Hey Mellie,

Sorry to hear about your friend.... since they don't know, there is still hope about regaining his eyesight. 

Thanks for the post.... here's one for you.  What happens if you have high blood pressure and your doctor is trying out different pills and none seem to want to bring down the BP to a normal level especially for the Systolic.... I think I'm at about 145-160 depending... and 80-90 the other one Diastolic.... hmmmm maybe I need a vacation!

Take you!

xoox

That should read, "Take Care You"!

Spry,

I'd ask for a higher dose, or one in conjunction with it.  I take atenolol and Maxzide, and my blood pressure remains normal. But it takes both to do it.  Take care of you too!

Melissa.

Pinkers, I cherish my eyesight too....it does vary from year to year for me too.  One thing I dont want to be is blind!

Melissa.

Make sure to get his vitamin D tested for deficiency. Vitamin D is now known to be hugely associated with high blood pressure. 50-78% of the US population is D deficient. If he is D deficient, be sure he gets to a good doctor who knows how to treat the deficiency. Many doctors do not know how to treat it. There is information about vitamin D on my profile. Good luck.

Larissa

Isn't there usually enough Vit D in milk?  I guzzle the stuff.  I even pack icepacks when I go hiking and camping because I can't live without my milk..... I should just get a pet goat or something.... although milk from cow is better.... but.... I'm lactose intolerant so goat milk would be better anyway..... ha ha ha 

My sister once said of my letters that I jump from thought to thought so quick it makes her head spin... Hope the above ramblings made some sort of sense.

xoxo

Sini

There is lots of vitaminD in milk.  You can also get it from sunlight.  Not sure how much sun skin penetration needed to meet the RDA, but at one point I believe it was 15 minutes.  Does anyone know?

Melissa.

Hi, Everyone, I couldn't believe that I had become vitamin D deficient.  I used to eat lots of fish every week, I have always drunk lots of milk, and I always used to get a good amount of sun.  But I wear sunscreen, and sunscreen blocks >99% of the UV-B rays that cause vitamin D to be synthesized in the skin. Milk has been tested and found to contain little or no vitamin D despite what is advertised, and farmed salmon only contains 25% the vitamin D of wild caught salmon.  Canned tuna has no vitamin D where fresh tuna has 200 IU's per serving, and I eat canned tuna. Also, before my deficiency was found, I went out later in the afternoon because I had learned over the years that mid-day sun is stronger and more apt to cause skin cancer. I was exposing myself to mid-day sun, with sunscreen on, with and the sun wasn't even at a high enough angle to synthesize vitamin D anyway. Not a good combination! In the winter, at latitudes above Los Angeles, California, there is literally no vitamin D synthesis from sun exposure because the angle of the sun is too low. The rule is that your shadow must be shorter than you to synthesize vitamin D through the sun. So, it's actually quite easy to become vitamin D deficient. Once you become deficient, the standard 400 IU USRDA will not raise your level high enough to get you into normal range. Full body exposure (shorts and a tank top or bikini) for 15-20 minutes or until you turn just pink if you are light-skinned will give you 10,000-20,000 IU's. Dark-skinned people need 3 times as much sun exposure for the same amount of vitamin D synthesi. Exposing face and arms for the same length produces about 1000 IU's.  For Canada and Europe, this is in micrograms instead of IU's. Multiply IU's by 0.025 = micrograms. 10,000-20,000 = 100-250 micrograms.

Thank youf for that info !  I never knew that.

Melissa.

Hi, Pinkers, if your aunt can't absorb vit D, check magnesium. A 1974 Lancet article (Lancet is one of the most prestigious scientific journals and very difficult to get into) studied children who came in with severe rickets (did you know rickest is still showing up in hospitals today??). The children were given 600,000 IU's a day for ten days, which appears to have been the treatment then for severe rickets. Their rickets did not resolve. A doctor by chance happened to notice that both children had low magnesium levels. They were given magnesium, and now the vitamin D levels increased! This is one reason I mention magnesium on my profile along with vitamin D. I would definitely check your aunt's dietary intake, and then ask her doctor to run a blood test. For me, I had debilitating muscle cramps while taking vitamin D megadoses, and my doctor and I figured out that I was low on magnesium. I hope this helps. 

Larissalle,

Thanks for all the information.  I'll have to take a serious look into it!

No, no headaches, maybe a slight one but not enough to need to take anything for it.

Melissa.