Hoppy,

You need to provide context with a post like this.  What we need is your assessment of the TV segment.

For example... Who is "they"?

Did it appear to be a "Hit Job" against the use of vitamin D3?  Big Pharma spends millions funding opposition research and fear mongering articles that downplay the benefits vitamin D3 in an attempt to scare people from taking it.

Was credible medical evidence cited?  In other words, were the assertions made during the TV segment based on a gold standard RCT, i.e., a randomized, double blind, placebo controlled clinical trial or were they based on a meta-analysis retrospective, study of studies where the authors/investigators used junk science cooking the odds and risk data like the global warming hacks with their bogus "Hockey Stick" chart showing a sharp rise in global warming temperatures?

I review studies involving vitamin D3 cholecalciferol as the intervention almost daily.  What I look for is the study design, i.e., was it a gold standard RCT?  Did it use a minimum effective vitamin D3 dose of 10,000 IU/day or greater for a minimum period of at least 6 months or greater.  I also look for frequent labs for 25(OH)D. Without the 25(OH)D response data, there's no way of knowing if a therapeutic dose was reached. 

If a study uses less than 4000 IU/day vitamin D3 for a period of less than 6 months... it was likely designed to conclude the null hypothesis... i.e., vitamin D3 provided no apparent clinical benefit...

For example, clinicaltrials.gov lists 17 studies with vitamin D3 as the intervention and prostate cancer as the condition being treated. 

Of the 17, one was a complete joke using a vitamin D3 dose of 200 IU/day and only two used a vitamin D3 dose of 10,000 IU/day or greater for 6 months or longer. Of the two, only one had data on the 25(OH)D response as an outcome measure. 

That study was a "open label" prospective interventional dose comparative study with arms of 4000 IU/day, 6,000 IU/day, 8,000 IU/day and 10,000 IU/day. Although the assignment was randomized, it was not a gold standard RCT.

So there you have it...  I know you've been very supportive of the anti-inflammatory regimen in preventing CH, but we all need to be critical when reviewing data from studies listing vitamin D3 as the intervention...

Take care,

V/R, Batch

Hoppy,

That's the type of context I was looking for in your original post.  It would be interesting to run the trap line on the so called "experts" you watched on the telly.

Comments like that typically come from hacks on the take from Big Pharma... or people with little or no real credible experience as a practicing nutritionist, endocrinologist or researcher.

If you want to read some learned papers, studies and opinions about the latest findings in vitamin D3 research and therapy from real experts...  google the following names: Reinhold Vieth, Ph.D., Dr. Robert P. Heaney, M.D., Dr. Michael F. Holick, Ph.D., M.D., Dr. Cedric F. Garland, M.D., P.H.  When they speak about vitamin D3... consider it coming from the burning bush.

Thanks and take care.

V/R, Batch

Hey Sylvanwood,

Good move upping your vitamin D3 dose to 5,000 IU/day.  10,000 IU/day is very safe and it will help prevent your CH better than 5,000 IU/day.  You also need to take the vitamin D3 cofactors: 400 mg/day magnesium, 10 mg/day zinc, 1 mg/day boron, and vitamin A (retinol) at RDA...

The following should help:

The odds are you’re vitamin D3 deficient and that deficiency is contributing to the frequency, severity and duration of your headaches.

Confirming a vitamin D3 deficiency is easy…  See your PCP for the lab test of your serum 25(OH)D, total calcium and PTH (Parathyroid Hormone)  The total calcium and PTH will be used as a baseline for subsequent labs after your 25(OH)D has stabilized around 80 ng/mL.  25(OH)D is the serum level metabolite of vitamin D3 that's used to measure its status.

The normal reference range of 25(OH)D is 30 to 100 ng/mL (75 to 250 nmol/L).  However, most physicians will interpret 31 ng/mL as normal.  While that may be true and a high enough concentration to prevent rickets... it's far too low to prevent CH.  eCHers need to have their 25(OH)D up in a range between 60 to 110 ng/mL (150 to 275 nmol/L).  The target 25(OH)D serum concentration is 80 ng/mL (200 nmol/L).

Over the last five years at least 600 cluster headache sufferers (CHers) have started the anti-inflammatory regimen of vitamins and minerals with at least 10,000 IU/day vitamin D3.  83% of them have experienced a significant reduction in the frequency, severity and duration of their CH.  75% experienced multiple 24-hour pain free periods and 60% remain essentially pain free.  This regimen is equally effective for episodic and chronic CHers.  This regimen is also effective for Migraineurs in preventing their headaches.

The following table represents the latest list of anti-inflammatory regimen supplements and doses:

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I've found the following supplements shown by brand in the photo below are formulated with most of the supplements we need.  I buy them at Costco, but you should be able to find similar formulations at most Vitamin Shoppes, supermarkets, Wall-Mart or over the Internet:

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If you can’t get to a Costco outlet, a CHer in the UK has found a source for all the needed supplements at iherb.com.  See his post at the following link for details on how to order them over the Internet:

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The vitamin B 50 Complex is not shown.  You’ll need a 3-month course of vitamin B 50 Complex to handle any deficiencies among the seven B vitamins.  One tablet a day for three month will be fine. Although the Super K with vitamin K2 complex isn't essential in preventing CH, it is needed to handle the increased serum calcium made available by taking vitamin D3 at the doses we take.

Regarding the BS about 1000 mg vitamin D3 causing prostate cancer...  It is just... BS... 

Why would someone say that?  Simple... Big Pharma and too many physicians on the take from Big Pharma are suffering severe anal leakage over the benefits of vitamin D3 in treating a wide variety of medical disorders...  They charge around $5000 a dose for Humira (and make Billions of dollars a year selling Humira) when 12 cents a day vitamin D3 would have better results in many cases with none of the adverse side effects of Humira.

Take care and please keep us posted.

V/R, Batch

Hey Sylvanwood,

Thanks for the reply and update.  Regarding strength and purity of vitamin and mineral supplements, I look for the USP logo shown below.
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That means the product bearing this label has been tested by an independent lab for strength and purity.  It also indicates the production facilities for these supplements have been inspected for proper health safety practices.

There's a lot of Cheap Charlie crap coming from China and elsewhere disguised as vitamin and mineral supplements... Seeing the USP logo means you're getting the right supplement at the listed strength.

Take care and please keep us posted.  V/R, Batch