hi Hannnno ,
I hope you don't mind if I point out a few facts and observations with regards to vitamin D , which may throw some light on your problem.
Vegetarians or Vegans consume very very little vitamin d. It is not part of those natural food sources , in any meaningful quantity.
Some animal products do contain a small amount, ( but NOT milk ). However our primary source of Vitamin D , is sunlight on skin. We make 10,000 to 20,000 IU when sunbathing in strong sunlight in less than an hour. Any one area of skin is saturated with all the vitamin D that it can make in 20 mins. it is the UVB radiation contained in sunlight which makes the Vitamin D , when it strikes the 7-dehydrocholesterol molecule in your skin.
In the UK, sunlight is weak most of the time and does not contain UVB , except during the hours of 11 - 3 pm only in summer. Over the period Mid Oct- mid April i.e winter , there is no UVB in sunlight and we cannot make vitamin D in our skin. this six month gap, tends to cause a drop in most of the population.
The lack of UVB is caused by UK's high latitude on the Earth's surface , we are at 50 degrees, so that, in winter and even in the early morning and early evening in summer the suns elevation is low and the path length through the atmosphere is longer thus absorbing the UVB. This is all just basic physics.
Anything which interferes with your absorption of UVB , will affect your vitamin D synthesis. i.e. suncreams. Suncreams are designed to absorb UVB , and prevent interaction with your skin , and so SPF factor 15 or above absorbs 97% of UVB and so limits any Vit D production. Nowadays many official bodies recommend that you leave off sunscreen for 20 mins, precisely for that reason. Never ever burn.
As you can see from the above , there are many factors concerning your vitamin D levels from food and sunlight. Other considerations may arise when your supplementation or treatments are examined.
You should consider how much supplementation you need , on a daily ongoing basis. The human body needs roughly 70 IU per kilogram per day, from all sources, - food, sunlight and supplementation That is why Gov. advice for newborns is to receive 350 IU per day. You personally will likely need somewhere between 3000 IU and 5000 IU per day , ongoing as a maintenance dose. However we all have different responses to supplementation , by a factor of 6 to 1 . It may be that your response is at the lower end. It may be that you cannot absorb the supplementation for some reason, as mentioned above.
From your description above, a dose of 400 IU from the doctor was totally inadequate and unlikely to do anything meaningful to your levels. An average responder will raise their blood level by 25 for every 1000 IU of daily, long term ongoing supplementation.
In your particular situation , you could try an oral spray , say 6000 IU per day, every day . Then after a couple of months or more have another test, and check your level. The oral spray will go directly into the bloodstream, avoiding the digestive system. (CONT.)
Your blood levels should rise to 100 - 150 . If all goes well. These levels are normal, and are considered so by the NHS. However many people have lower levels , say 50 or even less, these too are considered normal, BUT crucially, they are not optimum for your health. Outdoor living humans in general, at lower latitudes, have levels around 120 - 140. We should all have that kind of level. In the UK it is almost impossible to reach. We have many health problems because of it.
After your supplementation and your re- measurement , you can then decide what further supplementation you need . You may need to drop down a little, you may need to increase. It does depend upon your measurement. Don't just assume.
The NHS are unlikely to offer you repeated Vitamin D tests , to check your levels, because of the expense , or the mistaken assumption that one "treatment" is sufficient. As you have already found, one treatment is not sufficient. I would advise you to take control of your own level, get it measured , control your own supplementation and optimise it.
You can get private vit D tests. Here is an NHS Lab, probably the biggest in the country. You could send them a bloodspot test. They reply by e-mail within a week. IF the test is not ordered by a doctor , they do charge £29 unfortunately.
<a class="break-all" href="http://www.vitamindtest.org.uk" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.vitamindtest.org.uk</a>
Here is a thread , where we discussed quite a lot about Vit D , levels , treatment etc etc . I posted quite a bit there , lots of information. It may help.
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/general_health/2421492-Vitimin-D-can-it-have-this-effect
OR For more information , search my nick on mumsnet , lots of threads , or just get back to me.
Best of luck ,
BTBH