Vitamin D - Oral, injection and patch

[DSRIGGS]

So before my revision surgery on 8/18 my vitamin D level was 39. Dr K gave me an injection of D the day before surgery. This week I had labs drawn and the D level is now 62.

I emailed Dr K last night and told him my results, and I asked him if he thought the improvement was from improved absorption or from the injection. He said he believes strongly it was the injection because people who don't get good results with Oral D have great results with the injection.

That made me think about a thread I saw here a while ago about the Vitamin D patches that are out there some places now. I asked Dr K about the patch and his response was that he would stay away from the patches as the results are very unpredictable.

His comments were interesting and I thought I would share what one of the top Bariatric surgeons in the world thought about this topic.

 

[DBmom23]

Thanks Scott--I have trouble with pills and was thinking of the patch but this gives me pause. I will wait to see how my first set of labs look with 50K per day.

 

[robs477]

Scott, this is something I’ve been wanting to post and discuss and get opinions on and have been meaning to post a similar question. Many months ago, I decided to be a lab rat and experiment on the combined Patch MD calcium & D patch. I use it 5 days a week and do the regular pill stuff two days a week because those are usually swim days. SO FAR….my results seem to show that they work. Pre-surgery my D was 37 and it is up to 44, (30-100 scale) and my calcium was 9.5, (8.5-10.5 scale). Not super high on the D, but still in range and even more importantly to me….rising and at least holding its own. I remember a lot of vets on here being skeptical and Diana gave several technical reasons why it might not be good, but I can’t find the dag gumb thread.

 

[DSRIGGS]

Scott, this is something I’ve been wanting to post and discuss and get opinions on and have been meaning to post a similar question. Many months ago, I decided to be a lab rat and experiment on the combined Patch MD calcium & D patch. I use it 5 days a week and do the regular pill stuff two days a week because those are usually swim days. SO FAR….my results seem to show that they work. Pre-surgery my D was 37 and it is up to 44, (30-100 scale) and my calcium was 9.5, (8.5-10.5 scale). Not super high on the D, but still in range and even more importantly to me….rising and at least holding its own. I remember a lot of vets on here being skeptical and Diana gave several technical reasons why it might not be good, but I can’t find the dag gumb thread.

hahaha rob you sound like me...I suck at searching for threads

Yeah, Dr K didn't say why he just said the patches are unpredictable and he didn't recommend them. So I am going to speculate and think maybe he believes there is variation from the manufacturers or maybe the transmission rate into the muscle just isn't good?

As far as the D goes I am not convinced my numbers are up just because of the injection..which I do believe works so it is weird that Dr K doesn't think the patches work well. It would seem that the patch should work if the shot into muscle works. I seem to be absorbing everything better now and all my values are up, so I think it might be a combination of improved absorption and the injection because I know I have never been at 62 before.

So we shall see.

and BTW this is exactly why I started this thread. I wanted to see what people are seeing because I figured at least a few people would be using the patch

 

[cheryl baker]

I am currently running a test in cooporation with my endo. I switched from calcium powder to the patch. I lowered my D pill from 2 a day to 1 1 day than 2 1 day. We are going to do this for 3 months and see if we can get my levels to budge. My calcium level just will not go up

 

[southernlady]

I am currently running a test in cooporation with my endo. I switched from calcium powder to the patch. I lowered my D pill from 2 a day to 1 1 day than 2 1 day. We are going to do this for 3 months and see if we can get my levels to budge. My calcium level just will not go up

And I suspect your D is gonna hit the toilet and your PTH will go sky high.

 

[Soontobelovely]

Can anyone tell me how many pills are taken daily and the approx. cost per month? Seems like the vitalady's monthly packages cost about $115.

 

[southernlady]

Can anyone tell me how many pills are taken daily and the approx. cost per month? Seems like the vitalady's monthly packages cost about $115.

It all depends on your labs.

I personally take between 29-30 (depending on whether it's the weekend or not).

And I don't need A, E, any of the B's. But I am taking two kinds of oral iron, and twice the amount of K on the Vitalady list.

START with her list and adjust to your labs. And I never did the prepackaged since many of those are ones I don't need according to my labs. I buy the bottles and sort my own.

 

[Soontobelovely]

Thanks SL
Are you familiar with Bariatric Advantage?
Seems like their formula is for DS specific as well but much more reasonable in cost and the # of pills. Any opinion(s)?

 

[bearmom]

I am currently running a test in cooporation with my endo. I switched from calcium powder to the patch. I lowered my D pill from 2 a day to 1 1 day than 2 1 day. We are going to do this for 3 months and see if we can get my levels to budge. My calcium level just will not go up

I have yet to see any data that the patch actually does much. I don't get the plan with your D - I wouldn't reduce ANYthing, and add patches, and maybe even up the other types too.

 

[bearmom]

So before my revision surgery on 8/18 my vitamin D level was 39. Dr K gave me an injection of D the day before surgery. This week I had labs drawn and the D level is now 62.

I emailed Dr K last night and told him my results, and I asked him if he thought the improvement was from improved absorption or from the injection. He said he believes strongly it was the injection because people who don't get good results with Oral D have great results with the injection.

That made me think about a thread I saw here a while ago about the Vitamin D patches that are out there some places now. I asked Dr K about the patch and his response was that he would stay away from the patches as the results are very unpredictable.

His comments were interesting and I thought I would share what one of the top Bariatric surgeons in the world thought about this topic.

I've been following anyone using the D patches, hopeful but skeptical. Sadly, I haven't seen anyone with results that impress me yet.