I received three messages in the last couple of days from people asking about the protocol and saying they were taking 20,000 iu D3 daily and not seeing any results. I wrote back telling them to reread the protocol.
Then I reread the website protocol and OMG it said to take 20,000 iu daily. NO, NO, NO!!! I took 20,000 iu TWICE daily.That means 40,000 iu daily. This falls under the category of “shit happens”.
Mike, our web guy got on it immediately and made the changes.
[website and PDF Protocol have been updated – changes in red, please download the updated protocol version click here].
Let’s just back up and explain D3 consumption. There is no absolute/for sure/works for everyone dosage. In 2014 I took between 30-40,000 daily based on what Flintchick was taking and it worked for me. It only took 6 weeks to clear my skin.
When I had the flare two years later (caused by consuming almond milk highly fortified with calcium) I definitely took 40,000 iu daily for two months.
But Dr. Coimbra (who has worked with high dose D3 for several decades) gives his patients 1000 iu D3 per kilo (2.2 lbs) of body weight. As I weigh 120 pounds, if I was following his method I would have taken 56,000 iu daily. He also has his patients take ALL the vitamin D at one time, with their largest meal.
Now, after reading Dr. Coimbra’s research I kind of breathed a sigh of relief because I was a bit scared of the high dose vitamin D. The fact that a medical doctor had been using high dose D for a couple of decades was reassuring.
It seems logical to take more or less vitamin D dependent on body weight. Someone who weighs twice as much as I do might need twice as much D3.
When I get my little 11 pound dog, Lucky vaccinated, they give her the same amount of rabies vaccination as a Great Dane. It makes me crazy. They give my little dog half the dosage that they give a bloody horse. It makes no sense.
So what I’m saying is that there may be a bit of leeway on the upper end of vitamin D dosage. But where the problem lies is in NOT TAKING ENOUGH!
Now, this is just my intuition, but I think the high dose D3 somehow shocks the immune system into working more effectively. That’s when the D3 pulls the excess calcium from the psoriasis plaques. If the dosage is too low, this doesn’t happen. Or it’s painfully slow.
Now, about testing for vitamin D levels. According to Dr. Coimbra, the current testing is not very effective for people with autoimmune diseases who need to consume vitamin D. As they don’t metabolize the D effectively, they need to take more of it.
I did get my D levels tested in 2014 after taking high dose D and they were a bit high but not enough to cause concern. After reading Dr. Coimbra, I stopped testing and haven’t had any noticeable side effects. But then after my skin got clear I reduced to only 10,000 iu daily as a maintenance dose.
And 10,000 iu D3 daily has been recommended by numerous doctors and naturopaths in both the U.S. and Canada. The reason for this is that most people are no longer working outside and getting natural sun. Or they live in miserable, rainy places like Vancouver. Or they slather on sunscreen or cover up and don’t let the natural sun touch their body. Hence the huge number of people who are deficient in D.
Ok, I think that covers most of the issues around vitamin D consumption. But I do apologize for not rereading the website and catching that mistake. I don’t care about making mistakes that affect me but I sure don’t like making mistakes that hurt (or delay results) for anyone else. So, I sincerely apologize for this mistake.
If I’ve missed anything and you have questions, please don’t hesitate to ask me. I’ll do my best to answer all your questions.
Much love,
This is what I looked like when I realized the mistake!!!
Dakota and Lucky and Charlie
Hi, Dakota –
I just found your site, thank you for putting it together! I am reading through your protocol and trying to put it all together in the context of daily meal planning. I know you stay away from dairy – but how to you ensure that you get enough calcium every day (especially in light of the higher risk of osteoperosis for women)? If you are avoiding high oxalate foods (dark green vegetables, beans, nuts, maybe tofu) due to the higher D3 intake and avoiding dairy, are you getting enough calcium?
Thanks,
Evelyn
My take on calcium is that we are overdosing. I only stayed away from high oxalate foods during high dose D3. When taking only 10,000 daily (my regular amount, not the high dose 40,000 iu that I took when my skin was very bad) I don’t worry about high oxalates. Exercise (weights) and high calcium vegetables are my way to keep my bones strong. The Asian world consumes very little dairy (if any) and they eat lots of green veggies. Women are told to take calcium supplements which do help but the bad news is that all that calcium gives you twice the chance of having a heart attack or stroke.
Dakota, Elizabeth Bass in Texas here.
Just a quick question…I only have one kidney. In the summer of 1999, I had abnormal lab results regarding my gallbladder/liver. My dr at the time, ordered an abdominal sonogram . The technician doing the sonogram left me and got the radiologist. He came in and took over looking around, not saying anything to me. I should have known something was wrong but that day I wasn’t expecting anything to be wrong so I ignored it until ‘my doctor’ showed up as I was waiting to get an MRI. He sat with me and told me they had found a mass on my kidney the size of a soft ball. In two days time I was without a left kidney. Biopsy came back as a “benign oncocytoma.” After the surgery and I was home by then. Whew!! I was so relieved because the 4 doctors who saw the MRI and the three who were in the surgery with me were sure it was cancer. Since then I have had to watch carefully what medications I take.
When I found out I had osteoporosis I could not take the medications that could reverse it because the drugs were really bad for my one little kidney, according to nephrologist. Therefore, I took a treatment of 40,000 iu Vitamin D then had to stop.
Because of these two circumstances I guess I’m a little concerned if I should take the D3 or if it’s different than the “D” I took for the osteoporosis? Would you have any idea?
Thanks!!
Hi Elizabeth: That is way beyond what I can advise on. I’m not a doctor or medical person of any sort. I don’t know what D you were taking before. We work with D3 only. I do know that if you’re taking high dose D3 you need to be careful about consuming “oxalates” (google the list of high oxalate foods and avoid these if you take D3 in larger than 1000 iu daily). Supposedly consuming oxalates can create kidney stones. That’s about all I can say.