June 2, 2017
Great information, but please proceed with cautionBy cmd on August 12, 2015
Format: Paperback|Verified Purchase
I believe there is much merit to the basic healing properties of Vit D in combination with Vit K2 for joints as indicated in this book, and I am so very thankful to Jeff Bowles for relaying his very positive outcome. I have suffered from severe osteoarthritis in both knees and left hip for about 12-15 years. After having one full knee replacement with an unsatisfactory outcome about a year ago at age 62, I was desperate to try most anything to hopefully gain some benefit to my other joints. I had already been taking doses of 5,000 units of Vit D for several years after finding my tested level to be very low. However, neither my rheumatologist, nor my primary care physician, ever mentioned taking K2 with it; therefore, I was not experiencing much joint benefit from these higher doses. After reading Jeff’s book and upon having my Vit D level tested now to be at 45, I decided to give this experimental protocol a try. I raised my Vit D to 10,000, then 20,000, and eventually 30,000 units within a short time (about 10 days) while supplementing with Jeff’s recommended K2 equivalent (one Super K per 10,000 units). I was already taking magnesium regularly but also increased that slightly more. I quickly began experiencing the increased pain from remodeling in my joints and had to back off to 20,000 units for several weeks because of it. After about 4-5 weeks into the trial, I started to experience intermittent ringing in my ears, but ignored it thinking perhaps my blood pressure was a bit high even though I generally have nearly perfect blood pressure readings. It went about 2 weeks until I got around to checking my BP and found it to be normal. By this time, the tinnitus became constant so I started searching the Internet to find answers. I read of one other person who experienced this side effect with high doses of Vit D. I also read that some medications can be toxic to the ears; therefore, I stopped the Vit D to see if the ringing would go away. It has been about 3 weeks now and the tinnitus is still constant. However, my joint pain has diminished about 15-20% since before starting the D/K2 regimen, for which I am most thankful. Also, my deeply ridged and brittle fingernails are much improved. I just wish that I could have continued with this trial longer or had known about this protocol years ago when I started taking high doses of Vit D. While it is most likely rare to have this annoying side effect of tinnitus from high doses of Vit D, I felt compelled to warn anyone trying this experiment to stop at the first sign of it and proceed ith caution because the consequences could be permanent. Best of luck to all.
UPDATE: Discovered that it may have been the Super K capsules from Lef.org that caused my tinnitus because I switched to Vitacost MK7 for a few weeks without taking any Vit D3 and the tinnitus appeared to calm down a bit. I decided to start taking the Super K every other day just to use them up, and after taking just one capsule of Super K, the tinnitus came back with a vengeance. I was most likely getting too much K1 when I was taking 3 per day with the higher doses of Vit D3. As a side note, my sister developed an allergic rash from the Super K capsules and had to stop taking them. Sure wish they made Super K without the K1 since it doesn’t do anything for your bones or heart.