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335728 tn?1331414412

Vitamin D and Vitamin D3...any difference?

I purchased a bottle of D3 which does not say on the bottle that it is a "vitamin" like the D does....

Can anyone tell me what the difference is between D3 and Vitamin D?

I asked the pharmacist at Walmart where the vitamin D was and he put this bottle of D3 in my hand and I wonder if I should take it...I assumed he knew what he was giving me...stupid me, yet again!  hehe

Rena
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Avatar universal
Forgot to add.........

On the side of the vitamin bottle it states that "D3 is a more potent and active for of D2."
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Avatar universal
When I went to my MS support group last week, we had a physican as a guest speaker.  He specifically said that D3 was much better than D or D2.  He also said that the best dosage was 2000iu daily or more for a D deficiency.  He listed the symptoms of D overdose, but stated that 2000iu daily was no where near enough to cause an overdose, even if your D levels were fine.  He then said to talk to your doctor about it specifically before starting to take it.

Of course, me being me, I just started taking it anyway.  I could only find D3 in 400iu at the store I went to.  They are little gelcaps and easy to swallow.  I figured I would start with 400 and then when I see my dr in two weeks, I will ask him about it and increase the dosage if needed.

HTH
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Avatar universal
I'm pretty sure there's no such thing as plain D, and that when just D is said, what is meant is D3. I take D3, and what Elaine mentions is also D3.

There's no evidence that this will help (thus far), but in reasonable doses it certainly won't hurt either.

ess
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335728 tn?1331414412
Well the ones I got are dry tablets of D3...not gelcaps so I figure I will take em anyway and see what my level is next time I see the lying gp.  These one are Jamieson and I figured that they were just glorified Vitamin D but figured I should check!

Thanks Wobbly for saying hello and thanks Kathy for your information...helpful as always!

Lots of Hugs,

Rena
Helpful - 0
405614 tn?1329144114
I know that in previous discussions about Vitamin D, it came up that D3 gel caps were the kind to take.  I asked my GPs advice nurse about it, as I had some tablets that said Dry Vitamin D on the bottle.  

She replied that there is no scientific evidence that the D3 gel caps work better, but that a lot of their patients had better results with them, that there was plenty of anectdotal evidence to support that use of D3 gel caps.

I asked Elaine (monotreme) about it a while back, and she told me that the D3 gel caps were the best, and suggested a couple of brands that she thougth were the best, including NOW.  She's done a lot of research on the subject!

So, my guess would be that D3 is the right thing to take, though I don't know what the difference is between the two.  Did you get the gel caps?

After a couple of months taking 1000iu of the dry D tablets, my vitamin D levels went up just a little, so it worked.  I have some gel caps now, and I hope they will work better.  My GP wants my level at 60, and when last tested it was 56.  It's in the normal range, but she thinks that with my neurological issues, it should be at least 60.

She's good that way; when my Ferritin level was low, she put me on supplements, and had me keep taking them until they reached a level well up in the normal range, since I have Restless Leg Syndrome and it gets worse with lower levels of iron.

Anyway, sorry for the long answer to a short question.  :o)  I should be doing housework and I'd rather be communicating with friends.

Kathy
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293157 tn?1285873439
Hi Rena.. sorry can't help with this one.. not sure what the difference is...maybe someone with knowlege will let us know.. take care
wobbly
undx
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