Contrary to what some doctors tell you, it is really hard to fix a Vitamin D deficiency with dietary supplements. Go to a tanning salon and get 250,000IUs in 10 minutes. Of course this is going to be a bit weird if you are naturally dark skinned, but far more effective than taking pills.
Citation? I ask because I'm interested in making sure I'm healthy, not to just be a jerk on the internet, and if that's true I'm doing something wrong.
No citations exist. My comment was directed at the grandparent whose original symptoms warranted taking dangerous MAOIs. In that case, I would consider an off literature treatment to fix the vitamin D deficiency as fast as possible. Tanning beds are carcinogenic and not recommended for general health.
I started taking MAOIs while trying to deal with depression. SSRIs had pretty severe cognitive side-effects for me, and low doses of transdermal MAOIs have a better risk profile than traditional oral MAOIs. You're right about dangerous, though. I first started modafinil while on the MAOI, and didn't find out that it didn't work for me off of it until I stopped using the MAOI due to apparent serotonin toxicity, which you don't want to screw around with.
Oral vitamin D is not taken up by the body all that well. If you do have a D deficiency and you're taking oral supplements, be sure to get your levels checked after 6 months. You may need to up your dose or get some direct sunlight.
For me at least, this is certainly true. Even with significant dietary supplements and spending more time outside, I've only been able to get up to about 25 ng/mL. This is a significant improvement for me, as my initial levels were below the sensitivity of the test, at <0.25 ng/mL, but still not ideal. I hadn't considered visiting a tanning salon; I may try that soon if things aren't notably improved after the next time I get this tested.
