How often might 50,000 IU vitamin D be taken - results of clinical trials

There have been many extremely successful vitamin D intervention trials.
Often the trials are random-controlled and double-blind: neither the doctor nor the subject knows who gets it
The trials listed in the following table are sorted by the number of days between doses of 50,000 IU.
It appears that the higher the dose of vitamin D, the more diseases which are prevented or treated.

Days between 50,000 IU	Health Problem	Prevent Treat Recover	Reduction in symptoms or number of people with symptoms	RCT = Random Controlled Trial CT = Clinical Trial	Proof #*
2	Traumatic Brain Injury	T	2X	RCT, 20,000 IU	24
2	Raynaud's Syndrome	T	40 %	RCT, visual scale	10
2	Multiple Sclerosis	R	95% Recovered	CT, 20K-140,K IU/day +Vit B2	43
3	Sickle Cell	T	Less pain	RCT up to 100,000 IU/week	22
4	Sleep disorder	R	Recovered	CT, 60-80 ng +Vit B12
5	Muscle fatigue	T	Reduced	CT, 20,000 IU every 2nd day
5	Back Pain	T	95% reduced	CT, 5,000-10,000/day
5	Cluster Headaches	R	80% cured	CT, 10,000/day+ Omega-3 etc.
5	Parkinson's Disease	T	Ongoing Trial	RCT, 50,000 IU/week
7	Leg ulcer healing	T	4X faster	RCT, 50,000 IU/week small study	23
7	Menstrual pain	P	76 %	RCT, 7000 IU avg	11
7	Skin problems resolved	T	70 %	RCT, 50,000 IU/week
7	Fibromyalgia	T	Significantly reduced	RCT, 50,000 IU/week
7	Multiple Sclerosis	P	68%	RCT, 7100 IU prevent pre-MS ==> MS	26
7	Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease	T	17X improvement	CT (not random), 50,000 IU/week	45
9	Chronic kidney disease	T	50 % not need dialysis	RCT, 40,000 IU / week
9	Gestational Diabetes	P	40%	RCT, 5,000 IU	44
9	Low vitamin D while breastfed	P	All > 20 ng	RCT, 5,000 IU	38
10	PAIN	T	not yet published	Clinical Trial, 34,590 IU/week
12	Diabetes T2	T	62 %	RCT, CRP reduction, 4000 IU	4
12	Pregnancy risks	P	50 %	RCT, 4000 IU	12
12	C-section, unplanned	P	50 %	RCT, 4000 IU, small study	13
12	Respiratory Tract Infection	P	63 %	RCT 4000 IU 1 year	20
12	Prostate Cancer	T	Fewer +cores	RCT, 4000 IU (2012)	35
12	Hives, Chronic	T	Reduced 40%	RCT, 4000 IU added	40
12	Muscle in seniors	T	+17 %	RCT, 4000 IU	30
14	Fibrolyalgia	T	Reduced	RCT, 30-48 ng	39
15	Lupus	T	No flares	Load then 100,000/month	21
	Note: due to short half life, should not take 50,000 IU any less frequently than about 18 days
21	Hypertension	T	149 to 142	RCT, mm Hg avg., 2400 IU	1
25	Influenza	P	90 %	RCT, 2000 IU	6
25	Gingivitis	T	88 %	RCT, 2000 IU	29
25	Antibiotic use when >70y	T	47 %	RCT, 60,000 IU/month	31
25	Weight Loss	T	Reduced extra 5 lbs	RCT, 2000 IU +diet +exercise	42
30	Asthma	T	Reduced	RCT, 60,000 IU/month	36
45	Parkinson's Disease	T	Stabilize	RCT, 1200 IU	25
45	Breast Cancer	P	60 %	RCT 1100 IU	16
50	Cardiovascular	T	32 % fewer deaths after heart failure	CT, 1,000 IU
50	Cholesterol	T	Reduced 4 mg	RCT, 400 IU + Ca	41

   * Proof # Vitamin D Proof: Random controlled Trials  Updated May 2014

PDF is attached at the bottom of this page June 2014 1pg Legal English

The following curve indicates that you probably want to take 50,000 IU of vitamin D at least every two weeks.

Notes on 50,000

• Lowest-cost form of vitamin D3 (about 2 cents per 5,000 IU)
• The half-life of vitamin D3 is measured in weeks - so taking 50,000 every few weeks is OK (the half-life of vitamin D2 is measured in days)
• This is the size of vitamin D that doctors have been used to prescribing for many decades - generally as a loading dose every week or two.
• Now doctors can prescribe Vitamin D3 instead of D2
• This has very low toxicity - even if accidentally taken daily, the toxicity does not occur until it has been taken daily for 3 months
• It can even be used by those who cannot swallow pills (the powder in the capsule is tasteless and can be taken directly or in food or beverage

Cofactors appear to be needed if dosing more frequently than every 20 days for months

• Must balance cofactors when increasing vitamin D
• Overview Vitamin D cofactors Calcium, Magnesium, Vitamin K2, etc.
  which increases vitamin D response and benefits bones and other parts of the body

Easy to remember to take vitamin D - just mark your calendar

• Just mark your calendar for vitamin D days
  I just put a colored dot on my day calendar to remind me when I should take my 50,000 IU again.

Bio-Tech Pharmacal started selling its 50,000 IU vitamin D capsules in the US in 2000.
As of March 2012, their 50,000 IU size was widely available in the US and on the internet.
They also sell 5,000 IU capsules. The 5,000 IU and 50,000 IU sizes are available both over the counter and as a prescription. These are NOT new products.
It is available on the internet via many suppliers, such as Amazon $20 for 100 capsules.
Bio-Tech has supplied products to over 40 institutions for use in clinical research, usually at no cost
The PDF attached at the bottom of this page details their US and international distributors as of Sept 2012.
The wholesale cost of 50,000 IU of D3 is about 15 cents. (D2. which doctors previously prescribed is much more expensive and not nearly as good
Their capsules are made from beef (non-pork: Kosher/Halal approved)
Vegi capsules (without beef) are available but are more expensive

As of Feb 2013, Bio-tech is 1 of 2 suppliers of 50,000 IU on Amazon (there is another company that has 25,000 IU capsules
As of Oct 2012, there were 41 public clinical trials using/had used Bio-Tech supplements
   28 of the clinical trials used 50,000 IU of vitamin D

    Summary is attached as a PDF file at the bottom of this page

See also VitaminDWiki

• Overview How Often to take vitamin D
• Overview Loading Doses of vitamin D
• Overview How Much vitamin D
• Half-life of vitamin D varies - virtually perfectly with a 50,000 IU capsule
• Do You need a Suncation or just vitamin D - Nov 2012
  • Get as much vitamin D from 4 capsules ($1) as from a 2-week vacation
• Is 50 ng of vitamin D too high, just right, or not enough
• Is too much vitamin D bad – possible causes and cures
• One pill every two weeks gives you all the vitamin D most adults need
• Better than Daily
• Diseases treated by high-dose Vitamin D - many studies
  • 258 studies with 50,000 In the title as of Sept 2023

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