Philosophical Vegan Forum

I was at the doctor today for something unrelated to nutrition, but the doctor happened to mention that my vitamin D levels are low. So she gave me a prescription for a higher dose, but I wanted to be sure that the vitamin D isn't animal derived. She checked, came back, and said it isn't, but after some contemplation about it, I'm still not sure it's safe...

I didn't really ask her about the capsules (I'm assuming they come in capsules), what if those aren't vegan? Don't some have gelatin or something? Would she know?

And how did she check? Did she check for a specific drugstore? Wouldn't it vary place to place?

It also just seems a bit strange to me that the vitamin D isn't animal derived, especially if it's D3, and I'm assuming it is because that's the more powerful form...

Maybe the people at the drugstore would know?

I'll do my best to answer what I know

Don't some have gelatin or something?

From what I have observed, capsules generally have gelatin, while tablets do not.

And how did she check? Did she check for a specific drugstore? Wouldn't it vary place to place?

I'd ask her next time you visit. Unless we have doctors on this forum?

Maybe the people at the drugstore would know?

I'd imagine they would not. However, I'd think they would let you check the ingredients yourself before you purchase it.

Have you considered correcting your diet so that it includes vitamin D? I believe you can vitamin D from certain varieties of mushrooms, sunlight, soy milk, orange juice, and apparently certain types of cereals! There are probably more vegan sources, but those are a few I can list off the top of my head.

Anyways I hope that helped a little bit?

You can buy vegan vitamin D supplements online, including D3 which has been made from a kind of lichen.
Most D3 is made from lanolin, which comes from sheep wool. However, it only takes a very small amount of supplement, so it isn't a very big deal (it's one of those cases of the tiny traces of something).

Writing a prescription for vitamin D is kind of silly. I don't know why the doctor did that (probably to make money, since she may charge for writing prescriptions, or pretend to be useful).
Also, 99.9% chance she just lied to you to get you to go away and take the pill. She has no idea. She didn't check. She went into the other room, and looked at some cat pictures on her phone, then came back and told you they were vegan.

But yes, you should take vitamin D.
Here ya go: http://vitashine-d3.com/

Or get 10-20 minutes of sunlight a day. But it's better to take a supplement, on account of sun being harmful.

I end up walking outside for 20-30 minutes a day, so I don't usually need to supplement.

I didn't really ask her about the capsules (I'm assuming they come in capsules), what if those aren't vegan? Don't some have gelatin or something? Would she know?

Yes, they probably have gelatin, or lactose, or something else. Unless the formulation is intentionally vegan (which isn't hard to do, but for some reason everybody likes to add in animal products for fun) it's probably not.
That said, if medication is necessary for health and there's not an alternative, then just take it.

In this case, there are alternatives. Numerous.

Also, you can probably find vegan D2 in any large grocery store with a substantial supplement section.

And how did she check? Did she check for a specific drugstore? Wouldn't it vary place to place?

She didn't check. She's a lying liar who lies. She looked at cat pictures while pretending to "check" to manage you, because she has no respect for her patients.

I would switch doctors if that's an option. But that's me.
Some doctors fail to treat their patients as human beings.

It also just seems a bit strange to me that the vitamin D isn't animal derived, especially if it's D3, and I'm assuming it is because that's the more powerful form...

Correct. It doesn't have to be though. See the link above. Otherwise, pretty much all D3 on the market now will be animal derived.

Maybe the people at the drugstore would know?

They may be less likely to lie to you. But they may not know either.

However, like I said, D is over the counter. Just buy a supplement. It's silly to take huge doses as a prescription. You could just increase a non prescription supplement instead if you need to, but you shouldn't need to.

Thanks for both of your responses!

I'm going to play it safe and get vitamin D in other ways.

What is the daily dosage that you're supplementing and is it D2 or D3? Are there different doses for those?

Norris recommends around 600-1000IU for vitamin d, however some people seem to have issues with raising d levels with d2.
http://www.veganhealth.org/articles/dailyrecs

Is anyone also supplementing calcium? I recently started making my own soy milk so its no longer fortified. Norris recommends 250-300mg calcium supplement but there are side effects with those.

brimstoneSalad wrote:Also, 99.9% chance she just lied to you to get you to go away and take the pill. She has no idea. She didn't check. She went into the other room, and looked at some cat pictures on her phone, then came back and told you they were vegan.

99.9%? How are you so sure of this? Have you personally come across doctors who are dishonest to their patients, or is this just intuition on your part because most doctors are carnists, and so don't respect veganism?

brimstoneSalad wrote:

EquALLity wrote:And how did she check? Did she check for a specific drugstore? Wouldn't it vary place to place?

She didn't check. She's a lying liar who lies. She looked at cat pictures while pretending to "check" to manage you, because she has no respect for her patients.

brimstoneSalad wrote:Some doctors fail to treat their patients as human beings.

Do many nondietitian doctors also pretend to be experts on nutrition?

ArmouredAbolitionist wrote:99.9%? How are you so sure of this? Have you personally come across doctors who are dishonest to their patients, or is this just intuition on your part because most doctors are carnists, and so don't respect veganism?

The exact value I pulled out of my ass, but it's just the reality of business.

Reminds me of this:
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2009/ ... s-part-two

Doctors are skilled at lying to their patients to get them to shut up to save time, and manipulate them into doing what they want them to do.

This goes both ways, of course. Many patients lie to their doctors too, to get what they want. Doctors learn to be untrusting, and become untrustworthy as a matter of getting things done.

You really just have to take responsibility for your own healthcare.

ArmouredAbolitionist wrote:Do many nondietitian doctors also pretend to be experts on nutrition?

Unfortunately, much worse; they are under the delusion that they are experts.

garrethdsouza wrote:What is the daily dosage that you're supplementing and is it D2 or D3? Are there different doses for those?

Norris recommends around 600-1000IU for vitamin d, however some people seem to have issues with raising d levels with d2.
http://www.veganhealth.org/articles/dailyrecs

Is anyone also supplementing calcium? I recently started making my own soy milk so its no longer fortified. Norris recommends 250-300mg calcium supplement but there are side effects with those.

Now, I'm doing 2500 IU of D3 a day.

There's a bit of calcium in my multivitamin.

Looking back on this, it makes more sense that the doctor was lying.
When she came out, and I asked her where the D3 was derived from specifically, she wouldn't give me a straight answer. She just said that it was from a non-animal source, and wouldn't go further when pressed, and didn't have to, because I was also asking other questions.
It would be from lichen. Lichen isn't some really complex word, so I don't see how she wouldn't be able to remember it if she actually looked.
>.<

Do you plan to later decrease the dosage as 2500IU is pretty much overshooting the rda?

garrethdsouza wrote:Do you plan to later decrease the dosage as 2500IU is pretty much overshooting the rda?

Hm, I don't know.

I was thinking it makes sense to have a higher dosage for awhile, to 'make up' for the deficiency.