Rumeke,

As far as vitamin D3 goes, most episodic CH'ers are staying on a maintenance dose of 10,000 IU/day when not in cycle.  If that drives your 25(OH)D above 110, drop back to 8,000 IU/day.

As far as calcium supplements go... I agree with Brew... I'm 69... and at our age, we need calcium.  Talk with your cardiologist about taking calcium supplements with your verapamil.  You might want to ask about a BP cuff too. 

Costco and most drug stores carry them for around $50.  With one of these on hand you can measure your BP for yourself on a daily basis...  If calcium supplements are decreasing the therapeutic effect of verapamil and your BP goes up... then you've got decisions to make on a sound basis...

Again, talk with your cardiologist. Additional Omega-3 Fish Oil 2000 to 3000 mg/day and CholestOff may help lower your BP.  They brought my BP back in the green zone while I was taking an immunosuppressant with a known side effect of elevated cholesterol, triglycerides and BP... 

I was taking it as part of the treatment protocol during a clinical trial for an eye condition...  Not only did the addition Omega-3 Fish Oil and CholestOffuy bring my BP down, it also brought my total cholesterol and triglycerides back into the normal reference range... and I was still taking the immunosuppressant...

When I researched the requirement for calcium in the anti-inflammatory regimen, I came across an interesting article in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition...  Calcium homeostasis, the built-in mechanism our bodies use to regulate serum calcium in a very narrow range, is very powerful...  Taking vitamin D3 at the doses we use to prevent cluster headaches turbocharges calcium homeostasis making this mechanism even more powerful...

Under normal conditions where sufficient dietary calcium is present in the gut,  the overall flow of calcium goes from the gut with the help from vitamin D3 and PTH, through the blood stream to build bone mineral density (BMD)...

However, if there is insufficient calcium in the gut from dietary sources, calcium homeostasis takes it from the bones to maintain optimum serum calcium... 

Bottom line... total calcium serum concentrations will still be within the normal reference range even when calcium is being pulled from the bones...

That's why I added 500 mg/day calcium to this regimen...  I did this more as an insurance policy to prevent BMD loss as the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for adults for calcium is 1000 mg/day.

Eating a well balanced diet meets most if not all of our calcium requirements... but it never hurts to add food types highest in calcium.

The following link provides information on food types high in calcium density:

Multimedia File Viewing and Clickable Links are available for Registered Members only!!  You need to or

I'm a cheese head (I eat a couple ounces of cheese a day) and I keep a jar of mixed nuts with lots of almonds next to the computer for snacks...

Don't forget the vitamin K2 (MK-4 & MK-7).  These two types of vitamin K2 play a significant role in directing serum calcium away from soft tissues and arteries towards building BMD...

Take care, talk with your cardiologist, and please keep us posted.

V/R, Batch