Don't they also sell sun lamps that can be used for this purpose. Thought I reAd that somewhere

Vitamin D deficiency can be dangerous. That's why they add it to milk. Yes, the common recommendation is to have sun exposure for about 20 minutes per day, but then the dermatologists freak, and it can have adverse reactions with other medications and body chemistry issues. Was he getting any sun before? It may not be enough. Best to ask his doctor. It also may be that he's sufficiently low that he really needs a supplement to bring up his level.

He has a veggie garden so I'd say he is outdoors but in heat of summer and winter he stays indoors. But don't most people?

My neighbor works in an office 5/days a week and not much of an outdoor person. She was D deficient and she got shots as Dr said. She tells me she doesn't "feel" different.

My doctor suggested taking a vit. D supplement , 1000 units through the winter (not a shot) so I will do that again this year. I am on Fosamax which can deplete your vit. d.

I was severely deficient a few years ago despite living in Florida. Once I supplemented, my levels went to the normal range and I felt SO much better.

I think most people take Vit. D-3 by mouth. I have experimented with taking none before a routine blood test, and I came up a bit short. When I take 1000 units D-3 per day in those teeny ampules I'm back to the normal range.

Ask the MD if a shot is absolutely necessary or if he can substitute oral medication, and in what amounts. How deficient is he?

Vitamin D levels are easily checked with a blood test. Has his doctor suggested enough of an emergency for a shot - Vit D supplements are widely available (any drugstore, grocery store, Costco) in a small easy to swallow capsule form. And, it's not expensive.

Several years ago I was seeing my doctor in July, and she asked about my sun exposure. I thought I was about to receive a scolding for tanning, I was very dark that month - but her concern was a low Vit D level. I can't imagine how that happened, I'd been sunbathing, spending time daily in my back yard reading and it showed ;)

She had me begin 2000 IU Vit D daily and I've done it ever since. My annual blood work shows normal levels of Vit D. With a blood test report DH brought home from his physical one year, his number had just about dropped off the bottom end of the normal range and while his doctor didn't mention it, he began taking Vit D daily too. DH works outside all year round, he can barely tolerate spending a day inside....our exposure to natural light doesn't necessarily cover the need.

If you live in a northern tier state, it is important to check your Vit. D, like relative did, and take the pill (tablet) What did the Dr suggest? Just 15-20 minutes helps but especially in the winter it is important to follow thru. I take one every day and it does make a difference.

@morz, that is very interesting about being tanned/outdoors and being low on D. I think that neither he nor I took that deficiency Seriously b/c of being outdoors. I will bring up the subject and have him ask his doc if pills would work. He's in excellent mental health and capable of this discussion on his own. Thank you all for your valuable input

If he is Vit D deficient, why play around with sunning? Just take a supplement and then see how it goes with the next blood test.

We have sun all year long in CA, but I was still deficient. Taking a supplement, I'm ok now. It's simple.

I am out a whole lot, but was deficient. I take a tiny pill daily now. Putting on sunscreen nullifies getting vitamin d naturally.

whew! finally found my posting. Deleted as my comments were out of place.

Oklamoni. Did not know about sunscreen and no D. Makes sense but I would have never thought about it had you wise people not enlightened me

Bossy, I'm so very sorry, certainly did not mean to insult you. Please forgive me. Sometimes the written word does not come across as intended. I thought you were overthinking the issue instead of taking the easiest way out. So very sorry.

As we get older it's more difficult to convert sunshine to vitamin D3 in our bodies. "For example, when exposed to the same amount of UV-B radiation, a person who is 70 years old will make 75 percent less D3 than a 20-year-old". It's also been discovered that "the body only makes vitamin D in the presence of UV-B light - and in temperate regions UV-B is only present when the sun is directly overhead, which occurs at midday during the summer months." Personally, I include a variety of foods naturally high in vitamin D in our diet, and take a soft-chew (chocolate - tastes like a tootsie roll ;-) 1000 IU D3 from CVS.

Try including more traditional food sources of vitamin D in the diet like butter produced from cows grazing on grass, "real" lard (not the hydrogenated stuff), and other animal fats, organ meats, and seafood (include fatty fish such as herring, salmon, sardines and tuna in the diet at least once a week).

This is why I use Pure Indian Foods 100% Organic Ghee (grass-fed) - especially in the winter - because it's high in vitamin D. I also use Kerrygold Butter because it's made with milk from grass-fed cows. Even portabella mushrooms exposed to sunlight are high in vitamin D - who knew?

Don't forget vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin, so including a good source of fat is important for absorption. So instead of tuna in water, try tuna in oil. If you are eating commercial cereal that is fortified with vitamin D, use 2% or whole milk, not fat-free or low-fat.

There is also good old cod liver oil --- an excellent source and there are actually some brands that are quite tasty. But word or caution: People who are allergic to fish and those with certain health conditions, including kidney or liver disease, stomach problems, high blood pressure, diabetes and high cholesterol, should check with their physician before they take fish oil supplements. Cod liver oil may interact with some medications, including blood thinners, vitamins A and D, medicines for kidney disease, medicines for bone health, orlistat, colestipol and cholestyramine.

-Grainlady

Socks u r totally forgiven, I overreacted. I better ck my own darned D, it may be low making me unnecessarily cranky

Awww, thank you. I felt terrible. Let's do lunch, ok?

See, that's how it's handled! Good going socks and bossyvossy!

So, where are we meeting? :)

Oh, got off track!

A couple of years ago I had very low levels of D, despite the fact that I work at a plant farm. Yes, I was nicely tanned as well, and did not use sunscreen. Just recently I began taking 2000 units daily again. Hope I will start feeling better before long.

My husband and I both run low on vitamin D. We have it checked regularly with our routine blood work. We take a supplement but occasionally have a shot when needed. It's essential to make sure your levels are in range. The use of sunscreens and windows that block most of the suns rays contribute. Many drugs strip the body of vitamin D and B. I just today had blood work done and I was checked for my B 12 level. I take metformin daily and it can cause my B levels to drop. I take a pill supplement but it is not nearly as effective as the shot. I was taking a liquid B12 supplement but it is harder to get. It does work better than the pill.

Definitely pay attention if told you have low levels.

Grainlady, thanks for the science behind it!

Another thing to make sure of is if there is enough calcium going with it. I forget why, but Vitamin D and calcium are supposed to go together, though my doctor said my yoghurt obsession is sufficient.

About five years ago, they found that vitamin D deficiency was common and had all the doctors doing routine screenings, which is why this probably came up in the first place.

Raven, in the cooking forum I got turned on to B12 in nutritional yeast flakes that you sprinkle on food. It's good stuff. Probably not instead of your pill, but perhaps to augment it?

http://www.amazon.com/Bragg-Nutritional-Yeast-Seasoning-Premium/dp/B002863BIW/ref=sr_1_1?rps=1&ie=UTF8&qid=1441834440&sr=8-1&keywords=bragg+yeast

My doc prescribed 1,000 IU per day Vitamin D-3 which helps with calcium absorption. D-3 is also in my Caltrate (1200 mg. Caltrate per day). With that and a less strong med than Fosomax for a length of time I can't remember and quitting smoking in 2003, I've reversed osteopenia and am now at normal bone density "for my age group". Love that phrase………..

I had severe vit d deficiency a few years ago and was put on the pills for it, but for some reason my doctor can't explain I react weird to them so can't take them (I was meant to take 4x 1000 iu a day but couldnt even handle one). So I started sunbaking for short amounts of time. As someone said above, doctors routinely check for vit d now because people often cover up, avoid the sun or are indoors much more and it's become really common.

The reason I got checked is because I suddenly developed extremely painful leg cramps. I had to stop after about 10 steps to wait for the cramping to subside before I could continue on for a few more steps. By the time I got to bed at night I would just be groaning in pain my legs hurt so much but once I started sunbaking it did get better and my levels came back up. I'm fair skinned so I just avoided the sun too much with all the skin cancer warnings. In some areas, you don't need a lot of sun exposure but in others you need a lot more to get enough so it's a good idea to get checked fairly often.

As someone said above though, as you get older you can't convert sunlight into vit d as effectively, it's something to do with the skin getting thinner or something, so older people may need to take supplements and won't be able to meet their needs from sunlight.

ps. I live in an area with a similar climate to southern california, but I think in places like this, people are much more paranoid about sunburn and skin cancer so it still happens. Cancer societies etc says things like you get enough from incidental sun exposure which is misleading. To me incidental is like when you walk to and from your car, but it's just not enough even in really sunny areas.

Trance, you might be a good candidate for the injections. Seems like that would be preferable to 'sun baking'.

rhizo, I told my endocrinologist about my problems with the pills and said I was sunbaking instead. She basically said that people in her profession would like people to get more sun exposure since vit d deficiency is really common now, but also said, if you talk to a dermatologist they're against it and all about skin cancer risks so even among doctors the attitude really varies. I don't think the injections are available in my country anyway, only the d3 pills, but I have read alot about sun exposure and I'm confident that I do it safely. I don't bake myself or anything, just get small amounts at a time which my endo is ok with. I figure if I have vit d deficiency then Im just not getting enough sun anyway and I have to admit I've probably been too cautious with sun exposure in the past.

I went back over old blood tests, looking for D testing and only found it in the last two or three years. Unfamiliarity with having the test may indeed be why this Senior was skeptical. Let us know if a shot was necessary or if he could just take oral D-3 -- like so many of us!

Mine was low a few years back so I started taking a supplement. It made me feel better.

I go outside, but I avoid the heat of the day and cover up because I burn easily. I block some benefits of the sun even if I do go outside.

According to a couple doctors I've talked to at work, Vitamin D deficiency is at epidemic levels. There are a 101 reasons as to why a doctor might prescribe a shot as opposed to the daily supplement. Finances for example, a lot of elderly people can't afford the cost of OTC vitamins, but the insurance will cover a shot. Or maybe the patient has demonstrated a history of not taking medications as prescribed, or the levels reflect quicker treatment than supplements is needed or maybe the D levels aren't low enough to warrant a daily supplement and just a quick shot is all that's needed. Sometimes either other conditions or medications keep supplements from absorbing properly too. Lots to consider.

I was given a prescription for mine. I can't remember if it was a once a week pill for four weeks, but it seems it may have been.

Sue

I'm on a testosterone blocker for my prostate cancer, originally, as of just over two weeks ago, pills for those weeks, plus another couple, and then a shot, taken this afternoon, with extended release that's good for three months and the cancer clinic put me on calcium supplement and told me to take Vitamin D with it.

ole joyful

I had vitamin D deficiency. Dr. put me on 50,000 units of Vit D2 weekly. Then I started taking over-the-counter Vit. D3. Now I only have to take the D2 once a month.

As you age, your ability to bring in Vitamin D declines. I have a friend in her mid-70's who works on her hobby farm who is outdoors OFTEN -- she was told she is vitamin D deficient.

If possible, I'd opt to take pills rather than a shot, but this may depend on the degree of deficiency at least temporarily. Then move to the supplements, if needed. Research for the most effective brands, looking at independent studies.

Vitamin D3 oral supplement, even 1000 mg tables, makes my bones, especially hips joints, ache. Does anyone else experience this? Doctor says it couldn't happen but it does!

The vitamin D3 supplements made my IBS flare up and made me feel nauseated so I quit taking them. So many foods and other supplements contain vitamin D. You can hardly buy anything that doesn't contain the vitamin according to the pharmacist. My Coral Calcium contains D.