to help keep it fresh and not going rancid.

Kind regards

So it is just cod liver oil that has D? (Coromega doesn't list its fishy ingredients.) They do say the C and E are added.

Okay then, I guess I won't count that as one of my sources of viatmin D. Thanks.

Here's another complication: Read over some of the other posts in here. D2 has an upper limit and is often the D in multis; D3 has no limit and you generally have to take it separately to get that version.

Not sure which one is in cod liver oil. I take separate D3 supplements.

Cod Liver Oil will be clearly marked 'Cod Liver Oil' on the label. It's easy to be confused between the two. The vitamins A and D in Cod Liver Oil will be the natural versions ie retinol and D3 as opposed to their common artificial counterparts retinyl (?) and D2. The natural vitamins in this case can be safely taken in amounts far greater than the artificial.

Kind regards

Correction.
Sometimes the natural vitamin A is removed and replaced with artificial vitamin A, sometimes the natural vitamin A is supplemented with artificial vitamin A to bring it to a standard amount. The problem with vitamin A is that the natural and artificial vitamin A both have the same name, retinol. Unless it says from fish livers, assume it's artifical.

I checked my multi, it doesn't tell me what form of D it has in it. Does that mean it is probably D2 by default? I do take a separate D3 supplement; I was just worried about overdoing it if it was in my coromega too. I am finding the recommendations for the dosage of vitamin D are all over the place!

If it doesn't say it's probably D2.

Re afraid of overdoing vitamin D...There's no way.

To quote a vitamin D expert

IMO, you have to be taking at least 7,000 IU/day right now for it to be doing you any good.

That's precisely what I am taking at this point, along with some calcium and magnesium. I admit I have noticed positive effects, such as much less problems with dry skin this year, my monthly bout of IBS seems to be gone, and I'm more regular. The downside is the number of capsules I am going through in a month's time. I guess if that is my worst problem I'm doing okay!

So, next question, do I risk magnesium overload since I take a capsule that contains D magnesium and calcium?

No. You don't risk magnesium overload.

The 7,000 IU is a minimum.

There are drops with 2,000 IU and gels with 5,000 IU and they both have fewer fillers if you want to cut the number of pills.

A good guage that you're at the limit you're body needs is the dry skin goes away completely. If you still have dry skin you're not getting enough.

Well, the awful dry spots on my knees and elbows are completely gone. Now I just itch after long hot showers, which seems reasonable to me. My family has always known that lotions and body butters were a great Christmas gift for me. Now I just don't go through nearly what I used to!

Do these drops or gels you speak of have magnesium in them, or are they generally straight vitamin D? So far I ma not finding liquid D, although the other vitamins are easy to find in liquid form!

My D3 pills are tiny, and that's all they have in them. Started with Swanson but I life LEF brand better. 1000 IU comes in a pill that's not much bigger than a grain of rice.

And where do you get LEF brand? I didn't find them at Vitamin World, Vitacost, or GNC.

Also, don't you need added calcium and magnesium to get the desired balance?

Zuleikka, could you share the brand of the gel w/ 5000 IU. I would love to find that.

thanks

These all just contain vitamin D:

The 2,000 IU drops are at dcnutrition.com

the 5,000 IU gels are at
lef.org
tahoma-clinic.com
or Carlson's