Opt-D

What Opt-D (Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol)) is used for

Cholecalciferol (also spelled colecalciferol) is vitamin D3, a form of vitamin D. The body makes vitamin D when sunlight falls on the skin, and small amounts come from foods such as oily fish, red meat, liver, egg yolks and some fortified spreads and cereals. Vitamin D helps the body take in and use calcium and phosphate, which keep bones, teeth and muscles healthy, and it also supports the nerves and the immune system. Cholecalciferol is sold as a supplement and as a medicine prescribed by doctors, in forms such as tablets, capsules, chewables, liquid drops and sprays.

• Preventing low vitamin D (vitamin D deficiency) in people who do not get enough from sunlight and food
• Treating vitamin D deficiency when a doctor has found it
• Preventing and treating rickets (soft, weak bones in children)
• Preventing and treating osteomalacia (soft bones and bone pain in adults)
• Helping to treat osteoporosis (thin, fragile bones), usually together with calcium and other medicines
• People more likely to run low include those who rarely go outdoors or live in care homes, people who cover most of their skin outdoors, people with darker skin (including people of South Asian background), older adults, breastfed babies, people with obesity, and people with gut conditions such as Crohn's or coeliac disease

Side effects, warnings and interactions for Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol)

Prepared from the sources listed by the MedInfoBase team. General information, not medical advice: it gives no doses. Your doctor or pharmacist decides the medicine and dose for you.