I asked this a while back and got no answers, so I'm trying again. For parents with T1 and biological (or not!) children, do you supplement with vit D? If so, how much? I give my son 400 IU/day (I think that's the measurement...), but wonder if this is enough or not. Thanks!
Hey Sarah - my son was diagnosed about 18 months ago - he was not VD deficient at that time but the last time we went for a clinic visit they checked again and now he is. The Endo prescribed 8 weeks of 50,000 units (once a week), followed by 8 weeks of 1000 units of calcium (once a day), followed by 800 units of VD daily... they'll check again in 6 months. I've also heard that 10 minutes of sunshine a day will do the trick and I wonder if that is true because last summer we had so much rain that we were not outside as much as usual and that fall is when he was found to be VD deficient.
Hope this helps but remember to confirm with your Endo - best wishes - Heather
PS - I see from your photo your child is much younger - my son is 12.
Thanks so much for your response! Unfortunately, my adult endo wasn't keen on giving me advice on a child/not her patient. I asked his pedi about it, and b/c the data is so limited about the benefits of Vit D in preventing auto-immune illnesses, she was very conservative, and just said to give him a multi-vit w/ D. I just worry whether it's enough, esp if us "auto-immune people" (ha, ha, I made up that term) tend to be low on vit D. I mean, I was found slightly low in vit D recently, and my son and I are outside at least twice a day. I guess I just have to hope for the best, but I'd feel bad if he were diagnosed and I hadn't done everything I could!
I wait and hear if any other pedi's had different advice... Thanks everyone!
My 16 year old T1 was Vit D deficient at his annual check in May. Pediatric endo said to give him 600 a day, I think. (I'm not at home, so I can't doublecheck dosage I bought for him.) I know he didn't take any of the pills I sent with him while he was away for 6 weeks this summer, but I wasn't too worried because he was outside more than usual. And I know he's outside a lot this week as a junior counselor at diabetic camp. :-)
My 13 year old not T1 was vit D def last fall and his doctor had him do 5000 daily.
I was vD def in February and my nurse practioner went with the whooping 50,000 pills once a week for six weeks. They'll check me again later this month. And I don't do sunshine---not even 10 minutes a day. I'd be fried. Seriously. And five minutes straight in the sun makes between my calves and ankles swell up and turn rashy. This is a new development for which all the medical people look at me like I'm nutso.
I think age is a big factor is how vit. D def. is supposed to be handled. I saw a chart my nurse practitioner was using, but I don't remember what it said.