

It may take a few weeks or months to raise your vitamin D levels after a loading dose and you may not feel any different.Taking too much colecalciferol can cause calcium and phosphate to build up in your body (hypercalcaemia).Taking low doses of colecalciferol daily is safe and does not normally cause side effects.Calcipotriol is used to treat the skin condition caused by plaque psoriasis. There is also a type of vitamin D called calcipotriol, which sounds similar to colecalciferol. If your vitamin D levels are OK, or you want to prevent deficiency, you can buy lower dose colecalciferol from pharmacies and shops.Ĭolecalciferol comes as chewable, dissolvable (soluble) and melt-in-the-mouth (orodispersible) tablets, capsules, a syrup, and oral drops. This is a high strength dose that is only available on prescription. If your levels are severely low, they may prescribe a loading dose course of vitamin D.

To find out if you have low vitamin D levels, your doctor will give you a blood test. Vitamin D deficiency is the most common cause of rickets so if your child has low vitamin D levels, your doctor may prescribe colecalciferol for them.

It is recommended that you take vitamin D if you have a deficiency, or to prevent a deficiency if you: Adults who are not at risk of vitamin D deficiency should consider taking a daily supplement of 10 micrograms of vitamin D during autumn and winter.Īdults who are at risk of vitamin D deficiency should take a daily supplement of 10 micrograms of vitamin D, throughout the year. Long-term vitamin D deficiency can cause bone loss, muscle weakness, falls and fractures in older people.Įveryone can benefit from taking colecalciferol as a daily vitamin D supplement. Not having enough vitamin D in your body can lead to bone conditions such as rickets and osteomalacia in children, and osteoporosis (thinning of the bones) in adults. We usually get our vitamin D through exposure to sunlight and our diet. It helps your body to take in more calcium and phosphorous from the food you eat, and helps your kidneys to keep more calcium instead of peeing it out.
