Vit D3/Cholecalciferol in pregnancy

[baby22012]

Hi. So pleased to have been referred to this site.
I've just begun the second trimester and my Vit D3 levels are at 17 ng/ml. The normal range is stated to be 30-100 ng/ml.
My obstetrician has advised Calcirol (Cholecalciferol) sachets twice a week for a month. Each sachet contains Cholecalciferol 60000 IU.

I'm trying to increase my sunlight exposure, but I'm concerned about the safety of this high dose of Vit D3. Is it safe to take during pregnancy or should I be taking smaller doses more frequently?
Don't want to start it until I'm sure it will be safe for the baby.

Your ideas, suggestions, experiences are welcome! Looking forward to getting some info, thanks a lot!

[admin]

baby22012:

The use of high doses of Vitamin D appear to be somewhat teratogenic in animals, but we've not seen this in humans. There are several studies in patients with hypocalcemia, where doses of 100,000IU/day did not produce any side effects at all.

At this point we generally consider these doses not to be teratogenic. Therefore, using only 60,000 iU twice weekly is probably safe.

Tom Hale Ph.D.

[baby22012]

Thanks for the reply. I've been speaking to a friend meanwhile (M. Pharm) who also thought that the extra dose will go towards covering the deficiency and the spike created by 60,000 IU as a dose should do no harm.
So eventually, I've decided to go ahead with taking 60,000 IU every 5 days (instead of twice a week) and get sun exposure regularly as well. Hopefully the levels should come up within the normal range within a month...

Thanks once again, it's reassuring to be able to have discussions, viewpoints and experiences shared.

Best wishes!