Thank you so much for your information Hutchinson. That Oregon website answered a lot of my questions about altitude.

I'll have to try getting out in the sun more once it gets warm enough around here. It's still too cold to show skin other than my face and hands when I go walking for my work breaks. Will also have to do more hiking and camping this year, too.

Last year I did eat my lunch outside in the sun and found that I didn't burn too badly after a while. I would get a little red, but it would go away within an hour, so it might have been just the heat. Now being on the high fat/low carb diet and taking Omega 3s I should do better this year.

I found this bit from http://www.sunarc.org/ask.htm
"The higher surface elevation of most states west of the Rocky Mountains is one reason why UVB is higher and mortality from internal cancers is lower than east of the Rockies (see the maps at www.sunarc.org). A second reason is that the column ozone is lower west of the Rockies since the prevailing westerly winds have to push over the Rockies and, in doing so, push up the tropopause and make for a thinner stratosphere. A third reason is that more people live in urban areas in the east and, as a result, spend more time indoors."

These are the amounts Dr Cannell suggests work best with Vitamin D3
It's likely you will need to use 10,000iu/d vitamin D3 so you will need to DOUBLE those amounts. I feel that most people will have sufficient calcium food sources and as calcium is better used from dietary as compared with supplements sources you are better off not using a calcium supplement.

Ted,
Do you have any thoughts on tanning beds for vitamin d supplementation?

Here's to the journey,
Debi

Providing you are sure they are producing UVB they will be fine providing you only ever have short sessions and don't shower/rub down after.
For people living in towns they are probably better than sunlight as you can't guarantee (unless you have a UVB meter) that UVB is reaching the ground where you are living. You need low pressure tubes with high UVB output. So you have to ask and be sure the people at the tanning studio understand the UVB output of the tubes they use and have an idea of how many hours their tubes have been used for. UVB output tends to decline after 500hrs use so a busy tanning place could have tubes that only give out UVA and thus only damage skin. If you have your own sunbed with NEW UVB output tubes and you just use it for 3 x 15mins a week you know you've got a good while to go before the tubes are replaced but if they are being used 7~10hrs daily the 500hrs would be soon used up.

Cost wise your better off with supplements. You are not going to get a years supply of suntan bed use for $23.95.
There are some advantages of getting Vit d through skin though, particularly for people with inflamed intestines. but also because when the UVB converts cholesterol to vit d there is a whole bunch of other stuff happening that MAY be important but because we haven't sussed it all out yet we can't be sure.

One thing we can be sure of though is that too long under UVB damages the vitamin D you've just made and damage to the skin (sunburn) at that point means the mechanism to protect and repair your skin is not working properly so whatever you do, don't get burnt.

I am glad I found this. I am sending this thread to my brother-in-law's siter who has POCOs. My mom was on the wrong vitamin D. I caught it early enough, but she would not listen to me. I discussed vitamin D3 with her a year before she wnet into kidney failure. She didn't bother to check on it because she took for granted that the doctor knew what he was doing. If you can't question your doctor then you need to get a new doctor.

I just got the results of my vitamin D levels this week and am pleased to say that 15,000 iu's daily for the past month has increased my vitamin D, 25 OH, D3 from 25 to 71. AND I feel GREAT! I am cutting my dosage down to 10,000 iu's daily and will be retested in May.

I have a question about lamps that people use to help with SAD - the lamps simulate natural sunlight. Will that help with Vitamin D3 levels?

NO Those lights only produce full spectrum VISIBLE light.
UV light is NOT VISIBLE so doesn't count.
You need UVB to make vitamin D and if SADLIGHTS contained UVB they would burn their eyes out. In the same way you shouldn't look directly into the sun.

Bright light works in SAD as it switches off the production of melatonin during the day making people less tired and more energetic. It then means there is better production of melatonin in the evening and thus they sleep better. Restoring the natural melatonin rhythm helps lots of different systems in the body and all sorts of different conditions.

However the best way of dealing with SAD isn't by just treating the symptoms with SADLIGHT therapy but preventing the condition before it starts by correcting vitamin D deficiency during the summer and keeping 25(OH)D levels around 60ng/ml 150nmol/l throughout the winter.
If you keep vitamin D levels at the peak summer level throughout the year you eliminate the possibility of winter depression. Vitamin D is a brain anti inflammatory agent and so prevents the depression before it gets started. It works best in conjunction with omega 3 and magnesium both of which are also brain anti inflammatory agents that work in the brain.