I just received my results from the lab.  My D3 level was at 216ng/ml.  I had shingles and a blast from the Beast.  I went on a prednisone taper for 18 days and wiped out both the shingles and the Beast!  I followed Batch's recommendations and I have been taking 10K Vit D3 as a maintenance dose.  I guess I will titrate down to 2000iu and test again in 30 days.  Any other ideas? :-?

Read through the messages I had exchanged with Batch.  So helpful!  Anyhoo, I will go off the D3 for a little less than 2 weeks.  Then, I will add the D3 back at 5k iu....  stay on the rest of the regimen.  Tweaking is not fun but I am pf and not on drugs!  Woo hoo

Hey Emjay,

Sorry you had such a rough time...  Vitamin D3 should help prevent shingles.  That said, the shingles may have triggered your immune system into consuming most of the 25(OH)D and the active metabolite, 1,25(OH)2D3.  That would explain the lack of CH prevention...  Prednisone also slows vitamin D3 metabolism.

Assuming you've no parathyroid problems with higher than normal parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels... a 25(OH)D serum concentration of 212 ng/mL is a bit high, but nothing to worry about as it will drop rapidly even while taking a 10,000 IU/day maintenance dose of vitamin D3.

The target 25(OH)D serum concentration is a range between 70 and 80 ng/mL...

Make sure you're taking all the other vitamin D3 cofactors with at least 1000 mg/day Omega-3 fish oil and 400 mg/day magnesium. 

You can also cut the calcium and double the Omega-3 to 2000 mg/day... that may help.

Take care, hang in there and please keep me posted.

V/R, Batch

Thanks, Batch. The shingles were very mild (lucky me) and I have been off the prednisone for a month now.   I waited to be pf for a month before taking the blood test, about two weeks after the prednisone.  What you say makes sense, though.  I'll take the co-factors.  I'll take a break from the D3 and resume in 8-10 days.  I will test then, too.  The last thing I want to do is wake the Beast; this is the time of year I get zapped.