I promised to write one column about the side effects of vitamin A, vitamin B1 (thiamine), vitamin B3 (niacin, niacinamide), vitamin C, and vitamin D (cholecalciferol). Deficiency in these five vitamins causes death and disability from vitamin A deficiency, beri beri, pellagra, scurvy, and rickets respectively. I’m going to start with vitamin D because there is an urgent need to understand vitamin D better.
Vitamin D is a hormone. It is not found in food in high levels. It is difficult to obtain 1000 IU/day of vitamin D from food. Agricultural workers and lifeguards will produce 20,000 to 50,0000 IU/day in the skin. Hormones are well understood to be remarkably effective drugs. Powerful hormones such as human growth hormone have been shown to have remarkable beneficial effects. This hormone, however, is rarely used because, it is highly dangerous. Steroids to promote muscle growth are known to be dangerous. Hormones for birth control are known to be dangerous. I think it is safe to say that most hormones are dangerous when taken as a drug. Why would anyone expect vitamin D to be different?
Lots of people who expected to be healthy, and worked hard to live a healthy life, are none the less struggling with their health. These folks have tested the “healthy” lifestyles (low fat, low carbs, vegetarian, vegan, exercise three times/week, meditation, religion…) Despite all the testing, I didn’t know what to do. It seemed to me that all the theories were wrong. That’s what I like about the implications of vitamin D. It has led to a theory that I don’t think has been tested. Western life has led us to spend more and more of our time indoors. Indoor life deprives us of sunlight, which causes permanent low levels of two blockbuster hormones – vitamin D and melatonin, and cause permanent low levels of at least one other hormone, various neuropeptides, endorphins, and probably some other things I haven’t found yet. Indoor life exposes us to indoor air pollution, and probably is a root cause of other behaviors that are known to be bad for health.
I’ve been hesitant to write this column because I don’t want to stop people from taking vitamin D as I believe that vitamin D supplements are doing more good than harm. That said, vitamin D supplements are hormones in a bottle and are obviously dangerous at doses above the upper safe limit of 2000 IU/day set by the Food and Nutrition Board. The other harm the supplements are doing, is sending the message that pills are a safe and effective substitute for sunshine. I’m sure this is true for some people. But what about everyone else? Is the strategy really to use the power of evolution to select for success only children who do the best living in minimal sunlight? Don’t believe in evolution these days? One in 6 couples are outright infertile, and the fertility medicine business is booming. Whether from pills or sunshine, optimizing vitamin D will benefit your health. I believe that sunshine is a better way, but not everyone has the luxury of getting regular sunshine, and not everyone needs regular sunshine. Everyone, however, needs vitamin D.
Vitamin D is is acutely toxic in overdose. A single dose, sufficiently large, is lethal. This dose is determined by scientists by feeding dogs and rats. The data from the dogs and rats indicates that a single dose of vitamin D above 150,000,000 IU (150 million IU) is lethal. It is virtually impossible for a consumer to take a dose like this. In fact, vitamin D is so safe that it is sold in bottles without childproof caps. In the past, I purchased large bottles of 1000 IU vitamin D tablets that contain 300 tablets. If I swallowed the entire bottle, I’d be taking 300,000 IU of vitamin D. I’d have to swallow 50 entire bottles at once to reach the lethal dose.
That said, vitamin D is impressively toxic. 1000 mg (a standard dosage for a single vitamin C pill) is a lethal dose for the average person. 1000 mg is 40,000,000 (forty million) IU. The fifty bottles of 1000 IU vitamin D pills mentioned above would weigh in the ballpark of 2500 g. A typical vitamin D tablet weighs 150 mg and is >99.9% filling. This makes safely handling vitamin D challenging. All human processes are subject to error. Some 1000 IU pills will occasionally be formulated with >10,000 IU of vitamin D. The unluckly consumer taking poorly manufactured vitamin D supplements can experience “unexplainable” side effects since everyone usually will assume that the consumer is ingesting the dose listed on the bottle label.
Again, vitamin D is impressively toxic. So much so that scientists specializing in mammalian pest control turned to vitamin D as a safe and effective poison. Just type “vitamin D rat poison” into google and you’ll see that you can purchase a rat poison that uses vitamin D as the active ingredient. The poisonous food (the “bait”) is typically close to 1 part in 1 thousand vitamin D. Truth can truly be stranger than fiction. While vitamin D3 advocates are writing that vitamin D3 is non-toxic, exterminators are advertising vitamin D3 as a safe and effective poison for killing mice and rats! What makes it so strange is that vitamin D is surprisingly non-toxic while at the same time being an effective rat and mouse poison. It is, in fact, absurdly non-toxic for an acute poison! Honestly, I’m left speechless.
From a practical perspective, death from taking large doses of vitamin D is not a concern (unless you are a mouse or rat and the exterminator is after you!). The practical concern is toxicity caused by ordinary doses of vitamin D, taken regularly. Ordinary doses can build up in the body over time and cause serious illness. The most serious concern is a small increase in the risk of heart attack and stroke amongst the elderly. This concern was raised a long time ago without much evidence to support it. The evidence is reviewed in a book called “The Right Dose, How to Take Vitamins and Minerals Safely.” I felt the data was insufficient to warrant inclusion in this blog post. Now, new independent data reaches similar conclusions using a completely different line of reasoning. The older data directly associated the risk of heart attack with vitamin D dosage. The new data associates the risk of stroke with vitamin D dosage. Vitamin D should be expected to act systemically on veins and arteries so it makes sense that if vitamin D increases the risk of heart attacks it also would increase the risk of stroke.
This allegation sounds serious, and it is. However, the reported elevated risks remain associated with high doses of vitamin D from food (1000 IU and less have no association with these problems) and are small increases in risk. Cavities, osteoporosis, repetitive motion pains, and other joint and ligament pains are epidemic amongst the elderly. The hypothesis that these problems can be prevented by sun exposure has never been tested (and never will since a double-blind trial of sunshine is impossible). That remains the second point – there is no evidence of any association between sunshine, stroke, and heart attack. There is a clear message: get vitamin D from sunshine. Sunlight is also known to alleviate/eliminate allergies, to cause special cells in the skin to produce the alpha melanocyte stimulating hormone (so sunshine has been proven by science to cause the produce of at least three hormones!), to cause the production of a couple of neuropeptides, and to cause the release of endorphins. So while you’re in the sun getting vitamin D, you’ll also be producing a variety of other regulatory chemicals essential for optimal health.
I’ll give my view again here a different way. Most people will obtain far more benefits from 0-4000 IU/day of vitamin D from food/supplements than harm. That said, the risks are well documented. There are no well documented cases of vitamin D side effects caused by sunshine producing too much vitamin D in the skin. There are plenty of known risks from overdoses of sunshine. Acute sun overexposure has been practiced as a form of execution.
Back to the well documented side effects. Not surprisingly, the Mayo Clinic is an excellent source I’ve found on-line for vitamin D side effects. Here is their list:
Late symptoms of severe overdose (emerge after months or years of starting supplements)
High blood pressure
High fever
Irregular heartbeat
Stomach pain (severe)
Check with your doctor as soon as possible if any of the following side effects occur:
Early symptoms of overdose (emerge within days or weeks of starting vitamin D supplements)
Bone pain
Constipation (especially in children or adolescents)
Diarrhea
Drowsiness
Dryness of mouth
Headache (continuing)
Increased thirst
Increase in frequency of urination, especially at night, or in amount of urine
Irregular heartbeat
Itching skin
Loss of appetite
Metallic taste
Muscle pain
Nausea or vomiting (especially in children or adolescents)
Unusual tiredness or weakness
Late symptoms of overdose (emerge within weeks or months of starting supplements)
Bone pain
Calcium deposits (hard lumps) in tissues outside of the bone
Cloudy urine
Drowsiness
Increased sensitivity of eyes to light or irritation of eyes
Itching of skin
Loss of appetite
Loss of sex drive
Mood or mental changes
Muscle pain
Nausea or vomiting
Protein in the urine
Redness or discharge of the eye, eyelid, or lining of the eyelid
Runny nose
Weight loss
What regular dose of a vitamin D supplement will cause side effects? Some people are very sensitive to daily vitamin D dosing. Vitamin D was meant to be gotten from the sun, not from pills. There are no known side effects from sunshine. Side effects from pills are common. This makes dosing recommendations for vitamin D pills particularly hard. Rats have evolved to thrive on incredibly small amounts of vitamin D (hundreds of times less than humans). It is highly likely that different groups of people – and different individuals within a single group of people, have widely different vitamin D needs. Some people are like rats and can thrive in the dark. Others will need regular sunshine to thrive. There isn’t enough information yet, and none is needed. Get your vitamin D from the sun. Even if you can thrive in the dark, you can thrive in the sunshine too. Sunshine is generally recognized as safe.
I don’t recommend blood testing of vitamin D levels. I don’t think anyone knows what it means. If you are getting plenty of sunshine, you are getting plenty of vitamin D. Only a tiny fraction of people will not be able to get plenty of vitamin D from sunshine, and will require supplements. Today, Doctors are measuring blood levels of vitamin D and concluding that low levels require supplements (instead of sunshine). Many of these people are taking the supplements and being harmed. If you don’t believe me, read the comment section below.
Stories can be more helpful than lists. The best case history I know of is from an outstanding book called “The Right Dose, How to Take Vitamins and Minerals Safely.” A family of ten all drank regularly from a condensed milk product given to them by a friend. This condensed milk turned out to be a product used commercially by the milk industry to fortify milk with vitamin D. The family members were, on average, most likely taking somewhere between 50,000 and 100,000 IU/day of vitamin D. Here is the relevant excerpt from the case report:
“A male patient was admitted to the Dept. of Pediatrics of the Cook County Hospital because of nausea, vomiting, weight loss, and abdominal pain. Anorexia began three weeks prior to admission, followed by vomiting which was associated with vague intermittent abdominal pain. During the week prior to admission, he started to have severe nausea with frequent vomiting and was unable to attend school. He lost 11 pounds of weight during this period. Muscle weakness and frequency of urination were noted. The child’s 35 year old mother was admitted simultaneously, with severe abdominal pain, anorexia, vomiting, and weight loss of two weeks’ duration. The patient was thin, moderately dehydrated, and appeared chronically ill.”
This case report was a fantastic piece of good luck. Obviously, an experiment like this can’t be designed. It had to happen by accident. The reason it was such good luck, was that it also illustrates why vitamin D toxicity is so controversial. Eight other members of this same family took similar levels of vitamin D over this period and “did not become ill”. Eighty percent of this family was able to take between 50,000 and 100,000 IU of vitamin D for 6 weeks with no ill effects. No wonder the two patients kept on drinking the milk long after they fell seriously ill. Why would they suspect the “condensed milk” when everyone was drinking it and was fine?
According to the book, the symptoms in the case report are “classic signs” of vitamin D overdose. Here’s the write-up on the full list of classic symptoms:
“Nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, headache, dry mouth, abdominal or bone pain, and dizziness are the classic symptoms of vitamin D toxicity. As the condition progresses, signs of impaired kidney function, such as excessive urination, may arise. Itching, calcification of organs and blood vessels, osteoporosis, and seizures are still other signs that develop at the later stages.” Note the excellent overlap with the more comprehensive list from the Mayo Clinic.
Readers are never going to take 50,000 to 100,000 IU per day of vitamin D. No one recommends sustained doses in this range. So, what’s the best evidence that doses in the range of normal can also be toxic? The best evidence comes from the experience of the British physicians who worked out the recommended daily doses for vitamin D back in the 1930’s and 1940’s. Rickets among babies and toddlers was a major problem in England before the milk supply was fortified with vitamin D. Today, one cup of milk is fortified with 100 IU of vitamin D. The British started out with by fortifying milk at about double this level (200 IU per cup). The program succeeded in eliminating rickets among families that drank fortified milk. Unfortunately, the program made significant numbers of children ill and had to be adjusted down to the current level. Tragically, the present dose doesn’t protect all children from rickets.
The problem with milk fortification is that not only is there a wide range of sensitivity to vitamin D, there is also a wide range of intake. In my opinion, this data suggests that sensitive individuals develop vitamin D side effects from daily use of 1000 to 2000 IU of vitamin D. For example, my son drinks an average of 2 to 3 quarts of milk every day. This means he gets between 800 and 1200 IU of vitamin D from milk and then probably averages over the course of the year another 400 IU/day from sun exposure. The babies in Britain showing up with vitamin D side effect were probably getting plenty of sunshine and drinking plenty of fortified milk. My sense that 1000 to 2000 IU regularly causes side effects was reinforced by a thorough internet search for advice on vitamin D supplement programs from clinicians who help clients put together supplement programs. I found several clinician reports of 2000 IU/day doses leading to problems after months of use. My concerns have been further reinforced by comments below.
If you’ve been reading my column, and reading the information at the Vitamin D Council website, you’ll know that 1000 to 2000 IU/day is often not enough. So, the hard facts are that there is no known dose of vitamin D supplement that provides everyone with full benefits without causing anyone side effects.
I read all the information summarized above before I started taking vitamin D. Sadly, this information about specific symptoms was not very useful to me. What was most useful to me was what I read between the lines. I felt that the words of advice from experienced clinicians expressed a deep-seated unease with vitamin D supplements.
With that unease in mind, I chose to supplement with 4000 IU per day of vitamin D, fully expecting to experience side effects. So, from here on the story is based on my personal experience. The initial draft of my column read, “It will take time to tell how relevant my experiences have been.” Time has passed and the feedback from readers indicates that my experiences are relevant.
I have not experienced any symptoms bad enough to require any treatment, or to cancel any plans, or even to go to bed early. I experienced no side effects for three months at 4000 IU/day. For the past 10 months I’ve been alternating between vitamin D abstinence for 1 to 2 weeks and supplementation for 1 day. Some of the time, instead of supplements, I sunbath in shorts at noon for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Every time I take even just one 1000 IU supplement I experience side effects. So, I’m confident that for me, the following side effects are caused by vitamin D. I updated this item in December, 2009, a second time in October, 2010, and now a third time in May, 2011. For the past 29 months I have gotten almost all my vitamin D from sunshine. I lie in the sun at noon for between 5 and 20 minutes 9 out of ten sunny days here at latitude 40 N. Many claim that there is insufficient UV intensity at 40 N in the winter to produce vitamin D. This view is incorrect. It is possible to get UV index data from nearby weather stations at popular weather websites. Where I live, the UV index ranges from 3 at the winter solstice to 11 at the summer solstice. This means that it takes four times longer to get equivalent UV at solar noon in the middle of the winter. There are on regular occasions multiple successive days when I can’t get into the sun in the middle of the day. At first I responded by taking one or two 1000 IU tablets during these days. Each time I experienced unpleasant side effects from the supplement strongly suggesting that the sunshine is keeping me on the edge of overdose. So I completely stopped taking supplements. On several occasions I came down with a cold during these short periods without sun or supplements. In response, I’ve been finding ways to get even more vitamin D from the sun. Whenever I smell even the whiff of a cold, I now get into the sun several times in the same day. 5 to 10 minutes of noontime sun is all I can manage in the summer without becoming uncomfortable (feeling like I’m starting to overheat my skin). I have found, however, that by staying out of the sun for just an hour enables me to sun again for several minutes without any discomfort. On an extreme day I have done this four times. A big surprise for me was that the extra sun exposure has not made me any more tan. Despite getting lots of sun, I maintain only a faint tan. This is what I want since I’m trying to make alot of vitamin D. More recently I bought a sunlamp so that I can get vitamin D from light whenever I feel I could benefit from more vitamin D and I don’t ever feel the need to take another supplement. I don’t recommend the use of sunlamps and tanning beds because I don’t have any information about the safety of this approach, and I only use the sunlamp when there is no sunshine.
Again, I have not found any prior documents asserting that side effects from vitamin D supplements are related to the amount of vitamin D made from the sun. So I wasn’t expecting to suffer from vitamin D supplements as I got more vitamin D from the sun. But, I did. As time has passed, I’m getting more and more sun with fewer side effects. I still occasionally take a supplement. I took one just last week and felt the side effects immediately. The impact of the supplement was gone in less than 48 hours. I’ve come to the conclusion that some of the vitamin D side effects I experience, I only get when I am fighting a cold. I’m not sure these should really count as side effects since they may be how cold symptoms feel to people like me getting plenty of sunshine.
Enough of that. Here are the side effects that I feel aren’t well described on the Mayo Clinic list:
1) Irritable lungs. For example, when I breath in alcohol vapors I need to cough. When I drink my coffee in the morning I need to cough (probably a reaction to the caffeine).
2) Sensation in the teeth. I feel my teeth. I can’t decide if this is good or bad. What is definitely bad is that when I switch from warm food to a cool drink I get nasty electric shocks in my teeth. Rarely I have experienced tooth-ache like pain as a result of chilling my teeth with cold air or cold food. This pain lasts for 10 or fifteen minutes.
3) Bone pain in the fourth finger on my left hand. This is very strange. Often within minutes of taking a vitamin D supplement, I notice a slight pain in the fourth finger of my left hand and nowhere else. I first experienced this feeling while taking 4000 IU/day and, at that dose, the pain got quite severe on the last day I took that dose.
4) Nausea with fatigue.
5) Ringing ears.
6) Chest pain and heart sensations. I find this to be the worst and most alarming side effect. It caused me to shun all forms of vitamin D for two months. I went for a full cardiac workout and blood testing. I was informed that I’m in terrific health. Like the bone pain, for me this side effect is more severe from supplements than from sunshine.
7) Insomnia. Vitamin D will make me fatigued during the day while at the same time it sometimes causes me to wake up near 4 am in the morning. I have alot of trouble falling back to sleep and sometimes get up between 5 and 6 instead of between 6:30 and 7:00.
8) A bad mood. Vitamin D is known to have psychological effects. It is supposed to improve mood. I’m really uncomfortable with listing this as a side effect because it is so subjective. The other side effects are sufficient to put me in a bad mood. But my gut tells me it is worse than that and that the excess vitamin D is actually causing a feeling of doom. As time passes, I’ve become aware of more reports of feelings of doom.
The following side effects have just emerged in April 2009. They are perfectly described on the Mayo Clinic list:
9) Discharge of the eye, eyelid, and lining of the eyelid
10) Increased sensitivity of eyes to light or irritation of eyes
These early side effects are totally harmless if recognized as such and acted upon. When vitamin D supplementation is stopped, they fade away in a few days. So, it isn’t that hard to manage as long as you are willing to pay attention to how you feel and not worry about the minor discomfort.
Unfortunately, even here I have to add a word of caution. Staying out of the sun and stopping vitamin D supplements from bottles is not enough for everyone. There is a small subset of the population that drinks a lot of milk. Each cup of milk contains 100 IU of vitamin D. One quart is 400 IU – a large fraction of the 1000 IU tablets that are causing me trouble.
Every report I was able to read about vitamin D claimed that overdosing from sun exposure is unknown. This remains true. It is one of the reasons I’m overdosing. I simply can’t believe that every expert writing about vitamin D side effects is wrong. Especially when for me, overdosing from the sun is easy. Amazingly, I have to conclude that almost no one has tried to overdose from the sun (avoid tanning and get into the noon sun for 5 to 30 minutes of full body exposure). I experience a different severity order from the sun than from the supplements. The really distinctive signs – my finger and my heart – are almost unnoticeable from sun overdose. The fatigue and nausea are much worse – and much harder to say with certainty are from vitamin D and not a bad breakfast or a virus or any of the hundreds of other causes of nausea and fatigue. The only side effect with similar severity from both the sun and supplements is the feelings in my teeth. Since I first wrote this the feelings in my teeth have subsided and I rarely get shocks from drinking cold fluids. Now my eyes are more sensitive than my teeth. Maybe this will fade with time to be replaced by yet a different first side effect. It seems impossible to “line out” a vitamin D dose. After three years of wrestling with supplements and sunshine, I’ve rid myself of some of the most annoying early side effects only to have them replaced by different side effects. I’m now past three years, and am finally having less trouble with side effects from sunshine. As I mentioned above, I discovered that some “side effects” are actually caused by cold viruses and not the sunshine. Most of the others have stopped altogether, or are so mild that it’s hard to call them side effects. I’m truly amazed that this process of continual change has gone on for over three years.
Vitamin D is an amazing nutrient. Used in optimal doses, it has incredible potential for improving human health. The early side effects of vitamin D are mild and a blessing. They enable you to find the maximum dose you can take without experiencing the terrible side effects described in the case report and comments below. Don’t let fear of side effects stop you from enjoying the full benefits of vitamin D.
Afterward: I track the impact of what I write by searching on Google. When I type “vitamin D side effects” into Google, this column usually comes up in the first 30 hits no matter what computer I search from. The success of this column challenges paradigms about influence and credibility, and I believe there are some general lessons to be learned. Effort and experience can lead to excellence without formal training in an area. I didn’t become a world expert in vitamin D side effects by studying books and papers (although I studied and studied and studied books and papers), or by being unusually smart. I became an expert because I’m in desperate need of methods to strengthen an immune system unusually vulnerable to the common cold. As it is, despite all the benefits I get from vitamins A, B1, B3, C, and sunshine, until very recently I have still been frequently ill – and sometimes seriously ill for short periods. It has been to save myself that I have become an expert user of vitamins A, B1, B3, C and sunshine. For the first time in 15 years, I’ve become optimistic that I may, indeed, at long last, have saved myself. I believe that sunshine, indeed, has been the key, but not by producing vitamin D alone. Sunshine is also responsible for regulating the pineal gland. The pineal gland’s main function is to control the circadian rhythm by secreting melatonin. The amplitude of the melatonin “wave” is a function of the difference between the brightest light in the day and the night time darkness. Four months ago I learned about this and started to stare at the sky whenever I was outside during the day. When sunning at noontime, looking up at the sky is painful because the light is so intense – that’s why most people are wearing some kind of sunglasses. Amazingly, almost as soon as I started I began to sleep much better at night. Quality sleep is essential for a normal metabolism and for enabling certain aspects of healing. I haven’t had much in the way of a cold since I started staring at the sky, and have been flying on airplanes without fear for the first time in over 20 years. Sunlight produces at least one more hormone, causes the production of several neuropeptides, and stimulates the release of endorphins. I expect to learn of yet other positive health effects. These results have me shocked, and, frankly, frightened. I don’t know anyone who stares at the sky to improve their circadian rhythm and improve their sleep quality. Everyone I know avoids staring at the sky and a majority wear dark glasses in the summer. Everyone I know is spending more and more time inside, and is becoming less and less tolerant of heat and cold (and therefore spending more and more time fully dressed). I’m staring at the sun and going out in shorts and a T-shirt in an ever wider temperature range. These are polar opposite behaviors to the mainstream. They can not both be optimal. Either I’m right and everyone else is wrong, or everyone else is right and I’m wrong. But I can’t stop myself from staring at the sky because I have really powerful feelings telling me that I need to stare at the sky to remain healthy. If I’m right, I am living amidst pandemic deficiency, and I have knowledge and experience from which most other people can benefit. I hope that this post on vitamin D enhances my credibility, and that you’ll consider benefiting from my struggles by using sunshine, antibiotics and vitamins with care to enable your growing children to reach their full potential, and to prevent obesity, diabetes, hypertension, osteoporosis, and heart disease from afflicting yourself and your loved ones.
Thanks for this very good and well thought out post. I have been using vitamin D supplements for a couple of years. In the summer I may take 2000 IU a day but it may be irregular. If I am out in the sun a lot, I may lay off the supplements. Starting in the mid to late fall, I start supplementing regularly. I take 2000 IU in the morning with breakfast and 2000 IU at night with dinner. This week I started feeling a bit of a cold coming on and last night I got up and took another 2000 IU so this is about 6000 IU in a 24 hour period.
I have not noticed any of the side effects you describe other than my teeth are a bit sensitive to cold. I recently had one tooth crowned and it is extremely sensitive.
My wife also generally follows my regiment with vitamin D. She is from the Philippines and has a somewhat darker completion. She has never reported any side effects.
Bobber,
Hmm. In agreement with my post, apparently the teeth sensitivity is an early symptom for you too.
Your supplement strategy is complex – taking alot of vitamin D in the winter and laying off in the summer. And your strategy involves substantial doses – 4000 to 6000 IU per day. And if you were to react like me, your doses put you at the threshold of more serious side effects. Is this really a coincidence? Why haven’t you taken 4000 IU in the morning and 4000 IU in the evening?
This kind of thinking gets me going. Why do we think that steady daily doses is best? I’ve been using a “burst” strategy. High doses when the sun is shining and I have time to get out interspersed with none. 1000 IU doses by tablet or none.
Vitamin D is fat soluble and available dissolved in oils. Why not apply it topically instead of swallowing it? There’s a long way to go before we completely master the use of vitamin D.
Have you had your vitamin d levels measured?
I have just been diagnosed with advanced osteoporosis and hashimoto’s disease. My doctor said my vitamin d levels are severly low and has put me on 50,000 IU once a week for 1 month and every other week there after. I’m scared of the side effects but thanks to these blogs I’m going for it. Thanks!
David,
I experienced some sharp chest pains all over the middle of my chest.
It is hard to describe these feelings accurately. It would be fair to say I felt like my heard was struggling to beat, and pounding.
For me, there is no doubt this is a vitamin D side effect. After I go out in the sun, I often feel minor versions of these symptoms.
Please write back to confirm that your heart symptoms faded away as your vitamin D levels dropped down.
Thanks again for leaving your comment
David,
Thanks for writing. In our recent e-mail exchange, you also mentioned a psychiatric problem – an experience resembling a panic attack that occurred twice during the course of a night's sleep.
Over the course of the years, I've experienced many unusual feelings including panic and euphoria. They are usually not reproducible.
You are looking for the vitamin D to be causing a real physical problem with your sternum, your heart, or some other body part. My personal belief is that many vitamin side effect symptoms are purely neurological. They effect parts of the brain and nervous system responsible for monitoring body parts. False signals are sent to or created in the brain, making us feel like something is wrong when nothing is actually wrong. That's why my heart felt bad but tested perfectly (EKG, heart monitor, stress test) when I went for a full cardiac check up as a result of vitamin D induced feelings.
I've become astonished to learn that these heart symptoms are considered rare. I'm now certain this means that very few people are getting plenty of vitamin D. I am experiencing heart symptoms, my wife is experiencing heart symptoms, and you are experiencing heart symptoms. This means that most of the people I know who are getting extra vitamin D (>1000 IU per day), are experiencing heart symptoms.
I'm sure that many people are trying vitamin D and quitting because of side effects without every talking to their doctors or to their friends and family. Shame on us all! Thanks David, for helping me bring this basic, important information into the light of day.
A final word. Vitamin D is indeed highly toxic in overdose. The doses you report are very high. When your symptoms have disappeared and you have fully recovered from your overdose, I strongly recommend minimizing supplements (<1000 IU/day) and getting extra vitamin D from the sun instead.
Come on back to the blog with more thoughts.
My vit d level was 7.8. I have been on 50,000IU 3X per week since mid Jan. Initially I lost about7 lbs and really do feel much better. I am concerned though with the fact it was so low to begin with. My insulin like growth factor was also low, and RDW very slightly high. I won’t see the MD again until April 15th.
Could red swollen hive like splotches on the face be from taking Vitamin D 50000IU This is my 5th week taking it and now for the last 2 weeks my face is really itchy and it feels dehydrated tight like with hive like swollen bright red patches. The left is worse and that is the side I sleep on. I am a lupus patient I guess I could just be having flair up, but not use to having anything this bad on my face. Just wondering. Thanks for any info you may have. Becca B
Thank you for this great post. I overdosed on my Vitamin D pills that my doctor prescribed a couple of weeks ago, I took 50,000IU pills 4 days in a roll….I supposed to take one pill a week! I just found out that I made the mistake today… In the past week, my left leg started to hurt( muscle pain), I have itchy skin and bumpy rash on face, but I am really concern about the side affect such as the calcification of the soft tissue on heart and kidneys ….. I don’t know how over dozed/posioned I am? Is there any home remedy that anyone can suggest to flush out some of the Vit. D? I really hate to sit and wait for the Blood work to come back, it will take a few days…
Thank you for your input!
Becca and Anonymous,
Thanks for stopping by and leaving your comments. Both of you report a rash on the face in addition to itchy skin. So – it is highly likely that this is indeed caused by vitamin D.
Frankly I shocked that physicians are putting 50,000 IU vitamin D tablets into the hands of the public. It is dangerous and unnecessary. Many physicians point at me and claim that the doses of vitamins I recommend are dangerous when they aren’t. Vitamin C and niacin do not cause serious side effects like vitamin D. More importantly, vitamin C and niacin side effects go away in hours. Vitamin D has a 30 day half life and side effects ebb over days, not hours. Finally, vitamin D is meant to be produced by exposure of the skin to the sun. Sunshine will deliver 10,000 to 40,000 IU/day of vitamin D but without the risk of side effects.
Doctor checked my blood and put me on 50,000D week for 3 months. Have taken 2 so far in 2 weeks and feel so drowsy I can hardly function. Want to lie down all the time and when I do lie down, sleep won’t come because I got plenty of sleep night before. I just feel drowsy. Will not take this weeks dose and see how I feel. Anyone else experience this?
Hi, thanks for your info I found it very interesting.
My story begins over 12 months ago with having a low Vit d and being commenced on 5000IU twice a day. After suffering extreme nausea my doctor reduced the dose to 5000IU per day this helped a little as long as I took it with a decent amount of food. All this time I had had heart palpitations and at one stage ended up in hospital with tightness and chest pain all was tested and found to be normal.
Then 6 months ago I started experiencing 'pulsitile tinnitus'(ringing in the ears sounding like my heart beat). I stopped my Vit D and saw my Dr within 1 week but she told me it couldn't possibly be due to that so I restarted it. I have now been to a neurologist and had a comprehensiv MRI performed. It showed that everything was normal, but one comment from the Dr got me thinking about the Vit D, he said that the "tinnitus was probably due to the blood vessels near the ear becoming less elastic and pliable". In the reading I've done I wonder if the Vit D has had an effect on my vascular system enough to cause this.
I've now had my levels done and everything is back to normal, I wonder have they been normal for some time and I've been taking too much, will these symptoms resolve? I stopped taking the Vit D 3 days ago.
I'd appreciate your comment, take care and may God's love and light shine for you and yours always, Tania
Man thanks for this writing, I was vitamin d deficient and started to supplement myself. It did great job for me. But at one point (around three months) of starting supplementation I started to experience some vitamin d toxicity symptoms. I was very surprised because I read that there were no documented cases of vitamin d toxicity with usage of less than 30.000 IU/day. For these three months I was using between 3000-4000IU/day through diet and supplementation and I was sunbathing on regular basis (maybe 3-4 times per week around noon for 30-60 minutes full body exposure). I also noticed that my body differently reacts to sunbathing than to supplements, I stopped using supplements and decided than in future I am going to use them only in winter months, and during summer and spring I am going to sunbath.
Luckily I bumped up on this blog, and could see that other people had similar experiences like I did.
Vitamin d did great job for me, but after some time I started to experience some really bad side effects. These were loss of appetite, frequent urination, nausea, bone pain, itchy eyes.
It was strange to me because I was taking "only" around 3000IU/day from diet (milk, supplements, sea fish) and beside that I was sunbathing maybe 3-4 per weak around noon, full body exposure 30-60 minutes. Beside that I was also having high calcium diet in order to recover my skeleton after vitamin d deficiency. I was having this regime for three and a half months, when I started to experience these worrying side effects. It is 4 days since I have stopped sunbathing and taking supplements, and I follow low calcium diet, and symptoms started to disappear gradually.
Did someone had similar experience?
Anonymous, Tania, and Miroslavs,
Thanks for leaving your comments. Tania's doctor needs to read this column. Ringing ears is on the list, and, actually, is a symptom caused by the overdose of many drugs. I'm not surprised Tania's doctor didn't know – just disappointed. I'm more disappointed that her Doctor would just press on. Vitamin D is quite toxic in overdose. I strongly recommend vitamin D from sunshine with the use of supplements as a back-up only.
Anyway, yes yes yes. Others have shared your symptoms. You are not alone. Frequent urination is a new one, but I don't doubt your report. If anyone else out there has suffered this symptom, please chime in.
Drowsiness is a standard overdose symptom. I classify the standard vitamin overdose symptoms as headache, nausea, and fatigue. Drowsiness classifies as fatigue to me.
Thanks again for stopping and commenting. I'm glad this column is proving useful.
thank god for this blog. my neighbor and i are both disabled, both see the same doctor, both started 50k ius of vitamin d two weeks ago…and both feel like were dying, here. SO TIRED, craving meat, depressed, im having chest issues, we both have headaches, ringing in our ears, aches and horrible pain…were a mess. im calling the doctor and yelling at somebody (oh, did i mention the bad mood, too?).
thanks so much for this.
xxoo
kristin
also, this was interesting…its a guide to people who handle vitamin d….
http://nj.gov/health/eoh/rtkweb/documents/fs/2391.pdf
thanks,
kristin
Kristin,
Thanks for stopping by and leaving the link. I'm so sorry that your doctor put you and your neighbor through this experience.
Please don't conclude that vitamin D is toxic and that you don't need to worry about it. You need to find the right dose. As you know from reading my column, I believe the best way to get vitamin D is to expose as much skin as possible to the mid-day sun for just a few minutes.
If you read my other bogs, you'll see that I believe you should be getting into the sun, taking 100 mg thiamine tablets twice/day, 2000 mg of vitamin C twice per day, and 250 mg tablets of time release niacin once or twice per week.
Great blog, came across it as I was trying to educate myself on the symptoms of overdosing. I experienced an inflammation flare-up in my body …painful arthritic type issues in hands, muscle fatigue and general fatigue. Pain lasted for about 1-2 weeks. Had previous flare-up 8 years ago that came and went 3 specific times. Seemed very much like an autoimmune issue. Had many tests done and nothing was found except low Vit d level. I was tested at 27vit d. Dr advised 2000 IU of vit d but I amped it to 3000. I didn't feel the doctor knew much about this so I wanted to educate myself. I will definitely look for these signs of overdose to self medicate. Any suggestions as to WHEN I should retest to see where my levels are after having increased my vit d levels??
Also, I was initially supplementing with 1200 IU of vit d prior to being diagnosing with low levels of this vit. Just curious WHY some of us don't metabolize or convert this vitamin like others. Is something else out of whack that's creating this issue of low levels? –Glad a found this blog! Kristin
This is fantastic, I have searched the web for weeks to find people experiencing the same strange side effects as me when supplementing with Vitamin D3. My supplementation was between 2000IU to 4000IU for around 1.5 month before the first side effects started to show up, after that they just increased and finally (2 weeks later) I got so scared I stopped alltogether. My side effects was exactly the same as you and other commenters are listing:
1) Teeth sensation overly sensitive to cold water and food etc.
2) Increased ringing in the ears. I have tinnitus from earlier so its hard to tell if it's louder or not, but it felt somewhat more intense.
3) Strange feeling in the eyes, hard to explain actually. Some sort of uneasy feeling.
4)Had a hard lump under one of my eyes, it seems to follow one of the main feeding blood vessels to the eye area. I have had some strange feelings in that area as well, maybe nerve related. I remember I had to touch it all the time because it felt like there was something on my skin.
5)And the more scary ones: Strange heart sensation, especially when I was going to bed and when waking up in the morning. My heart was pounding and my whole upper body was sort of vibrating, accompanied with a slight dizziness. I also had this weak feeling of pain in my chest very sporadically, sometimes stronger. One morning when I woke up I had extreme pain sensations in my chest as well (only on my left side, so my first thought was that it was my heart), it was so intense I couldn't move and I finally decided to call 911. The chest pain subsided very fast though, but the paramedic decided to take me for an extensive checkup with EKG and blood tests. Everything turned out to be perfectly fine, nothing wrong with my heart according to the doctors.
5) Lastly my left leg started to vibrate uncontrollably, it felt like a cellular phone on vibrating mode lying inside my leg (only on the inside of the leg, not visible on the outside). The vibrations started sporadically and after some days it became continues throughout the whole day. That was the time I actually connected the Vitamin D with the side effects and I stopped all supplementation.
The vibrations in my leg subsided gradually and dissapeared completely one week after stopping supplementation. Its around 2-3 weeks since I stopped now (all side effects has subsided to almost unoticeable and are lessening each day, the heart pounding seems to be the most persistent, but it's much less noticeable and not alarming now). To be really sure it's actually Vitamin D I did test twice after stopping regular supplemetaion, one day I took 1000IU before bedtime and when I wake up I had this intensive heartbeat again accompanied with an uneasy feeling. I tested again with 800IU, and had the same effect next morning so I'm pretty sure it's related to Vitamin D.
When I had the intensive vibrations in my leg I did an extensive blood test and found my blood calcium was VERY low. It was close to hypocalcemic levels , I'm pretty sure that was the reason for the vibrations (my blood calcium levels prior to starting Vit D supplementation was normal) I also believe the intense chest pain was a muscular cramp due to low calcium and possible magnesium as well. For the last couple of weeks I have been supplementing with calcium and magnesium to up my levels and I have not been taking any Vitamin D except from sunlight. I do not experience any side effects from sunlight (as far as I can tell), only from supplementation.
Hope you are still around to comment. Are you still supplementing with Vitamin D? Has your heart sensations dissapeared? I'm a little confused as well, shouldn't Vitamin D actually increase your blood calcium levels and not lower them? Thanks for your blog!
Dear D-day,
Wow! An awesome comment. Thanks so much. I hope the doctors of the world out there are reading this, and also the folks at the Vitamin D Council. There is no excuse for your suffering. Vitamin D should be gotten from skin exposure to the sun since the sun provides all the benefits of vitamin D supplements with a much much lower risk of side effects (There is such a thing a sun poisoning from too much sun and it should be fairly obvious and easy to avoid).
So – I am not really supplementing with vitamin D. I take an occasional 1000 IU tablet when I can't get into the sun for several days or when I'm afraid that I'm coming down with a cold. I get into the sun almost every day that it shines between 10 am and 3 pm. I still feel the side effects – even from just sunshine – but it is very very mild. I'm happy to live with mild side effects in exchange for fewer colds.
Calcium concentration in the blood is an important marker of health. It is important to keep it in the normal range. Many metabolic pathways need to be running smoothly to keep calcium in the normal range. Adequate levels of vitamin D are necessary for normal calcium but not sufficient. I recommend that you supplement with vitamin C, time-release niacin, and thiamine. Many of my blogs provide links to a recent blog with very specific instructions.
Good luck.
Thanks again for writing such a great comment.
About 6 weeks ago I noticed that I was getting frequent digestive cramping, flatulence, and loose stool. There were no dietary changes to explain these symptoms.
Around that time, I my blood test for D showed around 50 ng/ml.
Six months prior to that I tested around 30 ng/ml and started supplementing.
Lately, I have been supplementing with 4,000 IU of D3 daily. I strongly suspect that this supplementation is the cause of my problems. I am stopping all supplementation today. I will continue to try to get some sun exposure each week.
During the winter months I might consider more supplementation.
It is ironic because one of the main reasons I increased my D3 dosage was the studies showing a linear relation between vitamin D levels and digestive health (along with the swine flu panic).
Anecdotally, on the Vitamin D Council's site, there is the account of one person who said that supplementation did not help him with his digestive symptoms (Crohn's Disease), but tanning beds did help.
Dear Anonymous,
There is almost no question that your problems are caused by vitamin D overdose. Your symptoms are right there on the list: diahrea. You used more words: flatulence, cramps and loose stools.
I'll say it again – I hope physicians prescribing vitamin D and the folks at the vitamin D council come on over to this blog and give it a read. I apologize on behalf of the vitamin advocacy community (this includes me) about the poor job being done communicating about vitamin side effects and especially for vitamin D side effects since they are 100% avoidable by using the sun.
In our society it is hard to get into the midday sun every day the sun is out. As a result, many people are not receiving maximum benefit from vitamin D. Supplements enable everyone who can't get into the sun enough the opportunity to experience full benefits. You just have to be careful. I can feel the vitamin D side effects when they are incredibly mild. As a result, I can take 1000 IU supplements safely. I never take more than 1 per hour.
Please don't underuse vitamin D just because you unwittingly experienced serious overdose symptoms.
Thanks again for sharing your experience.
This blog is VERY interesting. I have been vit d deficient for at least 3 years. The first time I was tested for this was several months after bariatric surgery. The docs wanted to make sure my vit levels were ok. At the time, I was also borderline anemic.
I will fast forward here for a moment — In this last year I was so low in iron (ferretin was at four) and vit d (about 20), that I had to have an iron infusion about 9 months ago, and my vit d was increased from 2000 iu per day, to 4000 per day, to 50000 once a week, then 2x a week. After the infusion of iron I felt pretty good (I will not go into all the symptoms – everyone on this blog is going through much of the same)and my iron was of course at a great level.
Three months later, my iron came down a bit (200ish down to 130ish) and the vit d was about 32 but I still felt great. We increased my vit d to 50000 4x a week.
At the six months point, my ferritin was at 79 and the vit d was at 40 and the doc said increase vit d to 50000 6x a week. This was 3 and a half months ago. It was at that time that I stumbled on some interesting information. Apparently, in some people, gluten interferes with iron and vit d being absorbed. I decided to try being gluten free. The day after my blood work, I removed gluten. In less than one week, I had NO food cravings, and many physical symptoms disappeared by a good 75%. At two weeks, I saw my doc and told him what I did and how much better I was feeling.
He looked a little surprised and said take it a step further- have only fish, fruits and veggies and see what happens. Fish has a lot of vit d, but is not high on the iron list. I may also have a lactose issue and who knows what else, hence pulling back from almost everything.
Well, my diet has been boring, I have learned that there are many types of fish I didn't know existed, and I have begun to lose weight again (forgot to mention that PTH was up and weight loss stopped for over a year).Two weeks ago my ferritin was checked (no iron supplements at all) and it had shot up to 132–this is the first time in over 5 years that it has gone up any significant amount. I go for more blood work the end of next week.
The reason I stumbled on this blog was because I was trying to look up certain symptoms I have been experiencing over the last 2-3 weeks, gradually getting worse: swelling, aching jaw and headache almost always within a half hour of taking my vit d, sleepiness, muscle aches, ringing in my ear.
I am really looking forward to blood work for once. I want to see if my vit d also shot up. I see several docs and at least 2 are saying that in the next several months, I should be tested for gluten intolerance. Colonoscopy was clear, no celiac.
I work long hours in a big company and my cubicle is far appart fron windows, I really don´t get any sun exposure for much of the year except on my annual 2 weeks holiday
How much I´m suppose to take of my vit D supplements to be healthy?
I think I have mistaken a problem with my breat cancer meds ( Femamra) with a Vit D overdose. Muscles , bones, joints and today a lump under my eye. Anyone else using both?
I was diagnosed with a vitamin D deficiency a week ago. My doctor suspected when I told her that my leg muscles hurt when I walk. She also discovered I am hypothyroid. So I began Levothroid and Vitamin D at 4,000 IU daily. I was also told to take Calcium at 1500mg daily with it (this has to be taken in divided doses. Your body can only absorb 500 to 600 mg at a time). The only side effects I have thus far are feeling very tired and needing to sleep more. I did have a little sternum chest pain when I lay down but I think it might be a little GERD caused by the supplements.
According to our Kaiser Medical website: The parathyroid glands release a substance called parathyroid hormone that helps control the amount of calcium in the bloodstream. When the parathyroid glands do not produce enough hormone, the amount of calcium in the blood decreases. The symptoms I found this under: confusion, memory loss, and altered alertness.
Prior to this diagnosis my symptoms were neurological (brain fog, memory loss and confusion). I also had symptoms of low thyroid. My Endocrinologist figured these things out when my primary care doctor did not. She explained that primary care doctors are told that as long as ones TSH is in the norm range on lab results that all is fine. She said primary care doctors would be prescribing thyroid hormones to many people who don’t need it if they knew the correct lab range. When a person goes to an Endocrinologist and their TSH is say 4.6 and they have low thyroid symptoms… it all adds up. The TSH is considered high above 3.0. You see the pituitary gland produces TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) if it senses that there’s not enough thyroid hormone in the blood stream. TSH tells the thyroid to make more. So, the higher your TSH is, the less functional your thyroid is at producing thyroid hormone on its own.
My understanding is that Vitamin D deficiencies are common with people with autoimmune disorders like hypothyroidism and diabetes type 2 (which I have both). I read that people with autoimmune disorders should have their TSH checked every year. According to my doctor; vitamin D deficiency causes the bone density to be lower than its true value. You need to maintain normal vitamin D levels for at least 1 year to let your bones rebuild before you do a bone density scan. Otherwise, you will get low readings that are actually reversible.
Interesting thing is that as I started thyroid hormones and 4,000 IU a day of vitamin D; my blood sugars fell tremendously (50 points average) and they are almost in the normal range (as in not being diabetic). The hormones in our body have to work in balance. When something is out of balance, it will increase or decrease in another area to try and balance. I am glad that my hormones are beginning to balance out.
wow, this is a really interesting blog. My D levels were at 16 in April… my doc suddenly decided to check all of her patients for deficiency since in Wisconsin we don't get much opportunity for sun exposure for the better part of the year. It is especially bad for me as I work in an office w/ no windows and don't often get out for lunch.
That said she put me on 50,000 iu of D twice a week. I thought that was excessive so initially I bought my own supplements and took 400iu/day, it said 100%, thought that was enough. That did nothing for my D deficiency, when I went back I was still super low. I started following her plan and after a month my level was at 28, the nurse said it raises slowly, that the ideal level was around 85 and I should keep taking the supplements. I ran out for the last week so for a couple days I took my supplements but I took 1600 iu. I have noticed when I don't take any D supplements I feel depressed. A conversation with a friend today made me think to look up the symptoms of overdose and I happened on this blog.
My eyes have been itchy and have had a lot of mucous since I started taking the larger supplement, though I never would have attributed it to the vitamins had I not read this blog. I also feel dizzy a lot in the afternoons too. I am not sure if this is a side effect or an inner ear problem, still waiting on the results of the VNG. Might have to stop the D for a bit, make a point of getting some sun on lunch, and see if the dizziness subsides. I always felt that natural was better anyway. I will still have to supplement once it gets too cold regardless, though at this point I am not sure how much I will need to take. Thanks for the info.
My doctor prescribed Vitamin D supplements for me and my husband decided he should take them too. He also gets them in his multi vitamins. (I can't take multivitamins due to cancer) He now has frequent urination but low painful flow, weakness, and pain in abdomen. After reading your article, I told him to stop taking the supplement.
I am wondering if this applies to me. At the advice of certain websites and the Vit D council, I started D supplements because I work in school and was concerned with the flu pandemic. I started on 2000 per day, then took 4000 per day after a couple of weeks. Dr Cannell, on vitamin D council site, advocates taking 5000iu per day, and almost scaremongers people who are taking 1000-2000iu per day into thinking they are not taking enough, and are actually more at risk from flu than those taking none at all.
So, after reading this, I started to take 6000iu per day. Well, I started in May on my D supplementing, and at the time I was battling a scabies infestation, and had very itchy skin. Well, my itch hasn't gone away, and my husband feels it may not actually be a recurrence of scabies but may be due to the high dosage of D I am taking.
I argued with him because my itch started weeks before taking the D, but now I am wondering, after reading your notes, because I have developed a very slight wheeze. I never really get wheezy unless I have an allergy attack and although pollen is high, my hayfever has never caused this. I am also extremely depressed, but I put this down to battling scabies and feeling that it is not going away. Strangely, my itch never really produced a rash of any kind.
In addition to this, my epiglottis has become enlarged. It is not epiglottitis, but is just swollen enough to rest on the back of my tongue, which i very unsettling and scary, feeling like almost choking. This has lead to my appetite dwindling, don't get me wrong I am hungry but I don't want to eat as my throat feels so horrible.
Do you think my problems are coming from the D? If so, how can I stop it, will it go quickly if I abstain, and how can I ascertain what dosage to take?
Thanks in advance
Liz
Liz,
Thanks for stopping by with your comments.
Of all the symptoms you have described, the wheeze has the highest probability of being a vitamin D side effect. This is a commonplace vitamin D side and effect and has started for you after several weeks of vitamin D supplementation.
Vitamins often cause feelings that are not related to actual stress on a tissue. Your epliglotis may feel swollen without actually being swollen. Appetite depression from vitamin D is also a common symptom.
The half-life of vitamin D in the body is 30 days. Vitamin D side effects tend to fade slowly over the course of, say, a week. The side effects generally intensify in an obvious manner if you take 1000 or 2000 IU after skipping vitamin D for a week and staying out of the sun.
Please don't stop using vitamin D permanently just because of the side effects. The safest way to get vitamin D is from the sun. Supplements are needed in the winter if you live in the northern latitudes.
If you don't want to use the sun, you can try taking vitamin D supplements in bursts instead of daily. Take 5000 IU once per week instead of 1000 IU/day. This strategy will familiarize you with the side effects while maintaining >90% of the benefits of daily supplementation.
Thanks again for your comments. Readers should assume that all of the symptoms you report are reasonable vitamin D side effects until you get back to us on what is and what isn't.
Jen,
Thanks for stopping by. I remain shocked that physicians are using 50,000 IU supplements. There is no question that your itchy eyes and extra mucous are from the vitamin D.
I strongly recommend lower doses of vitamin D and more patience. The body adjusts for a long time once vitamin D levels are elevated. I've been supplementing vitamin D for three years now and believe that my body is still changing as a result.
Full body sunshine is the best way to get vitamin D. Every square inch of your skin has the ability to produce vitamin D and it is beneficial to put this ability to work.
Supplements also work fine, but carry an increased risk of side effects. Go ahead and use the supplements, but come on back to here to the blog to keep updated on the best dosing strategies.
I was one of the first few people to comment here several months back. I complained of many of the symptoms of vitamin D side effects, and I thought I'd come back to give an update.
My problems kept recurring from time to time despite the fact that I had stopped taking the D3, and I visited several different doctors trying to figure out what was going on. I became skeptical that my symptoms had anything to do with my vitamin D intake, and it was eventually discovered that my neurotransmitters were quite out of balance. Serotonin tested low, norepinephrine was really high…
After starting treatment for this, my symptoms went away. I resumed a 5,000 IU per day dose of vitamin D, and have not had any problems reoccur at all to this day.
Anyway, I'm not denying that people can have side effects from it, but I'm just updating my own story. Apparently the vitamin D wasn't the problem.
This is a very interesting blog.
I began supplementing with 4000 to 8000 or more IU daily. Like a previous reader, I eat mostly fish, dairy, and veggies, with very little bread or gluten. My experience so far:
First 2 weeks: nothing unusual; no change. 3rd, 4th, 5th weeks: feeling just great. Noticeable change in mood. Depression gone. Life is good. I have more energy. Noticed a mild sensitivity in my teeth but did not think anything of it until reading this.
6th, 7th weeks: getting drowsy in the afternoons and fall asleep earlier at night. Can't stand bright lights on after dark or reading computer screens in the evenings. Can't read in bed. (This is actually good because it motivates me to get to bed earlier.) Tooth sensitivity increasing somewhat. Occasional mild headaches. Several incidents of severe constipation.
At this point, thanks to this blog, I have decided to stop supplementing, to see what happens. Will definitely begin supplementing again this winter.
This is a very interesting blog.
I began supplementing with 4000 to 8000 or more IU daily. Like a previous reader, I eat mostly fish, dairy, and veggies, with very little bread or gluten. My experience so far:
First 2 weeks: nothing unusual; no change. 3rd, 4th, 5th weeks: feeling just great. Noticeable change in mood. Depression gone. Life is good. I have more energy. Noticed a mild sensitivity in my teeth but did not think anything of it until reading this.
6th, 7th weeks: getting drowsy in the afternoons and fall asleep earlier at night. Can't stand bright lights on after dark or reading computer screens in the evenings. Can't read in bed. (This is actually good because it motivates me to get to bed earlier.) Tooth sensitivity increasing somewhat. Occasional mild headaches. Several incidents of severe constipation.
At this point, thanks to this blog, I have decided to stop supplementing, to see what happens. Will definitely begin supplementing again this winter.
WOW! I can't believe what I have been reading. I have been on 50000 IU vit D for 9 weeks. At first I felt great, then about 2 weeks ago I have been having heart sensations, like skipped beats. I had a EKG and it was fine. I don't know if this has anything to do with vit D but I suffered from severe vertigo and unbalanced feeling. Also my ears ring terrible. I live in the north, so what is a person suppose to do in the winter? Lori
Am a 33 yr. old female. My Vitamin D level was at 13. I was adviced to take 1.25mg Vitamin D fr 12 months. My problem is, I accidentally took 2 in a week (was prescribed to take only one softgel a week). Im scared of what will happen to me. I don't feel any side effects yet, because I just took it now( should I wait?). Please help? If I go to urgent care they might just send me home and tell me to wait til I have symtptoms. I'm really scared.
Hi, good health to all on 8/16/09. My name is JimG. David's comment is very good. The body's nutrition is enoumously complicated and testing is expensive and time consuming and yet very important. We sure need a better health system. What I have learned from all of you about this subject is that we all have to manage our own health because doctors have little time to thoroughly investigate our health status, whereas, we live with our own bodies every day.
A couple of miscelaneous comments: VitD is probably a special case, more like a hormone than a vitamin. Also, vit K in all its sub-fractions (K1,K2-4/7)is an essential regulator of calcium that helps avoids unhealthy deposits where they don't belong. A great source of science based information is lef.org (Life Extension Foundation which is non-profit).
My Doctor started me on 50,000IU 1x a week I took the first dose and began to itch and whelp the very next day, I started to have headache's muscle pain, itching eyes I went to my doctor who said to start on bendryl, I could not take a steriod injection as it would elevate my blood sugar levels. after two weeks I am still having whelping and itching not as much muscle pain. I don't think I should be still having symptoms is this a normal reaction.
This is all very interesting. I found this blog because I was wondering if some of the things I have been feeling were Vit. D toxicity. Back in April my Vitamin D3 level was 6, so I began supplementing with pills and sunshine. In June it was only up to 13, so I increased to 4000 – 6000 IU per day. Now in August I am feeling fatigue, depression, heart symptoms, urinary symptoms, etc. My question is: can you get toxic symptoms while your overall levels are still severely depleted?
Dear Depleted But Suffering Anyway,
There are currently no scientific studies to use that directly answer your question using clinical data.
Should a dataset emerge that enables scientists to plot side effects as a function of blood concentration of vitamin D during a period of high dose vitamin D supplementation, I would expect to see a bell curve with side effects hitting a small percentage at surprisingly low vitamin D concentrations. You could be one of those data points.
The next point is that you have been aggresively supplementing (pills and sunshine) since June. I wouldn't be surprised to see you vitamin D levels way up.
The third point is that the body is complex and takes time to change. I've been using mostly sunshine and some supplements of vitamin D for more than two years and am still feeling my body change.
The final point is that you need to stop supplements and get out of the sun to prove to yourself that the side effects are indeed from vitamin D (which I believe they are), and more importantly to try to get them go away. When you are ready to resume, I recommend sunshine to minimize the risk of side effects. That said, I use both and gladly suffer minor vitamin D side effects for the benefits I believe I feel when I'm fighting a cold.
Dear 50,000 IU Anonymous,
In fact, I believe that your reaction to vitamin D at 50,000 IU is surprisingly common. 50,000 IU is a large dose and vitamin D is an important molecule in the body with the potential to influence every cell directly. I disapprove of the 50,000 IU dose. I recommend a slower approach. The safest approach is regular mid day sunshine. A mix of sunshine and up to 2000 IU of vitamin D/day is the next safest. Then up to 2000 IU/day without sunshine. Above 4000 IU per day most people will eventually develop side effects – that's why the Food and Nutrition Board has set the UL for vitamin D at 2000 IU/day.
The second part of your question is why are the side effects taking so long to go away. This is totally normal. Vitamin D has a half life of roughly 30 days. Unfortunatlely, unlike vitamin C and niacin, vitamin D side effects take days/weeks to disappear instead of hours/days.
I've just happened onto this blog while searching for Vit D overdose symptoms. I began supplementation winter before last at 400 IU, and stopped during summertime. Last winter I increased this to 2000 IU as I had read that more is better to a point, and I decided from reading that you won't OD on 2000 IU. Didn't realize how much I was already getting from milk and fortified foods, probably another 500 to 800 IU per day. Then decided to keep going 2000 IU thru this summer as I wasn't getting daily sun and besides had read that you wash off the Vit D you create from sunshine if you bath daily. So mid summer I begin to feel fatigued, my legs feel heavy, achy, especially the next morning after an evening walk, and none of this has been the norm, I exercise fairly regularly and usually feel stronger not weaker the day or two after a good workout. Also my knees have become weak and don't respond well to exercise to try to strengthen them. And at the same time my shoulders have become weak, hard to lift weight, even just my arm only, outward from my body. This is all abnormal for me, (55 years old) I've played softball every summer and never have had weak anything, and this is the first summer I laid off from softball. So about 3 weeks ago I decided that Vit D might be the problem, when I discovered the long half life, I figured if I was getting even just a litte too much each day it could build up in my body. So I quit supplements but not the food sources. My symptoms still have not subsided after 3 weeks, the Vit D levels should be nearing half what they were shouldn't they?
Dear Anonymous,
Thanks for stopping by.
Stopping the supplements was the right thing to do. You should have been feeling better already if vitamin D was the problem. Still – give the long half life of vitamin D and the fact that you are not avoiding fortified foods, you probably should wait more time before restarting. When you restart, try 6000 IU for the first couple of days. If vitamin D is the problem, your side effects should flare up from the high dose.
That said, your side effects are not convincing. Weak muscles and fatigue are common symptoms with many causes. You have not supplemented with vitamin D above the UL (I believe 2000 IU is the UL). You don't have any of the classic symptoms (the chest pains, ringing ears, irritated lungs, twinging teeth, etc.).
If you read my other blog entries, you know I think you should take time release niacin, thiamin, and vitamin c in addition to the vitamin D supplements.
Good luck and thanks for leaving a comment.
Howdy all,
Personal statistics prior to starting Vitamin D regimen: 55 year old white male, not a sun worshiper, sedentary lifestyle, persistent aches in shoulder joints and lower back. High sensitivity to most drugs and supplements. Very healthy otherwise.
Started with a new doctor in March 09 who did a full blood work up to get a baseline. Found to be Vitamin D deficient (~16). Put on D3 2000 IU/day in May 09.
Symptoms: Feelings of extreme stress that grew worse over time. Extreme fatigue and general malaise. Joint pains all but gone.
Self treatment: Realized symptoms due to my particular body chemistry caused by response to 2000 IU dosage. Reduced to 400 IU for a week, increasing dosage by 400 IU weekly. Found recurrence of stress conditions at 1600 IU. Currently maintaining between 800 and 1200 IU/day. Joint pain gone. Vitamin D levels almost in normal range after 4 months.
My personal observation? 50K IU probably would have killed me…or caused me to kill someone else…due to induced stress and fatigue.
Your mileage may vary. My daughter can take 2000 IU/day with no ill affects.
Be well,
Jack
My wife and I have both experienced an overdose at fairly "low" dosage supplements…My Wife has 800 in her one-a-day and she took an extra 400iu once a day (D3)….I had 400iu in my Men's one-a-day and I took a 1000iu D3 once a day. I wanted to ask a question that I think may be very important…Is it D3 that is causing some of the problems? I had the dry mouth symptom and could taste mushrooms !! My wife read that a good food source for D was mushrooms. Coincidence? Does anyone know if D2 causes less problems than D3?
Dear "Low Dosage",
Both you and your wife are supplementing below the Food and Nutrition Board's upper safe limit for vitamin D. Unless you are both getting well more than average sunshine, it seems unlikely that you would both be suffering from vitamin D side effects.
Here's how to find out. Stop vitamin D supplements and stay out of the sun for 10 days. Then take 4000 IU of vitamin D for three days in a row. If you are currently suffering from vitamin D side effects, the side effects will fade during the 10 day vitamin D "fast" and return dramatically during the 3 day period at 4000 IU.
Good luck and thanks for stopping by.
Dear VW,
Thanks for stopping by and leaving your comment.
As you are having trouble with side effects, have you considered avoiding supplements altogether and just getting more sunshine? This will get you more vitamin D while avoiding serious side effects.
I'm assuming you are familiar with side effects from getting too much sunshine. Don't get that much more sunshine. Some of the well known side effects from too much sun are on the list of vitamin D side effects and are at least partially caused by too much vitamin D from sunshine.
My daughter had symptoms last year I believe from Vitamin D, hives on her skin. Whenever she would drink milk, she would get the hives. I was giving her a teaspoon of cod liver oil each day in the wintertime, and her symptoms started in January-ish. As long as she didn't have any dairy products, then she was fine. I thought she was developing an allergy to dairy, but now I don't think so. the first trip to the pool this summer, and her first mega-dose of Vitamin D gave her hives all over. I used sunscreen and left her out in the sun anyway. I did that for a couple of weeks, then removed the sunscreen, and she developed a tan with no other side effects. I think the buildup had disappeared at that time and she continues to have no problems. However this year, I am being VERY careful this winter to supplement her a little less.
I just came across this blog…my doctor told me I have low vitamin D as well, should be 85, I am 18. I started taking supplement 1000 IU 3 days ago and have noticed extreme tiredness, headaches, minor stomach cramps and weird fluttering in my heart. I was feeling tired and lethargic prior to taking the supplements which is why i went in for a blood test in the first place. However, this just seems worse. I'm not sure if I should stop taking them altogether, or take 1/2 a pill. Also, is three days too soon to notice such side effects? thanks!
My doctor recently prescribed me 50,000 IU of vitamin D3 because of showing a severe deficiency on testing.
I was to take this amount for 5 days and then drop off to taking it once per week. Within days the symptoms began and were pretty alarming.
I'm not sure which symptoms came first, but I noticed cramping in the gut and then diarrhea. I also had dizzy spells. Later came extreme drowsiness/fatigue and muscle weakness, some headaches, dry mouth, headachey. Then ongoing nausea, loss of appetite, more moody and depressed (even felt suicidal) and more light sensitivity. I've actually broken down and cried on and off because I"ve felt so ill.
Needless to say, I did not go beyond the 5 days. That was enough to tell me something was VERY wrong. Sadly, even though my last dose was approx 2 weeks ago, I still suffer the effects. Some seem to be lessening, but some days are worse than other days. Today is particularly bad, which is why I have been searching on the net and found this blog (thank goodness).
I do not know how to make things better again, but keep hoping time will do so. My doctor has made no effort to get back to me over my concerns which I passed onto the nurse that works in the office. She charges even if it's a few minute phone call (I don't have the money right now). I have rung more than once and told more than one nurse there, and just been told that it could be the vitamin D, but to get in touch with a local G.P.
Amazing! My doctor is responsible for this, but takes no responsibility once something goes wrong. I would warn ANYBODY in following such high doses of vitamin D. I feel like some part of an experiement that she's doing to see what happens with her patients.
Thank you, everyone, for posting here. The more authoritative sources I've found have said nothing about tooth pain or sensitivity as possible toxicity effects, but since reading the posts here, I believe this is what I may be experiencing. Last winter I started supplementing with about 1400-1800 IU of vitamin D3 daily. In March, I was dealing with the worst tooth discomfort I've ever experienced. The dentist and periodontist found nothing to explain it, and two orthodontists only thought that it could be due to a bite problem. As sunnier weather came around, I backed off of the supplementation, and these symptoms went away. During the winter, I had blood vitamin D levels checked, and the result was a level of 30 on a scale of 20-100. During the summer, I had it checked again with some other blood work, and the level was still at only 33. So I recently started upping my supplementation from 600 IU/day to 1000, and now the tooth pain is coming back. And it's my front teeth, by the way.
This is not conclusive proof, but it seems more than a coincidence to me… I stopped taking the vitamin D3 two days ago (well, actually, back down to 200 IU in a multi-vitamin), and hopefully this problem will continue to fade again…
– Doug
Fascinating … I did a search on Vit D overdose on a hunch. I am experiencing calcification in my hands and it hurts.
I take 2000IU but also drink milk and there is Vit D in my calcium formulation as well.
In this post it suggested that Vit K and the parathyroid may have something to do with calcification as well.
Really confused now on how to proceed. I'm thinking that I should do away with the Vit D and continue with the calcium and organic milk to see with happens over a month.
Should I have my parathyroid and Vit K levels checked after a while off the D? And make a point of ensuring a good, health alkaline environment?
Been experiencing minor anxiety attacks of late as well.
Your thoughts would be appreciate.
Thanks,
Andrea
I posted earlier about my prescribed 50,000 IU of vitamin D and the symptoms that followed.
I have just found out what my actual vitamin D test results had been (before I started the prescribed vitamin D).
I had expected a very low number and was suprised to discover I was in actual fact within normal range. Though on the lower end admittedly. But evidentally I was not so severely depleted as the doctor made out.
The rang was 50 – 150. I was 64. Yet I was told that I was very deficient.
So yes, it pays to enquire about the actual numbers.
Certainly one can overdose on high dose supplements and it's a wonder why I was not recommended to simply get a bit more vitamin D from sunlight and/or perhaps a moderate supplement of e.g. 400 IU (at least to start).
Andrea,
Thanks for stopping by my blog and leaving a comment.
Calcification in the hands is a serious problem. You should have this diagnosis confirmed by a physician. Once confirmed, your physician should provide you with advice regarding vitamin D and calcium supplements. If he/she doesn't, I recommend finding another physician. A standard protocol for vitamin D overdosing is to avoid vitamin D supplements, vitamin D fortified foods, sunshine, and calcium supplements for a few weeks.
You asked difficult questions about vitamin K and parathyroid. You can see from the discussion in this blog item on vitamin D that physicians are having difficulting managing patient vitamin D levels. Much less is known about vitamin K and parathyroid.
I have focussed my attention on vitamin C, vitamin D, niacin, and thiamine because they are the only four micronutrients associated with named, (formerly) pandemic deficiency diseases (scurvy, rickets, pellegra, and beriberi respectively). Please read my other blog items on this subject and leave some more comments.
Good luck with the pain in your hands.
Thanks again for stopping by the blog,
Steve
Doug,
I'm so glad you found this page useful. I'm confident that you have found the source of your tooth pain. It is hard to believe that in 2009 such a simple problem perplexes doctors and dentists.
Please share what you've learned with friends and family. I hope what you've learned boosts my credibility and that you will consider following my dosing recommendations for vitamin C, niacin, thiamine, and vitamin D.
Please come on back and share more of your experiences.
Steve
Dear Anonymous,
Thanks for stopping by and sharing. It is so important that people testify to the problems caused by these 50,000 IU vitamin D treatments. Your testimony will fast persuade me and others that this treatment is ill-advised. I'm terribly sorry for the suffering your physician has caused you.
Please don't conclude from this that you don't need extra vitamin D. Vitamin D is essential for optimal health. Please read my many blog entries on the benefits of vitamin D, niacin, thiamine, and vitamin C. I've done my best to provide advice that maximizes the benefits while minimizing the risk of side effects. I wish you long life in good health.
SOLUTION for everyone having problems…
1. Do not believe the bottle of D3 that says to take 1 daily !!!!!
2. D3 has a half-life of 3 weeks – If you take 1000iu per day for 6 weeks you end up with an average 21000iu in your body daily. If you take one 1000iu per week that averages 3000iu in your body per day which is what I am now trying. All my overdose symptoms and my Wife's have disappeared since stopping D3 for a while.
3. The easy calculation for your daily iu supplement is to multiply what you plan to take daily by 21 (half-life of D3 in days) – this is your daily average in your body after 6 weeks and then on after that.
Note: With a half-life of 3 weeks it would take 6 weeks to get out of your body.
Also, anyone questioning the "half-life of D3" should Google it and verify my theory.
I wish everyone suffering with D3 overdose symptoms all the best and good luck to everyone figuring out the correct dosage.
Of course the best way to figure out if you even need a supplement is to get tested….I also know someone who was overdosing on milk with D3 in it – He was drinking 6 12oz cups per day for most of his life and now he knows more he can stop killing himself and drink the 1 cup a day like normal.
And finally, it may be just a weird coincidence but I am getting a tooth repaired after 15 years of no problems. Who knows but this just happened after the overdose.
What can you do if you have symptoms? I have been ignoring mine for 3 months now. Is it still enough to reverse them if I just stop taking the vitamin? What a coincidence that I came accross this site.
Dear Anonymous,
It is unfortunately common to ignore vitamin side effects for many months because individuals and physicians are unfamiliar with them. Many individuals report going to doctors and nurses with complaints caused by vitamins and finding no advice. As a result the chronic suffering goes on and on until the cause is finally identified. Other individuals disregard side effects because they feel the benefits from the extra vitamin outweight the side effects. Most of these individuals eventually lower their dose of vitamin and full recovery over time is the norm.
Vitamin D has a 30 day half life and is produced in the skin from exposure to the sun. Vitamin D side effects are unusually slow to recede. I've discussed this previously in the comment string above. The typical protocol for accelerating the disappearance of vitamin D side effects is to avoid vitamin D supplements, vitamin D fortified foods, sunshine, calcium supplements, and calcium fortified foods.
I wish you a speedy recovery.
Hi Steve,
Thanks for your response, much appreciated. I have just been to see a nurse at a local G.P. and she is passing the info onto my the doctor. The symptoms continue, so she is concerned.
I will not be taking anymore vitamin D, until I get back to some normality. I do agree with you that it's necessary to get enough and I'll certainly not allow this to cause me to go to the extreme of "never having any". Because that would be a mistake. But it's a great pity that we have cowboy doctors out there who are taking risks with their patients like this and possibly losing their trust in what otherwise would be a wise thing to supplement with (at safe doses).
I'm still suffering toxic effects and I am hoping things won't last too long.
I did read that toxic effects can last 2 months after discontinuing vitamin D. I'm sure this will vary from person to person. I've had about 3 weeks so far. Sometimes it feels like it maybe improving, but then it worsens again!
Two days ago I started taking Vitamin D drops under my tongue which enters into the blood stream directly through arteries that lie under the tongue. I took a total dose of 14,000 IU I noticed a significant difference. I wasnt fatige, my mind was clear, my eyes seemed clear and within 6 hours I was dizzy and I had orthostatic hypotension with chest pain at the base of my sternum(manubrium). The following day I took another 8,000 IU's and I noticed a small rash on my face along with dryness, very thirsty, redused appetite, and not as energetic as the day before. My original reading of Vit. D was 10 so I believe the right thing for me to do would be continue with only one drop under the tongue every other day unless symptoms worsen. Hope everyone else does alright with their treatments, Be healthy. By the way I live in Miami Florida where its sunny every day and still have very low levels????????????????
so how can the Vitamin D council or org be so wrong about vitamnin d?
The problems are the dosing is so highly variable as are the side effects. I found Vitamin D to be a miracle hormone for the past 6 months-incredible-lifted the fatigue and fog and has some great cardiac and immune benefits are great.
However I recently experienced a hos to of symptoms described in the myriad of comments in this thread.
Most notably dry throat fatigue nerve and muscle pain muscle spasms pain in feet eye problems over all feeling of malaise…
I had upped my dose to 16,000 iu's a day form 4-6,000 to knock out a cold coming on and it worked then I guess as a result of the fatigue continuing from the high dosed Vitamin d effects it became like a circle I kept reading toxicology and safety and stuff like that off of 10 -15 PRO Vitamin D sites and thougt I was fine-but this
explains a lot.
The worst side effect was the palipitations and pain and tightness in the sternum area-blood pressure was normal but I felt like I was gonna stroke out…dizzy shortness of breath I actually thought I had a clogged artery…I recently had a full work up done 2 months ago -nuclear stess test Echo cardio gram and a couple EKGS….so I was kinda worried but when you have those symptoms I was on 9-then 1- then hung up the phone …
I always was very fatigued AFTER going to the beach and could never figure out why? I thought it was just the heat and sweat but I took in tons of water and stayed cool swimming and still would be knocked out…
I stopped the D for now only 2000 ius EOD or ED for me maybe 4-6000 in the future-I plan on getting my D levels tested.
I am so thankful to have come across your blog! Thank you so much, and thanks to those of you who have shared your experiences!Four months ago after routine blood work at the doctor's office I was found to be vitamin D deficient with a level of 12. I was started on 50,000 units of vitamin D twice a week for five months, plus calcium + D twice daily for the rest of my life. After four months of this regimen I am a mess to say the least, but only recently wondered if this all could be from vitamin D toxicity, so I decided to research it and came across your wonderful blog! I started out with having a continual headache which nothing seemed to help. I now have these symptoms: Extremely itchy skin, still have the headache most days, I wake up several times per night to urinate, I have red, itchy, irritated eyes, I have this fuzzy feeling in my head, sort of like a "mental fog" so to speak, but the worst thing of all is the heart palpitations, PAC's, PVC's and tachycardia. I had to have an EKG, echocardiogram, and stess myoview, all of which were normal, except for the rapid rhythm. However something in NOT normal. It feels like I am short of breath constantly because of this extreme irregular heart rhythm. I feel terrible. I have one more month to complete on the vitamin D. After reading your blog and after reading the responses from others, I have decided not to complete it. I will check back and let you know how I feel after stopping it. Thanks again so much for your blog! It was a Godsend! Also thank you tho those of you who took the time to contribute to it as well. It was very helpful! 🙂
I found this blog when searching to find out if abdominal cramping and diarrhea could be a side effect of my vitamin D supplementation. I just started 2 weeks ago with 50,000 IU once a week. At my last check-up my blood work showed low vitamin D, low bone density and low calcium. (also high cholesterol, but that doesn't look related) The first week, after the first dose, I had no problems. All this week I have had abdominal cramping after every time I eat or drink. Sometimes it is accompanied by diarrhea and sometimes not. I though I had some kind of a virus but I just realized, today, that the cramping started the day I took the second dose of 50,000 IU vit D. I was surprised to find the tooth sensitivity side effect. For the past few days I have thought I needed to make a dentist appointment. My front tooth hurts and my bottom teeth feel weird. When I read that you "feel your teeth" I could really relate. I have also been uncharacteristically irritable. This is only my second dose.
I did not realize all the problems associated with low vitamin D. I have quite a few. Bone and joint pain, a bit over weight, insulin issues associated with polycystic ovaries, memory and fuzzy headedness. I don't want to give up on vitamin D supplementation, but I can't have stomach cramps like this every time I eat.
I teach school so I can't go outside at noon every day without my clothes. I can go out for about 20 minutes with my face and arms exposed, and my lower legs in the warm months.
Hopefully there is a solution.
On July 17,2009 my blood test result showed a vitamin D of 9.4 ng/ml. I am 34 years old and already showing signs of osteopenia and had several metatarsal fractures on low impact. I started taking vitamin D supplement of 60,000 IU per week (one single dose with a glass of milk) on July 25, 2009. The one abnormality I have noticed is twitching of my right eye which has increased with every passing day. My last vitamin D dose (3rd) was on August 9, 2009. I still have the eye twitching which is bothering me a lot. At about this time (vitamin D consumption), coincidently I also started getting a lot of noon sun and this continues to date. I have a glass of milk per day. I am from India. I chanced upon your post today and although this seems to be an old post, I was wondering whether you would be kind enough to respond. Is my symptom a result of vitamin D? Should I continue my vitamin D supplements? Anyway, thank you for this post.
I've been taking 50,000 IU's of D3per day for 6 months. I have not felt any negative side effects at all. My levles are now at 140 and my doctor says to keep taking the 50,000 5X a week.
I don't drink milk at all and as a red head, I avoid the sun. So perhaps this is why?
To the poster who said taking 1000IU weekly would result in a constant 3000 IU level… You are forgetting the basic metabolism of vitamin D. A cholesterol-based substance in the skin (7-DHC) is converted by photons in the UVB spectrum that penetrate the skin, striking it and coverting it to pre-vitamin D3. The heat of your body converts this to D3. Or, if you are supplementing, you are taking in D3. However, D3 is then converted to 25-vitamin D, which is further converted to 1,25 vitamin D, the most active form. After exposure to a single minimal erythemal dose (MED), serum D3 levels peak between 1 and 2 days, and fall rapidly after that as D3 is either metabolized to inactive products or converted to 25-D, the level that is used as a reference for vitamin D sufficiency. Also, you should know that 10 minutes of midday sun for a white person in the southern united states will easily produce over 5000IU of vitamin D3. Lets not forget that is being added to whatever you are supplementing. And for the person who thought vitamin D is "washed off" the skin…it is not. PreD3 is produced primarily in the basal layer of the epidermis, far away from the surface. The skin at the surface that is "washed off" is already dead. Several people have also mentioned not being near windows. Windows absorb UVB radiation, but permit UVA and the visible spectrum to pass. UVA is responsible for much of the effects of aging and solar damage, but will not cause vitamin D synthesis. FYI, I am a doctor. I do not doubt any of the side effect claims, as vitamin D is still one of the mysteries of medicine, where we are discovering more everyday about its role in cancer, infectious disease, mood, autoimmune disease, bone and muscle health, and many others. I myself am suspicious of 50,000 IU doses instead of smaller daily supplements.
Hello,
Just came across your website.
Frankly, I'm at a loss to understand a lot of these comments. I've been into alternatives for more than 30+ years and take many many supplements which, along with diet and exercise, have dramatically improved my health.
A few years ago I attended a workshop for women with osteopenia. At the time, I was tested and it was discovered that I had a severe Vitamin D deficiency. The MD gave me 50,000 units to take once each week. After that, it was recommended that I take 1,000 units of D3 a day. Over the years I was tested a few times to ascertain my D3 levels and was subsequently advised to increase that to 6,000 units a day, which I did. I have had NO SIDE EFFECTS that I can ascertain. I've done reading on the subject and my understanding is that D3 is considered safe, even in doses far larger than the one I take.
Hi,
My Vit D, 25-hydroxy level tested to be 17 ng/ml with a reference range of 30-80ng/ml. My doctor gave me Vit D3 liquid and said to take 10 drops (10,000 IU)per day in the AM. He said this is better absorbed than capsules. On my 2nd day I had abdominal cramps and felt sick. Do you know anything about this liquid form of Vit D? The manufacturer is Pure Encapsulations, Inc.
Thanks, Diane
I think it's important that we look at what form we are taking d2 or d3 as well as capsule or liquid. Also what else is in it? It is usually referred to as 'non medicinal ingredients' on the side.
For starters I just started vit d supplementation a few months ago. However, I suffered from panic attacks for the first time in my life last year. All tests came back fine. I asked the medical doctor if it could be caused by an allergy – he said no. HOWEVER, if you google panic attack and allergy you will find that it can indeed be caused by this. Additionally it is connected with mineral/vitamin deficiencies (concentrace mineral supplements starting at 1 drop 2x a day, then next day 2 drops 2x a day, next day 3 drops 3x a day to bowel tolerance and food avoidance and I have had no full on ones since-others are connected to when i sneak a treat which i have not done in 7 mo) Becuase I am very very careful with my diet (I was pregnant and now breastfeeding, I can tell you things I have found out abuot myself I would have normally written off as something else). Tea/caffeine will make my 'heart' ache…also suspect is the chemicals used on the inside of coffee cups to help keep the beverage insulated. things that give me heart palpatations include ingredients in baked goods or junk food which i eat very little of. interesting that i can eat a mars bar a few times a year with no side affects. A butter tart from Tim Hortons- no problem, a butter tart from the local bakery will produce a full on panic attack that lasts at least until the next day. Tea with some friends at a local bistro has me wide awake until 6am with my heart hammering out of my chest!!!! Sometimes a cookie will be fine, then I'll be at someones house and have one of theirs and bam same thing. Perhaps it is something like corn syrup or an additive- but I avoid all baked goods now and only make my own raw ones. 😉 Those panic attacks are sure scary to the enth degree complete with ride to hospital in ambulance!!!
Guess what? I also have issues with dairy, corn, yeast, gluten, wheat, beef… vitamins are typically encapsulated in GELATIN capsules!! Now I know why I used to have such reactions to the vitamins I took. I never thought I had all these food issues- a few sure, but when tested I was surprised. I had just recently suspected my beef but thought nah…not possible- it's organic, farm raised by a local farmer…and yet I was starting to get a headache every time.
Some liquid vitamin d is in 'oil'. You need to know what kind and if any other 'preservatives' are in it. The one I got recently had olive oil that it was mixed with and the oil was rancid. ewwww. Additionally I can taste the plastic from the little plastic bottle it was in.
Leg pains, hand pains, heart pains, uterine pains, headaches, toe aches – I can pin them ALL on food prior to taking the vitamin d. I keep a food journal and have been doing it for years. Plus breastfeeding my children has allowed them to be my guage- this 3rd baby NEVER cries…unless I eat something I shouldn't like pecans or a chocolate bar or a tea. Then he cries or fusses for 48 hrs and his little bum goes red. Considering he's never had a rash or mark of any kind on his body (he really is my dream baby)…. to see the effect this has on him is just so incredible. Makes so much sense now to know what my first one went thru…took me until he was 8 months to figure out the food connections.
Anyhow, food issues are something to consider besides the 'd overdose' theory. I would have never made the connection years ago- it's taken this long to narrow it down accurately. 😉
wendy
I agree with Wendy (above). There are so many other possibilities to consider before a vitamin D overdose. True, each of us may react differently to different substances, but to attribute all "symptoms" (and some of those mentioned in previous posts are dubious) to vitamin D intake is a bit short-sighted.
To the poster who said her colonoscopy was clear for Celiac Disease: colonoscopy is not a diagnostic tool for Celiac. EDG (upper GI scope) with multiple biopsies is part of the diagnostic process for CD.
I have tried 2000IU for long periods of time and gotten out in the sun in the summertime because I've long been experiencing fatigue and IBS but lately I upped the doses to 4000IU for several days. Now I think I'm dealing with side effects and maybe had been long before.
Is there any way to know how long it takes for this to clear one's system? I feel like I've swallowed a bowling ball, nausea, no libido at all and panicky insomnia upon going to bed.
Like jdawg, I too am unable to tolerate the higher doses others can. When first diagnosed as D3 deficient I was prescribed 2000IU/day. Within a few weeks I started feeling constantly stressed and fatigued and sleep did not relieve the problem. The fatigue and stress caused problems with concentration and general well being. On determining the cause for me, high levels of D3, I immediately reduced to 400IU. I'm now at 1200IU for the last four months with no ill effects. Joint pain in shoulders and lower back noted prior to beginning D3 has vanished.
One note. While there doesn't appear to be consensus at least on the Internet of what constitutes too much, my corporate wellness practitioner notes that 2000IU/day is considered toxic.
Your mileage may vary.
6 weeks after stopping vitamin D due to toxicity (only taking it for a few days at 50,000 IU), I am still suffering the effects.
I do not know how long this will continue for, nor do I really know what to do, apart from restrict vitamin D and calcium intake in any form (diet/supplementary).
I am still nauseous almost daily. I am tired and irritable and having trouble concentrating and even hearing has dulled and I now have alot of acid reflux and dry mouth (thirst) and increased light sensitivity.
I have already tried to get help, but haven't really had much luck. Seems it's something I have to suffer and hope to heck things will come right.
I was diagnosed with Hashimoto's syndrome with high blood calcium levels and hypoparathyroidism about 2 years ago. My endocronologist prescribed 2000 IU of Vitamin D. Over the 2 years tests continue to show low levels of Vit D and high blood calcium and the doctor increased the Vit D to 4000 IU per day. About a year ago I started to experience severe pain in my feet–stabbing pain in toes and numbness, tingling in feet. Podiatrist thinks it's neuromas but pain has not lessened with cortisone shots. Could there be a connection between severe foot pain and taking 4000 IU of Vit D per day??
Dear Anonymous,
Yes. It is possible that vitamin D is causing the symptoms you describe. Bone pain is a common symptom of vitamin D. Vitamin D causes me bone pain in the fourth finger on my left hand. It's hard for me to know if the pain you feel in your toes is bone pain or not. I classify the pain in my finger as bone pain because it is unaffected by pressing on my finger and rubbing around the pain which appears to be coming from the center of my finger.
Vitamin D has a 30-day half life, and side effects typically fade away slowly. No harm will come from quitting for 2 weeks. During this time the side effect should at least fade. After two weeks, take 4000 IU again. If vitamin D is the problem, the pain in your feet should get much work within hours of taking the dose.
Bex,
In addition to avoiding vitamin D and calcium in the diet, you need to stay out of the sun. 6 weeks is a long time to be suffering such severe side effects. Physical exercise along with drinking extra fluids will usually increase metabolic demand for vitamins and furthermore help flush them from the body. With time, I'm sure I could come up with more practical suggestions. If you're really interested, please keep up the conversation here in the comment string.
SKT,
Supplementing at 50000 IU is the worst approach I can think of for addressing vitamin D deficiency. I recommend 4000 IU per day for one month followed by 1000 to 2000 IU per day continuously for those who don't want to take the safer and more effective route of regular sunshine.
It's very discouraging that you feel you can't get into the sun because you teach school. The children you teach need the vitamin D from sunshine more than you do. If teachers can't set a good example (because of the schedules set for them by management – usually former teachers), what kind of message is that? You'll get plenty of sun on the weekends when your students can't see and then hide your need for extra sunshine by using supplements during the week? Student health is a top priority for teachers. Healthy body are required for healthy minds.
Dear Diane,
These liquids with concentrated vitamin D (1000 IU per drop) are very dangerous. A drop is not precise and you could easily be dosing 30,000 IU instead of 10,000 IU. Use standard 1000 IU tablets or, better yet, get out in the sun.
You have a most interesting blog here. I ran across it while looking for information on vitamin D overdosing. Permit me to explain. For most of my 63 years of life I placed vitamins, supplements, and health foods into the same category as snake oil. As a child in the 50’s my mother, like many mothers, dutifully administered Homocebrin daily, an early vitamin supplement. Over the following 40 to 50 years I used no supplements. In 2001 I was diagnosed with B Cell Lymphoma and told that I would die within two years without treatment. This diagnosis was done both locally in Florida and confirmed via a second opinion and major surgery to recover a biopsy at The Mayo Clinic in Rochester Minnesota. I declined treatment after observing firsthand the effects of chemo and radiation, as well as the actual poor performance of these treatments. Instead I put my affairs in order opting to die at home. My local physician encouraged me to enroll in hospice. Hospice is a little disgruntled with me as I told them I would call them when I needed them, but in the meanwhile I returned to work and to life, ignoring their advice.
Also I have suffered from both pneumonia and bronchitis since my early twenties, being hospitalized several times. On other non-hospital occasions, these problems were resolved using antibiotics. In 2007 I read an article about vitamin D, specifically D3, in the possible prevention of upper respiratory infections. While always being willing to self experiment with low cost products, I started taking 10,000 IU daily. I have had no further lung infections since starting this. That being said, the D3 intake does not alone make the case to “prove” cause and effect. Other than elevated blood pressure, I have had no other noticeable side effects from using this high level of D3.
Of other interest to those who may run across this invaluable blog, there is now a privately funded study whose subject is specifically vitamin D. This can be found at:
http://www.grassrootshealth.net/
This five year study is a worldwide survey of people including measured vitamin D levels of those who wish partake in it. The serum level home use collection kits are used to measure actual vitamin D levels. The cost is $40US for the lab work conducted by a well known medical lab with the results (blood levels) sent to the participants as well as used in the study. Recent studies numerically indicate a substantial drop in many cancer rates seemingly pointing to Vitamin D use. This study is to verify the past indications and get a handle on realistic levels. The reason it is privately funded is that pharmaceutical manufactures not only cannot make money on vitamins, but if vitamins can indeed ward off many diseases their future sales will suffer. I would encourage others to at least read the information they provide.
Each one of us humans differs slightly. There appears to be no normal or average person. I cannot explain why, contrary to expert opinion, I continue to live with reasonable happiness. While too weak to do the vigorous things I once did, life continues to be most satisfying, peaceful, and interesting.
Al Sledge
Thank you for posting this, Steve.
I have been exposed recently to someone with pneumonia and to someone with Swine Flu and I began to feel ill two days ago.
I took a strong dose of Echinacea and Goldenseal tincture that evening and that seemed to help, though it gave me a headache (could be a reaction to the grain alcohol since I never drink) and it made me a little nauseous.
So, the next day, I searched for something else to take and stumbled upon Vitamin D.
The Vitamin D Council says to take Vitamin D3 at 1,000–2,000 units/kg per day for three days at the first sign of flu. For me, that’s 140,000 IU each day.
So, yesterday, I laid out in the sun for 15-minutes (20,000 to 40,000 IU) and later I took 100,000 IU of the Carlson D-Drops (D3) – that’s 50 drops!
100,000IU is a lot of Vitamin D so, before I took it, I scoured the web and found very few examples of people having issues with Vitamin D. I did find mounds of information on Vitamin D’s benefits – even at high doses.
Today, I feel better – no sign of flu or pneumonia.
However, I had the following symptoms last night, 5-6 hours after taking the 100,000 IU of Vitamin D3: some muscle soreness in my back and neck, tenderness in a few vertebrae (heart level), some mild sharp pain in the eyes, and the whites of my eyes turned a little red.
The eyes are normal this morning. The muscle and vertebrae are still sore. If symptoms get worse over the next week, I will post them here. Wish I had seen this blog yesterday.
I will not take another high-dose of Vitamin D today and will lay off all Vitamin D for a while.
I plan to have blood levels tested: the 25-hydroxyvitamin D test or 25(OH)D. Here is a quote from the Vitamin D Council website (http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/health/deficiency/am-i-vitamin-d-deficient.shtml):
“Unfortunately, about 20% of United States doctors order the wrong test. They order a 1,25-dihydroxy-vitamin D, thinking that by measuring the most potent steroid in the human body, calcitriol, they are getting useful information. They are not. 1,25-dihydroxy-vitamin D is an adaptive hormone; it goes up and down with calcium intake."
Here is a self-test for Vitamin D levels: http://www.zrtlab.com/vitamindcouncil/
Here is Mercola’s take on showering after sun exposure:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/05/12/Shocking-Update-Sunshine-Can-Actually-Decrease-Your-Vitamin-D-Levels.aspx
Thanks to everyone for posting their experiences.
Dave
Mr Sledge,
Thanks so much for your comments. I already signed up at grassrootshealth.net, filled out the questionaire, and purchased the blood test kits.
I hope continue to maintain your current health.
Dave,
Thanks for stopping by with your comments. I'm glad that the vitamin D was effective at warding off the cold. In addition to vitamin D, I use vitamin C, niacin, and thiamine to ward off colds.
Steve, I have to say a profound THANK YOU for this blog. You've saved me from going crazy! I googled "overdose of Vit D symptoms" and that's how I found your great blog.
How it all came about is that my wife and I had just written an e-book called THE FLU FIGHTER'S MANUAL on natural alternatives for the flu. One of the studies we found was research demonstrating that 2000IU of Vitamin D3 a day had virtually eradicated the flu from a high risk group, elderly Afrian-American women (typically low levels of Vit D3 and high incidence of flu). So we both started taking 2000IU Vitamin D3 a day.
Well, I felt great for a week. But then I started getting weird heart palpitations. I was also feeling lighheaded, like I was about to faint. It was very disturbing. I was thinking blocked arteries or brain tumor or just going crazy!
My doctor prescribed blood tests – but they all came back normal. He listened to my heart and said it sounded normal. He suggested it might be stress. But thanks to you I am now convinced it's an excess of Vit D3 so I've stopped.
Needless to say we are going to add a note about possible Vit D overdose symptoms to THE FLU FIGHTER's MANUAL.
Veda,
You're most welcome. I'm struggling to understand how it could be possible that mainstream medical sites don't all have similar information. Of course, if they did, I wouldn't have written this blog.
The height of irony is that I started this blog to advocate the benefits of taking high doses of vitamin supplements. I had no intention of focusing attention on the dangers of vitamin supplements.
It is equally ironic that I, as an advocate for high dose vitamin supplements, recommend against taking vitamin D supplements. I get my vitamin D from the sun and recommend that others follow my example.
I wish I could generate such a large comment string at my posts about the benefits of taking high doses of vitamin C, niacin, and thiamine. I'm particularly proud of my advocacy work to use vitamin supplements and sunshine to prevent cavities and anorexia. Just type "prevent anorexia" into Google. My blog comes up on the first page.
I've read the the original post, and about 8 of the responses to it.
One thing that strikes me as very important is the total focus on one subject: Vitamin D.
But our "nutritional" habits are multifaceted. Each person has nutritional habits that are significantly different from others. And yet, there is one common nutritional habit that is often overlooked.
I would like to throw a bit of cold water on the face of this discussion.
Many of the symptoms of Vitamin D deficiency, and toxicity can also be expressed by another common drug that many of us take in excess.
Mental acuity, weakness, muscle pains, chest pains, heart palpitations, and many other symptoms can also be attributed to:
Caffeine.
I used to be a total caffeine addict, and my personal experience shows that caffeine affects the way people think in a subtle but very significant way.
I will not talk about the energizing effect of caffeine, that's well known. What is not well known is the physiological effects of caffeine and the mental effects.
Many of the symptoms showing Vitamin D overdosing can be expressed similarly by caffeine.
And 80% to 90% of us dose ourselves with caffeine to varying degrees. The longer a person is using caffeine, the more likely that person is overdosing on it. Eventually signs of caffeinism show up and the toxic effects are similar to Vitamin D toxicity symptoms.
Finally, Caffeine has a profound effect on mental perceptions. By my personal (and therefore admittedly anecdotal) experience, caffeine narrows the mental focus. This narrowing of focus makes people discount "less important" information, and heightens the sense of "more important" information. The scary part is… what is chosen to be less or more important is highly subjective and biased by preconceptions. It encourages unreasonable obsessive behaviour as a result.
If you are using caffeine… I highly recommend you try weaning yourself completely off of it. I can almost guarantee you will have less symptoms.
For 28-years, my addiction to caffeine became progressively larger. It affected the way my mind worked, and to this day I'm still recovering from those 28-years of caffeinated habits. Caffeine-free now for nearly 10 months and the difference is astounding. Mental clarity is slowly returning.
Blaming Vitamin D while on caffeine is significantly questionable. I had my blood tested for Vitamin D deficiency. Mine was exceptionally low.
I forced myself into the sunlight everyday 1-2 hours per day for two months. No supplements. Retesting showed "normal" levels of Vitamin D. In winter, levels dropped again. Vitamin D supplementation of 1000 to 2000 IU per day solved that.
Sunlight + Supplementation is overkill. That's obvious. Only take Vitamin D when you know you are deficient. Makes sense?
I've been to a lot of blogs, where people are reporting the same symptoms attributable to caffeine. And it's my strong opinion that the vast majority of people on caffeine are obsessing about "what's wrong with them" due to this pervasive drug.
Don't believe me? Try quitting caffeine, wean yourself off, and stick to it. I promise it will make a huge difference in your life.
While I was on caffeine, I believed in all kinds of crazy things about my health. Things so crazy I would be afraid to tell you of them here. They were truly crazy.
If you are not on caffeine… then chances are high you have real concerns which are valid.
On the final note… Vitamin D works in moderate doses. Sunlight can easily give the fair skinned up to 20,000 IUs a day. Supplementation beyond 2000 IUs a day is totally unnecessary. If you haven't had your Vitamin D level checked… then you don't know what you are doing to your body with the supplements.
Work it smart instead of over-thinking it. Caffeine is great for over-thinking things. Think about that!
Hi Steve,
Thanks for your response. Yes, 6 weeks is a very long time and it's still going strong now! Over 2 months worth. I know it is the vitamin D, because that's when it started and the symptoms have remained ever since. I have never had anything like this before! I also find I get much worse if I consume foods like liver (which contains vitamin D). Yet liver has never posed a problem before.
I thought I was feeling "somewhat" better and stupidly tried my multivitamin/mineral supplement, I got much worse again – almost immediately. So I've "relapsed". all because there was "some" calcium and vitamin D contained in it. Not alot though and I only had half the amount of it.
I have been to a local doctor and he agrees the symptoms coincide with vitamin D toxicity. But he says that it is unusual and may indicate my body is not metabolising it properly. This would make sense because I have the same problem with toxins.
My kidney/calcium/vitamin D blood tests came through normal. So I'm bewildered…. But that's how it is.
I am headacey, nauseous, dry mouth, loss of appetite, moody, depressed, bone tired, acid reflux, somewhat constipated (whereas before it was diarrohea). I have no energy for anything and am finding it hard to think clearly also.
So this is one of the worst experiences I've had yet! I hope to never go through this again.
This is so interesting. I live in London Uk and have been a follower
of Dr. Mercola on and off. With the
threat of swine flu i put all my
husband, myself and my 2 sons aged 19 and 24 on 2,400 units. This was
4 weeks ago. In the meantime my son at Oxford University started to devlop flu like symptoms – but no
temperature. I advised him to take
a large dose – c. 50,000 units. Since
then his flu symptoms have cleared up,
but he is feeling weird and listless and has absolutely no energy.I am sure this is his problem and feel really guilty !
He is 3 essays behind !! I just told him to stop !! I also developed bad upper right gastric discomfort which is worrying .
I will stop D right Away ! And never give a personal recomendation again. Obviously it works for some and others feel lousy. Thank you all for such a
great source of shared information.
Bex,
I'm so sorry about how slowly your vitamin D side effects are going away. You didn't tell me whether or not you found any of my previous suggestions helpful. These were:
Stay out of the sun.
Strenuous physical exercise
Extra fluids
I'm assuming you have taken me up on my offer and returned for further advice. Avoiding the sun is really important. You might want to consider wearing a veil and sun glasses and avoiding the outdoors between 10 and 2.
As you mentioned, calcium is a problem and is contained in many foods. You might want to consider fasting for three days on a single, simple food. Once every several years I eat only oatmeal for 3 days. I eat as much as I want, but nothing else. Just oatmeal and water. Note this will accomplish the objective of the commenter above of eliminating caffeine (and everything else in your diet that may have some unexpected interaction with vitamin D).
My final suggestion for now is to visit a sauna to increase your need for fluids. If none of this works well, report back again and I'll try to come up with more suggestions.
Dear Anonymous,
Thanks for your advice regarding caffeine. It is sound advice. Nutrition is complex and everyone has to look out for themselves.
Avoiding caffeine is is a specific example of a highly advisable general principle. There are hundreds of potential toxins in the diet that can cause unexpected intereactions with essential nutrients. As a result, it is an excellent idea to occassionally (once every several years) go on a three day fast where you only eat a single, simple food (e.g. white rice or oatmeal). I do the oatmeal diet. For three days I eat only oatmeal and water. If I feel much better then I know I'm eating something that is mildly toxic or a mild allergen.
Thanks again for your comment.
Very good article. And thank you for sharing all your side effects. What would be on the most interest is your current blood levels of 25(OH) of vitamin D and your side effects. the most optimum 50–80 ng/ml. Check out stories about swine flu and vitamin D. http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/newsletter/vitamin-d-and-h1n1-swine-flu.shtml
Very interesting discussion on Vitamin D. I was diagnosed with Vit D deficiency the beginning of summer. I was told to take 5,000 IU a day for a month, which I did. At that point I wasn't sure what dose to take so based on what my wife was told to do by her physician I began taking 2,000IU a day. After several months without any negative symptoms I began just a week ago to notice a metallic taste which I had never experienced before. I suspected that it was the Vit D. So that is when I did a search and came across your blog -thank you! The list you gave from the Mayo Clinic included this symptom. The only other syymptom that I can attribute to the Vit D is that of unusually loud episodes of tinnitus. The only other change that has occured recently is that is some insomnia – which appears to be the opposite of what the Mayo Clinic, you and others have reported. So I don't know if I can attribute this to the Vit D. I can say that my level of alertness and energy level seems to have increased while on extra Vit D. So maybe maybe not.
Doug
Vitamin D has also been correlated with a wide range of neurocognitive diseases, interestingly enough. Check out for a review of some of that.
Dear Anonymous,
Thanks for stopping by and leaving a link to a post at the vitamin D council with recent evidence showing the ability of vitamin D to prevent influenza.
Regarding your suggestion to get vitamin D levels tested, I'm not sure I think that's such a good idea. I'm not sure what the test proves. If you are out in the sun on a regular basis, it would be very worrysome to have a test showing severe vitamin D deficiency. On the other hand, if you are experiencing vitamin D side effects and unable to take more (or get more sunshine), then it would be equally worrysome to see a vitamin D serum test within the range of normal. Seems to me that if you're getting regular sunshine and are in excellent health, then vitamin D test results are irrelevant. If you're in poor health, I'd recommend pushing vitamin D right up to the threshold of side effects. Again, testing would not help guide behavior. Vitamin D testing, like much medical testing, is just an expensive, worrysome procedure. This sort of testing philosophy is not for me.
Dear Anonymous,
Thanks for stopping by. Thanks especially for your comment that vitamin D may be causing insomnia (not on the list in the column). I'm glad you brought this up because I've also experienced insomnia caused by vitamin D. I'm going to add it to the side effects in the main column. Thanks again.
Steve
Thankyou so so much for this blog.
I am a sufferer of Hashimotos and balancing between the thyroid hormones and Vitamin D is terribly difficult. I find that the vitamin D stimulates the thyroid. I had the heart palps very badly and lowered my thyroid hormones and it relieved it a lot. However because I normally need these hormones for FM pain it has resulted in my sore spots coming back. I digress.
When I first took the 50,000iu weeks dose of D3 I had a terrible time, I was anxious, panic attacks in bed, bone pain, flulike. It eased off and I felt great, my asthma was much better and I did the 50000iu during the following week in gelcaps I bought split into 3 but I still suffered. My son also suffered, we also became very how can I say it 'soft' any pain and we moaned a lot about it lol, previouly we could take a hard knock in martial arts and not even wimper, now we were feeling very much like wimpering with our nerves and our physical pains. We found the great boost in energy though when these subsided so we carried on with it. I went onto 4000iu plus a codliver oil per day, he continued the 50,000 iu and for a couple of weeks took it twice due to illnesses he wished to avoid. We are both unsteady, dizzy and lightheaded now. My son has terrible itchy legs and anxiety. I feel sick, slight headache, sleeping 16 hours a day as is my son, we are so fatigued. I would have put that down to my thyroid normally. I also thought I was having a Hashis attack because of the feeling in my throat but it seems that the epiglottis feeling is the vitamin D. Even on my lower thyroid hormone I am feeling my heart thump quite a lot. Cannot stand the light and having to use artificial tears a lot as I have what I thought was an eye infection but apparently that is due to vit D also, I would never have put gritty, sensitive, 'feel infected' eyes down to vitamin D so thanks so much I would have gone on taking this in ignorance. am very very annoyed at the Vitamin D council for ignoring my emails asking about side effects, they make you think it is all great and don't warn about any of this, almost as though they had an agenda although I cannot imagine what it would be.
My bones are aching and I feel nauseous so I will stop typing now, you are probably glad lol. Oh and I also had a few very bad tempered flares over the last couple of weeks too which I didn't understand and I am up all night going to urinate.
Thanks once again for the warning to stop at this time and I will try a lower dose at some point in the future as I was flagged very very low as was my son, he was even worse, both with low calcium.
take care and keep up the good work
Dawn
Hi Steve,
Just reporting back. Yes, I found your suggestions helpful! I forgot to mention I had already been using them, after doing alot of reading about what can make the problem worse. I have stayed out of the sun, have kept off supplements containing calcium/vitamin D and keep up an exercise regime. I cannot overdo exercise, because I already suffer a fatigue condition, so I do what I can within reason. I am also drinking enough fluids daily and often I do anyway because of the thirst that the toxicity caused me. I have been consuming more raw vegetables and noticed some interesting detox type reactions after eating them.
I don't know if it's all those things, or time or both, but I feel I maybe now improving. It's been 2 and a half months (thereabouts). So if anybody has had an impact like mine? I hope this gives some encouragement and hopefully they will not take as long to improve. But I have read it can take that long or more in some cases. So it's not entirely unheard of.
I haven't done any fasting and I cannot consume grains of any kind. I have a bad candida problem and can only tolerate a very low carb diet.
But thanks for the extra tips anyway! It's hard to believe it's taken THIS long to start noticing more improvement. I'm still tentative though and am still not too keen on trying things out just yet….. I felt I did relapse awhile back after trying out my multi supplement, which was probably too soon.
The only supplements I currently take are vitamin C powder, vitamin E, iodine (due to low iodine in New Zealand), vitamin B complex, fish oil, selenium, magnesium and a liver support/detox supplement. I "seem" ok on thse. So that plus my diet, exercise, fluid intake, and time, I think I'm finally coming right!
🙂
Dawn,
You'll see a couple of comments above casting doubts on vitamin D side effects. The commenters take 5000 to 10000 IU/day doses without side effects and conclude that the rest of us are mistaken. We are not.
To those who think vitamin D isn't toxic my reply is take more. There is a dose at which everyone gets side effects. This dose is simply much higher for some people than others.
The most logical explanation is that vitamin D activists are typically very tolerant of vitamin D and really don't understand about the side effects.
I'm sorry to hear about your health problems. I hope you'll read my other blog entries and try optimizing vitamin C, niacin, and thiamine in addition to vitamin D. Working together, these four vitamins that prevent pandemic deficiency diseases have a better chance of making you feel better than using any one of them alone.
Thanks again for stopping by,
Steve
Bex,
I'm so glad to hear you are feeling better. I'm sorry that you are struggling with your health.
You are still taking alot of different supplements. I used to take alot more supplements. Now I only take vitamin C, niacin, and thiamine on a regular basis. I get my vitamin D almost exclusively from sunshine.
The four vitamins I take are the only four to prevent a pandemic human deficiency disease. I recommend mastering these four vitamins before progressing to other supplements. I've been working away now for over three years and am still adjusting doses of vitamin C, niacin, and thiamine.
Fish is a rich source of vitamin D. Make sure that the fish oil your are taking is really pure omega fatty acids and that it does not contain any vitamin D.
Isn't the salt in New Zealand iodized? Are you sure that isn't enough? Like vitamin D, minerals are highly toxic in overdose.
I'm generally suspicious of liver support/detox formulations. Are you sure you need this? If so, how?
The only supplements on your list that I have no concerns about are vitamin C and magnesium. This is another reason to try a three day fast. Grains are not necessary. You could substitute a legume. Just potatoes or just lentils, or just white beans.
Steve
when my blood glucose dropped to 40, I found that my D3 was 25. so I started w 2,000 vit d 3. took 8 mos to stop the symtpoms of hypoglycemia attack starting: itching, blurred vision, nausea, palpitations, apathy, fatigue. I can test this by eating carbs and waiting for the symptoms. I then upped my vit d3. when I got itching, I upped it more until I was taking 16,000U a day. then my CA was 114. so I stopped the calcium and magnesium (new study says that taking ca and mag together can cause high vit d3) and started taking iodoral (iodine lugols solution in tablet form) 1 pill (12.5) did nothing. 2 pulls (25) seemd to make my bp go down a bit. 3 pills makes me gassy so I take 3 one day and 2 the next. my bp has gone down now so that I can again take 2 pills every 12 hours as advised instead of taking 5-8 tabs in 24 hours. so which is it? low iodine that cuases hypoglycemia or vit D3 deficiency. any ideas? thanks
I am a white female 65 yrs old and recently diagnosed with Vita D level of 21. Dr. put me on 50,000 IU 3 times a week. I have been taking this for 2month and am suppose to continue for another month. I have had almost every symptom except the heart palpitations and pain. I am still taking calcium and magnesium supplements separately since I get no dairy and was getting severe leg cramps at night. Neither have added Vit D. Is this a problem. My
info sheet with prescription said no vitamins including calcium. I thought that just meant if Vita D was included. I take all vit. separately since I have a real problem with ascorbic acid. I have many food intolerance's also so must be very careful with what I take. The newest symptom I am now having is real sensitivity to light and blurred vision. Just had my eyes checked and have new glasses with 20-20 vision. I am stopping the Vit. D until I can get help figuring it out. Thanks for any help you can give me.
This is the first piece I've read on the internet from someone who's had symptoms similar to mine. Even on doses as low as 1000 iu's I experience chest tightness, nausea, and headache along with a weird metallic taste in my mouth.
Most sites I've searched haven't mentioned side effects like this at doses that low but now I see that I'm not the only one. It's amazing just how noticeable the symptoms are. Like clockwork I get them about 30 minutes after supplementation.
I should point out that Vitamin D has been getting a lot of good press lately and that most proponents of additional supplementation seem to stress that one needs to find optimal dosages via proper blood testing. Dr. Cannell who is a huge proponent of Vitamin D has even stated that he's had 250 lb. patients who only needed 500 iu's per day to treat deficiency and other patients who are much smaller needing over 5000 iu's.
I still think Vitamin D supplementation can be valuable for many but only after finding a proper dosage through a physician who's willing to do bloodwork.
The results of my blood test showed a Vitamin D level of 23.7 (range 32.0-100.0). I was given a prescription of four-50000IU caps to be taken one per week: followed by one cap per month (apparently ad infinitum).
About a week after I had taken the second cap, my legs and feet started swelling, eventually into a strut. The skin over my insteps, foot sides and ankles are red tinted. Merciless itching started around the same time from the welts on back of my neck down to my shoulders, back, arms, hands and thighs. I'm unable to sleep.
It didn't occur to me that I might be having an reaction to the Vit D. I took the last of the four initial caps on 31 Oct. At this time I'm awaiting a response to my phone call to my doctor as to what to next.
I hope this info will help someone else who has some or all of the same symptom get to their doctor right away to avoid this painful experience.
Dear Anonymous,
Thanks for your comments. Especially the comment, "like clockwork I get these symptoms 30 minutes after taking a 1000 IU dose of vitamin D." Somewhere up the thread there were several comments questioning whether the side effects were really from vitamin D. Your words are the key. I have exactly the same experience. I also have side effects 15 to 30 minutes after taking a 1000 IU vitamin D tablet. There's just no question the side effects are real.
I reached a very different conclusion from yours. Vitamin D is vital to health. High doses have clear benefits. I concluded that vitamin D pills are grossly inferior to sunshine. I have to make a major effort to get into the sun often enough to get regular, substantial doses (averaging several thousand IU/day if the sun/skin studies are to be believed). When I get enough sun, my teeth feel healthy. I have only the faintest of negative side effects. I don't need blood testing because I can tell from my teeth whether or not I'm getting enough. I don't know what I'd do with the results of a blood test. If it was low, I couldn't raise it with supplements without terrible side effects that I'm unwilling to suffer. If it was too high, why would I care? Who says it is too high? I'm in excellent health for the first time in my life and my teeth feel great. I have no plans to change my sunbathing habits.
Steve
Dear Anonymous,
Thanks for your comments. If you read my comment above, you'll see that I'm a big believer in the benefits of vitamin D, but am also becoming against vitamin D supplements at any dose. Granted, that's rather extreme and I still take 1000 IU vitamin D tablets when fighting a cold.
I hope that the FDA is reading this blog (or politicians, or someone in power). Stop manufacturing super high potency vitamin D supplements such as the 50,000 IU tablets you've been taking. They are highly toxic. If they are manufactured, they will be prescribed by an unsuspecting physician and swallowed by an unsuspecting patient and many more miserable tales will result. Why is this so difficult? How many more have to suffer?
Steve
Dear Margo,
I'm am sorry that you are not well. If you browse through my other blog columns, you'll see that I think you should focus on sunshine, thiamine, niacin, and vitamin C. Sound like you already have a good understanding of your tolerance for vitamin C. You now know that vitamin D supplements are likely to cause you problems as well, so you'll need to get most of your vitamin D from sunshine. I get into the sun close to noon most sunny days for 10 to 30 minutes with minimal clothing. Don't ask me how I manage – it's a big effort and I'm ashamed to say I hide my habits from my colleagues at work. This is the world we live in – I have to sneak around to be healthy. I highly recommend that you purchase thiamine cream (the active ingredient is a fat soluble form of thiamine called TTFD) and follow the instructions on the label. As for niacin, try starting with three 250 mg time release niacin tablets per week (make sure you don't take regular niacin at 250 mgs. If you do, you'll experience a terrible flushing/burning feeling about 15 minutes after taking the tablet). If you take the niacin, please read my blog on niacin side effects.
Good luck and feel free to come on back with more questions.
Steve
Sandra,
See my advice for Margo. While you are experimenting with vitamin C, niacin, thiamine, and sunshine, I'd recommend minimizing other supplements.
Steve
Steve,
I see that this is an old blog, but I have some vitamin D toxicity questions. I couldn't figure out how to e-mail you.
Thanks,
CC
Christie,
There is no way to e-mail me from this blog. I'd prefer it if you asked your questions as another comment.
Steve
YES ,THANKS FOR THIS POST.OR I PROBLELY BE STILL HOBLEIING AROUND.ABOUT 3 MONTHS AGO DR.PUT ME ON 4000 DAILY MY LEVEL WAS 20 AND AFTER 2 MO'S IT WAS 62AND TOLD ME TO SYAY ON SAME DOSE, AFTER ABOUT 3 DAYS ,I NODICED SHOCKS IN MY KNEES AND LATE MY MUSCLES IN BACK OF MY LEGS WERE TIGHTING UP. I THOUGHT IT WAS WHERE IHAD DONE A LOT OF PAINTING ON MY KNEES.I TOLD THE NURSE AT THE DR. OFFICE.BUT ,NO I DON'T THINK ,SO I STOP IT ABOUT 2WEEKS AGO ,ITS GOING AWAY SLOWLY .I WILL PRQBLELY GO BACK ONIT BUT IT WILL BE NO MORE THAN 1000IU .OVER IS TOXIC TO MY BODY,I HPE THIS HELPS SOMEONE AND I THINK THESE BIG CLINIC THAT DO STUDIES SOULD LOOK IN THESE BLOG THANKS ETTA
Etta,
Thanks for stopping by. I'm glad you found the post useful. Having read the post, are you sure you want to take supplements instead of getting extra sunshine?
Hopefully you have found that the extra vitamin D has provided some benefits. To maintain these benefits you need to continue substantial doses of vitamin D. Getting vitamin D from sunshine provides the equivalent of several thousand IU's per day without the risk of side effects.
Do you agree? If not, come on back and let's continue the conversation.
Steve
Hi Steve,
Ok…I'll just do the comments then. I thought we were supposed to e-mail first. I apologize ahead of time as this might be long.
Anyway…I am so glad that I found your blog awhile ago because I thought I was going crazy. I started taking 4000 IU of vitamin D3 around the end of September. About 2-3 weeks later all of the sudden I suffered extreme claustrophobia type of anxiety attacks while on vacation in Japan. I thought it was because I was anxious about being out of the country so I came home. Unfortunately the attacks continued. Along with and extreme dry mouth and diarrhea (spelling?)and frequent urination, which is probably from all the water I'm drinking and lack of appetite. I've lost 7 lbs in this process. I tried to think of what was different in my life that could have caused all this and the only thing I could come up with was the vitamin D. So I completely stopped supplementing on Oct 22. I had also been taking fish oil pills off and on for about a year and then right around the vitamin D time I started liquid fish oil once a day. I stopped that on Oct. 25th just in case there was some hidden vitamin D in that too. I was also suffering insomnia and my body would not relax upon trying to sleep. My body would jerk and try to stay awake. I had many nights of no sleep which of course made the anxiety worse. The anxiety has continued only it is not quite as bad as it was in the beginning. Now it is more like a constant low level stress on most days. It seems to be worse in the afternoons and early evening and diminishes late in the evening. I'm trying to exercise, but don't have time many days or the energy. I only supplement with vitamin C and magnesium right now. And I am on Clonazepam in the evenings to sleep. Also, yesterday I saw a Naturopath and he gave me some homeopathic things to take for stress that I'm hoping will work.
I really wish I would have had my Vitamin D levels checked first before supplementing! I am a fish eater…tuna about 2 times a week and salmon, halibut or tilapia about 2-3 times a week prior to the supplementing. I haven't had any fish since quitting the D. I was also eating lots of butter on my popcorn about 3 times a week. I'm ashamed to say about 1/2 a cube of butter all to myself on the popcorn. I don't drink milk and I almost never eat cheese. I am not supposed to have dairy or eggs. So now it has been a month since quitting and I still don't feel like myself. I wonder if some people take longer to get it out of their systems? {like BEX) I am thin and wondering if that is working against me somehow…like it's hanging on it it somehow. What do you think? Any more tips? I am starting to get depressed that this is never going to go away. The stress is just so hard to deal with.
Thanks for listening to my long drawn out story.
Christy
Christy,
Thanks for writing. Cases like yours are especially important to document because they combine classic side effects with unusual symptoms. The dry mouth, intestinal problems, and frequent urination are all classic vitamin D side effects. Have these side effects gone away?
The severe anxiety and stress is not a typical side effect. I'm concerned that the vitamin D triggered your anxiety. This is different from a side effect. For some reason, you may have been/be prone to anxiety and this vitamin D caused incident has set it off. That would explain why the anxiety is not going away despite quitting vitamin D. You've clearly done the right thing and visited a physician who has prescribed Clonazepam and is monitoring your condition. In addition to this care, I'd recommend that you read my blog items on vitamin C, vitamin D, niacin, and thiamine. You're already taking vitamin C. You may want to consider adding in niacin and thiamine.
I hope you feel better soon,
Steve
Thanks for your response Steve,
Yes, for the most part the other symptoms have mostly gone away. I still have some slight dizziness, and frequent urination. The dizziness might be a side effect of the Clonazepam. I only take it at night. The anxiety has definitely gotten better. After quitting the D the anxiety changed to more like feeling nervous. Not constantly, but off and on. Enough to really make me frustrated that I'm not feeling normal. From what I've read on the net, that is one of the symptoms of D toxcity. Maybe some of us who are prone to stress are affected by it that way? I am happy to say though, that the last two days were pretty darn normal and I was praising the Lord for that!
There is a site by a person who has a website called, "Vitamin D recovery" and he had a very similar attack like mine, where he felt claustrophobic anxiety for 3 weeks. He was on fish oil with D in it. When I read that , that's when I quit the fish oil too. He believes supplementing is important to him, but he is doing it very slowly. Here is his site, if you care to read it. Type control F and anxiety and you'll see the paragraph I am talking about. http://www.cfs-recovery.org/vitamin_d_recovery.htm
For me, I want to believe it's the D and it's just taking a little longer to leave my body. Since I most likely didn't need it.
Like I said, they attacks are milder and getting less.
Also another interesting thing to note. My daughter went in awhile ago for generalized anxiety and was prescribed Prozac. In the process the doctor checked her D levels and said she was extremly high…higher than he'd ever seen in someone her age, she is 26 and does not supplement. She doesn't drink milk, although she eats cereal with milk and eats some cheese. We live in Washington where we don't see the sun much.
Thanks for this blog!
Christy
Christy,
Thanks for your reply. I'm glad you are feeling better. Thanks for the URL. I will read it carefully this weekend.
Please be careful what you mean when you say you don't need vitamin D. You certainly don't need supplements. I don't think anyone does. Provided you're feeling better, I would recommend that you see how you feel with increasing levels of sun exposure during the summer.
Your story about your daughter is very unusual. You did not report that she has any of the common vitamin D side effects. And she has no reason to have any vitamin D side effects since she does not eat a diet rich in vitamin D, take supplements, or get alot of sunshine. I'd get her vitamin D levels checked using a different lab than was used for the first test before I concluded that your daughter has high levels of vitamin D in her blood.
Thanks again for your contribution to the comment string.
Steve
Thanks Steve,
Yes, I agree that I do need vitamin D, what I meant by that was that I was not in need of supplementing at tjhe time. When the sun comes out, I will try to get out in it everyday. I usually do in the spring and summer when it's nice.
About my daughter, you may be right.
I will be reading your other blogs on the supplementing of C and other supplements you recommend. Thanks so much for your input.
Christy
I've been taking 3000IU supplement of Vit D for 3 months. Lately I've had the runs of irregular heartbeat & something no one else mentions – hot flashes & flushing. I'm 8yrs out from menopause. Could this be associated with Vit D as well?
Thank you
Dear Anonymous,
Yes. The flushing/hot flashes could certainly be from vitamin D. I would place these symptoms in the category of itching skin which is on the list. The only way to know for sure is to stop the vitamin D supplements. If vitamin D is the cause, the symptoms will gradually subside. Then rechallenge with vitamin D and see if the symptoms re-emerge.
When you're ready to confirm that the hot flashes and flushing are a vitamin D side effect, please come back to the blog and let us know.
Thanks!
Steve
Steve
This blog is interesting…I have studied ancient medicine for 20 years Middle Eastern and Asian. The claims and symptoms here are far and wide but one thing is certain, something is wrong and everyone is pointing the finger at Vitamin D.
While it is true that most people respond differently to vitamin intake I have found no brute proof that Vitamin D is the sole culprit of these symptoms.
Vitamin D3 will boost your energy levels very much like caffeine, if you’re caffeine intake is high or your on some high protein energy drink etc…you will experience anxiety attacks – increase heart rate….
If you’re on allergy meds or even medications in general can add to those types of symptoms.
What is your stress level? Your serotonin – dopamine and norepinephrine may be off balance and you lack good diet and exercise or just the opposite – you’re overworking your body and not getting enough REM sleep. Most body aches from the average Joe is usually a physical routine that does not involve stretching.
Some questions should be directed at the individual like “why did you start taken that vitamin to begin with?” What was wrong that you felt the need to increase your Vitamin D intake? Are you a diabetic? Are you on any medications even over the counter meds? Do you smoke? Do you drink alcohol? How much sugar is in your daily diet?
With respect to body aches and sore muscles, typically when your body starts to develop those symptoms and your exercise routine has not changed, then your body may be adjusting to the new vitamin intake and now you lack Potassium. “Fixing one problem and discover you have another” There is a period of adjusting provided your attempting to balance your intake with your diet. Very much like working out to derive a certain result, obviously your muscles will ache. Do you stop working out?
The bottom line in my opinion is that vitamin D is no more toxic than the junk food you eat on a daily bases. If your true concern is toxicity then I recommend you change your diet & exercise: (first and far most, if you’re on meds you should always check to see what natural foods interact with them..)
1. A low glycemic intake (measure your vitamin intake from your diet)
2. Check your PH Balance once a week (till you find a balance)
3. Lay off the hydronated and processed foods (good luck)
4. Frozen veggies are better than caned veggies
5. Limit your Red Meat intake
6. Maintain a daily exercise routine that involves sweating
7. Get out and get Sun & Fresh Air
8. Balance out your daily stress
9. Get 8 hours of REM sleep a day
10. Give up smoking
11. Control your alcohol intake
12. Increase your water intake
13. Seriously reduce the fried food intake (olive oil fried foods tend to be a better choice)
14. Loose the microwave it kills the nutrients in your foods
15. Loose the non-stick cook ware it is toxic (is cheaper better than your health)
16. Organic green foods are good (organic farmers have different approach to organic growth – look into it)
17. Reduce your salt/sodium intake
18. Avoid drinking or eating hot anything out of Styrofoam (toxic)
19. Avoid eating or drinking anything stored in plastic that has a chemical smell to it (it will be obvious)
If you get this far then your body will talk to you in various ways, for example:
1. If your gums start to bleed a lot or you get a cut on the skin and you bleed longer than usual, this is a sign that your blood is too thin…(Garlic – Asprin etc…) are natural thinners and you should cut back.
2. If your gums are not pink then you should increase your iron gently. (With foods rather than supplements)
3. If your skin is scaly and dry then you lack fluids and minerals – drink more water and add an electrolyte once in awhile. A slight increase of biotin will help as well.
4. If your muscles just hurt and or fatigue then gently increase your potassium intake naturally with foods like banana and or baby spinach etc…
Overall good luck in balancing out your Vitamin D….
Dear Lyar,
Thanks for your comments. I want to respond to this point you made:
"The bottom line in my opinion is that vitamin D is no more toxic than the junk food you eat on a daily basis."
It is difficult to kill yourself eating a single serving of junk food. Vitamin D deserves respect for acute toxicity. The RDA for vitamin D – 400 IU – is just 10 micrograms. 100 mg is a small sized tablet. 100 mg of vitamin D is a lethal dose.
Your inexperience with the toxicity of vitamin D rests on a paradigm you have about vitamin D dosage. You avoid doses that cause problems. I have to assume that you take a substantial dose – say 4000 IU per day – and havent had any side effects after years of this behavior. You are therefore reasoning that no one else should have problems since you don't. The thing is, you'll have the same problems as the rest of us if you just increase your dose. For someone like you, I am forced to observe that if you were to up your dosage to 40,000 IU vitamin D per day (still just 1 mg/day!) and keep it up for a while, then you would experience the side effects we are discussing too.
Steve
I began taking vit. d 10000IU/day for the past month or so. I am hypoglycemic and have always had muscle twitching as a result of low magensium levels( sugar lowers magensium levels). Since starting on vit. d I have noticed that when I eat a lot of high calcium foods and not watching my magnesium level ie. my calcium/ magnesium ratio is off, that the muscle twitching increases as well as headaches ect. Symptoms of vit. d toxicity results from hypercalcemia or high calcium levels. The problem may be that we have signs of toxicity (constipation, arrythmias ect), but still have low vit. d levels because of an increase in calcium absorption from vit. d supplementation along with eating lots of calcium rich foods but few magnesium rich foods. I feel that when one is on vit. d supplementation you should also carefully watch your calcium/magnesium ratio. Eat a diet lower in calcium and higher in magneisum.Remember that part of the treatment for vit. d toxicity is a low calcium diet.
Carleseh,
Thanks for your input. If you are suffering from vitamin D side effects, reducing calcium in addition to vitamin D is recommended. This has been commented upon several times previously up the comment string.
I don't have a position on calcium to magnesium ratio – and other important minerals and mineral ratios. I'm not aware of much data to a position one way or another. Too much vitamin D will cause side effects regardless of calcium to magnesium ratios. I believe that getting vitamin D levels right will prove far more important than further optimizing calcium to magnesium ratios.
Get the big stuff right before sweating the small stuff.
Steve
Trying to find an answer..
My mother, 86, was recently prescribed 50,000 iu of vitamin D. Her number was low at nine. She is on two medications for high blood pressure and she has type II diabetes. She has been healthy, happy and active for all these years. Even though she takes Metformin, Norvasc, Lisinopril/HcTX, Glimepiride, and is on an Exelon patch, she has always looked, walked and felt very well. My father and she go to all the great granddaughters' ballgames, etc. Recently, she was prescribed, during a routine checkup, two D tablets each Monday for only two weeks. Her throat from ear to ear and from chin to the dip in her throat broke out in a huge red(looked like a second degree burn). She put cold on it because it was so hot. Then huge spots the size of baseballs on each inside of her arm where her elbow bends. Her skin changed and she got very wrinkled and now she is peeling like she had a terrible sunburn. She has not been in the sun or changed detergeant or worn anything article of clothing she's not worn before. We had her get off the D and all the red has disappeared. Has anyone else had such an adverse reaction to this vitamin D doseage??
Now she had a catscan because her right side front and back is hurting. She has a colonoscopy sceduled for this Thurs. Could it be that this vitamin is burning her on the inside as well???? They found a thickening in her colon, a couple of spots on her liver and spot on her bones on her hip.
Please advise. Any help you could offer would be appreciated! Have you ever had these side effects reported to you before?
MA
I have a question. I have been on Vitamin D supplements (50,000 mg once a week) for about 4 months. I now am having extreme muscle pain and haven't been able to lift my left arm above my head. Could this be caused by overdosing on Vitamin D. At times my left hand tingles and the pain radiates down from my shoulder to my elbow. Thanks for your help.
Dear MA,
What a nightmare! I'm so sorry.
I hope it is obvious that I'm a huge believer in the power of vitamin D to improve health. I also believe that we are in the midst of a vitamin D deficiency epidemic. Finally, I even believe it is wise to gain personal experience with vitamin D side effects.
That said, I don't trust readers to experience side effects safely so I recommend sunshine instead of supplements. When I recommend supplements, I recommend 1000 to 2000 IU/day and a careful read of this blog.
High potency vitamin D supplements (any supplement greater than 1000 IU) are dangerous and should be banned. A tablet made is a tablet swallowed. I've said before, and I'll say it again, handing out 5000, 10,000 and 50,000 IU tablets of vitamin D inevitably sends unfornate individuals who either accidentally take too many pills or are unusually sensitive to vitamin D to the emergency room.
OK – so here's my observations based on your report. Itching skin, irritated eyes with reddening of the eyelids are all classic vitamin D side effects. Very intense itching, in my opinion, is difficult to distinguish from burning. So – I find reddened patches of burning skin to be consistent with prior reports of vitamin D overdose.
Bone pain is another very common vitamin D side effect. This is consistent with her right side hurting on the front and back. Vitamin D causes calcification of bones and soft tissues. I'm really not sure whether or not this could explain the catscan spots on the liver, colon, and hip bones.
Again, I'm so sorry for this incident. The good news is that your Mom's prognosis for any symptoms caused by vitamin D are excellent. She should experience a full recovery shortly (6 months at the most, in just a week or so with luck).
Now here's the hard part. Despite this horror, your Mom needs to appreciate the importance of vitamin D to her health and get plenty of sunshine. The elderly become embarassed by their bodies and stop taking off their clothes. This prevents them from using their healthiest skin to make vitamin D. No matter how old you are and no matter what you look like, clothing needs to come off regularly for exposure to noontime sunshine (no one else needs to see).
Good luck,
Steve
Dear Anonymous,
Yes, yes, and yes! Get off those dangerous supplements and out into the sunshine!
50,000 IU per week is 7,000 IU/day. That's well above the Food and Nutrition's Board warning dose of 2000 IU/day. No one should take 50,000 IU/week for such a long time. These high dose tablets were meant to be taken once a year or once per week for no more than 2 months. Stop taking these tablets before worse side effects emerge. Browse above if you want to know what might be in store if you continue at 50,000 IU/week.
Steve
What is your feeling about the UVB
lights in the winter months to get
Vitamin D. There are some that cut off automatically so you do not get to much exposure. I have already found i am very sensitive to Vitamin
D and supplementation.
Dear Anonymous,
I don't have strong feelings about UVB lights, and I don't have any personal experience with them.
I have managed to experience regular, mild vitamin D side effects from sun exposure. My feeling is that, as you mention, it would indeed be easier to overdose on vitamin D using a UVB lamp. That said, the side effects are harmless if recognized and reacted to with reduced vitamin D dosage.
Thanks for asking – because the conversation does provoke thoughts. Vitamin D from the sun simply isn't practical for many vitamin D deficient people. It would be a good idea for hospitals to consider setting rooms with UVB lights and prescribing time in these rooms instead of pills.
Your comments make me hopeful that you have and use a UVB lamp. Please share your experiences – especially if you think you can feel evidence of vitamin D production (benefits or side effects).
This is provoking even more thoughts. The power of a UVB lamp drops off with the square of the distance from the bulb. How well are these lamps engineered? What happens if you hold your skin just a couple of inches from the surfaces of the bulb for 30 minutes? How much vitamin D can the skin really make? How much does it vary from person to person. There is still much to learn.
Thanks so much for such a thoughtful question.
Steve
Myself,
There are several comments in this string documenting catastrophic effects from high dose vitamin D treatment (10,000 to 50,000 IU pils or shots or whatever). These catastrophic effects are, indeed, highly unusual. It has occurred to me that in addition to individual variability in sensitivity to vitamin D, there is also likely to be varibility in vitamin D dosage. For every million tablets manufactured at 50,000 IU, I wouldn't be surprised if one actually contained >250,000 IU. Just 1mg of vitamin D is 40,000 IU. The smallest tablets typically weigh 25 mg. Vitamin D must be mixed with binders to manufacture the tablets. If the ingredients are mismeasured or poorly mixed – if a drop of fluid somehow gets into the mixer – if any of many possibilities go wrong – an unlucky high dosage tablet gets produced and the person who swallows it suffers. Worse – every taking vitamin D suffers from fear of overdose.
This is entirely avoidable. The same sort of problem happens making 1000 IU tablets with no risk. One 5000 IU tablet in a bottle of 1000 IU tablets is highly unlikely to ever be noticed.
This column has been up for over a year without tablet quality control ever coming up. Of course, many prescription medications have this same problem….
Steve
I believe no one mentioned vitamin A, which protects from vit D potential toxicity (and vice versa) and enables body to build up the sufficient healthy level of it.
Vitamin K2 directs calcium to the bones and away from the soft tissues. So, D, A and K2 work synergetically.
I accidentally took 300,000 iu of excellent quality liguid vitamin D3a week ago, for one day. (NO MORE SINCE). I have severe sleep disorder. The first night, I woke up, sat up in bed and didn't have plastic bags to put the stuff into (from bizarre images when asleep). I never experienced anything like this before and it happened the night following the overdose. Since then my nights seem taken over by odd scenario I hardly remember when I awake (only hours later). Any help? Wendy
Hey Steve
An update..
I thought I had got the toxicity out of me was feeling better. Anyway been off over six weeks and started to feel breathless again which the D originally helped with. So all I took over 3 days was an extra strong cod liver oil cap, one per day. WELL I went wierd again, (stopped oil immediaely) mental aggitation, emotional feebleness and vulnerablity constant crying over nothing much, pain in spine, itching eyes. It is inly just easing off psych wise after 4 days. So does this mean I shall never ever again be able to tolerate supplementing D even with codliver oil? That sounds scary living in the North of England with hardly any sunshine 🙁
take care
Dawnx
Good Afternoon!!! http://www.cforyourself.com is one of the most excellent informational websites of its kind. I take advantage of reading it every day. I will be back.
Wendy,
Given my delayed response, I hope you took the time to read more carefully above on the comment string. I had a conversation with Bex during which I came up with a list of suggestions for how to accelerate recovery.
I'm very sorry that this happened to you. It's not your fault. I hope you make a full and speedy recovery.
I'm sure other readers would be reassured to learn how your case evolves. Please come on back in a few weeks and let us know what actions you took to speed your recovery and how you're feeling. I'll be hoping that you make a full recovery.
Steve
Steve
Dawn,
Vitamins are difficult to use. It is too soon for you to jump to conclusions. Your body is undergoing many adjustments to the high vitamin D dosage that you implemented less than one year ago. Vitamin side effect thresholds vary with age, state of health, and probably many other things. Just because you are reacting badly to several thousand IU of vitamin D today doesn't mean you'll react so badly 10 years from now.
In your first post you indicated a variety of chronic health problems. I recommend that you use thiamine, vitamin C, and niacin supplements in addition to managing vitamin D.
Vitamin D typically has a half life in the body of 30 days. At your latitude, the sun shines brightly enough in all but November, December, and January. If you were willing to get into the sun with minimal clothing between 11 am and 1 pm most bright sunny days you would make plenty of vitamin D in your skin to keep you healthy year round.
Since you are so sensitive to the pills, your other options are to apply supplements topically by buying vitamin D gelcaps and rubbing the oil into your skin, or to purchase one of the vitamin D lamps recommended by the vitamin D council.
Please keep in touch and let us know how you decide to proceed.
Steve
I found this commentary fascinating. I live in a northern climate and in the fall began taking 2,000 IU of vitamin D. I had my vitamin D levels checked last week and they were still very low. I am now taking 10,000 IU's a day with a 1,000 mg dose of Calcium Citrate to counteract the leaching of Calcium from the system due to high doses of Vitamin D. This is all being done under the watchful eye of my Naturopathic Doctor and I will be tested again in 4 months to see what the levels are
Dear Anonymous,
I'm glad you found the column. It is indeed a remarkable testament to the power of the internet. I haven't found anything else like it in print on or off the internet.
Well. If you read the column, you are fully warned that you stand a high probability of developing side effects before having your blood retested in four months. 10,000 IU/day is a large dose.
I don't understand the fear that too much vitamin D will leach calcium from the bones. My understanding was that too much vitamin D did just the opposite and caused too much calcium to deposit into bones and soft tissures. When recovering from vitamin D overdose, minimizing calcium intake is typically recommended.
Since your taking so much vitamin D, please come on back and share your experiences from time to time.
Thanks again for your comment,
Steve
The medicines that are used for bone pain are narcotics findrxonline as opioids such as Vicodin, Lortab, OxyContin , hydrocodone and the doctors that are usually used to combat pain they cause diseases such as homeopathy, fibromyalgia and even cancer In general, these medicines are used mostly is the United States and Europe are controlled because their use can lead to addiction.
Dear Steve,
Thank you from the bottom of my weary heart for helping me not feel so alone.
The first sympton I had, the morning after accidentally taking 300,000 iu of vit D3 (dropperfuls instead of drops) was an hallucination and continued severely disturbed sleep for several nights. It has been 3 weeks. Some other symptons are becoming less, during the day.
These past two nights of NO sleep
clearly feel caused by D3.
There is something intense about sleep. When I do sleep and wake up, the transition feels surreal. I feel alien to my body and it takes time to get up and adjust to being awake, a similar feeling to hallucinating. ANYONE RELATE?
I read your response to Anonymous-"Thanks especially for comment that vitamin D may be causing insomnia – I've also experienced insomnia caused by Vit D. I'm going to add it to the side effects . ." GOOD!
I read your suggestions to Bex for how to accelerate recovery. Thanks!
Do you happen to know exactly what in an overdose of vit D3 causes insomnia? Is it an over load of energy created from too much D3?
It would help me immensely to hear from other brave souls who have suffered insomnia as a result of Vit D3 overdose.
Thank you, Wendy
Wendy,
My reactions to an overdose of Vitamin D , which was as low as 2000 IU a day, were of extreme anxiety and stress. Those symptoms caused an inability to sleep or, when I was able to sleep, to feel extremely fatigued the following morning and throughout the day. This seems to correspond to your sleep issues somewhat. But everyone's reaction to Vitamin D toxicity appears to be different based on the postings here.
Give yourself some time to recover. It will be at least a month, perhaps longer, before you feel like your old self, but it will come.
Be well.
Jack
First, THANK YOU for this blog! I was diagnosed with low D level (15.3, nurse said 32 is normal!!)I started taking 50,000 mg/week on Dec. 15 '09. Took the 5th pill this morning, Jan. 12/'10. I've had moderately bad nasal and chest congestion, fatigue, dizziness, some depression, and weakness off and on (mostly ON) since starting the RX. Thought I had some kind of bug, but since I am a breast cancer survivor (surgery/chemo at age 48, almost 58 now – thank you God I appreciate every day I was granted!) started getting concerned about a cancer issue. Finally thought well maybe it has something to do with the Vitamin D supplement. Found your blog, and what a relief it was to find a reasonable alternative to the cancer recurrence worries!!!
My question(s) are:
Why did my Dr's nurse say 32 was 'normal'? Is there more than one blood test with different scales?
Also, only 1 or maybe two posts on this blog discussed the nasal/lung congestion thing. Is this a real side effect or is it just January in Ohio no sun, cold, furnace on all the time, and dry air?
Thanks!!!
I am thankful to have come across your blog regarding vitamin D supplementation. After a recent skin exam, my dermatologist told me to avoid the sun and make sure I take 1,000 IU of vitamin D daily. Coupled with my yearly physical where I tested 31 for D-hydroxy D (on the low end of the 25-80 range) I thought I should take this seriously. So, of course I stopped by the drug store right after my appointment and began supplementing that night. Two days later I started experiencing a dull pain in the lower right quadrant of my abdomen with associated nausea, mouth dryness, metallic taste, and thirst. I wake up at 3am every night with pain in my abdomen. I waited 5 days, all the while continuing supplementation, before I went to the doctor for what I believed was an appendicitis. They did a urine culture, blood work, and CT scan of my abdomen checking the gallbladder, appendix, uterus, and ovaries. All came back negative. The doctor is shaking her head at what could be causing the symptoms. Next step…gastroenterologist. So, I'd started an investigation of my own when I came across your blog. 1000 IU of vitamin D is the only thing that has changed since the pain started. Is it possible that such a low dose could be causing these symptoms? Think I'll hold off on the GI appointment, stop supplementation, and see what happens. THANK YOU!!
Dear Anonymous,
You are doing the right thing stopping the 1000 IU supplements and hoping for the best. There are two ordinary, normal reasons for your misfortune. The first is that you are unusually sensitive to vitamin D. Some people simply are and they should be over represented reading and commenting at this blog.
The second possibility is that you got a bad bottle of vitamin D pills. VItamin D tablets are >99% binder. 1000 IU is just a couple of micrograms of vitamin D in a tablet that typically weighs 50 mg (well less than one part in one thousand vitamin D). Pure vitamin D is typically carefully diluted down. Every once in a while a mistake will be made in the manufacturing chain and a bottle of 1000 IU tablets will really be a bottle of 10,000 IU tablets.
This blog and this logic has made me way of prescription medication. When I take a pill, how do I really know what I'm doing?
Nothing is for free. Vitamins and drugs are powerful, empowering tools. We are right to depend upon them but we shouldn't be unrealistic. When drugs or vitamins are highly toxic in overdose, the buyer must beware.
So – there's nothing to worry about with vitamin C, niacin, and thiamine (no known lethal doses – full and rapid recovery from overdose – vitamin C and niacin tablets are mostly vitamin and just minimal binder). One more reason to get vitamin D from the sun.
Steve
Dear Anonymous,
Side effects can be hard to describe. Irritation of the lungs is my number one comment. I didn't experience the irritability as congestion, but how different, really, is irritated and congested when it comes to lungs? A runny nose is right there on the Mayo clinic list. It's hard to have a runny nose without some level of congestion. So – lungs and noses are there.
That said, these haven't been common complaints of the commentators. I was fascinated at how many commentators complained of the cardiac (heart) symptoms.
I've commented elsewhere that I don't have much faith in vitamin D blood tests. I don't think there is enough data to know what normal is, and I worry about the reproducibility of the scale. The 32 is short for 32 parts per billion or some such unit defined by the group that developed the test. I think there is only one standard test method in use.
Hope that helps,
Steve
Wendy,
Thanks for your comment. I went to the blog to add insomnia as I promised and found that it was already there (number 7 on my list of symptoms not found on the Mayo Clinic list). So – yes – good. I'm not the only one who gets insomnia from vitamin D.
I'm glad you read my replies to Bex. Let us know what, if anything, you find useful during your recovery.
I'm so sorry about what happened to you. This is not your fault. These high potency drops are very dangerous. Mistaking drops for droppers is a perfectly natural thing to do and should never be able to result in months of discomfort. i'll say it again, these products should be taken off the market. The only way to avoid these problems is to stop manufacturing the products!
Keep us posted on your recovery. We'll keep you in our thoughts.
Steve
The author of http://www.cforyourself.com has written an excellent article. You have made your point and there is not much to argue about. It is like the following universal truth that you can not argue with: Bricks are horrible to carry. Thanks for the info.
Dear Steve,
I have alot to tell about my experience and slow recovery but first I have a question.
I took the overdose of 300,000 iu of votamin D3 about 6 weeks ago. understanding the half life, I imagine I still have a bit in me. Can it still be affecting insomnia?
More later, Wendy
Wendy,
I trust you understand how unusual your experience is. So – there's not many other people you could compare your experience with.
I rechecked the web and indeed found multiple references stating that the half life of vitamin D is about 4 weeks. When taken in a single, large shot like your case, it is usual to fully absorb the dose. So, let's guess that you excreted or metabolized 50% of the original dose in the first 24 hours leaving 150,000 IU. Let's also guess that the first couple of half lives are shorter (I won't justify this guess here – trust me that it is reasonable). So – that would get you down to about 40,000 IU after 6 weeks. So yes – plenty is left to cause side effects. In three more months you should have only ballpark 5000 IU left in your body from the overdose. I'd be hard pressed to blame the presence of elevated levels of vitamin D for any side effects remaining. So – theory says you will make a full recovery in a couple of months. If you have not, it would suggest that the vitamin D caused some slow healing wounds (perfectly plausible), or, heaven forbid, irreversible damage.
You are becoming something of an expert about vitamin D as a result of this experience. If you optimize your use of vitamin D, I promise you that over the course of your lifetime the benefits will far outweigh the harm no matter how bad this incident turns out to be.
Steve
Dear Anonymous,
Thanks for the tip about carrying the bricks.
To all readers, I really appreciate comments like this. It helps me to know that people are reading the blog and finding it helpful.
Steve
Steve,
Thanks for your latest response.
I certainly do understand how unusual my experience was.
In your calculations, You seem to think that with 40,000 iu still in my body there is "plenty left to cause side effects." And then you say you "would be hard pressed to blame the presence of elevated levels of vitamin D for any side effects remaining." I do not understand. It feels like a contradiction. Wendy
Steve,
I am adding to my email I just sent. I have had insomnia in the past. Somehow, this feels different. I am taking ambien. The data on the internet says "Ambien affects chemicals in your brain that may become unbalanced and CAUSE INSOMNIA.Ihave been really wanting to know, since this unusually high one time dose happened to me, HOW DOES D3 AFFECT THE CHEMICALS IN THE BRAIN? I feel like, with such a drug experience the chemicals DID become unbalanced. Do you know? Wendy
Wendy
Dear Steve,
I reread your letter again and again and it is very clear that when I have 5,000 iu left in my body in 3 months, there will be no side effects. I am sorry I came on so strong, with the word, contradiction. My behavior must be a side effect???????? Wendy
From reading this blog I now know that I am not crazy. After being tested for vitamin D by my doctor, I was told my level was 14 and considered low. He put me on 50,000 IU 1x per week. Before taking the supplement, I was healthy (aside from low D level) and only saw the Dr. for my annual check up.
I started taking the D supplement the day before Thanksgiving. I took 2 doses without noticing any side effects. After the 3 dose, I was off for Christmas vacation skiing. I developed numbness in my foot which I attributed to my new ski boots doing some nerve damage (until reading this blog) that still persists, and numbness in my face and tongue (which have gone away). I also experience a strange sensation at the base of my throat (just above the collar bone) like it was swollen, constipation, infrequent urination and bloating/hardening of the lower abdomen. Over the last several weeks I can't be outside in sunlight without sunglasses, due to sensitivity. I felt like I was going crazy with all these strange things happening to me and felt embarrassed to call my Dr with these claims for fear he'd think I was nuts too. Now I'm zeroing in on the D and going to call him straight away tomorrow.
Because I had no health issues prior to taking the Vitamin D, I have to start with that. I couldn't all of a sudden experience all of these issues around the same time with it not being related to the D.
Wendy,
No worries. I wasn't offended. I'm sorry for being unclear.
Sleep disorders are serious. Sleeping pills are not a full cure. I don't believe it is possible to get high quality sleep on sleeping pills. Go to Google and type "C:the blog and sleep" into the search box. Give the supplements I recommend a try and see if you can get off sleeping pills.
Steve
Susie,
Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing your experience.
The numbness is a rare side effect not on the list. I totally believe that it is real.
The swollen feeling at the base of your neck could be the very commonly reported heart and chest pains. The feeling is in the right area and everyone feels it a different way. Everything else you describe is on the list. There is no question in my mind that you are suffering classic vitamin D overdose symptoms.
Having read this column, you know what to do.
Please don't give up on vitamin D. You are meant to get your vitamin D from the sun. I quit vitamin D pills for the same reason you will – I'm not very tolerant to the pills. I have no problems with sunshine.
I'll say it again – these high dose supplements are dangerous and should be banned. I'm so sorry that you have been made to suffer without cause.
Steve
I started 1000iu supplementation last year after all the hype.
I seem to experience a marked sensitivity/dryness of tissues. My eyes/sinuses/throat burn/feel dry and sensitive. I cough more easily (I am someone who seldom coughs that much even when I have a cold).
This morning I took 4000iu with breakfast as I was trying ascertain causation. All symptoms are markedly worse. This is why I did a search for others with atypical response.
I will skip for the next few days and see if they subside, I might have to a diary to see if there is something to this.
Anyone else have dry/sensitive eyes/nose/throat with supplementation?
I haven't time to read all comments but wanted to throw in my two cents on this – I'm glad you confirmed that different people have really varying sensitivity, because when I used to take standard low-dose (100% RDA max) multi-vitamins, really top-quality ones, I had some of these symptoms, the worst one being like a full feeling at the base of my skull, hard to describe but pretty nasty.
But supplementing with individual vitamins other than VitD causes no problems.
Second, I have really bad allergic rhinitis and unfortunately in my work Im sometimes exposed to allergens like mold & dust, and when that kicks in badly I CRAVE condensed milk, butter – and more condensed milk!
It's not a normal part of my diet, so I can only assume there's some kind of link, and when I just go with it and feed that urge I never get side effects, but it seems to cut the allergy period and make me feel better (totally subjective I know).
It's totally weird and counter to the conventional wisdom that dairy feeds allergies though, and it's always the VitD-supplemented stuff that I crave for, not just regular milk in large amounts.
As side notes, I'm late 30's now and first noticed the symptoms with multi-vits in my late teens, I was on a diet to lose like 20lbs and started taking them as kind of backup. And I have real pale skin, which burns eaily in the sun, so I never sunbathe.
Anyway this is real interesting, thanks and I've found it extremely empowering to read that I'm not the only one for whom standard RDA's aren't the final and definitive answer.
Peter,
Sensitive eyes and a runny nose are typical vitamin D overdose symptoms. The throat symptom is more unusual. However, if you look just above another commenter noted having a funny feeling at the base of the neck which could also be from irritated nerves in the throat.
Thanks so much for sharing,
Steve
Suzy,
I have not sufficiently emphasized how differently people react to vitamin D supplements. It is really a huge range, and you are correct to draw attention to your unusually pale skin. There are evolutionary factors at work. Many mammals dependent upon vitamin D have evolved to enable living mostly out of the sun. Rats, being lab animals, are particularly well understood. Rats require at least <100 times the amount of vitamin D (after adjusting for body mass) than average people do. This supports the idea that people also evolved in response to exposure to the sun.
There is so much left to learn. Sigh! Anyway, I would recommend experiementing with sun exposure before experimenting with vitamin D tablets. For you, with your pale, sensitive skin, it is much easier than for the rest of us. Get into a bathing suit, get out into the noontime sunshine in the summer, and lie under the sun for just one minute on each side. Then you're done. I aim for ten minutes on each side and it's not so easy to keep track because I get bored and start reading or some other such thing. Anyone can focus on what they are doing for just 2 minutes.
Getting into the sun is a healthy habit for humans even with the most sensitive skin. You are not a rat! Even if you don't need the extra vitamin D today, you may when you are older. It's much harder to start new habits in old age than it is to start them now.
If you don't agree, let's chat some more and I'll back up my assertions with deeper analysis.
Steve
Today after 4000 UI yesterday. I feel normal again. I think my issue may primarily be the processing of Vitamin D3. Not an excess stored in my system. Though the effect seemed to last nearly all waking hours yesterday.
I am going to abstain for the next couple of days and dose again to see if I have the same effects.
For me the eyes/sinus/throat affects all seem to be the same thing. Irritated soft tissues. My sinuses were not running, all of my eyes/sinus/throat had a dry irritated feeling.
Some folks may getting runny nose from the irritation, but I didn't.
I will report again in a few days…
Hi Steve,
I posted ages ago in this thread, talking about my struggle with scabies, and my lump in the throat. I had been taking 6000 per day, and then went up to 10,000 for a while. So I took LOADS of D for maybe 7 months or more. I have since read a couple more posts in this thread suggesting a lump in the throat with overdose of D. I am now very very worried.
My itch went away in September 09. I don't remember if it coincided with my lower dose of D, but it recurred in Dec. I have been under the ENT with my throat problem, and he saw that my vocal chords are bowed. He put it down to reflux, and put me on gaviscon advance, 40ml per day, and speech therapy once a fortnight.
What is worrying me is that my lumpy feelings are worsening, and I don't know, but I think it might be since taking the Gaviscon. Gav is high in calcium, which made me worry that the lump is down to calcium. I am also starting to get a weird "blocked" sensation in my upper chest.
I stopped the D completely in November, so that I could concentrate on my throat recovery. How long would the effect last for? I am quite scared now, because if I continue taking the Gav in such large doses, it will make the problem worse…but if I stop, my reflux will get worse.
I intend to visit my GP first thing tomorrow. I will keep you informed. I think this is terribly important.
Liz,
Please don't be scared. You're doing the right thing to see your physician tomorrow. Odds are you'll be just fine. You've been off vitamin D supplements for almost three months so your levels are down significantly.
For whatever it is worth, "blocked" is an excellent description of the feeling I get in my chest from too much vitamin D. I had a full cardiac workout and everything was normal.
What I'm trying to say is that vitamin D side effects frequently feel like an emergency when in fact they are not.
Scabies, bowed vocal chords, acid reflux… Ugh. I'm so sorry. With luck, however, you've come to the right place. Keep seeing your doctor. You can take all his/her advice and all of mine too. Vitamins and conventional medicine do not compete. If both approaches work, doing both together can achieve remarkable results. I recommend that you get extra vitamin C, thiamine (vitamin B1), niacin (vitamin B3) and vitamin D. Please read my other posts for specifics.
Good luck and be sure to come back and update us on your progress.
Steve
I was prescribed vit D 50,000 units weekly 11/08 right after I had my tonsils out, my D level was <6. I did not recognize some of my side effects for several months because I thought I was recovering from the surgery, and there was no information given to me about side effects and warnings. It started with palpitations, especially after I ate and some mood changes. By may of 09, I was having tachycardia, palpitations, severe abdominal pain, frequency, constipation, and an overwhelming feeling that something was horribly wrong, the feeling of doom, I thought I was going to die. 9 trips to the ER by 911 and 5 more trips by car over a 2 month period for sudden onsets of a heart rate of 160+, severe cramping, nausea, vomiting, and a feeling of complete panic, I thought I was losing my mind. 4 CT scans, gastric studies, stress test and ultrasound of my heart, all negative and I wasn't getting any better. They did find mild gastritis, I'm sure from all of the nausea and vomiting, I lost 28 pounds in 4 weeks because I couldn't eat, it only made the symptoms worse. I had told everyone the only thing I was taking was vitamin D, no one ever told me that those were side effects of a vit D sensitivity, my mother was the one who looked it up and found your blog. I stopped the vitamin D june of 09 some sypmtoms improved within weeks and others took months to go away, I still have some issues with anxiety because the whole experience was traumatic, and it was hard for me to believe that it was from a vitamin. My daughter made the comment during all of it that they would figure out what was wrong with me during my autopsy, I looked like I was dying. I was so weak I couldn't even walk half the time. I'm very upset that the medical profession so blindly prescribes medication that they can't even recognize when someone is having side effects, it never occured to any of them that it could be the vitamin D. If it wasn't for your post I'm not sure what would have happend to me. I am
convinced that it was all from the vitamin D.
Dear Anonymous,
Thanks so much for stopping by to tell your story. I honestly never thought that I would hear such a story. 14 trips to the ER! Tests and tests and tests! In all that time it ended up being your mother who took the time to do a simple internet search. How is this possible? These side effects are well known. It's in the Merck Manual. It's in a 1987 book I rely on called "The Right Dose" by Patricia Hausmann. She give vitamin D supplements a "dubiousness" award and warns against taking more than 1000 IU/day. Is this willfull ignorance?
Well well well. It's good to know that my occasional ranting is perhaps warranted. My blog is more forceful than other warnings like the Mayo clinic site that I quote heavily from.
Anyway, you made my day. I'm here to help – and in your case I really helped. What would have happened to you is that you would have kept on suffering for decades until and unless you stopped the vitamin D.
It is such an irony. I started blogging because I want people to take more vitamins and not be afraid of side effects. Now it turns out that my most important blog warns people about the dangers of vitamin D overdose and helps people who are taking too much – and on their doctor's advice.
So – doctors are advising more vitamin D supplements than me – the get as much as possible from sunshine fanatic. These same doctors accuse me of advising too much vitamin C, niacin, and thiamine. Well – I'm right about the vitamin D and I'm right about the vitamin C, niacin, and thiamine too.
I'll be damned! Thanks thanks thanks for caring enough to write.
Steve
Folks,
I was trolling around the internet and found this comment left on another website which I copy for your benefit. I'll say it again – high dose vitamin D supplements should be banned. They violate the "do no harm" mandate of medicine. Here's the comment:
I am suffering from D3 toxicity. I suddenly became gripped with depression, joint pain, anorexia (lost 14 pounds), brain fog extraordinaire, extreme fatigue. For 155 days, I’d taken 60,000 IU/day. The instruction on the label was wrong; it should have said ‘1 drop twice/day’; it actually said ‘1 dropper twice/day’. D levels were within toxic levels, although calcium, while elevated was not outside norman range; kidneys tested okay as did thyroid. Main concern now is later T1 impact. I have done my homework. I know my body. Joint pain went away within 48 hours (previously non-existent-Dr. Barry Sears Omega 3); appetite increased right away also after ceasing all D. It pays to pay attention!
I will add to the myriad of comments. Here is what happened to me.
I discovered my vit d was low at 11. My friend also decided to supplement with D. He took cod liver oil (which has the fatty acids and vitamin A) @ 3 TBsp per day (~9,000IU), and integrated some days of sunshine. so far he has not developed any symptoms, and feels great.
I have a different story. I started with 50,000 iu once a week along with 1 T of cod liver oil. After 7 weeks, i re tested and found i was at 32. I was not aware of any symptoms at that point. In fact, I was quite impressed at how much better I felt. nails growing fast and strong, hair stopped falling out, feeling like a nice person with more calmness. I stopped the 50,000, and continued on with CLO only (pure food form) @ ~1,000 IU per day. I retested and found i lowered to 22. That is when i made the decision to supplement with liquid drops of 10,000IU per day. I dropped it right in to the CLO. Then I noticed multiple changes. numbness, pain and tingling in my feet. my thumb and ring finger was experiencing strange pain. Then I noticed a rash of some kind (perhaps eczema) on my forehead and around the nose. my lips were quite chapped. Then my nails returned to weakness. my hair started falling out again. my heart was feeling weird. Chest pain and irregular heart beats were becoming more prominent. Hypotension started to appear. more mental confusion was present. Then I noticed a decreased appetite, and stools more loose than usual. I also have noticed a fast progressing receding lower gum. I have never had gum problems before. I had been searching to look for the cause. I thought it might have been from vit a toxicity, or another nutritional deficiency. Then your blog appeared. I stopped all vit d and will follow the "recovery" plan. I will check in and report how it is going. Should I take more magnesium, vit K and vit A to accelerate the recovery further?
Dear Anonymous,
Thanks for sharing your story. It allows me to say – once again – that concentrated vitamin D liquids (1000 or more IU per drop) should be banned. This would not prevent people who need 10,000 IU/day from getting it. It is simple enough to take five 2000 IU tablets. I believe that our society needs to at least make an effort to do no harm.
Bad feelings in the chest associated with the heart are clearly the most common vitamin D side effect. This symptom is reported by almost everyone in the comment string. The hair falling out, receding gums, weak nails, chapped lips, and rash on the forehead are all highly unusual. Please check back in as you promised and let us know if all these symptoms receded along with the others.
Thanks again,
Steve
I have been suplementing with vitamin D for 4/5 months and have been having trouble sleeping, frequency night time urination, urination alot!, massive weight loss anxiety ect and it was only when i saw your blog that i realised any of this could be related to the vitamin d3 i was taking. Ive been taking 2000 IU of D3 and vitamin K2 and im really worried, I have just thrown them away, the other week i stopped by chance for 2 weeks and felt better but didnt put 2 and 2 together, should i panic about such things as renal failure and kidney damage, or should a few months be reversible?
Dear Anonymous,
There is no need to panic. Go see your doctor to make sure your situation isn't a crisis, and that you're basically OK. The vast majority of vitamin D overdose issues resolve themselves in weeks or months. You have not been taking a particularly high dose, making the high odds of a full recovery even higher.
Steve
Thank-you so much for this discussion. I would like to share what has been going on with our 10 year old son. We gave him 4 doses of clo, 1/2 tsp each, each given about 1 week apart. At some point he began complaining of a dry mouth ("no spit" in his words) but I didn't connect it to the CLO because it seemed to be such a small dose of vitamin d, until after the 4th dose. In the hours after the 4th dose he became naseus and had a couple brief dizzy spells, and over the next 3-4days developed an extremely dry mouth, started complaining of the chest pains, back pain, brief pain in his fingers, muscles, ankles, and toes as well as some tingling in his fingers but also around his mouth and ringing in his ears. He frequently also complained of the feeling that he had something in his eyes, nasal passage burning and some difficulty swallowing. Needless to say I immediately made an appointment for him with the doctor and in the meantime searched the web which landed me at your wonderful site. It has been 15 days since the last dose and the dry mouth and difficulty swallowing have largely gone away. He still has frequent eye irritation, bone pain, and chest pains as well as fairly brief feelings of naseau. He also now has periods of muscle weakening and tingling, general breathlessness and itching. I have received the results of blood work and everything, including calcium, came back normal. I am still waiting the results of the vitamin d level test which I expect today. He has kept out of the sun fairly well till a few days ago when his class started to go outside for recess again. We do not consume fortified milk at home (we drink raw) and I have not given him any d-fortified cereals in the past 2 weeks. I showed the doctor the label of the clo that we gave my son and he agreed that the dose seemed too small to cause anything but agreed that given the symptoms testing was in order. Are there any other tests that you know of that I should request from the doctor? By the way, we also gave my daughter the clo supplements at the same time as my son and she had no reaction whatsoever. My son is tall and very thin (my daughter is more stocky) and I'm wondering if the thinness could be a factor, as I believe one other comment also mentioned this possibility. Sorry this post is so long. Once again, thank-you for raising this discussion and to all the commenters for sharing their stories.
A Very Worried Mom
Steve,
I'm writing to you again to get your opinion. I'm the one who had the 14 trips to the ER, I read the blog over and over again because it's just so much information to take in at one time, and I see more and more of the symptoms I have that I didn't even mention, like the chest/bone pain. I thought I had done something to my back and sternum because the bone pain was awful. I had written that I was still having some issues with anxiety, because that's what the MD's told me, especially in the early evening when I feel like it's hard to breath even though I know I'm breathing fine. It's that "blocked" feeling that someone else had mentioned. I don't think it's anxiety I think it's still another side effect that has not gone away yet, better but not gone. How long has it taken you and other people for those symptoms to resolve completely?
Thanks again for your help, you are my hero!
pat
Dear Worried Mom,
The dose of vitamin D in a teaspoon of typical cod liver oil is roughly 250 IU. There is an equivalent amount of vitamin D in a children's multivitamin. Milk is dosed with 100 IU per cup.
Somewhere I read that some manufacturers of cod liver oil add vitamin D to the oil. A reasonable explanation for what's happened to your son is that the bottle of cod liver oil that you have been using was badly manufactured and contains a much higher level of vitamin D than is on the label. At a minimum, you should discard this bottle and buy another bottle of a different brand. If you're determined to make sense of what's happened to your son, I'd recommend having the actual bottle of cod liver oil that you gave your son analyzed.
Let's say, for example, that the bottle contains 10,000 IU per half teaspoon. This sort of dose is readily tolerated – consistent with the absence of a reaction from your daughter – but is plenty high enough to explain the symptoms seen in your son.
If you read the string above, I've commented a number of times that concentrated vitamin D is dangerous and needs to be handled carefully. Once concentrated vitamin D has been produced, it's very very very difficult to ensure that none of it is accidentally ingested at a dangerous dose.
Anyway – you're right to be worried but don't be too worried. Your son will make a full recovery. When he has recovered, he will still need vitamin D. Sunshine is never mis-formulated, and is not known to cause vitamin D side effects. It is basically 100% safe. Don't keep you child out of the son.
Steve
Dear Worried Mom,
I'm not knowledgeable about testing, and I'm not there looking at your son. So long as the problem has been properly diagnosed – a vitamin D overdose – the prognosis for your son is excellent. The case, however, is odd which makes me uneasy. The dose you have reported giving your son is too small to account for the severity of his symptoms. Your son might indeed be hypersensitive to ingested vitamin D. If so it is very very rare but should not be discounted. I don't know how one would test for that, nor what one would do about it.
I wrote again because I wanted to comment about your daughter. You are very right to be worried that your kids aren't getting enough vitamin D. If my hypothesis that your cod liver oil contains much higher doses of vitamin D than on the label is correct, then it is meaningful that your daughter took the dose without any side effects. Tolerance for high doses commonly indicates deficiency.
Worry is a part of raising children. The hard truth is that parents do need to worry every day about the doses of vitamins their children are getting. I have limited my worrying to the four vitamins that prevent deficiency diseases: vitamins C, B1, B3, and D. For vitamin D I worry every day that my kids aren't getting enough sunshine. Type "C:the blog and pale faces" into Google and browse all the columns I've written about vitamins and children.
Thanks for sharing your story,
Steve
Pat,
When I don't take enough vitamin D, I get respiratory infections. When I have tried to quit vitamin D long enough to completely eliminate all signs of side effects, I keep getting sick. I have chosen to tolerate minor, easily tolerated discomforts in order to reduce the number and duration of respiratory infections that I used to be frequently inflicted with. I believe that the sun gets me higher doses of vitamin D with fewer side effects, and I am now getting my vitamin D exclusively by getting out into the sun near naked at noon.
Somewhere up the string I went through the logic of how much time it takes to get all the vitamin D out – it's 6-9 months or something like that. With any luck, you'll be feeling like your old self well before that. Of course, this far good luck has not been your karma!
I have thought about your comment every day since you left it, and I've circulated it to friends and family.
I have certainly not done anything heroic. These are such strange times that I could be so helpful to you when I have so little in the way of resources to devote to vitamin safety and effectiveness. That I can reach out on the web – and that Google can shoot my column up in the rankings using computer meritocracy wizardry – and that main stream medicine can be so amazingly incompetent about essential nutrients. How could all these things be true? Truth really is stranger than fiction.
Well – advice like mine coupled with stories like yours will help make this problem go away quickly. Doctors are going to read this column and be more competent as a result.
Steve
I want to thank the blogger very much not only for this post but also for his all previous efforts. I found http://www.cforyourself.com to be extremely interesting. I will be coming back to http://www.cforyourself.com for more information.
Hi Steve,
This is an old post but hopefully it's still active. I would like to know whether you ever had any blood tests showing your Rheumatoid Factor (RHF) before, during and after your Vit D experience, and if so, whether you observed any change in RHF levels as a result of the Vit D. I would appreciate your comment.
Thanks
Peter
i actually love all your posting style, very attractive,
don't give up and also keep penning as a result it simply just truly worth to follow it.
excited to see way more of your current writing, goodbye!
Dear Anonymous,
I have not had my RHF levels tested.
I'm becoming increasingly disenchanted with sophisticated medical tests. When you're not feeling well, nutrition and medications are almost certain to help. Obviously I feel getting the nutrition right is far more important for real, long term healing. Drugs are highly useful especially if they can be used as a short term fix for long term healing. The problem with the fancy tests is they get in the way of getting on with finding treatments. People need to get going as quickly as possible trying different combination of different doses of sunshine, vitamins, natural medications, and prescription medications. Expensive tests are slow and impractical. Simple tests that you can do yourself make alot more sense to me.
Steve
I had "Nocturnal Leg Cramps" that were so painful they woke me up. They would start any time in the afternoon and continue until the wee hours of the morning. They would begin to occur nightly during my period and continue to occur almost to my next period. So, I went to a doctor who checked my D level and and found it low. She recommended 1000 IU of vitamin D and that was it.
The pain improved but did not go away. For the next few months I experimented with vitamin D dosages and scoured the internet for any relevant information. I found that simply taking vitamin D (regardless of dosage, usually > 2000IU) made my legs "buzzy" and my muscles twitchy and my teeth very sensitive. However when I combined vitamin D with calcium and sufficient dietary magnesium, all these symptoms went away.
I am currently taking about 9000-12000IU of vitamin D (less and the pain recurs) in 3-4 doses a day coupled with 3-4 doses of calcium supplements and lots of dark green vegetables for the magnesium.
Strangely enough, I found that taking the calcium supplement without the D resulted in "cloudy urine" which suggested to me that it was not being absorbed. Also, taking vitamin D in one dose was not helpful because the calcium did not seem to be absorbed later in the day.
I am now pain free and apparently vitamin D side effect free. I think everyone will have varying needs for vitamin D and Calcium and Magnesium and should find at which dosage/amount they feel the best. I also think that vitamin D should not be taken alone. I hope this helps!
Hi again Steve,
Thanks for the reply.
The RHF test isn't fancy or expensive, it's a standard line item in a normal blood test, and shows an antibody concentration in your bloodstream. The antibodies it measures are the ones that go round cleaning up other antibodies after they've done their work against infections, bacteria, and the like.
The RHF level is supposed to be less than 14, and people with high levels (> 50) typically experience joint pain and/or other symptoms that can be similar to Vit D issues. In fact my rheumatologist has pointed out that my high RHF condition may be Vit D related.
Since my RHF level is >100, and since I have many of the symptoms listed on this page (even though I take no Vit D supplements), I was curious to see if there may be any correlation between high RHF and Vit D supplements, from your experience.
Perhaps anyone else who has had RHF mesaured in their blood tests may have a comment.
Thanks again
Peter
Hi Steve,
I am 14 weeks pregnant and into my 11th week, my OB-GYN prescribed Vit D to me because my level was very low (I live in Oregon)in addition to my prenatal Vitamins. Yesterday, she called to tell me that my Vit D is very high now and wondered how I took it. To my shock, I totally overlooked the prescription label and took the pill EVERYDAY INSTEAD OF TWICE A WEEK ONLY. Can you imagine the humiliation I felt. My OB-GYN assured me that I will be okay. She checked my Calcium level and it was normal. I did not experience any side effects from overdosing on the Vit D that I can remember. My prescription was 50,000 u/ 1 cap 2x a week. It's suppose to be an 8 week supply that I took in 2 weeks.
I still am very worried that I have put my pregnancy in jeopardy and worried about my baby. My doctor is reassuring but I still need more info. She just told me to avoid Calcium tabs right now. Please give me more info on this- overdosing on Vit D in relation to pregnancy.
Yvonne,
I basically agree with the nurse that your baby will be fine. In fact, I'm much less worried about your baby than I would have been if you hadn't done anything about your vitamin D deficiency. So, there's no use worrying.
I'm glad your obstetrcian is worried about vitamin D. I wish he/she was equally worried about factors/vitamins A, B, and C. Why is it so hard to understand that the really important vitamins sorted into factors A, B, C, and D when vitamins were discovered by modern science just over one hundred years ago are indeed really important? I guess it's because the discoverers of vitamins over-reached and pronounce recommended daily allowances using insufficient clinical data.
The only information that you might need concerns what you should do in response to having taken your vitamin D prescription faster than prescribed. I can assure you that you don't need any more information. There is nothing even approaching a consensus about what you should do. Worrying is bad. Don't worry. Vitamin D is very important for your baby. Take care of it naturally by getting out into the sun.
The regular sunshine I recommend is believed to provide 10,000 to 20,000 IU per day with minimal risk of side effects. The reason I say "is believed" is that 10,000 to 20,000 IU is just 0.25 to 0.5 milligrams per day -an almost invisible amount. It is very difficult to accurately measure the amount of vitamin D a person makes, and I'm sure there is significant variability from person to person.
I'm surprised your obstetrician would give you a prescription containing 800,000 IU of vitamin D. I would be concerned that 800,000 IU might make the baby uncomfortable or God forbid cause some harm – that's alot of vitamin D to take by mouth. I'm less concerned about whether you get the 800,000 in 2 weeks or 8 weeks. The fact that you have had no side effects is a very good sign.
Vitamins have an amazing safety record. Vitamin D has caused plenty of discomfort but very little lasting harm. Again, I would have been much more worried about your baby if you hadn't taken any vitamin D at all than I am now. What frustrates me is that I just don't see the harm of instructing people with low vitamin D levels to get out into the noontime sun near naked. It feels great with no risk of discomfort.
Here's my take on your situation. There is no treatment indicated for your situation. The probabilty is very very very high that you've done your baby more good than harm. If, God forbid, you have harmed your baby there is nothing helpful to be done that can be supported with solid science. In other words, if there is something helpful to be done, the science supporting such an action is insufficient to generate a consensus amongst scientists.
Vitamin D remains vital to both you and your infant. Vitamin D is, in fact, the easiest vitamin to manage. You don't have to choose a dose and you don't have to risk anything. Just get out, near naked, into the noontime sun on a regular basis and enjoy the glorious warmth of the sun.
Don't use sunblock and don't be stupid (don't get a sunburn)!!
Isn't this just common sense?
Steve
Dear Anonymous with Leg Cramps,
You're doing just the right thing letting how you feel guide your dosing of vitamin D. So long as you have no side effects, you've got nothing to worry about. The only thing I'd like to add is that vitamin tolerance varies widely for individuals depending upon age and state of health. The 9000-12000 IU that you are presently taking with no side effects may, at any time, start causing side effects.
This is why I like sunshine. No one blames the sun for side effects. They blame themselves for getting too much sun. It is almost impossible to get too much vitamin D without also getting a sun burn. Everyone knows that getting a sunburn is a stupid thing to do.
Thanks so much for sharing. If you're still taking >9000 IU/day a year from now, please come on back and tell us that you're still able to take >9000 IU per day without side effects.
If you start getting side effects, come on back and tell us that too.
Thanks in advance,
Steve
To whom it may concern,
I wish alot physicians were aware of Vtiamin Toxicity.
My wife had started 2,000iu of Vitamin D daily about 2 weeks ago at the urging of her nutritionist with what we thought were no side effects(mild ones). Then she had her blood tested they found she was low it was 19.
So her PCP gave her a script for 50,000iu once a week for four weeks then every other for 4 weeks.
After her first 50,000iu pill the problems started the next morning severe bone pain, joint pain, muscle pain,sore throat,ear pain, shortness of breath,headache,nauseau,constipation etc. The doctor or pharmacist never warned us. The doctor of course said this could not cause this. I don't get this the physicaians pharmacists are supposed to be here to help us! They always say the benefits outway the risks what a bunch of BS. No one can function like this. We as patients need to complain and make the government and the medical society take notice on the situation on all drugs,vitamins etc.
Enough is enough we know that it will take awhile for the Vit d to get out of her system in the meantime she has to suffer which is not fair to he r or anyone in the same situation.
I have been taking 15 to 20 thousand i.u.'s per day for two months without any adverse symptoms. My asthma, for which I was using inhalers 2 to 4 times a day has totally cleared up. I am able to sleep longer in the morning because the nasal congestion I had been having has improved significantly. I am very surprised to read the symptoms people are experiencing at very low vitamin D dosages. My understanding is that toxicity does not occur below 40,000 i.u.'s per day.
Gregory,
Thanks so much for sharing your story. It is helpful to me to have as many examples as possible of bad experiences with vitamin D supplements. Physicians will be more careful with vitamin D supplements when they fully appreciate that side effects are common.
Steve
Barry,
Good for you for finding this blog and educating yourself about the possible side effects of the vitamin D supplements you are taking.
It's wonderful that you've found a solution to your asthma and congestion. Vitamin D is indeed one of the four special nutrients. If you want to achieve optimal health, you need to manage your intake of vitamin D, vitamin C, niacin, and thiamine.
I believe there is a high probability that if you continue to take 15 to 20,000 IU/day of vitamin D you will experience side effects. I wouldn't be surprised if you are already experience early signs of side effects and that is what brought you to the site. Please keep us posted. I'm interested in a better understanding of the extremes of vitamin D tolerance.
Thanks for leaving a comment,
Steve
I was taking 5000iu per day. I also started an exercise and weight training program back in October. In December, I started to feel tired, weak, muscle pain and severe skin burning. I also had palpitations, chest pain and bone pain. I thought maybe I was working out too hard.
I stopped working out and still didn't get any better.
One day I noticed that after taking my vitamins, I felt worse. That's when I researched each vitamin I was taking.
It has been a week since I stopped the vitamin D. I do feel better, however, I tried to exercise and notice that the symptoms get worse. Could this be my body detoxing the D out of my fat cells. Should I continue the exercise to detox faster?
Dear Anonymous,
I'm terribly sorry for your unnecessary suffering.
One reason I'm writing this website is that I have a deep respect for the feelings of others and want to help people understand what is making them feel well or feel sick. I'm generally in favor of exercise – and further in favor of exercise as a method of accelerating the recovery from vitamin overdose. That said, this is all about feelings. If exercising isn't "worth it" then it isn't worth it.
Exercise, like vitamins, is necessary for optimal health. People seem better able to understand that you can't get the full benefit of exercise without regularly experiencing minor discomforts.
It is so important to continue to document here the consequences to our society from the use of vitamin D pills.
Vitamin D supplements are hugely empowering. They will be used more and more commonly because of the amazing healing powers they provide. Properly dosed vitamin D pills can not do any serious harm to an educated consumer.
Health care providers need to be persuaded by your stories to be more careful.
Steve
Steve
I honestly don't know where to start, because it feels so overwhelming to explain everything I've been through. But here goes: The past 3 years after having a serious virus infection i started getting very weird symptoms, severe headaches, stomach pains, muscle pain, fatigue, drowsiness, and fasciculations (muscle twitches) all over my body but mainly in my calfs and arms.
I've been to ALOT of all sorts of tests and scans and every single time they have found absolutely nothing. I started feeling like a hypocondriac because i kept going to my doctor . I've been feeling REALLY sick for a long time. I kept getting sent to different specialists in neurology etc. They never found ANYTHING.
Needless to say I've been extremely worried and had trouble living my life and got depressed and suffered alot from anxiety. One day i read some doctors articles about Fasciculations and the causes for this, and found that Vitamin D and Calcium deficiency could cause this.
Went to my doctor again in november 2009. I told him of what I've read and he didn't really believe it could have anything to do with my symptoms. But he decided to go along with some tests. I waited a week for the bloodtests to come through, they found out I was serverely defficient in Vitamin D and mild defficient in Calcium.
He told me to eat 7 pills of 1000 UI pr. day with D3. For the first week or so i didnt feel a thing, after that I started to feel weird, experienced other symptoms i wasn't used to. But didn't think it could have anything to do with the Vit D. 2 more weeks and I started to get mild nausea but severe pain in my solar plexus area. My doctor thought it could be acid reflux or and ulcer, I then got a camera down my throut and they found nothing. My doctor told me to try not taking the pills for a couple of weeks until my solar plexus pain got better. It never really did. Along with this pain i started to get tinnitus/ringing in my ears from time to time, mostly just in one ear at about 20-30 seconds and it then went away for some hours. And i also starting getting severe sleeping problems. Whenever going to sleep and dosing off i wake up SUDDENLY, raise my head and taking one deep gasp quickly and feel extremely confused and scared. This keeps on going for 5-6 times some nights before I eventually fall asleep.
My doctor decided to give me Vitamin D2 injections instead of the D3 pills. I got the first injection in the beginning of January 2010, first dose in the shot was 300.000UI of d2. (I am shocked to find out how large that dose really is now)
All symptoms kept being there, nothing got better, but I was thinking to myself that i needed to get the Vitamin D in order to get well. After a three weeks I started getting severe nausea, but my doctor told me not to worry and i got my second shot of 300.000ui in the beginning of february. And still wasnt being tested for my levels. I was meant to have my third injection in the beginning of march but i was unable to go the doctor then. But I went 3 days ago. Oddly my nausea got alot better mid march, although all the other symptoms was still there. Decided to go to the doctor to get my third shot because he told me i really needed it. I got that shot 3 and now the nausea is back. it's really hard to take, especially at nights. I also have a metallic taste in my mouth at times, and often feel very thirsty. but the worst thing is definately the thing where i wake up with a BANG several times and gasping before dosing off.
I don't know what to do! I just want it all to go away. Since January 2010 I've gotten 3 injections with 300.000ui each time. Have I been severely overdosed, and what can I do about it? When will the symptoms stop being so extreme? it's almost 5 in the morning here, should be getting some sleep, but i keep waking up. So I decided to write here.. Don't hope it's too long, I just wanted to share my story and hopefully get some help or advice.
Again, thank you!
I've been taking vitamin D 50,000 IU for over a year and half twice a week plus the vitamin D in my twice a day calcium pills. For 4 months my eyelids have been swelling. I've been allergy tested, went to a dermatologist and an opthomologist, stopped wearing contact lenses and makeup with no relief. It just occurred to me maybe the D is the problem. I will stop the 50,000 IU and my calcium & D supplements to see if there is any change. Any suggestions to get the D out of my body faster? I'm beyond frustrated!
Dear Anonymous with Eyelid Discomfort,
Thanks for sharing your story. I hope vitamin D supplements turn out to be the problem. If you take the time to read the full string of comments you'll find all the practical suggestions for getting vitamin D out of your body as fast as possible.
Once you are back to normal, please make sure you get plenty of sunshine. Vitamin D is good for your health and can be obtained from sunshine without the risk of side effects.
Steve
Woodnil,
You've found a place where you are understood. I'm so sorry about your poor health. You've done nothing wrong. Try not to give up.
Please go to google and type "C:the blog pale faces". There are many toddlers in this country with pale faces and dark circles under their eyes that, like you, are in chronically poor health although main stream medicine can't find anything wrong and has no treatments. I believe that vitamins A, B1, B3, C, and D (sunshine) can prevent most of these problems and will restore better health (sometimes fully restore health) to many current sufferers.
Feel free to come back to the blog with questions once you've done some more reading. Again – don't give up before giving the vitamins a try.
Woodnil – the vitamins I recommend are not magic. They are not dramatic. If my recommendations help you, they will help slowly. Your health is bad and it will take many months to get better. In the meantime you will experience many other changes in your life. It is what it is.
Good luck,
Steve
Thanks for thisp ost and for all of the folks who have commented. I've been prescribed 5,000 IU of Vitamin D and noted immediate and intense joint pain, overall malaise AND heart palpitations.
TODAY I found this information and will now STOP the Vitamin D supplement – I live a northern climate and find that many of the physicians I work with are testing Vit D levels (my test cost $150!!) and prescribing……this is a huge concern so I'll be sharing this information with everyone.
AND – I'm a registered nurse!
Dear Registered Nurse,
Thanks so much for your comment. I'm so glad you found the site helpful, and are planning action to educate your colleagues.
Again – I don't know what it says about our society that someone like myself with no role in mainstream medicine ends up getting involved in a basic fact finding exercise about vitamin D. It certainly means that few in mainstream medicine are planning to take responsibility like you are. If all registered nurses acted like you, this problem would not exist.
Thanks again,
Steve
I posted a couple of weeks ago about my symptoms. I stopped the vitamin d and they are now about 50% gone.
Gone are the skull headaches, the severe palpitations, severe bone pain is gone also.
I still have the frequent urination, some fatigue. I also have the ear itching and back itching. Today I was out in the sun and the symptoms came back but not as intense as the supplements.
I also notice exercising makes my symptoms worse. I think it may be because exercise mobilizes the fat and the fat cells release the fat soluble vitamin d.
This has truly been a learning experience.
By the way I notice that when I take vitamin c I get a metal/medicine smell coming from my skin pores. Any idea what is going on? I tale 2gm twice a day.
I started taking Vit D 2500 IU a day because of the reported health benefits. I get a lot of sun exposure and never thought about side effects. Over the last several months i have had daytime sleepiness, fatigue to the point of sleeping at work and as soon as i got home. I also got severly itchy skin to the point it looked like i had hives. Additionally i was very irratable and always in a foul mood. I never thought about the vit D. Finally My legs felt very weak and my muscles were twitching. The final straw was I passed a kidney stone, there is no family history of stones and a CT scan showed i have 2 more stones. Does all this sound like Vit D side effects?
Dear Anonymous with Kidney Stones,
As it turns out, I neglected kidney stones in my review above and will edit this omission. Here's the best material about vitamin D and kidney stones from "The Right Dose, How to Take Vitamins and Minerals Safely."
"It makes sense that overdoing a nutrient that increases calcium absorption could cause kidney stones. W.H Taylor, M.D. put this possibility to the test. He surveyed supplementation habits in patients with kidney stones and those who had no stones. Among his most notable findings:
The highest doses of vitamin D supplements (not sunshine) were found among kidney stone patients for whom doctors could find no other basis for stone development
The average dose of supplemental vitamin D was 1254 IU daily in patients for whom no other cause for the kidney stone could be found.
End of quote.
So – itchy skin, irritability, kidney stones – all classic vitamin D side effects. What a bummer! You're probably averaging >5000 IU/day from the ample sunshine you get and just an incremental 2500 by mouth is causing all these problems. So – stop the supplements and keep getting the sunshine. I am so sorry that our society hasn't learned the importance of teaching about the benefits and side effects of vitamins A, B-complex, C, and D. Can you believe that you're learning about vitamin D side effects from a blogger who is an industrial research chemist instead of from your doctor? Well well well, it is what it is. The truth is, you should believe it. I have the benefit of an education from the best of the best educational instirutions right through the Ph.D. level followed up with becoming an inventor working in corporate research. My job is to continuously learn and question and I have full access to scientific publications in all fields. Finally, I have time to think.
Steve
Dear Anonymous with Metal Smells from Vitamin C,
I have no idea what is going on except that I doubt it will prove permanent. I suspect that a year from now, should you keep taking 4 gm/day of vitamin C, that the metal smell will be gone. So – I think the metal smell is a good thing (some kind of detoxification) and that it will fade away with time (also good because it means you will get detoxed). Keep going with the vitamins and live longer and healthier as a result. See my recommendations for optimum doses of vitamins B1, B3, C, and D.
Steve
My doctor prescribed Vitamin D3, because I have a low vit D level (16.3).
I got the liquid drops with 1000 iU per drop. Two days ago I took 7 drops = 7000 IU.
The next day after taking the drops I felt very, very sick.
Extreme dizziness, lightheaded, nauseuos, can't think clear, pressure on the eyes, one eye was red at the white. Today (two days after taking it) I still feel as sick as yesterday – all symptoms are same strong and don't seem to get better.
I took the Vit d because I am very fatigued, tired, were dizzy etc
-so all symptoms are kind of the same thing I take them to fight this – but now everything is MUCH worse….and I am concerned.
I took only this one dose.
How long does it take to get this dose out of my system????
I read Vit d has a half life of 1 week to 4 weeks – but what does that mean for my dose of one time 7000 IU?
Thank you so much in advance!
Dear Anonymous,
I strongly dislike drops- it's hard to control the size. You may have taken more than you think.
Please scan through the comment string above. There is alot of discussion about how to speed recovery from overdose. Stay out of the sun, avoid calcium, exercise and drink fluids. I think those are the basics.
One dose of just a few thousand IU should not cause much trouble.
Don't give up on vitamin D. Once you've fully recovered, get out into the sun and get more vitamin D the way you were designed to get it.
Steve
All I can say is "wow" and Thanks for this blog. I started intermittently increasing my Vit D3 over the last few months mainly because I had some squamous cell tumors removed from my arms and wanted the boost in immunity. I was taking only 5000 IU. During the end of winter, U actually started feeling nausea in the morning but it subsided during the day and didn't pay any attention. Then it became more frequent and lasting. As it progressed, and about the time I had the arm nodules removed, I started losing weight, couldn't "taste" the food and had a metallic taste in my mouth. My throat was sore on top of it all and my eyes felt scratchy. Fearing the worst, I boosted my dose to 2 times/day for a total of 10,000 IU. My throat and eyes are continually scratchy and irritated. My sleep sucks, I go to sleep no problem, but wake up around 4 am and can't fall back asleep. I'm tired the rest of the day. I continue to have no appetite and have weird nerve pain, little shoots of pain almost like an itch at certain parts of my body. I have psoriasis, so itching is constant anyway, but this is a different feeling. My blood work is fine, although I haven't been tested for vit D so I don't know about that. I've had some acid reflux issues, but not sure if that has anything to do with the stress or lack of food. I drink coffee, so frequent urination is difficult to discern, but my wife thinks it's more frequent and a substantial volume. I've had a dull ache in the chest area, but wouldn't describe it as a strong pain. In addition, as I write this, I almost forgot to mention the teeth sensitivity….all of these seem to scream Vit D toxicity, so I'm definitely going to stop immediately. Keep up the great posts, I hope to update in the future.
I am extremely sensitive to any medications as I am recovering from 30 years addiction to benzodiazepines. Idiotically, I took 2 doses of 1000 iu Vit D3 4 weeks ago. I became suicidally depressed, have been coughing and producing mucous all day and all night, and am experiencing dreadful insomnia. I still have an incredibly strong metallic taste in my mouth. My question is, how long, realistically, will it take for me to get this stuff out of my system? I cannot believe that such a "low" dose can be taking so long to leave my body.
thank for this useful and informative blog
Hello, I am a 46 yr old female who was told almost 3 weeks ago that my Vitamin D level was 0. My Dr was shocked at this level and placed me on 50,000 1 x a week. I have taken 2 does and my 3rd will be on Friday. Since I have started taking it, I have gotten a flushed face and chest,heart skipping a beats feels very strong.Pain in my joints and muscle cramps, even in my throat,headaches,just feel off, dizzy, lightheaded and go from feeling hot to freezing.. I told my Dr and he said it isn't from the Vitamin D,but it all coincides.. I don't know if I should stop taking it it or just deal with all these unusual things. I am going out of the country in 2 weeks and do not want to feel like this there.. Help, please 🙁 kathleenangelone424@yahoo.com
The greatest blog on vit d3. I am very confused,In stores a product called vitamin d3 mouse poison ingredient cholecalciferol, which I believe is also in the sun but this is also in pill form. Are they all the same???
On Wiki they say yes but it is toxic at high doses.
There is a site marshall protocol vitamin d basic information. This is very interesting as they say do not take this vitamin but all can read the information.
Can someone answer is vit d3 as cholecalciferol in pill form,the same as mouse poison?
A nephrologist told me to take 50,000 iu 1x a wk for 4 wks! I was very sceptable, as I told him many times my rheumatologist even agreed I'm in that 1% who is extremely hypersensitive to drugs and their side effects, etc.
He convinced me it was safe to take since my level was 15 and low! By the third wk., right after the dose, I was urinating about every 10 min. all day!
Last Wed, (the 4th day of this poison mega-dose), I was urinating alot still, my already very high blood pressure went even higher, I was extremely thirsty all the time, had a headache, loss of appetite and diarhea! I drove myself to the ER the next day because of the high blood pressure!
Now this guy is running scared. I called him yesterday to ask what to do about the diarrhea, and he hung up on me!!! I called his partner, and he got nasty too, and said they refuse to see me anymore! I'm seeking a lawyer to sue him!
Reading the web, I'm scared stiff! I have all the signs of vitamin D overdose, and this can permanently ruin my vital organs, especially my kidneys! It was a kidney dr. who prescribed these mega doses to me, and I was seeing this quack for a kidney problem due to high blood pressure! Now he's running scared! Well he better be~!!~~~ These quacks are using us for guinea pigs! they don't know or CARE what they're doing with my life—well wait until he's dragged into court! I'm just praying now, I have no serious or even fatal effects from this severe overdose!
Dear Anonymous with Nephrologist Unaware of Vitamin D Side Effects,
Don't be too hard on your nephrologist. Most main stream doctors are ignorant of vitamin D altogether. It is a big step in the right direction to find physicians who recognize the importance of vitamin D. Now they just need to be trained in how to use it safely.
I share your anger, and I share your right to emphasize how uncomfortable the 50,000 IU vitamin D doses have made you. I would say the same thing. I just want to make sure that readers realize that your condition is certainly not fatal!
In fact, the odds are with you for a full recovery. Reports of permanent harm are rare. If you do not make a full recovery in 6 months time, please come back to the blog and let us know.
Again – I'm so sorry for your discomfort. That said, please don't conclude that vitamin D is bad for you. You just need to be extra careful with supplements. Vitamin D from the sun will do you no harm.
Under the circumstances, it behooves me to point out the problems with vitamin D from the sun. Using your skin's ability to make vitamin D – a requirement for optimal health – will age your skin. It will also slightly raise the odds of getting skin cancer.
I think improved immunity, reduced risk of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, obesity, cavities, and gum disease are worth the cost of allowing your skin to see a natural amount of sunshine and age naturally. Others will not agree. That's why there's chocolate and vanilla.
Steve
Dear Confused About Vitamin D Rat Poison,
Thanks so much for writing. What a great factoid. Truth is stranger than fiction.
Vitamin D is indeed a rate poison. Rat food doped with 1 part in 1 thousand of vitamin D3 is a safe and effective method of killing rats and mice! Amazing.
Here are all these physicians pushing vitamin D supplements and insisting that vitamin D is non-toxic and all the while pest control scientists are seizing on vitamin D as a safe and effective method for killing rats and mice!! I'm adding this fact to the column above. Thanks also for the link to the Marshall protocol website.
Steve
I posted last August after 3 weeks of discontinuing 2000iu/day due to achy weak legs and general fatigue and weakness, freguent urination too. Over the next several months I had every blood test under the sun looking for a cause and found nothing. My test for D levels after 4 weeks of not taking the D, came back at 34, which they said was low, needed between 40 and 100. Before that I began wearing over the calf socks and seemed to help my legs. So I decided D was not the problem, and began 6000iu per day. In about a month my leg aches returned, and in another month I began to have leg cramps. Still getting blood tests now from a blood specialist, still finding nothing. Tested for Lyme and other tick diseases. Nothing. Ran out of money, stopped the tests, kept taking 6000iu of D on into February, leg cramps getting more frequent (always at night). Had my D levels tested mid Feb and they were 58, doctor said "great", I thought otherwise, and stopped D altogether, making sure I got none in fortified foods either, but did take calcium and magnesium. (All my minerals and Potasium all came back good in the previous fall's blood work). Anyway, over the course of 6 weeks my cramps and achy legs disappeared, and I felt strong, felt like I was done with all my problems. Started taking calcium that had D included, so I began getting 400iu from the pills and some dairy maybe averaging 100iu to 200iu more a day from that. Still doing good for a couple weeks more until I came down with a stomach virus after having mowed the yard (push mower) that day, all night long I puked and my legs cramped. Recovered, but 4 days later began having leg cramps at night again, various muscles, toes, feet, calves, sometimes outer thighs. Not all at once, just a different muscle group different times. Legs got weak during the day again. 3 days in a row of this and I walked up and down a rocky hillside a couple times, then that evening I couldn't find a position that wouldn't cause my legs to cramp up if I was still for more than a few minutes. Had to get up and walk. Got them calmed down before bed and then went to sleep, woke up 45 min later cramping. Ate a banana, slept the rest of the night. But I eat bananas every day, usually 2 a day, but this was the first time I ate one at night. Been eating one at night right before bed and not having night cramps anymore. But, I still have weak feeling legs during the day. So I'm not sure if the elimination of D for 6 weeks really helped or it was just a coincidence? Maybe I need to completely eliminate D again, but I'm only getting maybe 4 to 600iu a day as it is. Or maybe I should increase it to 1000iu a day and see what happens. I'm really at a loss today, thought I had it figured out, but obviously don't.
Dear Anonymous with Complex Problems,
I'm so glad to see mainstream medicine doing its thing. Lots of testing with no answers. Answers, naturally, come from experts working for free on the internet. Knowledge is power.
All the negative test results are good news. Many serious problems have been ruled out. This means the odds of vitamin therapy working are much higher.
Poor nutrition and environmental toxins are possible causes of your discomfort. At some point, the quality of life deteriorates enough that you should consider moving somewhere with unquestionably clean air and water.
Nutrition is easier to deal with. The safest way to get vitamin D is from the sun. Lie out in the noontime sun with minimal clothing and rotate your body so that all skin surfaces are exposed. Don't overdo it. It's hard, but not that hard, to find a safe and effective dosage of sunlight.
Back at the beginning of science, "factors" A, B, and C were isolated from food. The most important pure supplements in these factors are vitamin A, niacin, thiamine, and vitamin C. Each of these four vitamins prevents a pandemic human vitamin deficiency disease.
Please read my blog for all the advice contained on the safety and effectiveness of these special nutrients. Follow the advice and then come on back and tell us how you are doing.
Here's to improving health,
Steve
Thank you for this blog. Almost 2 years ago I broke my arm and was told to take extra calcium to help it heal faster. I took 3 500 mg per day which also included about 200 of vitamin D. I also took 1000 Vit D3 as well as being in the sun. Within 2 months my heart started to pound and my ears ringing, pulsatile. I then developed a sore throat, bad sinus,sore ears, body tingles, numb feet and hands, spasms, twitches etc. I did not know what it was and kept taking supplements hoping they would help. My legs ached so bad I could hardly walk, lung pain etc. Some days I wished I could die than live like that. I saw so many doctors and ENT's and nobody could find anything, I had a blood test which showed calcium close to being too high, dr ran another and my calcium is now too high and I suspect the Vit D to be the culprit, I have stopped all the supplements and am feeling better most days but I still have some twitching and even hand shakiness. I have been off 2 weeks now and I pray to god that over time this will all resolve and that I have not ruined any organs in the meantime. On Tv they always said this d is very safe. Well I am here to say otherwise, I will never put another calcium or d supplement in my mouth and for now it is hard to avoid with juice, cereal and most thing being fortified. It seemed the worse I felt the more vigilant I was taking my supplements thinking they would make me feel better. I wish people would know more before they take this stuff, I ruined 2 years of my life.
Along with the MANY benifits of vitamin D, here is another drawback of oversupplementing. Wonder if it could be partially responsible for some of our symptoms..Excess vitamin D will also enhance the uptake of toxic metals like lead, cadmium, aluminum and strontium.
Just google vitamin D and aluminum if you want more information.
Again seems to show moderation is the key. Deficient?.. slowww addition and starting with natural sunshine probably way to go. JC
Dear Two Years of Misery,
Your story is an important addition to this blog. I need to update this column and write a separate column too. Here's what I learned:
Vitamin D supplements below the UL are dangerous for people getting plenty of sunshine. I know this from my own experience but didn't "get it" until I read your comments today. I have written that I'm getting so much vitamin D from the sun that I can't take even a 1000 IU supplement without side effects. It hadn't occurred to me how dangerous that is. Sure – I knew the problem was vitamin D. Your testimony proves how hard it is to see the connection. Furthermore, with just 1600 IU/day you managed to push your blood calcium too high – proof of dangerous toxicity. So – thank you so much for writing – we are all endebted to you.
Next. Supplements are empowering. You will need, and will take drugs and/or nutritional supplements in the future because you will encounter health problems as you age that are alleviated by the pills. All pills need to be respected. This specific problem was one of ignorance on the part of the entire medical community. It is simply amazing how underappreciated vitamin D side effects are after all these years. So many people from all ends of the health care community insisting that vitamin D is not particularly toxic! Don't be angry at the pills. Be angry that no one knew how to help you.
Steve
Dear JC,
Thanks for your comments. I'm going to investigate your remarks. Absorption of transition metals other than calcium probably cuts both ways. Most elements are essential nutrients and facilitating absorption will improve help. The key is to make sure that the toxic metals are excreted and the "healthy" metals are retained. Most transition metal supplements are highly dangerous because in the world of metals too much is often highly toxic. On the other hand, perhaps it is always bad for vitamin D to be adding to the traffic of other metals in the bloodstream. Again – I'll look into it and if I find something worth saying, I'll say it.
Thanks for your insightful comment,
Steve
After read this post I think that it is good to take vitamin D for change level of cholesterol in our body. As I think that it is good to take for better health. Because in our body role of cholesterol is important.
I have always been a vitamin person and at age 60 I am very healthy. I had been taking 1200 IU vitamin D daily. However, last fall my gynecologist advised that my blood test indicated my vitamin D level was 29 and recommended I add another 2300 IU (though the lab report specified it was in the normal range).
Now 6 months later and I am suffering from fatigue, low energy levels, tingling numbness on my whole left side, terrible pains in my thumbs, like you would not believe, plus I’m at the point where I am handicapped by the helplessness without use of my thumbs!! In addition I have such dreadful pains in my wrists, forearms, upper arms, and calves. And I have trouble walking since I am also experiencing awful pains in my feet. I believe the aches are bone as well as muscles pains.
Following a few particularly bad days this holiday weekend (taking naproxen 2 times per day), I’ve been researching online this morning thinking that I must have a dreaded immune deficiency disorder, and I came across your website. Thank you, thank you, thank.
To confirm that it is, in fact Vitamin D overdose causing so many problems, I am going to stop taking it until my pains subside. When the pain goes away I am going to go back down to the 1200 IU vitamin D daily, that I had been taking (since I eat natural organic fortified yogurt and almond milk routinely).
I love my doctor, but I plan to call her office and let them know what is going on with that high of a dose of vitamin D!
Ps: I am scheduled for a total knee replacement next month resulting from a knee injury, and I am so pleased I found your posting prior to my surgery. I imagine physical therapy at the rehab center, and my recovery would have been greatly affected by my severe aches from vitamin D! Now I need to be sure to stay out of the sun for a while, and hopefully flush the toxic levels out of my body.
As someone else pointed out above, while some people are being prescribed ridiculous amounts, and/or are taking insane amounts (50,000iu's several times a week), others are associating symptoms with vitamin D, when they have no idea what their vitamin d levels are.
Regarding insomnia: Vitamin D should never be taken at night. Would you go to bed and be able to sleep in the bright sunshine? Don't think so.
Also — is your vitamin D sourced from FISH OIL? If so, many of your symptoms may be from the vitamin A in the capsules, or mercury or other heavy metals. "Dry" vitamin D3, made from lanolin is preferable.
Are you taking vitamin d2 — that will cause problems every time. One should always make sure you're taking D3.
I could go on and on…but I'll shut up.
Dear Steve, A recent blood test revealed my Vitamin D level was 16. I was prescribed 50,000 IU of Vitamin D3 once a week for 8 weeks, and then 2000 IU daily thereafter. I have taken the 50,000 IU capsules for 4 weeks now. The day I take them I experience interrupted sleep all night, as well as nightmares. I have severely pulled a muscle in my neck and one in my thigh. Out of nowhere, I have also experienced pain in my hands and a bone in my foot hurts when I step down on it. In addition, I have dry mouth and loss of appetite. I weigh 90 pounds normally. After reading your very enlightening blog, I am going to stop taking the 50,000 IU once a week. QUESTION: Do you think I should begin taking the 2000 IU tablets daily or wait until my symptoms subside?
Jacquie
"Thank you",is an understatement! I had most of the symptoms on here,including the rarer chapped lips for a spell…spine painand tenderness,joint pain in ring and pinky fingers…metallic tastes,confusion,all kinds of bizarre sensations,went to see different specialists….severe constipation,chronic…sometimes diarhea and IBS symptoms…I thought I was dying….finally,after a year and 4 months-this is when I got the nausea-powerful nausea-I thought I was having a very dangerous Serotonin Syndrome" from the anti-depressants I began to take due to the Vit D overdose induced depression! Panic attacks,I needed to carry Zanax! Today I was told I had Vit D levels too high,YET Dr. had no idea about the symptoms!and tonight I had the nausea and diarhea and some cramping;when I came out of bathroom,I looked up "Vit D overdose",and found this life-saving information!!! Do you realize how many lives you are saving with this info!-THANK YOU,GOD BLESS YOU!,Frank
Dear Jacquie,
Thanks so much for writing in with your story. It is vital to collect stories like this in a single place to help get physicians to take vitamin D overdose seriously.
Please type c:the blog vitamin D into google and read all my blogs on vitamin D. You'll see that I recommend sunshine instead of supplements. Like it or not, vitamin D from pills is more toxic than vitamin D from sunshine. There is reason to believe that sunshine has other beneficial effects than producing vitamin D in the skin.
Thanks again for speaking out.
Steve
Dear Gigi NJ,
You should be more concerned about your low blood levels of vitamin D. Raising them with sunshine is much safer than raising them with supplements. The available evidence suggests that you will tolerate more vitamin D made from sunshine than taken from pills.
I get almost all my vitamin D from sunshine and avoid vitamin D pills except when I'm fighting off a cold.
Steve
Frank,
Thanks so much for writing.
I know that most people who need this information are taking it without leaving a comment. That's OK, but I'm happier when folks like you say thanks – it keeps me going.
Please type c:the blog vitamin D into google and read my other blogs on vitamin D.
Nutritional factors A, B, and C are the foundation of nutrition. The medical system is badly broken. Almost no one has a financial incentive to study these vitamins – thus resulting in vital information flowing out from an anonymous blogger (me). I'm looking forward to the day when I can stop blogging because physicians are properly trained.
Steve
Hi – came across this blog because I am having severe pain in my right elbow joint, neck bone pain/stiffness and some mild pains/stiffness in my fingers.
I'd better give some background info. I live in the north of the UK where there is rarely any reliable sunshine (it can be absent for weeks on end even in the summer!). I am female, 49 years old and very active (qualified fitness instructor amongst other things). I have an extremely healthy diet eating only living, vital, high-vitamin potent fresh foods and am vegan (apart from some honey). No caffeine, no refined sugar, no dairy (there are many scientific articles out there showing that milk can actually cause osteoporosis).
Last year I started to have quite severed neck pains and stiffness but since my work involved me standing and writing/reading medical notes for a lot of the day, I initially put it down to muscle stiffness and pain from bad posture. However, as I do not eat any fortified foods or fish and am aware that we are meant to get vit D from sunshine (which is almost impossible for me), I tried supplementing with a D3 sublingual spray. Almost immediately I began to experience strong bone pain in both femurs. I went to my GP and got my bloods tested. Everything was fine except for vit D which was very deficient (unsurprisingly, I guess!) at 12. He told me to continue with the sublingual spray once a day (1,000 iu per spray). I have been doing this for 3 months and am now experiencing really severe pain in my elbow etc as described above. I've never had any joint pain before like this apart from the neck problem I spoke about. My question is this – as vit D deficiency symptoms and vit D overdosing symptoms are very similar, how do I know whether this bone pain is due to low vit D or too much? I am due to have my vit D levels tested again in 2 weeks but it will then take a month to get the results. Should I continue taking the supplements (and the sun is out today, I'm not working, I could get out in it!) or should I stop? Hope someone can advise. Thanks.
Over 3 months ago I was diagnosed with Vitamin D deficiency.Immediately I started taking 1200 mg of VD, drinking a lot of milk and I was out in the sun every day.Suddenly I'm having all the symptoms described by everybody in this Blog. Something hit me and I realized that the VD is making me sick, poisoning me. meanwhile I've seen different doctors and they didn't know what was wrong with me . Less than a week ago I made the decision to stop taking VD and so far my body is getting back to normal. Today I had a blood test and I'm not VD deficient . I will never take VD in my life again.
Hannia,
Thanks for your comment. It is very important. I hope you will continue to get lots of sunshine. Vitamin D from sunshine is essential for good health and does not cause side effects. It can, however, cause sensitivity to vitamin D pills. I'm the same way. Now that I get plenty of sunshine, I can't take even 1000 IU vitamin D per day without bad side effects.
It's very important to get the food and nutrition board to realize that the UL of 2000 that they have set is too high for individuals getting healthy amounts of sunshine.
Steve
I am 21 years old and have a vitamin D level of 25. My doctor started me on 50,000 units of supplements 2X a week and also 5,000 units a day. Is this normal or safe?? It just seems like a lot..
Maddy
This comment has been removed by the author.
This comment has been removed by the author.
Maddy,
It is normal. It will do you no long term harm. It may cause unpleasant side effects.
You need to correct your deficiency. It's OK to use supplements, but supplements frequently cause unpleasant side effects.
Sunshine is hard to use but completely safe. I lie out in the sun in a swimsuit for 5 or 10 minutes every day it is sunny. I have white skin. If you are dark-skinned you will need longer – but no more than 30 minutes even with very dark skin.
Steve
I'm very concerned about this blog post. Steve, you're dispensing medical advice without having done enough research, and without knowing enough about medicine.
Here are some things you've missed:
A very high percentage of the symptoms described here are probably due to magnesium deficiency. Symptoms include cramps and tight, painful muscles, also causing headaches. Heart rhythm can be affected by magnesium deficiency, as many have noted here.
You should actually update the original post with the advice that people supplement with magnesium when taking vitamin D.
Many are deficient prior to starting vitamin D supplementation, and it gets a lot worse once they start. The answer in that case is not stopping the vitamin D, but adding magnesium. Avoid magnesium oxide, and get a form of magnesium that is well absorbed. Expect some laxative effect, unless you get a really good type of magnesium. I take about 700 mg per day (some might want to go slightly higher, and some might make due with less). I could not take the amount of vitamin D I currently take if I didn't supplement with magnesium.
While it's necessary to have a supply of calcium, whether through diet or supplements, most cases of hypercalcemia are due to too much calcium, rather than too much vitamin D.
In order to supplement with vitamin D, you need magnesium, some calcium and K2. A good multi vitamin is a good thing. If you take warfarin, consult your doc regarding vitamin D.
A very small percentage might be allergic to cholecalciferol (that's what's in vitamin D3). If so, they'll experience the same symptoms after sunbathing. But you'd need to rule out other allergies, let's say in low quality supplements.
It's possible some have overdosed accidentally (dropperfuls rather than drops). It seems quite a few here are using drops.
I would never start someone on 50 000iu, just in case they have a reaction. I'd step it up. However, I would take 50 000iu myself on occasion, because I know I can take 10 000iu per day without any problems (though my daily dosage is slightly lower).
For those who get a prescription of 50 000iu of vitamin D2, try D3 instead. A good quality brand like Bio-Tech, for instance. They have many dosages, including 50 000iu, which is used for a short period by some (1 per day for 8 days) to get up to level quickly.
Certain medications and illnesses present challenges to vitamin D dosing. But you've never mentioned any of that, have you?
The majority will do fine on 4000-5000iu in the winter, with enough magnesium, blood testing to determine levels, and a healthy dose of skepticism.
Dear Ann,
Thanks for your comments.
I indeed do not know enough about medicine. My fellow scientists around the world are publishing furiously, and scientific knowledge is growing exponentially. I'm studying continuously and remain painfully aware of the inadequacy of my knowledge.
Blog readers – minerals are important. Vitamin D is required to get calcium, magnesium, and other minerals into and out of bones. Sunshine is not the whole story, and you would be well advised to troll the internet and read the advice of experts on magnesium and calcium.
I don't understand your objection to my advice. Vitamin D supplements regularly cause side effects and occasionally cause serious toxicity (too much calcium in the blood and other problems). Sunshine does not. Getting vitamin D from the sun is straightforward – even at the northern end of the subtropics. Like you, I believe we are living amongst epidemic vitamin D deficiency. Where we probably disagree is that I strongly believe in doing no harm. I'm not going to advise 4000 IU per day of vitamin D if it is going to cause side effects in even 1 in twenty.
In reality, I believe the data will show that a majority of people who get the amount of sunshine that I recommend will be unable to tolerate the 2000 IU/day of vitamin D supplement that the Food and Nutrition Board has declared the safe upper limit.
Steve
I am 100% sure I have vitamin D overdose. I was level 24 and doctor said i needed to be over 40. So she prescribed 50,000 one time per week for 12 weeks. I felt better initially, but then started to get really sick by the 7th week. Finally by the 10th week I was MISERABLE! I stopped immediately and am petrified about going outside or drinking milk. I wish this would go away. I am so disgusted that doctors can prescribe this to you. I would never have done this to myself. I would rather be deficient than have this poison in my body. It is brutal. I have severe nausea, diarrhea, headache, metallic taste in mouth, bone pain. This is the worst thing in my life. I feel like I want to die. I have been off it for only 6 days and keep getting worse instead of better. Who knew that a stupid vitamin can cause this much damage? They really need to put better warnings on the prescription bottle. There is nothing there. Thank God my mom watched Dr. Oz because she was the one who suggested maybe it was my Vit D. I would still be poisoning myself today! I had no absolutely no idea what was wrong with me. My husband thought I must be pregnant with all the nausea. I hope I get my life back soon. I have been out of commission for such a long time.
Dear Anonymous,
Thanks so much for sharing your story. It is very important since most health care providers are skeptical of these stories. 50,000 IU per week amounts to 7000 IU per day – in the middle of the range that the vitamin D council states is needed for optimum health. The vitamin D council recommends that everyone take between 4000 and 10000 IU/day and states that there are no adverse effects in this dose range. Stories like yours are shrugged off as rare events with no statistical significance. Nothing could be further from the truth. I can't be persuasive, however, without data. So – there's the role of your comments.
I'm going to edit the column and make stronger recommendations. I know I've commented that 50,000 IU tablets should stopped being manufactured. They are just too dangerous. Now I'll make sure it shows up in the main column.
I believe I was in a similar situation. I chose to take 4000 IU per day. I fully expected to encounter side effects so I did not have your bad experience. My side effects emerged after three months (12 weeks). You clearly had side effects after 7 weeks at 7000 IU per day. These are eerily similar numbers. I'm beginning to strongly suspect that a majority of people would start to react badly after ingestion of 300,000 IU vitamin D be in over weeks or months.
Why has common sense advice escaped the notice of the Food and Nutrition Board who are supposed to be monitoring reports of toxicity of vitamins?
I can also assure readers that if you get lots of sunshine, just 10,000 IU no more than 2 or three times will cause obvious side effects.
Steve
Side effects or healing process?
I have been taking 8000 IU for one year and have noticed some bone pain in one of my fingers and in one of my toes. But I think it's due to more calcium uptake, because I broke my finger and toe 10 and 15 years back. So my point is, that it's not side effects but pain etc. due to a healing process after years of vitamin D deficiency.
Dear Anonymous,
Thanks so much for your comment.
It's very hard to be quantitative about side effects since the primary symptoms are pain, and pain ranges from mild to intolerable (torturous).
Your reported symptoms strike me as mild – pain in joints that were previously broken. In fact, as you point out, the pain may in fact be good pain associated with healing. I'm very glad that you're getting such good results.
If you want to experience severe vitamin D side effects, double your daily dose. It is highly valuable to understand how and why some people tolerate more vitamin D supplements than others. If you can tolerate 15,000 IU vitamin D supplements daily, I'd like to know and so would many others.
As you know, I don't recommend this course of action. In honor of the "do no harm" philosophy, even for you, despite your excellent results, I'd prefer that you lower the pills to below the UL of 2000 IU/day and get into the sun to get the rest.
To all readers – this information is invaluable. Reports of high doses without side effects are equally valuable as reports of high doses with terrible side effects.
Steve
The majority of the people here are suffering from magnesium deficiency. Vitamin D needs magnesium to work right. So when they start taking vitamin D without adding magnesiu, the deficiency is unmasked, and it can get pretty nasty.
The solution is NOT to stop taking vitamin D, but to supplement magnesium. You can take up to 1000mg per day.
Thanks so much for this post! I have a rather strange Vit D story which I thought I would share as it may help some readers. I am 29 and in reasonably good health living in Australia where there is plenty of sun. I moved from a very sunny state to a very cloudy state mid last year. Due to the decrease in natural sunlight my husband was told by his doctor that he was deficient in Vitamin D. He started taking D3 1000 IU tablets daily and yesterday I took one for the first time as there has been no sun here over the last 4 weeks. At this point I was also experiencing a slight stomach bug which was clearing. That night I started to experience a tightness in the chest, irregular heart beat, difficulty breathing easily, slight dizziness, loss of appetite and nervousness. I also felt strangely sad and anxious a the same time which is very unusual for me. Similar to what I imagine a panic attack may feel like.
I immediately tried to sleep and started drinking plenty of water. I couldn't fall asleep easily even though I felt very tired. I put some Vicks on my chest and started drinking chamomile tea to calm me down which seemed to help. At the time i thought it was a cold as well as the side effects of a strong coffee that afternoon but now I am sure it was the Vit D, even though it was only 1 tablet!
Now 24 hours after I am feeling much better but still have a slight tightness in the chest and a lingering anxiousness . . . but much less than last night.
It's the only change to my routine and I have never experienced anything like it before so I am very interested to read this post and the many side effects people are having. It is VERY strange that a single tablet could have such a strong and quick effect on me but I think this is what caused my symptoms and will not take the tablets again unless recommended by a doctor!
my doctor prescribed 30,000 mg weekly. I've been taking V-D for 3 weeks and I tink I am getting sick from it or it and a combination of some other meds. I feel fatigued and irritable, also my mood has changed. I seem to be experiencing hot flashes, more like heat strokes.
Dear Fiona,
Thanks so much for your comments! Your comment is particularly important. Please see my more recent post called "Vitamin D Toxicity – Lots of Sunshine Can Be a Problem". Actually here's the whole thing:
Many people getting alot of sunshine are highly sensitive to vitamin D. I've collected multiple reports of serious vitamin D side effects at doses of less than 1000 IU from people getting plenty of sunshine. This isn't 1000 IU/day. This is 1000 IU once. This is way way below the Food and Nutrition Board's toxicity threshold of 2000 IU/day.
These reports are reliable and make sense. Regular exposure to full body sunshine produces large daily doses of vitamin D in the skin. Even a small additional dose can be sufficient to instigate side effects when the body is already operating at a maximum dosage.
This isn't going to happen to everyone – everyone is different. But this effect isn't rare. If you get alot of sunshine, you have to expect side effects from vitamin D supplements even at low doses.
Reports of side effects from readers have been highly insightful. If you're reading this site because you've experienced vitamin D side effects – please tell your story even if it is exactly the same as previous comments. We need to know which stories are common and which ones are unusual.
Back to new words. Our society has become sun phobic. As a result, few people are getting natural doses of sunshine. As a result, vitamin D supplement toxicity is unusual. As more and more people understand that pills can not deliver an optimum dose of vitamin D, there will be more and more reports of vitamin D toxicity.
Thanks thanks thanks for sharing this important information.
Steve
Fiona,
By the way, many doctors recommend that you take 1000 IU vitamin D every day and they do not believe your story. Sadly, they are wrong and you are right. I'm afraid it's your responsibility to educate your doctors.
Steve
Fiona,
By the way, many doctors recommend that you take 1000 IU vitamin D every day and they do not believe your story. Sadly, they are wrong and you are right. I'm afraid it's your responsibility to educate your doctors.
Steve
Hi Steve,
I am Christy who wrote several months ago. I wanted to update you. All of my symptoms are gone now. It took quite awhile for them to completely go away. I was on a cleansing diet after I went off of the vitamin D supplements, but the cleansing shake the doctor put me on had some D in it, not a lot, but some, which I feel is why it took so long for me to be rid of it. It took about 6 months total. I was free from all the symptoms about 3 months after I was done with the shake drinks.
Anyway….a few weeks ago, I started to feel that weird stress that I was feeling when I was on the D and I thought to myself, "what the heck! I thought it was the vitamin D that did this to me" I then started to wonder if I had gotten some vitamin D somehow and went on a hunt to figure it out. I found that the bars that I was eating were supplemented with vitamin D. A few days after stopping those, the stress went away. Then it happened again and I had to figure out if it was the D again. Sure enough, I found that the bread I had eaten recently also was supplemented with Vitamin D. I have come to the conclusion that I am now extremely sensitive to vitamin D and I cannot have it at all. Only from the sun from now on!
My name is Karen and I am 53 years old. About a year and a half ago I got some really strange symptoms. Firstly heart palpitations and pulsatile tinnitus. Then chronic sore thoat, bad sinus, acid reflux, weird neurological symptoms like twitching, electric shock sensations, vibrations. My muscles and bones ached, espcially my thumbs. They also twitched. I doctored for a long time with no answers until I figured out that it was when I upped my caclium/D when I broke my arm that this all started, I was taking 2-3000 IU of Vitamin D perday. My blood test did not show it high but after I stopped all calcium and D by mouth and food the symptoms all settled down. It took awhile with a few relapses. I have been on a very strict diet for 4 months now and am still suffering the ear ringing and the neurological problems. I sure hope they will go away as well. It seems that this vitamin is toxic to some people. I also had huge anxiety, mental issues and I know had I continued with it it would have killed me. I need to know how long it will take for all this to go away or if I will have to live with it forever?? I am so angry at myself for doing this to me. I have wasted so much of my life being ill with this problem. Thank you all for posting and letting me know that I am not alone. This is a supplement to be used with great caution.
It is now 6 months since I took 2 doses of 2000 iu and I am improving but not yet better. I still have elbow pain, tooth sensitivity, flatulence, insomnia and low, irritable mood, although not quite so severely. In the 6 weeks following my ingestion of V D, I developed a zinc deficiency (blood tested), possibly due to the diarrhoea and sweating induced by the vD. I was advised by a nutritionist to take some zinc, but of course I had problems with zinc as well. I have concluded that until I recover from the many years of benzodiazepine use, I cannot safely take any supplements. Meanwhile I wait and hope for recovery.
The worst thing for me is that this incident has made all my pre-existing symptoms far worse. I wish I had looked at this blog before I took the stuff.
I last posted under the name Heather.
Karen,
Thanks so much for your comment. What a story. The chronic sore throat and acid reflux are unusual symptoms. I happen to believe the sore throat because I am also experiencing that side effect. The ears, heart, and bone symptoms are classic. Oddly enough, the heart symptoms seem to be the most common. Most people experiencing side effects are reporting that symptom.
This was not your fault!!! No one taught you how to use vitamin D. The doses you took are in a range reported to be safe by the Food and Nutrition Board. Most physicians will not believe your story.
Please don't reject vitamin D. Ample vitamin D from sunshine is required for optimal health. Serious vitamin D side effects from sunshine are unknown. I'm experimenting with intense solar therapy and am experiencing mild vitamin D side effects. I've also never been so healthy.
Thanks again for writing,
Steve
Christy,
Another great comment. I'm so glad you're feeling better. I'm also glad that you have become aware of distinct vitamin D side effects. So much so, that when you feel the effects, you know you must have eaten some vitamin D. I'm the same way.
I'm on a quest to master vitamin D to improve my immunity to colds. It is working. I've noticed that when I'm fighting a cold, my vitamin D side effects go away completely. I sunned three times a day for three days in a row while fighting off a cold with no ill effects. Today, healthy again, once in the sun was plenty. So – your tolerance to vitamin D may change with age or state of health. Don't over react to your present circumstances. No one said achieving and maintaining optimal health would be easy. Mastering vitamins A, B1, B3, C, and D (the only five that cause pandemic deficiency diseases)is necessary for optimal health and a huge pain in the neck. Each and every one has side effects.
Steve
Wonderful post Steve. In the spirit of helpfulness with which you posted I would like to concur with a few of the other commenters that Calcium/Magnesium levels are effected by D supplemenation. Some of the more scary side-effects you listed are almost certainly due to magnesium deficiency as a result of D supplementation.
From the vitamindcouncil home page: "Magnesium is the most important of these co-factors. In fact, it is common for rising vitamin D levels to exacerbate an underlying magnesium deficiency. If one is having problems supplementing with vitamin D, a magnesium deficiency could be the reason why."
Thanks again for the post.
Dear Anonymous,
Thanks for your comments about magnesium.
I'm glad this topic keeps coming up. I'm going to have to look harder into this question. As I said above, many minerals including magnesium are vital for good health. Working together, health seekers are going to figure nutrition out and reverse the continuing trends towards more and more pills and procedures at younger and younger ages.
Does anyone out there have a story that can test the proposition that getting into the sun and getting vitamin D levels up brings on bad side effects caused by an underlying magnesium deficiency?
I decided to get my magnesium and calcium from my tap water. I live in an area with hard water. Once I fully appreciated the importance of these minerals, I stopped filtering and softening the tap water I drink.
Wishing improved health to all,
Steve
Dear Steve,
I'm the one who commented on your blog for over a year ago (several pages up under the nick D-Day). I tought it would be helpful for you and others reading the blog to give an update.
But first off I would like to thank you Steve for hosting this blog and helping others as you do. This is the only place I did found on the internet really talking about the possible side effects of Vitamin D, even in smaller doses. The astounding amount of replies just tells me that you are really on to something and hopefully some Vitamin D researchers can be convinced to dive more into it. I guess you have already sent a letter to Cannel at Vitamin D council? He should be interested in this given he is advising a lot of people to take large doses of Vitamin D from supplements daily.
Anyways, my update. After posting on your blog the last time, I was in a quite shock concerning the alarming side effects that I had discovered. But stubborn and stupid as I was there was more to come. In the weeks after I went from doctor to doctor testing everything I could come up with, taking blood tests, EKG, urin samples and so forth, I even did take a hair mineral analysis. None came in conclusive, some where borderline, some where fine, but they all fluctuated between tests so no doctor found them disturbing at all. Since no blood tests showed raised levels of calcium (they actually showed pretty low numbers instead), I was pretty sure my side effects wasn't caused by a calcium overload which most of the major clinics and such talks about regarding the dangers with Vitamin D. So several weeks after the side effects faded to more unoticed levels, I wanted to check yet again that it was actually caused by Vitamin D and not something other. Since I had tested 2 different brands of pure vitamin D (as described in my earlier post) just to check if it was brand related, this time I wanted to test a cod liver oil. So I did take around 3-4000IU from a bottle of cod liver oil before bedtime.
In the middle of the night I woke up and when I was lying in bed I thought my heart was pounding like crazy (or actually that was what I believed at the moment, I should later find out that it was actually not the heart but the whole chest that was vibrating). There was really strong vibrations going down the stomach and out in the arms. Even the legs was faintly vibrating, but the epicenter was my chest. In addition my vision was clouded, I was very dizzy, extremely thirsty and had a metallic taste in my mouth. The whole following day and some days after was a total nightmare. I did cold sweat a lot, feeling extremely dizzy like I was about to faint anytime, especially if I was lying down. The first day I was slightly nauseas and I had several bursts of chest vibrations. There was all this strange sensations all over my body, my muscles felt weaker, like everything was an effort. I also had some strange feelings in my head almost if I was drifting away loosing contact with the body. I have never felt something similar ever, and it was really scary.
After this episode I did several more tests, no conclusive results. I did also a 24 hour EKG, which was quite fine and this eventually told me it was not my heart but some other vibrations steming from the chest. I had always believed it to be the heart, because it was so strong I could not feel my heart underneath it. But when I started taking my pulse afterwards, the pulse had a much lower frequency than the vibrations. So this probably explains the intense chest pain I felt that day as well (reported earlier). It was most probably a muscle cramping caused somehow by theese vibrations. The dizziness, strange feelings, etc faded gradually and dissapeared in some weeks. But it took me around half a year to get rid of the nightly vibrations.
Post continues below (reached max word count)…
(Post continues from above…)
In the middle of the night I woke up and when I was lying in bed I thought my heart was pounding like crazy (or actually that was what I believed at the moment, I should later find out that it was actually not the heart but the whole chest that was vibrating). There were really strong vibrations going down the stomach and out in the arms. Even the legs were faintly vibrating, but the epicenter was my chest. In addition my vision was clouded; I was very dizzy, extremely thirsty and had a metallic taste in my mouth. The whole following day and some days after was a total nightmare. I did cold sweat a lot, feeling extremely dizzy like I was about to faint anytime, especially if I was lying down. The first day I was slightly nauseas and I had several bursts of chest vibrations. There was all this strange sensations all over my body, my muscles felt weaker, like everything was an effort. I also had some strange feelings in my head almost if I was drifting away loosing contact with the body. I have never felt something similar ever, and it was really scary.
After this episode I did several more tests, no conclusive results. I did also a 24 hour EKG, which was quite fine and this eventually told me it was not my heart but some other vibrations stemming from the chest. I had always believed it to be the heart, because it was so strong I could not feel my heart underneath it. But when I started taking my pulse afterwards, the pulse had a much lower frequency than the vibrations. So this probably explains the intense chest pain I felt that day as well (reported earlier). It was most probably a muscle cramping caused somehow by these vibrations. The dizziness, strange feelings, etc faded gradually and disappeared in some weeks. But it took me around half a year to get rid of the nightly vibrations.
A very interesting finding however was that this summer I did take a lot of sun, I was lying out for several hours each day on a vacation in Spain. I did get a nice tan. The rest of the summer I did a lot of sun exposure, working outdoors with no shirt on, lying down for half a hour to a hour each day without any sunscreen etc. In doing this my blood levels of Vitamin D3 was very high, much higher than anytime when doing all the supplementation earlier. And I did not have any side effects whatsoever. None, nothing! So one day I decided to take just one pill of Vitamin D 1000IU, and guess what happened the next morning. The vibrations were back, very intense, very disturbing. They did however go away after just 2 days, so I'm fine now, but I have learned my lesson.
To conclude: I'm not sure why I have these reactions, I guess I somehow got allergic to the Vitamin D in supplements (when starting this mess I did go on it for over a month with no adverse effects at all, so there was something that changed because of the overdose). So from now on I have to rely on the sun. It's a shame since there is limited sun here in the winter, but anyhow.
Thanks again!
Kind regards
D-Day
(Last and final part 3 of the post, see above for part 1 and 2)
A very interesting finding however was that this summer I did take a lot of sun, I was lying out for several hours each day on a vacation in Spain. I did get a nice tan. The rest of the summer I did a lot of sun exposure, working outdoors with no shirt on, lying down for half a hour to a hour each day without any sunscreen etc. In doing this my blood levels of Vitamin D3 was very high, much higher than anytime when doing all the supplementation earlier. And I did not have any side effects whatsoever. None, nothing! So one day I decided to take just one pill of Vitamin D 1000IU, and guess what happened the next morning. The vibrations were back, very intense, very disturbing. They did however go away after just 2 days, so I'm fine now, but I have learned my lesson.
To conclude: I'm not sure why I have these reactions, I guess I somehow got allergic to the Vitamin D in supplements (when starting this mess I did go on it for over a month with no adverse effects at all, so there was something that changed because of the overdose). So from now on I have to rely on the sun. It's a shame since there is limited sun here in the winter, but anyhow.
Thanks again!
Kind regards
D-Day
D-Day,
Awesome comment. Beyond beyond!! You can't make this stuff up.
I don't believe your experience has anything to do with allergies. You had no side effects when you started with supplements because you were vitamin D deficient and your body soaked up the vitamin D without any harm. You have problems now because your tissues are saturated with vitamin D (as they are meant to be from regular sun exposure).
I have had the same experience. I supplemented 4 months at 4000 IU/day before I encountered side effects. Today, I get my vitamin D from the sun with only the most minimal side effects. Just 1 tablet of 1000 IU vitamin D gives me side effects.
I was so glad to see your report of cloudy vision. This happens to me too. Now I know it's really a vitamin D side effect.
Thanks again for the super awesome post.
Steve
Hello people, my name is mandi. I am 24 years old I was recently prescribed 50,000 iu of vitamin d to take 2x weekly. It is a running issues in my family that our bodies act very sensitively to medications/vitamins etc. The day after I started taking the vitamin d pills I started experience very heavy heart palpitations, all throughout the entire day. I have only taken 4 pills and already have A LOT of the symptoms listed here of "overdose". Even the ones that are listed to come later down the line, I have been experiencing the oddest feeling headaches where it is especially intense in the lower back portion of my skull, it almost feels as if my neck is not completely attatched when it happens. I haven't had thicker moucus from my eyes, they have just been watering constantly and so itchy. I am sitting here writing and reading all this at 3:02 am because I cannot falle asleep! I have been extremely tired lately because of the insomnia, and when I am so exhausted I lay down to sleep and my heart just goes nuts. I almost feels as if I'm going to pass out, it makes me so worried and nervous, I'm so concerned that at any moment I may just tip over and pass out, as the palpiltations are also frequently accompanied by dizziness, and haveing a light head. I find it funny that the writer of this blog(sorry I don't remember any names)pretty much implies that dr.s do not really know what they're doing in regards to vitamin d. And then there is someone who comment a huge list of other things to blame it on, and that they have been practicing medicine for 20 years, well I think it is rather fitting and a perfect example of what this blogger is trying to get across. All of these things that are happening to a lot of us who have been prescribe exsorbinant amounts of the vitamin are obviously things that were not an issue before the vitamin d regardless of eating habits exercise habits lifestyles etc. These things started happening to me literally the day after I started taking these pills. I feel like I am starting to lose my mind, I cannot concentrate and I cannot get any sleep! Is there anything I can do in the mean time to makeit better until it fades out of my system? And it is necessary I even set up an appointment since it seems all the heart tests etc of the people experiencing the same things have come back perfectly normal?
Dear Anonymous,
Please see a Dr. to make sure nothing is wrong. You never know. And while you're there, make sure to send him to this blog. Change happens one person at a time.
What a great comment. I'm so sorry that you've had to go through this.
If you look into the comments near the front (the first fifty), you'll see many recommendations for speeding up your recovery. If you can't find them easily, write back and I'll sum them up again.
Thanks again for a terrific comment. There can't be too many of these.
Steve
Interesting.
I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on this Vitamin D Toxicity article: http://www.raw-food-health.net/Vitamin-D-Toxicity.html
As well as this general one on overdosing on vitamin supplements: http://www.raw-food-health.net/Vitamin-Overdose.html
George,
Thanks for your comment. I immediately read your reference. I will give you my thoughts regarding the reference as my next blog post. I'll get this done by the end of the weekend at the latest.
Great link – great comment.
Thanks!
Steve
Hi everyone,
My doctor prescribed the 50,000 iu vitamin D treatment (1 pill twice a week) since my D level is 26.
I was leary about taking that much, since I am very sensitive to drugs, so I bought some 1,000 iu tablets and began supplementing myself.
The first pill made me nauseated so that I couldn't get to sleep for awhile. The same thing happened when I tried taking 2,000 iu, but not as bad.
I am now able to take a total of 1,800 iu per day from the supplement, milk, and a multivitamin.
If a 1,000 iu pill made me nauseated and sleepless at first, I hate to think what 50,000 ius would do!!
Thanks for the blog. It is a real eye-opener.
Leslie
Leslie,
Your low vitamin D status is serious and needs to be addressed. Please consider getting your vitamin D from the sun. Type cforyourself sunshine into Google to find all my recent comments on this topic.
Thanks for your comment,
Steve
Seniors who consume high levels of calcium and vitamin D are much more likely to have larger brain lesions that can lead to cognitive impairment, depression or stroke, new research reveals.
The study authors point out that brain lesions of various sizes are not uncommon, even among healthy elders. However, the observation that the overall amount of brain matter affected by lesions goes up with vitamin intake is fuelling concerns about a possible connection.
The first to examine the relationship
"This is one of the first studies to examine the relationship between diet and brain lesions," said study author Martha Payne, an assistant professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioural sciences with the Neuropsychiatric Imaging Research Laboratory at Duke University, North Carolina.
"Since our study only looked at diet and brain lesions at one point in time, we cannot conclude that calcium or vitamin D caused the brain lesions that we found," she cautioned. But she added that "our finding of a relationship between brain lesions and consumption of both calcium and vitamin D raises the question about a possible downside to high intakes of these nutrients."
However, one nutritionist said it's still far too early to warn people away from calcium and vitamin D, which is vital to bone health. "In general, the problem is that people don't have enough intake of vitamin D and calcium, not too much," said Susan Harris, a nutritional epidemiologist and scientist at the US Department of Agriculture Nutrition Center at Tufts University, in Boston.
Payne's team released its results Tuesday as part of an American Society for Nutrition presentation at the Experimental Biology 2007 meeting, in Washington D.C.
I very much hope that this is not true, as I have been extremely depressed (plus other symptoms) since I had a bad reaction to 4000 iu 7 months ago
Hi, First, thank you for your valuable info. Last December (2009) I started taking daily Fermented cod liver oil (CLO) at 4x the standard dosage. At this time I was also spending about 4-6 hours a day, 3-4x a week in my garden in Alabama. This lasted for about 6 months. I started noticing in the first month that my muscles were weak. I would walk up stairs and feel my muscles burning like I had just ran a marathon. Opening jars became difficult. I in know way thought this was Vitamin d overdose, so not only continued my CLO but in July added 1800 mg of vitamin d supplement daily. I was getting 4-6 hours of sunshine 3-4x a week in Al., 1800mg supplement, 4x cod liver oil, dessicated liver tablets and taking a multi with vit d in it. In addition to my general muscle weakness from before, within a week I started noticing fatigue, excessive thirst (I couldn't get enough to drink and mouth was always dry), frequent urination all the time, especially at night, also lower back pain, the bone on my pinky fingers started hurting and had a lump on them, muscle aches and joint pain and occasional headaches and had trouble sleeping at night. I still was not thinking it was D since I was on other supplements (iodine to name one) that could have been causing weird side affects. In August I stopped ALL supplements for 1 week and since I did not notice getting better (did not know about 1/2 life of D) I went back on everything. Also, a friend of mine said I could be vit d deficient so said to take 50,000 mg a week and 1000 a day. I did this two weeks in a row.On Sept. 23 it got so bad (my tail bone started hurting around this week) I googled and found your blog. I immediately stopped all supplements and took some charcoal to see if my symptoms would be relieved. Within the hour my pains were about 75% gone. That night I was able to sleep straight through without bathroom breaks or pain! So, I am assuming it was vit. D. I have been trying to stay out of the sun as well. For two weeks I have been off vit.d and I have had occasional aches and pains, my muscles though still feel weak when I exert them, my pinky fingers still hurt but not as much, and my tail bone still really hurts. Is this normal? A couple of days ago, I foolishly thought I would start back on some of my supplements, so I took some dessicated liver tablets (forgot it has d in it!). Later that day, my aches came back terrible and I have not been able to sleep well at night because my muscle and joint pain has started back. I have even taken a few doses of charcoal and it has not helped like it did the first time. Could you shed some light on this?! Is my body totally ruined now? 🙂 Besides my stupidity, what are your thoughts? When will this nightmare end? I so appreciate your time and help.
The saga continues…Also, a friend of mine said I could be vit d deficient so said to take 50,000 mg a week and 1000 a day. I did this two weeks in a row.On Sept. 23 it got so bad (my tail bone started hurting around this week) I googled and found your blog. I immediately stopped all supplements and took some charcoal to see if my symptoms would be relieved. Within the hour my pains were about 75% gone. That night I was able to sleep straight through without bathroom breaks or pain! So, I am assuming it was vit. D. I have been trying to stay out of the sun as well. For two weeks I have been off vit.d and I have had occasional aches and pains, my muscles though still feel weak when I exert them, my pinky fingers still hurt but not as much, and my tail bone still really hurts. Is this normal? A couple of days ago, I foolishly thought I would start back on some of my supplements, so I took some dessicated liver tablets (forgot it has d in it!). Later that day, my aches came back terrible and I have not been able to sleep well at night because my muscle and joint pain has started back. I have even taken a few doses of charcoal and it has not helped like it did the first time. Could you shed some light on this?! Is my body totally ruined now? 🙂 Besides my stupidity, what are your thoughts? When will this nightmare end? I so appreciate your time and help.
O.K. so it is me again. I had my really long post on the blog "Vitamin D Toxicity: Lots of Sunshine Can Be a Problem" and did not get a response, so I thought I would post it here along with an update. The day I wrote the last (two weeks ago), I went camping for the weekend. I ended up exercising a lot and getting a good bit of sunshine. I was in a lot of pain not only from the exercise but from I think the Vitamin D situation. After the weekend however, I felt great. My bones in my fingers still are sore, but I can tell it is getting better and my tail bone area still hurts off and on, sometimes a lot. My muscles are still weak, but other than that, all other symptoms are gone. I really think the exercise helps get rid of the D, even though I seem to hurt afterwards for a little while. It has been 3 1/2 weeks since I have been off the D (except for the one time taking dessicated liver) and I can tell a huge difference. I thank God for you that you take the time to post all of this info. You have saved me from much pain and suffering! 🙂
Jomo,
I'm sorry I missed your comments earlier. Thanks so much for leaving them. I hope that you read through the comment string at this post. Somewhere in the comments I recommended lots of water and intensive exercise that causes sweating. I recommended alot of things and am glad for your feedback that some of these genuinely work. I'm sorry you've had such troubles and I hope that you recover quickly. Again, if you read some of the above testimony you'll see that several other commentors have had to wait months for a full recovery.
Again – wishing you a safe and speedy recovery.
Last thought. Your terrible problems are caused by the vitamin D in your diet (many foods are now spiked with vitamin D), not from the sun. You need vitamin D and should get back in the sun when you are ready.
Steve
Dear Anonymous,
Thanks for your report about the possible relationship between vitamin D and stroke (from brain lesions).
I'm going to edit the main column as a result of this particularly important comment.
Thanks for calling attention to this report.
Steve
I am glad the report on possiblelink with stroke is useful, I only copied a very short part of the report, I think the rest of it would interest you. I cannot remember the link, but I am sure you can google it.
Re my own case, when I took my dose of 4000 iu 8 months ago, my vitamin d level was 40, it is now 86(after summer sun), at no time has my level been abnormal, but my symptoms, although far decreased continue. Could it not be the vitamin D itself, but the synthetic nature of it causing problems. I have become intolerant of most medications in the last few years, but have no other allergies.
thanks again for this blog. I hope I have not posted twice
Steve,
Thank you for your advice. I managed to get 20 minutes of sunshine on my face and hands this past Sunday, as it was a beautiful October day. I enjoyed it!
Leslie
I forgot to add that I wanted to take my sweater off when I got into the sun, but it was just too cold.
I hope that I got some vitamin D anyway.
Leslie
I want to put a different perspective on this. I was on a blood pressure med that caused severe heartburn. I started drinking Maalox like it was water. I was not on any vitamin d supplements.
All of a sudden I started developing all of these symptoms that you guys are discussing.
Itching eyes, severe arm burning and pain, chest pain feeling like a heart attack, little finger itching and hurting, all over itching, headaches in the back, frequent urination.
I read the Maalox and read that it has calcium. I looked up calcium overdose and found these symptoms. I started taking Magnesium and the symptoms are going away.
So I wonder if maybe the excess vitamin d is like a catalyst that makes us become hypercalcemic.
Maybe it is not the vitamin d per se that is toxic, it just makes us become electrolyte imbalanced.
As I understand it vitamin d, magnesium and calcium are all interrelated.
What do you think?
Dear Anonymous,
Thanks for your comment.
I think theory is reasonable. Extreme vitamin D overdose indeed causes hypercalcemia – that's why physicians test to make sure blood calcium levels stay within the range of normal. Although alot is probably already known, I'm sure further investigation of the relationship between calcium, magnesium and vitamin D would be productive. With any luck, some of this research is already underway.
Thanks again for your comment,
Steve
Leslie,
Thanks for your comments.
I'm glad you got out into the sun. Your vitamin D dose is proportional to the amount of skin you expose – so your face and hands count.
There is a practical alternative to going out in the cold. Sunlamps that produce the UVB radiation needed to make vitamin D are readily available over the internet. I bought one recently to enable me to get vitamin D on days I can't get into the sun. My family uses it more than I do. I worry about how to use it safely.
High doses of vitamin D are essential for optimum health. The benefits of vitamin D far outweigh the risks of side effects. Sunshine, sunlamps, and supplements all provide vitamin D. Do whatever you need to do to get substantial doses of vitamin D without uncomfortable side effects.
Thanks for stopping by and good luck,
Steve
I was advised that my vitamin D level was 9 ng/ml, indicating a severe deficiency. I have now taken five doses of the prescribed 50,000 units twice weekly which is to be continued for eight weeks. Although I was not told of any possible side effects, I have experienced hip pain, headaches, and extreme itching over my entire body. My pharmacist did not seem alarmed, but I plan to contact my physician early next week.
Marylou Noble
Dear MaryLou,
So – your pharmacist wasn't alarmed. Hmm. Well – you are highly unlikely to die or suffer permanent harm – something pharmacists have to get used to. They prescribe some very toxic drugs (think chemotherapy). So – yes – there is nothing to be alarmed about. The side effects of vitamin D, however, become very uncomfortable and I think it's alarming that modern medicine is so indifferent to unnecessary suffering.
Please come back and let us know the end of your story. Perhaps you'll be able to finish out your prescribed vitamin D without further discomfort. If you can – we'd like to know. There is painfully little hard data on typical responses to high dose vitamin D therapy. For me – I know that now that I get large doses of sun almost every sunny day, I am intolerant of even single 1000 IU doses of vitamin D by mouth.
Thanks for taking the time to comment,
Steve
I have read through all of the blogs and have found your information to be very helpful! I have hypothyroidism and Hashimoto's disease and am always vitamin d defficient.
Recently, my endocrinologist prescribed 50000ius of vitamin d. I was suppossed to take 1 pill every 2 weeks then 1 pill every month for 6 months.
After I took my first dose I noticed several side affects including a severe rash, swollen glands, blurry vision, aching joints, a urinary tract infection, tired, insomnia, anxiety. The itchy rash has been the most painful to deal with. I scratch so much in my sleep that I have bruises.
I went back to my endocrinologist and she dismissed my questions of an overdose of vitamin d since my levels prior to taking it were 27. The rash has spread over my entire body. I refuse to take any more doses of vitamin d until my symptoms subside.
I have seen 3 different doctors and none of them seem to think it is vitamin d related. This is the only thing I have done differently and am sure this is my problem.
It has been 3 weeks since I took the 50000 ius of vitamin d and my symptoms have not faded.
This is truly miserable!
Julie
Dear Julie,
I'm so sorry about your poor health. Life surely isn't fair.
I took the time to read the Wikipedia page on Hashimoto's disease. I also looked around for a linkage between Hashimoto's and latitude. I found some articles.
So – back to your situation. Your very bad reaction to the 50,000 IU of oral vitamin D makes me concerned that you will experience some level of side effects from sunshine as well. The hypothesis that more vitamin D can help your health improve is a good one, and you should try to get as much sun as you can tolerate. I also recommend that you take vitamin A, vitamin C, niacin, and thiamine. The doses are critical, as is an awareness of the side effects caused by niacin. Please read my blog entries on these topics and consider following the recommendations. Again, my recommendation for you is as much sunshine as you can tolerate and the very specific doses of vitamin C, niacin, vitamin A, and thiamine that I recommend. If you have questions, post a comment and I'll get back to you.
Good luck,
Steve
I've been having strange pain problems all year that started with pulling a tendon in my arm/shoulder and I started getting extreme sensitivity around BOTH shoulders. I also had a problem with hyper skin sensitivity around my left eye many years ago that lasted 2.5 years before a doctor finally figured out that it was a sinus problem triggering the skin sensitivity, but not one that was due to any kind of infection, just fluid going past my eye and into my cheek instead of my nose. More recently, I've developed leg pressure sensitivity problems that seem to travel down the Sciatic nerve, but an MRI showed no problems in my lumbar discs and Piriformis stretches haven't made a dent in the sensitivity/pain. I finally had blood tests done (checking for kidney problems, etc. and my doctor happened to do a vitamin check) and I have extremely low Vitamin D levels, so low that they want me to take 50,000 IU a week for at least two months to try and get it back in line. The back doctor now thinks the Vitamin D deficiency may be the cause of all my sensitivity and muscle aches that mimic Sciatic/fibromyalgia type conditions since there is no other obvious cause present.
I've read numerous articles recently on how a Vitamin D deficiency can cause many muscle/bone aches problems, but this is the first article that has suggested too much Vitamin D can cause pains. I have been getting some dizzy/nausea as well for several weeks now (the leg pain has been going on for 4 months by comparison) and I only started the Vitamin D regiment yesterday. It appears the nausea may be from tension headaches (tight muscles in my neck may have caused some of the stranger shoulder pains by way of the nerves underneath). This site makes me worry, though since it suggests more nausea could be on the way due to the Vitamin D supplements. I've already noticed sudden sensitivity in my teeth to cold liquids that normally wouldn't bother them. I cannot help but think it would have been better for the doctor to prescribe 1000-2000 IU a day instead of 25,000 a week all at once like that, but given the half life I'm not sure it matters that much. I have, however already noticed a "change" in the way my legs feel since taking it. They seem more painful walking (where there was mostly pain while sitting before) and less pain while sitting so I don't know if this is a coincidence (I do a lot of hamstring stretches which seem to help, but if you over do it, they can ache more for a couple of days) or if Vitamin D is really having an effect.
What I do know is that people in my family have had rickets before so there may be an absorption problem in my genetics or something that is causing the deficiency. I eat plenty of dairy products and usually take a multi-vitamin every day so I do not know why my Vitamin D levels would be so extremely low to begin with. I don't get a lot of sunshine (an NSAID I usually take to keep my hands from going numb from a carpal tunnel like problem that was actually coming from my shoulder/neck recommends limiting sun exposure since sensitivity to sunlight is increased…in other words I can burn VERY easily in the sun and did so once this past summer already).
Dear Anonymous,
All the details of how vitamin D is replenished indeed matter. I simply don't agree with your reasoning about half-life. I agree with your physicians that your low vitamin D levels and family history of rickets are alarming and likely to be at least partially responsible for the health problems you describe.
Throughout human history, the vast majority of vitamin D was obtained from the sun – not from the diet. So – poor absorption from the digestive tract has nothing to do with the most common and ordinary method of replenishing vitamin D.
Vitamin D is best obtained from the sun. I get into a speedo bathing suit every sunny day right around noontime, lie in the sun, and rotate 90 degrees at a time until I've exposed all my skin to the sun for just a few minutes. Even in the middle of the winter at the same latitude as Chicago I'm getting plenty of UVB exposure in just 12 minutes (2 minutes, four times). I'm not even remotely close to burning. Despite doing this almost every sunny day, I don't really look tan.
So – I recommend replenishing your vitamin D by getting in the sun. Even using just the sun, I feel some of the side effects described in this blog. So – perhaps I'm getting too much sun. For the moment, I feel like my health is steadily improving despite the mild side effects and I'm taking the risk that these side effects aren't doing me any real harm other than causing some discomfort.
Keep working with your physician. I hope you feel better soon. Finally, take a look at my recommendations for vitamin C, niacin, thiamin, and vitamin A.
Steve
When taking a large dose of vitamin-D (5000-10.000 IU per day), it's very important NOT to a take Calcium supplement. Vitamin-D icreases the calcium uptake from the foods. Therefore you have to take magnesium supplement to balance the calcium/magnesium relationship. Most of the side effects in this blog, is NOT Vitamin-D toxicity, but symtoms of low magnesium level.
Niels,
Thanks so much for your comments.
Thanks for reminding us that calcium, magnesium, and vitamin D interact with one another. The side effect threshold for vitamin D is likely to be dependent upon calcium and magnesium.
That said, the side effects in this column will be caused by vitamin D regardless of how calcium and magnesium are handled. No one, no matter how enthusiastic they are about vitamin D, takes 50000 IU/day every day for more than 1 year. It can not be done without acute toxicity. If you know of anyone who has really taken such high doses, I'd like to see the data. I'm skeptical that it is possible to take 20,000 IU/day every day for more than a year without acute side effects.
If you know more, please share.
Thanks for your comment,
Steve
Could someone suffer side effects of vitamin D overdose/sensitivity with only 20 ng/ml of 25-hydroxivitamin D? I explain…I am 27 and I took 4000 IU every day for 6 months..since 2th month I developed strange chest pains along with weariness.
After 4 months with almost no vitamin D in my supplements I have only 20 ng/ml in blood, weariness was gone, but chest pain not completely. Now I am not sure if vitamin D was the cause of it..but my heart is healthy in tests.
Dear Anonymous,
If you read the comments, you'll find that some kind of discomfort in the chest is the most common vitamin D side effect. So – yes – it is highly likely that taking 4000 IU per day of vitamin D caused the symptom you are talking about, and has yet to completely go away.
You'll also see from the comments that some people have found their heart symptoms so alarming that they went to the ER multiple times. I was alarmed enough by my heart symptoms to go get checked out. Like you, all my tests showed a healthy heart. So – for whatever it's worth, the evidence suggests that your symptoms really are not much more than a feeling. There's nothing wrong with you that would be expected to change your life expectancy.
Vitamin D blood tests have high variability. It is a difficult measurement. So – your vitamin D levels may not be as low as you think. Also, you may still have elevated levels in some fatty tissues, which, for some reason, are causing your heart symptoms. Again, if you read through the comments you'll see that many other readers still have symptoms months after discontinuing vitamin D supplements. So – you'll have to wait longer.
Please don't conclude from your experiences that you don't need vitamin D. You do. It is highly likely that the vitamin D you've taken has done you at least as much good as harm. My advice is, when you're ready, get out into the sun. Using the sunshine you're far more likely to experience benefits with minimal side effects.
There are times when I just don't get what I'm missing. The more I've gotten into the sun, the more I enjoy getting into the sun. The sun feels great – and then it doesn't and I get out of the sun. Is this really unusual? I don't think so.
Kick back your heels, relax, and soak up some sun!! Really. It really is an incredibly normal human behavior even if it a strange thing to do in these unusual times.
Steve
Leslie,
Thanks for writing and sharing the good news. I'm glad you've gotten your vitamin D levels up mostly from supplements with minimal discomfort.
Vitamin D is essential for good health. I believe that optimized use of this vitamin will have revolutionary results.
Side effects from supplements often emerge only after many months – so stay on the look out. Should you have problems with supplements, don't give up on vitamin D before seeing how sunshine makes you feel.
Thanks again for your comments,
Steve
My name is Linda and I have been taking 5000 IU of vitamin D for over 2 ½ years . I never even thought that my heart palpitations, ringing of my ears, shakiness, feeling of being uncomfortable and muscle pain may all be coming from an over dose of Vitamin D. This morning I took my blood pressure pill along with the vitamin D I normally take and within an hour I thought that my heart was going to stop. It felt as though it was having a hard time beating. I have the finger pain in three fingers, and I can't seem to get my heart rate to under 80 beats a minute. I also have a lot of muscle pain. My hands become so cold and I don't ever remember having any of this stuff a couple of years ago. I guess the further into to overdose the worse you become.
I am going off the 4000IU's and sticking to just the muti vitamin that has 1000IU's and I will report back on what happens. Now I can't wait. The feeling that something is wrong with the false brain information was the trigger along with the panic attacks. When I read that I said oh my gosh the Vitamin D has got to be the problem. I constantly feel like I need to cough. I drink bottles of water constantly because I always feel thirsty. I had heart palpitations and at one stage ended up in hospital with a TIA. Recently I started shaking. I didn't even realize it until my 6 year old grandson mentioned it. He said your hands are shaking. Well I guess that is the reason for the fuzzy pictures I have been taking. I have the frequent urination especially at night. nausea, bone pain, and itchy eyes. I am getting sick to my stomach to think that I may have been causing this myself. I headache, nausea, and fatigue. And constantly feel like I need a nap I am 62 years old an work full time and boy has it been difficult.
My moods have been all over the place. My granddaughter said I love you even when you are a crab. She asks what is wrong with you? Well it would be a miracle if stopping the Vitamin D fixes my problems. I had tried taking meclazine for the dizziness but that didn't seem to help. My hands vibrate so bad that I feel as thou I am being electrocuted. They were treating me in physical therapy for a pinched nerve and it didn't help, I have developed lumps on my side that feel like they are sitting on the outside of my ribs OK today is Jan 14 2011 I am going off the vitamin D tomorrow as I have already taken my overdose for the day this morning. I will let you know what happens. I am getting really excited and I hope this is the magic I have been waiting for. Thank You for all of your knowledge
This is Leslie returning for an update:
I had another vitamin D test after about four months, and my level has gone from 26 to 49 which my doctor says is in the normal range.
This I managed to do by taking1,800-1,900 IU of D per day.
My doctor originally wanted me to do the 50,000 IU twice a week for three months treatemt, but I was too scared of possible side effects to try it.
So … It IS possible to get your levels up without the extreme 50,000 IU treatment! I don't know if this would hold true for everyone, but it is encouraging, I think.
I also like your idea of getting D from the sun, Steve, but it is too cold now in January for me to do that.
My doctor now wants me to take 3,000-4,000 IU of D per day. I am now taking 2,800-2,900. I've had some muscle cramps after doing this, but they are gone now.
Thanks to this wonderful blog, if I start to get other strange side effects, I can come back and re-read to see if it is really the D causing them.
Leslie
Linda,
Wow. I'm so sorry. You did not do this to yourself. You were following mainstream advice. It is not your fault that both the mainstream and alternative medicine communities refuse to recognize the dangers of vitamin D. Again – I'm so sorry.
What a story. Thanks for sharing.
I strongly advise you to figure out which of your problems are caused by vitamin D overdose by cutting out all sources of dietary vitamin D and minimizing sun exposure. Other ways to accelerate the decline of vitamin D in your blood include exercising and drinking lots of extra fluids. Once you know for sure that vitamin D is causing you problems, you can add back vitamin D as aggresively as you like. I strongly recommend that you get your vitamin D in the future mostly from sunshine.
Please come on back and let us know if vitamin D is the cause of your shaking and cold hands. I don't believe these side effects are on the list. Of course, the list is so long I'm going to reread the blog myself to check.
Again – I'm so sorry for your troubles.
Hope you're feeling better soon. Write back as you promised.
Steve
At my doctor's suggestion (not from blood test, just from his own research), i started taking 5,000IU daily. After about two weeks, I developed four or five bumps on the back of my neck. then i started being itchy on my chest. I thought the bumps on my neck were from some kind of allergy, but after feeling itchy elsewhere, i figured the only thing that i'd done differently in the last few weeks was the Vit D supplements…so i stopped taking the Vit. D (two days ago). The bumps are already drying up. hoping that was the issue. My wife started taking them recently and has been feeling fatigued — will have her stop too.
Dear Anonymous,
So glad you found the blog and the probable cause of the bumps/itchy skin and fatigue that you described.
Keep in mind that your doctor is right to be concerned about your vitamin D intake. Giving up on vitamin D is not the right answer. The right answer is to make the extra effort to get optimal doses of vitamin D from the sun.
If you're not going to make an effort to get more sun, it's better to wrestle with lower doses (say 1000 IU/day) of vitamin D and side effects than to do nothing at all.
Here's wishing you the best of health.
Steve
Your blog post has lots of good info on Vitamin D. I found out about your info through a cross reference from another blog here: http://livingwholesome.com/index.php/vitamin-d-101
Anyways, one of their points is that getting Vitamin D level test is relatively cheap. However you need to make sure the test is our test is performed by LabCorp and not Quest Diagnostics.
Dear Annie Kantor Jones,
Thanks so much for your comment and for leaving the link.
Thanks for your info on quality testing. Vitamin D level is a difficult test – so a quality lab is indeed important.
I will repeat myself since you brought up the subject. Vitamin D level testing is of no use to me. I'm getting lots of sun. As much as I can take without side effects. There's no way to drive vitamin D levels higher than regular sunshine. Whenever I take even a 1000 IU pill, I feel side effects immediately because I've got plenty of vitamin D from the sun. So – if my levels came back low, there's nothing I could do about it – I'm maxed out already. I think Dr. Cannell would approve.
Steve
I am very obese and suffer from CFS. Even when I follow a very low calorie diet I struggle to lose weight.
For some years I have taken the normal multi vitamin supplements and seen a very small improvement in health.
Anyway, after reading about Vitamin D3 and weight loss, I recently decided to supplement with D3 and also Omega 3 – these are the *only* changes I have made to my lifestyle, I made a deliberate effort to maintain exactly the same diet and exercise patterns I was on before as a control. (I am a very pale skinned European who gets virtually no sunshine)
I am unable to say at the moment whether these symptoms I will now mention I've had since taking these supplements are due to the Omega 3 or the d3 (I suspect the latter because I've what I've read) – and will follow up when I stop the d3 to confirm:
I took a solgar d3 1000 iu and started with one a day and then doubled it after a couple of days. Started Feb 2nd so it's been less than a week on it, and a significant severe worsening of my symptoms and feel like crap – until I read this I thought it might be my body healing itself but I don't think so now.
cold sore appeared first day,
noticeable breakout and significant increase in sores (not cold sores but ???) on other parts of my body,
urine infections
increases pins and needles in fingers and feet
unexplained hiccups not linked to eating/drinking
lots more itching everywhere, particularly scalp
strange pin prickling feelings on scalp, and sensation like hair standing on its end
veins in my feet lot more noticeable
stomach tighter and more bloated
noticeable increase in sweating
very significant increase in vaginal discharge/BV type odour
lightheadedness/dizzyness/breathlessness
palpitation type feelings approx 30 minutes after take pills (do not get this with other supplements)
noticeable painful hunger pangs even though diet is the same (not rumbles, pang type feelings)
severe travel sickness/vertigo – head spinning even when in bed
tinitus
wheezy chest (yet no cold and I'm not asthmatic or a smoker)
nausea
legs in particular feel weak
weight gain of 2lbs
All of the above symptoms I suffer 'normally' as part of my CFS condition albeit from the wheezing and the palpitations which actually caused me enough concern to start googling d3 palps and that's how I came across your site. But there's been no kidding at least a ten-fold increase in these symptoms since taking the supplements. I'm the worst I've ever felt.
I have no doubt that it is linked to either omega 3 or d3 supplements as that's all that's changed. I think I will come off d3 and see what happens. I don't get any sun anyway so that's not a problem. And I don't take a calcium supplement although again was planning to as that's meant to help with weight loss.
I have read elsewhere that taking magnesium with d3 is meant to help prevent any bad d3 effects and maybe in a few weeks I will dare to try again with d3 with some magnesium and see if that alleviates these bad feelings.
True Brit,
Thanks so much for sharing your story. The more the better.
Your story is likely to be a great illustration of life's complexities.
Your observation that the side effects you are feeling might be caused by your body healing itself are likely to be true. At the same time, some of your symptoms are classic vitamin D side effects. The heart palpitations and wheezy chest are almost certainly vitamin D side effects.
The weak legs, swollen veins in the feet, and weight gain are highly unusual in reports from users of high dose vitamin D.
I'm so sorry that you are ill and no one seems able to help. I probably can't help either. That said, you've got much to gain and little to lose by giving my advice a try. My three most recent posts recommend that people in your situation (with intractable chronic health problems) try a combination of vitamins and a tetracycline class antibiotics. The strategy:
Kill any bacteria hiding from doctors and your immune system – the kind that cause Lyme disease and ulcers
Boost the immune system
Accelerate wound healing. The treatment uses a low dose of antibiotic plus high but safe doses of the five vitamins that prevent pandemic deficiency disease: vitamins A, B2, B3, C, and sunshine (D).
The vitamin D is a very important part of this strategy but it can only be safely attained in high doses through sun exposure.
Don't hesitate to follow up with questions.
Here's wishing a turnaround in your health.
Steve
Steve, thank you for your kind comments.
I've been on various vitamins and supplements for a few years (enough to rattle with all the pills I take daily!) – I just never tried D3 (it was d2 in my supplement and a low dose) and I just realised the magnesium I've been taking over the years is magnesium oxide so not very well absorbed form and also a lower dose than I may need. But I do take high doses of all the B vitamins and lecithin and that has helped some with energy but only to a point. The other thing that does help quite a lot is ginger and cinnamon.
I've had loads of antibiotics over the years, including very strong ones and am reluctant to take more. In fact, it was after taking a super strong one that my 'vertigo' type problems first manifested. They also always give me thrush. What are tetracycline class antibiotics – any different from normal ones? What is classed by you as a low dose?
Thanks for the blog.
I just wanted to update about the d3 type symptoms I posted about 3 days ago.
First off, I forgot to mention in the past I've taken fish oils and never had a worsening of my symptoms, which makes it all the more likely that the vit d3 was a culprit as I've never had d3 ever to my knowledge (only d2 in a very low doses) – plus like you say Steve and others here, some of the symptoms are classic d3.
The night I posted my experiences to your blog I was feeling really terrible – that was Thursday. Anyway after a 24 hour food and drink fast (not too hard cos I was in bed a lot of this time) the symptoms had alleviated a lot. This was Friday,
I decided to 'risk' taking one d3 pill 1000us, but this time I took some calcium and magnesium with it – lots of magnesium (about 2000mg). And you know what? No palpitations, no light headedness, most of the terrible symptoms did not manifest this time after taking the pill. Now, my fingers and feet were still more tingly and numb than before I started the d3, and my heart still didn't feel quite right, but it had not worsened and definite improvement. So this seems to back up the theory I read elsewhere that when people get a bad experience with d3, it may be because they are magnesium deficient and these two things need each other to work?
So the past two days I have been taking high doses of Magnesium Malate (about 6000mg over 24 hours – this will only be temporary til I get my levels up then I will go to a lower number). I have read Magnesium Malate helps with CFS anyway and the 'malate' part is meant to help the body absorb the magnesium whereas normal magnesium oxide you only absorb about 4 per cent. I have also taken one d3 a day. And I am feeling so much better. All palpitations/light headedness and tinnitus etc gone – the only hangover is the neuropathy type symptoms (tingling in hands and feet which I hope will continue to decrease now). I also feel warmer (I feel the cold a lot). I also lost 3lbs in 2 days – could be water, don't know.
This experience seems to back up one needs to take something with d3 to work in synergy with it? So d3 is not the culprit, only that if not significant enough magnesium in the body, d3 could exacerbate the symptoms of magnesium deficiency the symptoms of which are very similar to d3. All I can say is that has definitely worked for me in just a few days.
I'll keep you posted as I continue to experiment.
Hi, this is a very interesting discussion, and one of the best I've come across! I started taking about 4000 IU per day for a few weeks. after about a month I got itchy hives over my body, and feel worse – I feel depressed and lethargic, but at the same time having a pounding heart, and getting stressed more easily. My eyes would be really sticky the morning after taking it.
I have read in a couple of places that these symptoms might actually be due to a magnesium deficiency, as vit D, calcium and magnesium all work together. When calcium levels are elevated, magnesium becomes deficient as they work in synergy. Calcium can be elevated as the vit D increases calcium absorption, or so i believe from reading info on vitamin absorption.
One source on vit D claims it's vital to up your magnesium to counter this imbalance produced by the excessive amounts of vit D.
some signs of magnesium deficiency:
agitation and anxiety, restless leg syndrome (RLS), sleep disorders, irritability, nausea and vomiting, abnormal heart rhythms, low blood pressure, confusion, muscle spasm and weakness, hyperventilation, insomnia, poor nail growth, and even seizures.
these symptoms are unfortunately also very similar to calcium deficiency, and it's easy to confuse the two. perhaps if one is getting blood levels assessed, then vit D, calcium, AND magnesium could be tested (if there is such a blood test), to keep the right balance.
I've started using magnesium and having epsom salts baths to redress this. I've also reduced the vitD to about 1000IU per day at the moment. it is a constant balancing act!
Dear Susie,
Thanks so much for adding your story. There it is again – a cardiac symptom – in your case a pounding heart. If you read the comments, a large majority report some kind of discomfort in the throat or chest. The sticky discharge from the eyes is a classic vitamin D overdose symptom and is very hard to explain away. What else – obvious non-infectious – causes sticky discharges from the eyes?
I'd recommend that you reconsider your plans. From all the data I've seen, 1000 IU/day is insufficient to get the highest safe blood levels of vitamin D and maximum benfits from vitamin D. Sunshine provides the benefits without significant side effects. I'm maxing out on sunshine and only experience mild side effects. I wouldn't even be sure they were vitamin D side effects if I hadn't experienced more severe similar symptoms back when I was taking vitamin D supplements.
I just don't understand the magnesium theory. With or without magnesium, vitamin D supplements cause side effects at a high enough dose. With or without magnesium, sunshine is safe. To me the message is crystal clear – if you have trouble with vitamin D side effects from 1000 to 5000 IU/day of vitamin D supplements, get vitamin D from sunshine, not supplements.
Here's to your health,
Steve
True Brit,
I'm very sorry you are struggling so much with your health. You've obvious tried lots of drugs and supplements and aren't having much luck – so odds are this is your fate.
That said, here's some things I recommend that you probably haven't tried.
1) Enteric coated TTFD – a special vitamin B1 supplement.
2) Eliminate all supplement except vitamins A, B1, B3, B-complex, C, and D
3) Try a low dose of tetra-cycline class antibiotic for several months. I define a low dose as 150 mgs tetracycline twice per day. Competing antibiotics (antibiotics that compete with tetracycline) each have a specific dose that is equivalent to 150 mgs tetracycline. Any prescribing physician will be able to provide with a choice of antibiotics that work like a 150 mg tetracycline tablet. As you have much to gain and nothing to lose, I don't see the harm in taking several of these antibiotics simulataneously.
So there it is. I'm advising that you take as much as you can manage of 5 vitamin supplements and one or more antibiotics. If that doesn't help – and it probably won't – then there's nothing I know that can help you.
My kids would say that life sucks. I would never say such a thing.
Good luck!
Steve
I have been looking into why I have recently started having an itchy scalp, itching on my face and In some other areas as well. Primarily the itching is on my scalp and face. I have also had bouts with sneezing…..as many as 30-50 times a day. This is coupled with a clear constantly dripping nose. I am not sneezing like this daily but have the issue a number of times a week. The other issue is ringing in my ears. I have read a number of medications can cause these symptoms. I was prescribed 50,000 units 1X a week for 12 months. I am on the 3rd month. What do you suggest for mr???
Deb.
The probability is very high that your symptoms are caused by the vitamin D you are taking. Itchy skin, ringing ears, and a runny nose are all on the list. The sneezing goes with the runny nose.
I'm still inclined to stick to my recommendation. Get your vitamin D from sunshine. If this is just impossible, then I prefer a sunlamp to supplements. There are lots of choices in sunlamps. I like the lamps advertised as high in UVB – but who really knows. There's not much research. It is vital that you get your vitamin D levels up. Supplements cause side effects. The sun doesn't. There isn't much information about sunlamps. Assuming they are like the sun, it should be hard to overdose on vitamin D without burning. The lamps aren't going to provide the same kind of warning about burns as the sun – and there isn't much written. Going to a tanning salon and asking for a good safe dose of UVB with minimal exposure to other wavelengths is probably a good idea.
If you are not going to get sunshine or use a sunlamp or go to a tanning salon, then taking 1000 IU/day of vitamin D is much better than nothing. The worst thing you can do is not get any vitamin D.
I'm really sorry for your troubles.
Good luck,
Steve
Hello there,
This is a question for the webmaster/admin here at ctheblog.cforyourself.com.
May I use some of the information from your blog post above if I give a link back to this site?
Thanks,
Harry
Harry,
Please spread the word, and create many links to this and similar information wherever it resides.
I was given the gift of one of the best educations history has had to offer – a New England prep school followed by a B.S. in chemistry and a Ph.D. in chemistry both from the Ivy League. I have a great job in research in industry and have used my education to learn how to improve the health of myself and my family. I'm heartbroken by the unnecessary suffering around me and write here in the hopes that the power of the pen may indeed be mighty. It's really the least I can do to give back to those who have taught and given me so much.
I've also started working with my local YMCA. The Y has rebranded with youth development and healthy living as two of the three mission platforms. I'm optimistic that with the helf of the Y, many in my community will consider the facts and act rationally to improve their own health and that of their families using the vitamins that prevent deficiency diseases and antibiotics.
Thanks for helping to spread the word.
Steve
Hello again, it's a few weeks since I last posted and I thought I'd update you. My health has come on leaps and bounds – not only have I got rid of all the short term side effects I had while just taking d3 without the magnesium, but I am much better than before I started – I have more energy than I've had in two decades. While I'm not completely healed I rejoice in significant improvement.
I'm no longer chronically exhausted when I wake up. I am awake 40% more hours during in the day and don't fall asleep on the couch at night. My muscles no longer ache all over after tiny exertion. I can do more things. My memory and concentration is better. My stinky BV type vaginal discharge I had for years has cleared. I can stay standing for more than a few seconds without feeling ill. I feel more energetic and positive. This is all because of the magnesium malate and/or the D3. As soon as I decrease or cut out the magnesium malate I get worse again.
Steve, I would like to try the Enteric coated TTFD and did a google on it, but I think this is only available in the US unfortunately 🙁
I'm very pleased at the leaps and bounds in my health and will post back from time to time as there's still some things I want to experiment with as I am not content in 'curing' CFS to this degree (although very. very grateful), I want to get slim as I am very obese and I am still the same size as I was at the start of my experiment so the weight loss I was hoping for has not happened yet.
Though it does feel like a miracle to have got rid of the smell and severe CFS effects which is such a big deal and no small thing. I have had CFS for 22 years, and although my CFS symptoms can remit a little, or get worse over time, I've NEVER seem such a significant improvement in my health over such a short term. And never has the fatigue left me to this extent, I've always been so groggy when getting up like the living dead. I almost 'leap' out of bed now.
True Brit,
Great news! I'm really glad you're feeling better, and I'm sure you're right that the supplements you are taking are responsible for your improvement.
My experience has been that optimizing vitamin supplements is incredibly difficult. Doses that work one month or year, cause bad side effects the next. Doses that don't work at all at first, appear central later.
So – just keep in mind that you're on the right track and are using supplements that have proven powers. I recommending focusing on vitamins A, B1, B3, C and D – and never giving up on them. That goes for the antibiotics too. If you quit or dose way down, try again at least once a year.
The next time you log in with a comment, give us a list of all the supplements you are taking and the exact doses.
Thanks for your regular visits, and again, congratulations on feeling better. I hope you maintain the gains and add some more gains.
Steve
Very interesting blog post, thanks…
I'm wondering though… most of my reading on vit D toxicity claimed that the worst symptoms were from vit D2, as opposed to D3…
Maybe those that have been experiencing the worst symptoms could provide which type of D they were taking?
Dear Steve,
On November 30, 2010 I had my blood drawn for my endocrinologist's annual check of my D3 levels. I had not taken my multi with its usual dose of 400 IU which I have taken for years and which I usually take before my D test and it came back lower at 28 than it was on October 6, 2009 at 40 and she suggested that I up it by 200-to 400 IU. Being cautious and knowing that I have a sleeplessness reaction to salmon and some other fish high in D, I agreed to try 200 more units a day, figuring that that dosage could not be much different from the early f fall, summer and spring sun. After 9 days on it in mid December, I had nausea, dry heaves, anxiety, a rise in blood pressure ( not grave but troubling) loss of appetite, dry mouth, excessive thirst and frequent urination. I took myself off of it upon the advice of my primary care (who told me that she takes 1000 IU with no side effects and an ER physician whom I consulted about the nausea which my primary care thought could have been the result of a severe bump to my head. The ER doctor told me not to take the extra 200 IU. I was told to continue my base of 400IU in the multi which I did. Some of the symptoms like the excessive diurnal urination and thirst are no longer a problem but a pattern of waking up early (4:30 – 5:30) and having difficulty going back to sleep at times have persisted. My questions for you are these: should I have ceased taking the multi with the D for a few days or was I right to continue taking the multi? Also, is it o.k. to be in the sun now? I took a walk around 10:00 a.m.this morning for about a half hour and felt good afterwards but a couple of hours later my eyes felt dry and the right one a bit jittery.
Also I take about 1500 mg of calcium from supplements and some foods like rice cheese and goat yogurt( I'm lactose intolerant, about 750 mg of magnesium and 60 mg of coenzyme q 10. Does that sound right or is it too much calcium? ( I also take 12 mg of hydrothiadiazide and used to take 50 mg. of ubiquinone both of which can increase the effect of Vitamin D. I replaced the ubiquinone with the coenzyme q 10) I have osteoporosis but until December 11 when I began this new D regimen I felt that I was in top form. Now less so. I still feel anxious at times and a bit depressed but I'm working on this.
My primary care in late January retested my D3 level and it was 30 and my D alpha-hydroxy was. My parathyroids in mid-February were at 61 in the high normal range and my calcium level was really good at 9.2 out of the optimal range of 9 for 10.1 for the functioning of the parathyroids. Magnesium levels were good.
I can hardly wait for this to be over.
Thanks,
Margaret
Dear Margaret,
Thanks for your very unusual comment. You are experiencing vitamin D side effects at less than 1000 IU/day of supplements. Are you sure you aren't getting more? Do you eat alot of fish? Have you checked the processed foods you eat for vitamin D?
Given your knowledgable comment, I'll assume that you've got the dosage right and are very sensitive to vitamin D supplements.
I have had similar problems, and I chose to stop taking multivitamins. I have chosen to get vitamin D mostly from the sun with a sunlamp as back-up. Of course, I get low levels of dietary vitamin D from fortified foods like milk.
Since you have osteoporosis, I strongly recommend that you minimize vitamin D supplements and get more sunshine. You may need to be careful with the sun, given your unusual sensitivity to vitamin D. Vitamin D alone will probably not reverse your osteoporosis. Combined with vitamins A, thiamine, niacin, and vitamin C, I believe it might be possible to reverse your osteoporosis. See any of my recent blogs for my most recent recommendation.
Good luck and thanks again for your insightful comment,
Steve
Dear Anonymous,
There's no question that most commenters are using vitamin D3. Vitamin D2 is pretty hard to find these days.
Thanks for asking – it is a good question.
Steve
You say readers will never take 50000IU (yes, 50k) Vitamin D but that is exactly what my doctor just prescribed. I even went over the scrip with the pharmacist who said there's nothing to worry about, its just like a regular vitamin, but holy god did it make me sick to my stomach.
Wow, it is interesting to read everyone's anecdotes. My Vitamin D level is a 9. Single digits. I drive a convertible and garden, but on the weekdays, I pretty much spend every hour of daylight in an office.
I'm a little concerned that the pharmacist said there were no side effects, when its obvious others have experienced toxicity. *sigh*
Dear Kimberly,
Thanks so much for your comments.
A vitamin D level of 9 is too low and needs to be fixed. I hope you can find a way to safely increase your vitamin D levels by getting into the sun.
I'm so sorry that your physician prescribed 50,000 IU/day vitamin D tablets. They are dangerous – especially since every once in a while an error will occur during manufacturing and a pill will end up with 200,000 IU or maybe even 500,000 IU.
I'm also sorry you're in an office every hour of daylight. This just has to change! It's OK to go out at lunchtime and get some sun. Others will join you.
You should be concerned that neither your physician or pharmacist is knowledgable about side effects. It's not just vitamin D – it's everything. I don't have an answer. If you have any ideas, let me know.
Thanks again for your comment.
Hello people, my name is mandi. I am 24 years old I was recently prescribed 50,000 iu of vitamin d to take 2x weekly. It is a running issues in my family that our bodies act very sensitively to medications/vitamins etc. The day after I started taking the vitamin d pills I started experience very heavy heart palpitations, all throughout the entire day. I have only taken 4 pills and already have A LOT of the symptoms listed here of "overdose". Even the ones that are listed to come later down the line, I have been experiencing the oddest feeling headaches where it is especially intense in the lower back portion of my skull, it almost feels as if my neck is not completely attatched when it happens. I haven't had thicker moucus from my eyes, they have just been watering constantly and so itchy. I am sitting here writing and reading all this at 3:02 am because I cannot falle asleep! I have been extremely tired lately because of the insomnia, and when I am so exhausted I lay down to sleep and my heart just goes nuts. I almost feels as if I'm going to pass out, it makes me so worried and nervous, I'm so concerned that at any moment I may just tip over and pass out, as the palpiltations are also frequently accompanied by dizziness, and haveing a light head. I find it funny that the writer of this blog(sorry I don't remember any names)pretty much implies that dr.s do not really know what they're doing in regards to vitamin d. And then there is someone who comment a huge list of other things to blame it on, and that they have been practicing medicine for 20 years, well I think it is rather fitting and a perfect example of what this blogger is trying to get across. All of these things that are happening to a lot of us who have been prescribe exsorbinant amounts of the vitamin are obviously things that were not an issue before the vitamin d regardless of eating habits exercise habits lifestyles etc. These things started happening to me literally the day after I started taking these pills. I feel like I am starting to lose my mind, I cannot concentrate and I cannot get any sleep! Is there anything I can do in the mean time to makeit better until it fades out of my system? And it is necessary I even set up an appointment since it seems all the heart tests etc of the people experiencing the same things have come back perfectly normal?
(Post continues from above)
In the middle of the night I woke up and when I was lying in bed I thought my heart was pounding like crazy (or actually that was what I believed at the moment, I should later find out that it was actually not the heart but the whole chest that was vibrating). There were really strong vibrations going down the stomach and out in the arms. Even the legs were faintly vibrating, but the epicenter was my chest. In addition my vision was clouded; I was very dizzy, extremely thirsty and had a metallic taste in my mouth. The whole following day and some days after was a total nightmare. I did cold sweat a lot, feeling extremely dizzy like I was about to faint anytime, especially if I was lying down. The first day I was slightly nauseas and I had several bursts of chest vibrations. There was all this strange sensations all over my body, my muscles felt weaker, like everything was an effort. I also had some strange feelings in my head almost if I was drifting away loosing contact with the body. I have never felt something similar ever, and it was really scary.
After this episode I did several more tests, no conclusive results. I did also a 24 hour EKG, which was quite fine and this eventually told me it was not my heart but some other vibrations stemming from the chest. I had always believed it to be the heart, because it was so strong I could not feel my heart underneath it. But when I started taking my pulse afterwards, the pulse had a much lower frequency than the vibrations. So this probably explains the intense chest pain I felt that day as well (reported earlier). It was most probably a muscle cramping caused somehow by these vibrations. The dizziness, strange feelings, etc faded gradually and disappeared in some weeks. But it took me around half a year to get rid of the nightly vibrations.
(Post continues below…)
In the middle of the night I woke up and when I was lying in bed I thought my heart was pounding like crazy (or actually that was what I believed at the moment, I should later find out that it was actually not the heart but the whole chest that was vibrating). There were really strong vibrations going down the stomach and out in the arms. Even the legs were faintly vibrating, but the epicenter was my chest. In addition my vision was clouded; I was very dizzy, extremely thirsty and had a metallic taste in my mouth. The whole following day and some days after was a total nightmare. I did cold sweat a lot, feeling extremely dizzy like I was about to faint anytime, especially if I was lying down. The first day I was slightly nauseas and I had several bursts of chest vibrations. There was all this strange sensations all over my body, my muscles felt weaker, like everything was an effort. I also had some strange feelings in my head almost if I was drifting away loosing contact with the body. I have never felt something similar ever, and it was really scary.
After this episode I did several more tests, no conclusive results. I did also a 24 hour EKG, which was quite fine and this eventually told me it was not my heart but some other vibrations stemming from the chest. I had always believed it to be the heart, because it was so strong I could not feel my heart underneath it. But when I started taking my pulse afterwards, the pulse had a much lower frequency than the vibrations. So this probably explains the intense chest pain I felt that day as well (reported earlier). It was most probably a muscle cramping caused somehow by these vibrations. The dizziness, strange feelings, etc faded gradually and disappeared in some weeks. But it took me around half a year to get rid of the nightly vibrations.
A very interesting finding however was that this summer I did take a lot of sun, I was lying out for several hours each day on a vacation in Spain. I did get a nice tan. The rest of the summer I did a lot of sun exposure, working outdoors with no shirt on, lying down for half a hour to a hour each day without any sunscreen etc. In doing this my blood levels of Vitamin D3 was very high, much higher than anytime when doing all the supplementation earlier. And I did not have any side effects whatsoever. None, nothing! So one day I decided to take just one pill of Vitamin D 1000IU, and guess what happened the next morning. The vibrations were back, very intense, very disturbing. They did however go away after just 2 days, so I'm fine now, but I have learned my lesson.
To conclude: I'm not sure why I have these reactions, I guess I somehow got allergic to the Vitamin D in supplements (when starting this mess I did go on it for over a month with no adverse effects at all, so there was something that changed because of the overdose). So from now on I have to rely on the sun. It's a shame since there is limited sun here in the winter, but anyhow.
Thanks again!
Kind regards
D-Day
Hi Steve,
I am Christy who wrote several months ago. I wanted to update you. All of my symptoms are gone now. It took quite awhile for them to completely go away. I was on a cleansing diet after I went off of the vitamin D supplements, but the cleansing shake the doctor put me on had some D in it, not a lot, but some, which I feel is why it took so long for me to be rid of it. It took about 6 months total. I was free from all the symptoms about 3 months after I was done with the shake drinks.
Anyway….a few weeks ago, I started to feel that weird stress that I was feeling when I was on the D and I thought to myself, "what the heck! I thought it was the vitamin D that did this to me" I then started to wonder if I had gotten some vitamin D somehow and went on a hunt to figure it out. I found that the bars that I was eating were supplemented with vitamin D. A few days after stopping those, the stress went away. Then it happened again and I had to figure out if it was the D again. Sure enough, I found that the bread I had eaten recently also was supplemented with Vitamin D. I have come to the conclusion that I am now extremely sensitive to vitamin D and I cannot have it at all. Only from the sun from now on!
I have been on vitimin d for 6 months and now I'am having bone pain espically in my hands. I'am going to stop taking it and see if I get better
Dear Anonymous,
Thanks for your comment.
If you have time, let us know what dose of vitamin D you've been taking. I hope that the vitamin D is the cause of your pain and that you're feeling better soon.
Steve
Welp. I don't have a skin rash yet, other than that…
So, what do you think the side effect would be on a type 1 diabetic's blood sugar?
Assuming that I'm right and this has been the recent source of my ills; then I've experienced severe delayed reactions: insulin appears to not be metabolized AT ALL for several hours, and then it kicks in all at once. The result is insanely high sugars just after a meal and a need to take extra insulin… which I'll which I hadn't taken later when the first dose finally kicks in TOO, resulting in super low sugar.
I may be dealing with something else unrelated… but it didn't occur to me until today to look up toxicity issues with D3. Somehow just realizing the list of side-effects exists for THIS ONE THING has calmed me quite a bit.
I've been taking supplements to assist with high blood pressure for awhile… the fish oil I chose just happened to come with 1000 IU of D3… but the dosage is 3X per day. I didn't put 2 and 2 together for quite awhile. I'm at almost 8 months now… I felt the first pain in my chest several weeks ago… and attributed shortness of breath to a bronchitis re-occurrence… until I found this post. I'd started being more regular with dosing since the first pain in my rib or whatever… maybe in the bone or in tissue between my ribs, I couldn't quite pinpoint it.
The pain has continues to mobilize to different areas, particularly the lowest portion of my rib cage… mostly on my right hand side closer to my shoulder… then last night it decided to invade my NECK… almost my throat, but closer to my ear for some reason. In the last day or so I've experienced ringing in my ears, a metallic taste in my mouth… heart palpitations while eating eggs loaded with D3 and/or fish. I'm now pretty sure I got the wrong supplement. Itchy skin today after the last and final dose of it I'll take… had I only found this blog BEFORE that dose, heh.
It took about 6 months before I started having these later symptoms. I've been waking up around 3-4am every day for awhile now but didn't think there was any connection till now. I didn't think I was really waking "just to pee" though… I just usually take care of that first thing in the morning. Now I'm thinking it's like reverse-insomnia. I've always had insomnia to a point, so didn't think this had anything to do with it… until now.
I'll report back in about six weeks to say if anything has changed… or my heart will explode or I'll discover I have some form of lymphoma and only have a week to live and not bother… but I'm kind of thinking my ceasing this dosing will take care of it.
For those curious: fish oil with 1000 IU of D3, 3X daily. With the half-life math that's 4500 IU a day, not counting intake through fish (which I have about twice a week), veggie fed cage free brown eggs loaded with it (which I have at least twice a week), and milk in cereal which I have nearly every day. For… about 8 months. I was not aware of the risk of overdose.
On the other hand I've not had a cold or flu for about 2 years. Well, a bad flu may feel like dying, but at least it only lasts a week or so. I don't think the risks of D3 O.D. outweighs the benefits if this is what it feels like. I assumed d3 was like c… you can't have too much. Well, maybe you can have too much c, I've just never hit that plateau. Seem to have with d3 pretty recently though.
I think there should really be a warning on the bottle, I'd have quit this thing months ago had I known this was a potential cause, long before experiencing shortness of breath which I was completely unprepared for.
My doctor put me on 10 weeks of incredibly high Vitamin D dosages (50,000IU three times a week). Almost immediately I had side effects – tired during the day, trouble sleeping at night, nightmares, light headaches and most of all extreme swelling of my ankles (almost twice their normal size). After 4 weeks, I took myself off this dosage and when my body seemed back to normal, started my doctor's second part of the treatment — Vitamin D3 4,000 per day. Again, I had severe swelling of the feet and legs. I am now waiting for all that to go away and I'll try a lower dosage of D3, probably 2,000 per day and see how I fare with that. I also have the watery-itchy eye problem, but that may be just regular allergies (who knows). So far Vitamin D supplements don't seem to work well for me.
Welp… I'm feeling better. Not 100% yet, but much better. Most of the pain is gone but it seemed mostly muscular… I decided to try to work out those muscles a bit every day and that seems to be helping a lot. I seem to be getting better even faster now as I've switched to oatmeal in the morning instead of cereal with milk. It's either the D3 or my heart was on the verge of exploding from insanely high cholesterol, but I doubt it was cholesterol… it wasn't THAT long since I've had blood work done, I think they'd have said something.
The "bone" or rib pain or whatever it is is gone most of the time now… and when it's there it's not awful anymore. I'm still getting occasional pain now in both sides of my neck… certainly in the muscles but no of no exercises that target those muscles… it'll probably just take longer to metabolize whatever built up in there.
To the prior poster: I was only taking 3,000 IU a day and it took awhile to feel as awful as I did, but it was still too much. I'm thinking you'll do better not taking a supplement at all if you're eating anything with D3 in it. 2,000 IU is 500% over recommended daily value (based on the bottle I have here which says 1,000 IU is 250%). Otherwise, you could… but watch out for symptoms, it took awhile before I started having them, and they apparently don't go away all that fast.
I'm able to sleep through the night now, however… I'm not waking up between 3-5am randomly anymore. I slept in a couple days last week… since I still got to sleep at a decent hour the next nights, I'm thinking I must have needed the sleep. D3 may have its own bit of symptoms but if you're losing sleep… physical exhaustion has a whole slew of other symptoms. I also can't speak to the nightmares… I often have vivid dreams… and I look at dreams as a form of entertainment… like a movie… and I happen to like scary movies… I'm… not really sure I would even notice if I had a nightmare. I've had a few that SUCKED before, but… is it still a nightmare if it doesn't spook you any (more like a movie you'd have wished you could get your money and two hours back from)? Anyway, I can't tell if the D3 was responsible for anything like that in the recent past. If it did, it wasn't memorable enough for me to document so it doesn't count (my experience doesn't, I mean).
Anyway, I hope you find a balance in there somewhere.
Hi
I have been taking 10.000 IU vitamin-D3 for 3 years. The first year I had some bone pain in my right hand, but everything is now fine. No side effects by taking 10.000 IU dayly year round.
Hey guys I am very worried after reading this blog. I have been on the deprovera shot now for over 4 years straight with no knowledge of anything about needing a bone density test till I recently switched doctors and she checked my level for vitamin d. She immediately put me on 50,000 units of vitamin d DAILY for 3 months.. I have only been taking it once a day for a week so far and have been experiencing some weird symptoms an am now very worried she has overdosed me an written me the wrong dose to take, daily, seems like everyone else says theirs only prescribed weekly. My chest has been hurting and my eyes are doing weird things like, looking like strobe lights when it's dark time an I shut off all the lights my eyes if their open will look like their strobing the darkness, it's hard to explain but I'm really scared now I feel like I'm having an anxiety attack after reading this blog, I am scheduled to see a NEW doctor 3 days from now because I no longer trust the one that prescribed me this. Can someone please email me at elmkitty@yahoo.com please and let me know what I should do until the 10th because I am really scared an seriously don't know what to do the pharmacists from walmart an walgreens keep telling me o that's fine that's normal no 50,000 units daily for 3 months isn't toxic.. but I don't believe them especially after feeling all these weird symptoms! So please can someone email me and help me. Thank you!
Wow, glad to hear I'm not alone in having an adverse reaction. I thought I was a complete anomaly.
Several years ago, the doc found my D levels were low and started me on 50,000 IU D2. Around that time period, I started having awful anxiety problems. I eventually switched to D3 and found that I got awful headaches and bone pain, too, so I quit that.
Fast forward to two months ago, when my doc checked my levels again (25) and prescribed 50,000 IU D2 3/wk. She thought I would react less to the D2 since it's less active. Not too long after starting supplementation, I developed terrible panic attacks/anxiety and the worst case of GERD and a gripping lump in the throat. I'm also having problems getting to sleep – very uncharacteristic for me.
I tried starting magnesium two weeks ago since I've heard the theory that adverse reactions may be from low magnesium levels, and it hasn't really helped.
I'm just going to let the D wear off and then get some sun now that it's warmed up enough to go outside again. This winter, I don't know what I'll do!
I believe I have been overdosing on Vitamin D supplements even though my doctor says that my vitamin d levels are low and it's, therefore, impossible. Months ago – in February, I went to the doctor after having flu like symptoms, heart palpitations, breathing difficulty, numbness in my left arm, chest pain, vomiting and dry heaving and panic attack like feelings. One doctor who I had gone to months ago told me I was having panic attacks and if i really was having problems then I should go to the ER. Instead I went to a woman, naturopath, told her how I was feeling and said I felt like I had to suck down a ton of magnesium in order to feel ok. I also told her that I felt worse when I did my Vit D – like, I really felt like that was contributing to the way I was feeling. However, she said it's probably the type of vitamin d I was taking and most likely a food allergy (which I disagree with). She told me to up my magnesium and put me on Magnesium aspartate which actually made my chest pain worse. I've been left to my own devices and stopped all vit d. It's now May and while the feelings have subsided, I still have heart pain and vomiting.
Any ideas how I can continue to ease the toxicity? Completely stopping Vit D and multivitamins has helped. I've been trying to workout as well to sweat but sometimes that can actually make me feel like wretching as well. I'm at my wit's end. I don't do milk, I had to stop wine – especially red, I take a TON of magnesium both Citrate and Glycinate. I take epsom salt baths. The one thing that really seems to have helped which I just tried out of frustration two weeks ago is drinking epsom salts. Basically, I told them for months I felt "clogged" like I couldn't breathe and I had this nose/nasal drip issue too that made me feel clogged. I have also started serrapeptase which seems to have eased that.
It's now May and I feel like there is a light at the end of the tunnel but still od'ing. BTW – I don't know if any of you are aware that pepto bismol actually depletes calcium as well so I think that sometimes that helps absorb the excess calcium. Are there any other supplements that deplete or help with Vitamin D and calcium toxicity?
Oh yeah, can you please tell me or paste the post about thiamine? Does that help with toxicity???! I can't find any information about it. I'm so excited that I am finally feeling slightly better, I just want to be 100% again and I hope that nobody goes through what I have been going through the past three months. I also feel like I have almost lost my job because of this.
I had a Duodenal Switch (Bariatric) surgery done in May 2002.
I was started on 100,000 IU's on 5/19/11. My doctor told me to take ONE EVERY DAY for three months. Then I'm to start taking 50,000 IU's a day until next summer when I will get another blood test done. I was instructed to take 3,000 mg of Calcium every day (that has some Vitamin D in it also). Isn't this a lot of Vitamin D to take even with the type of surgery I had? My lab work indicated my Vitamin D was at 22 and the lowest average is listed at 32. Am I that low to validate this high of a dose and for so long? Thanks for any help you can give me.
Dear Bariatric Surgery Writer,
Bariatric surgery is a major event. I hope you are feeling well and that it is successful, and I wish you a speedy recovery.
Without a doubt, 100,000 IU/day of vitamin D is a very large dose. I'm sure there is a reason your physician is recommending the vitamin D, and I am in no position to second guess. You've done the right thing identifying the possible side effects, and you should make your surgeon aware of them immediately. It's his/her job to reassure you that such high levels of vitamin D are appropriate.
Regardless of your surgeon's opinion, getting vitamin D from the sun remains an option. With effort, you can achieve 10,000 IU/day – and maybe even 20,000, from the sun. Such an effort may cause side effects from too much sun – so whatever you do be careful. I'm just pointing out that it's possible to get alot of vitamin D safely from the sun if you and your surgeon determine that you need extreme doses of vitamin D. So – I do not know enough to advise you any further, and have no desire/right/courage to manage your health while you are recovering from major surgery. I'll answer any questions you ask to the best of my ability, but I won't take any responsbility for your decisions. Please be careful and get as much supervision as you can. Again, I'll be thinking of you and sending wishes for a speedy and complete recovery.
Steve
Dear Overdoser,
Here's a link about thiamine http://ctheblog.cforyourself.com/2008/01/preventing-anorexia-with-vitamin.html
I got this link by typing C:the blog thiamine into google – that leads you to all my columns graciously sorted by google into a prioritized order customized for you.
The enteric coated TTFD pills I used are sold only by Westlake Laboratories. Type the name into google to get to their website. If you need more help, I'll post the phone number but I'd really prefer not to do that. You'll see that I religiously avoid recommending products. I only make an exception for this product – and only when asked – because Westlake Lab is the only supplier and they are obscure to say the least.
As for speeding your recovery. Read all food labels to avoid vitamin D spiked foods. Don't eat any fish. Don't eat anything high in calcium. Wear a hat and long sleeves. Stay indoors as much as possible. Drink as much water and other fluids as you can stand, take extra vitamin C and experiment with 250 mg time release niacin tablets – one or two a week can sometimes be really helpful and sometimes not. In the end, you may just have to be patient.
Good luck and thanks for sharing your experience.
Steve
I am 27 years old. After a physical at the beginning of april, blood test revealed my vit d levels were low and my pcp prescribed 50,000 iu per week of vit d 1.25. I have suffered from depression in the past but toward the end of april i checked myself into a psych ward for two days,due to uncontrollable crying, mood swings. my dr had also prescribed xanax for the anxiety i had been feeling. i am on my second month of the supplement and i am frequently drowsy, suffer from lower back pain around the kidney area and have knee weakness when i stand up on the right leg. i have been spending time in the sun but i feel drained and tired. i have been experiencing headaches and neck pains. i start the day out fine but get tired before mid day. lots of muscle weakness in the shoulder and arm area. i don't drink milk but i do eat cheese. i just stop taking prozac 20 mg per day about 4 weeks ago and am currently awaiting for a psych eval from a psychiatrist to be placed back on the medication, i'm so scared because i am young and suffering from problematic issues of a older person, i am heavy and i drink water frequently and it passes through me quickly. please tell me what i should do because i am supposed to take this supplement for 12 weeks and have new blood test taken, summer is here and i like spending time in the sun, i have no problem with that, but during the winter time i stay in doors and i associated the lower vit d deficiency with that but reading lit about natural ways to obtain it, since i am intending to go vegetarian. even as i type my fingers feel tight when i bend them. please give adequate advice. I AM ABSOLUTELY SCARED!
"There are no well documented risks from getting high doses of vitamin D from sunshine."
Melanoma??
Dear No Risks from the Sun,
Thanks for picking up on my unintentional claim that sunshine has no side effects. I edited the paragraph as a result. I only meant that vitamin D side effects from sunshine are not well documented. I wrote a couple of other posts on the difficulties of using sunshine which you might find interesting.
Dear 27 and Scared,
I'm sorry you find yourself in such poor health. I'm not in a position to give you any more help than I already have. Get a second and a third opinion from physicians and make them aware of this blog to make sure they appreciate the risks associated with vitamin D supplements.
I hope you are feeling better soon.
Steve
I have been suffering cluster headaches for the past 15 years and D3 was suggested to help with the pain. I have been taking 14,000 iu D3 daily with 3000mg omega3 oil and a calcium, magnesium and zinc suppliment and as long as I keep this dose up I have no headaches or cluster symptoms at all. I have gained 7lb in the past 4 months (most annoying) and so far have non of the side effects listed. If I reduce the D3 dose by 4,000iu the cluster headaches come back within 3 days. I know the dose I am taking is concidered very high but all pain meds etc have had no effect and this D3 regime has worked.
I was told I NEEDED a Vit D blood test 'to prevent osteoporosis'. So I did. The result was 55 (whatever that means) and the doctor suggested to take 1000 IU Vit D daily, because "the level should be 60". Really. I believe my low grade headaches and ringing in the ears are due to the vit D supplementation, because when I stop the supplementation these side effects (?) go away. As strange as it may seem my parents and grand parents lived to close to 90 and never felt the need to take vitamin supplementation.
I'm so glad to have found this blog. I started taking 3000-2000 IU's of vitamin D3 5 months ago. My skin would get itchy, I thought it was just some form of irritation. I was always thin, but I have lost 10 pounds not trying, and being already thin it doesn't look very good. I'm going to reduce my vitamin d intake, and just take my daily multivitamin.
Oh boy. I recently found out that the calcium magnesium supplement I have been taking for a year and a half has had 30-40,000 iu vitamin D instead of 60. I had a blood test and my vitamin d level is 135 (by chance I had a test at around the time I started taking this product and it was 30). I have been incredibly fatigued & achey for a long time now. Also stomach problems, dry mouth and the skin on my face has become dry and rough. I'm stunned to find this out. Wondering if there is anything I can do to speed up feeling better. I'm doing some detox steps like juicing & chlorella. Figured if my liver is cleaned out I will metabolize the excess vitamin d more quickly. Does that make sense?
Hello. I am searching for an answer of vitamin D withdrawal. I have been taking Vitamin D daily for several years when I recently ran out and had no time to replace the supply. I missed 4 days and experienced severe fatigue and a constant headache for several days. Can an abrupt stop in vitamin D cause these symptoms? Yesterday I began my daily dosgae once again but it may be too soon to see any changes.
I'm not even sure how old this post is, but I'm desperate for feedback so here goes. .
In March of this year, I was struggling with depression so I purchased some 2000iu D3 softgels on my own and began supplementing daily. After about 3 weeks of use, I started experiencing pain that is difficult to describe and hard to tell if it was from bone or muscle. Essentially, any small pressure on my limbs (even from crossing my legs or resting my wrist on the desk) caused pain both distant and immediate. Since the only thing I could think of was the addition of the Vitamin D3 supplements, I stopped taking them. After about 3 weeks, the pain improved, but did not go away completely.
In late April, I saw my GP for a check-up and mentioned the pain. She checked my vitamin D levels and found them to be at 20 (30-100 was the optimum range given) and so prescribed 50,000iu once per week for 3 mos. I am still breastfeeding my toddler and so was instructed to call her pediatrician to check if that dosage was acceptable for a nursing mother. I was told that a maximum dosage of 5000iu per day (or a total of 35,000iu per week) was allowable for a nursing mom and so I purchased a different brand of D3 at 5000iu and began taking them once per day. I also regularly take a pre-natal vitamin containing 400iu of D.
After about a week of the 5000iu softgels, the pain intensified so I backed off to taking them sporadically and began researching other alternatives. I have been trying to get sun but am only successful about 1 day out of 7 due to my daily schedule and where I live. I am also a little afraid of overexposure to the sun as melanoma and squamous cell carcinoma run in my family.
And so, after reading about the dangers of being DEFICIENT in D, I resumed the 5000 (5400 total iu) supplements, but added 200mg calcium and magnesium citrate (Natural Calm) on the advice of a friend who had spoken with a naturopathic doctor. After 3 weeks the pain began again, after 4 weeks. . .
-I am in almost constant mild pain.
-I now have developed a deep, achy abdominal pain.
-My usually medication-controlled GERD is worse and requiring more meds to keep it under control.
-I have had 3 migraines in as many weeks when I usually have maybe 1 every 6 mos.
-My legs ache terribly at night and the muscles over them are very sore the next morning.
-My chest/throat is "irritable," a symptom I would have never attributed to vitamin D until I read this blog. It's like a periodic tickle that doesn't fully go away, and any strong odor (alcohol, nail polish, etc.) makes me cough.
I have been back to the doctor for the cough/tickle and my chest x-ray is clear. I have had a sed rate tested (ESR) to check for lupus, etc. since I also have some swelling in my ankles. My ESR was 5 which is quite low and basically indicates I have very little inflammation in my body. I had my lower legs x-rayed and there is no evidence of abnormal bone growth or any other concerning finding.
I am afraid to completely stop the D b/c of the dangers of deficiency (cancer, bone loss, etc.). I have had some tell me that the side effects may eventually go away once my body is accustomed to supplementation.
My question is: If I'm having this level of side effects, am I harming my body by continuing to supplement? Getting enough sun for me is impossible. Am I better off continuing to supplement and just "dealing" with the side effects? I am really unsure about what to do here. I am 35 and have two young daughters and I want to be healthy and live long to raise them. Please offer any advice you can. . .
Dear Jennifer,
Thanks so much for the awesome post! There's simply no question that you are suffering from vitamin D overdose. Thanks so much for sharing the fact that any strong odor (alcohol, nail polish, etc.) makes you cough. This lung sensitivity is a classic, previously unreported side effect of vitamin D. You can't make it up, and it doesn't feel like anything else.
In your comment, you didn't say anything about the sunlamp option. It is possible to purchase, on the internet, UVB lamps meant to stimulate vitamin D production in the skin of lizards. The instructions say, "for lizard use only." I purchased a lamp and use it in emergencies when I can't get enough sun. I couldn't find anything about the risks of using these kinds of lamps, so I prefer sunshine. To the best of my knowledge, you are highly unlikely to "get used to" vitamin D supplements. To the contrary, based on the comments in this blog I'd expect your symptoms to just get worse.
I never advise people to do anything I'm not certain is safe. I'm not certain the UV lamp is safe. But I'm certain that the supplements are not safe, and that you indeed need high blood levels of vitamin D to be optimally healthy. The safe way to get the vitamin D is from the sun. I have no evidence that the UVB lamps are unsafe.
Jennifer – I'm so sorry that you are struggling with your health. Good luck. Don't hesitate to write back with more questions, and to keep us posted on how it's going. Thanks again, so much, for a great contribution.
Steve
Interesting Blog,
I found this blog to be rather loose in terms of actual facts and symptoms that could arise for various reasons are being being interpreted by yourself as 100% attributable to the use of vitamin D supplements despite the brief details left my various bloggers. Don't get me wrong, certain symptoms may be attributable to overdoses of Vit D, but they could also be caused by 101 other things and theprognosis given by the Author is based on minimal information.
Comments like 'Reading between the lines' and 'Trust me I'm a scientist' leave me questioning the validity of the Author. Who are you? What are your qualifications to be giving this advice? What science disciplines are you qualified in and where are the quantified facts that all of your prognosis are based on?
The use of Vit D supplements is necessary for certain people that do not have the luxury of exposing themselves to midday sun, or feel the possibility of getting skin cancer is more of a concern, or who have other issues where the Vit D in foods cannot be absorbed and processed by the gut.
Ultimately the use or non use of Vit D supplements will vary greatly between individuals and each case should be assessed by a qualified practitioner that also looks at the multitude of other biological factors that are linked, so if supplements are required, a balanced mix of Vitamins and Minerals can be taken to alleviate a multitude of conditions. It's always good to listen to your body when taking medication or something new, but I believe people should consider they are different, have different medical history, or conditions, some of which may be using prescribed medication, and a multitude of combinations can be ill advised when using Vit D, therefore a THOROUGH understanding of the patients biological make up, medical history and complaints need to be understood before decisions are made, instead of having uninformed prognosis made based on a handful of facts.
For the record, I have been diagnosed with a chronically low level of Vit D (blood test results), have been on Vit D supplements and have only felt better since starting…..in fact, I was previously experiencing the majority of your listed side effects, which have been alleviated since taking the Vit D supplements. I just hope those experiencing worsening symptoms take the time to discuss them with their physicians to work through and identify the root cause of their own issues, rather than just taking an online prognosis as being fact.
Good luck to anyone reading this blog who is looking for answers. I'm sure you will find them if you look in the right places.
Anonymous,
Thanks for your thoughtful post.
The primary source of the science backing up this post is a book titled "The Right Dose – How to Take Vitamins and Minerals Safely". The secondary source is the Mayo Clinic website. The quality of the data isn't great. Benefits – not side effects – are proven with clinical trials. So – a collection of testimonials is often all a scientist has for data.
There is a consensus that sun exposure does not cause any of the side effects attributed to vitamin D pills. Vitamin D supplements come with a risk of discomfort caused by vitamin D. Sunshine does not share this risk. Sunshine is a safer way to increase vitamin D levels in the blood than supplements.
You say, "The use of Vit D supplements is necessary for certain people that do not have the luxury of exposing themselves to midday sun, or feel the possibility of getting skin cancer is more of a concern, or who have other issues where the Vit D in foods cannot be absorbed and processed by the gut." I'm saddened by the fact that many have indeed lost the freedom to expose themselves to the mid day sun.
I hope it's clear to readers that many of the side effects listed have multiple possible causes. If a side effect comes and goes by starting, stopping, and restarting vitamin D supplements, then it is highly likely to be a vitamin D side effect. Some symptoms, however, are more likely to be vitamin D side effects than others. A recent poster, Jennifer, mentioned that her lungs were irritable and that exposure to almost any chemical (e.g. ethanol from wine, kitchen cleanser droplets, smoke, nail polish remover) would make her cough. That's a vitamin D side effect.
I think readers would be well advised to go and seek help from qualified professionals. A thorough understanding is a worthy objective. I also stick by my assertion that whatever the results of the thorough analysis are, and whatever other supplements or medications are indicated, if more vitamin D is advisable, it is safer to get the vitamin D from sunshine than from supplements.
We are mostly on the same side. Many people are suffering from symptoms that are caused by vitamin D deficiency. As you point out, some of the vitamin D overdose symptoms can also be vitamin D deficiency symptoms. I'm very happy for you that vitamin D supplements have made you feel better. When people are suffering, if vitamin D might be the cause, I want them to be able to find this out as quickly as possible in a safe way. Taking more than 2000 IU/day of vitamin D is not safe. Sunshine is believed to typically produce 8 to 20,000 IU/day of vitamin D. Only sunshine can push safely to such high doses and put a hypothesis of vitamin D deficiency to the test quickly.
Steve
Steve-thanks for your response. I've done some more digging and researching since I posted, with interesting results.
I found a site authored by an RN that gives extensive information about Vitamin D. . its side effects and benefits. Here is the link if you're interested: Healthy Immunity
A few of the items that apply to me are:
1-The bone pain. If you read close to the bottom of the page I linked to, you will see that she explains the bone pain side effect in detail. Simplified, when you've been D deficient for a long time, your bones begin to demineralize. As your D level gets back into a "normal" range, it begins to force calcium back into the bones. Calcium drags some excess fluid with it and Viola! your bones hurt b/c the exterior layer of bone is very nerve dense. This makes a lot of sense to me as many times, my pain is exacerbated by resting my arm or leg against a surface, thereby making my whole limb hurt. If you think in terms of fluid displacement, this makes sense to me. Also, I wanted to add that since posting my comment, the pain has begun to improve, and I have continued to take 5400iu daily and continuously.
2-The magnesium connection. I have seen a substantial improvement in my migraines, aching legs and abdominal pain since I began taking 325mg of Magnesium Citrate daily (2 separate doses). If you read her section on magnesium deficiency, this makes sense.
3-She explains a possible connection to my increase in GERD symptoms. I was taking a supplement made with soybean oil, an oil known to go rancid easily (also soy has it's own GI effects). I have since sought out (no easy task) a dry formulation with no oils (the alternative she recommends is coconut oil based formulas). I have yet to take one of those since I just bought it yesterday but I'll let you know if that helps.
So. . .while I do feel most of my symptoms are being caused by the D supplements, I'm not sure stopping is the answer now. Especially since the bone pain has improved, I'm inclined to press on, given the family history of skin cancer. Thank you for taking the time to respond to me. . .and I hope you'll read the link I posted and see what you think of her information.
Jennifer,
Thanks for writing back with your comments.
I believe Kerri Kox has commented on this site.
I'm glad that you have found her advice helpful.
When I read your comments, I was sure you were taking vitamin D supplements when you described the problem with your sensitive lungs and irritated throat. Let us know if these symptoms also go away.
I'm a bit skeptical about the magnesium theory. Why is magnesium needed to prevent side effects from vitamin D pills, and is not needed to prevent side effects from vitamin D made in the skin by sunshine?
Also, if it is just magnesium, then the side effect severity should come and go with magnesium dose. That doesn't sound like what you are experiencing. I guess I'm saying, stop the magnesium and see if the side effects get worse again. I'd like to know what happens. Is your plan really to take magnesium supplements every day for the rest of your life? Is magnesium really that important? I'm not saying it isn't, I'm just skeptical and very interested in your experience.
What are you doing for your two young daughters? Are you going to have them take vitamin D and magnesium pills, or are you going to get them out into the sunshine? Which choice do you think is safer?
What is your family history with skin cancer?
Thanks for checking back,
Steve
I end up in the hospital with nausea and vomiting every four to six weeks. I have also had atrial fibrillation and I am thinking that this is related to the Vitamin D3 that I started taking every day, faithfully, about three years ago. Most of the time I will also have a dull headache and neck pain with this. The vomiting has become increasingly more violent in recent episodes. I was actually in intensive care twice but the doctors are puzzled as to the cause of the vomiting. Most of the time I feel pretty good but am looking at these side effects and taking a sobering assessment of my body.
Hi Steve,
I'm 54 old male. Live in tropical climate. Weather here is hot and sunny almost all days of the year.
I got two questions that I hope U can help me with:
1)I am always in my office, never go out in the sun. Been diagnosed with severe deficiency of Vitamin D (blood test – level 32).
Being frequent consumer of Alcohol, and smoker, my doctor advised that I take Vit. D injection (300,000 IU once a month for 3 months only).
I took 2 injections, yet my level remained almost same (now 43). I do not know if the Alcohol (got fatty liver) and cigarettes are preventing Vit D uptake!
For past 6 weeks, I been taking Vit D Drops (by Carlson), 2000 IU/drop daily.
There are things that I noticed first time in my life, don't believe it has to do with aging!:
– unexplained shooting pain in the lower leg.
– infrequent but sudden pain in the liver area.
– metallic like taste in mouth. Also noticable sensitivity to cold drinks and Ice Cream consumption.
I really cannot relate those to Vit D toxicity, since I am still very deficient in it!
Also blood levels of Ca, are within range.
One important note to Vit D users. All the recommendations regarding "must take Calcium with Vit D", should be seriously re-considered! Especially if – like me – you decide to take Oyster Shell Ca.
U will be experiencing alot of pain in the abdomen and lower limb bones. I honestly think that this type of Ca supplement should be banned all together. VERY dangerous, since blood tests, show normal Ca levels, yet the excruciating pain is there.
Pain was gone within few days! of stopping Ca.
On another matter. My mother 80 years old, with Vascular Dementia, also have low Vit D level. She cannot take D injections, so gave her the D Drops. Her levels shot up very fast (in few weeks). May be because her liver is normal/healthy (never drinks).
Yet I am very worried about any possible complication or adverse effects on her fragile health condition. Please give some thoughts on the above. Many thanks for a wonderful blog.
CARL
Carl,
Hmm. I'll give you my thoughts.
The sun is a much safer way to get vitamin D than supplements. Given a choice between supplements and a sun lamp, I'd take the vitamin D (UVD) "lizard" lamp. I bought 160 watt bulbs from Fluker Farms. If my only choice was supplements or nothing – I'd take supplements because vitamin D is vital for good health.
Regarding the test results. The vitamin D blood test is pretty new. It is a difficult test. I'm not convinced that there is too much data based on blood test results. I haven't made much effort to get a blood test. I get sun every day. The last time I took just 1000 IU vitamin D as a supplement a few months ago, it made me feel bad. So – I don't see how I could get more vitamin D. So what good is the test? It's just something to get nervous about that isn't worth getting nervous about – at least not if your getting alot of sun and/or taking enough vitamin D supplements to get persistent side effects.
It's hard for me to thing of another reason for your teeth becoming sensitive to cold drinks and ice cream besides vitamin D supplements. The pains in your legs are also a common vitamin D side effect. The fact that calcium made you feel alot worse also suggests vitamin D overdose. So – I think your troubles are highly likely to be from the vitamin D supplements.
Many vitamin D boosters argue that side effects from vitamin D supplements are temporary, and you can just push on through. I'm more open minded about this than I was a couple of years ago. However, it remains true that the kind of seriously painful side effects reported on this blog are never caused by sunshine. So – I still say getting vitamin D from the sun is safer. I'm sure it raises my risk of skin cancer and skin aging, but I think the risk is a small price to say to prevent osteoporosis, arthritis, heart disease, other cancers…..
Thanks for writing. Please write again – especially if I didn't really get at your questions.
Steve
Hi Steve,
Many thanks for a swift response!
I must agree, the sun is safer option for people with Vit D deficiency. If only we could take the time to go outdoors! My schedule is busy, and as I mentioned earlier, always in and never out! Yet after reading some of the comments here (too long to read all)! I am convinced, its really about time that I take the solar route more seriously.
Couple of points, if I may:
– If, as you seem to suggest, blood tests for Vit D are essentially useless, or lacking in accuracy. Then why they're becoming so popular in Lab testing around the globe?
What would be an accurate test for the level of this vitamin, if it weren't from blood?
– Allow me to mention again the warning about taking Ca with D. Especially Oyster Shell Ca. I could not walk on my feet (heel) cause of the incredible pain I was experiencing. Went to Orthopedist, did X-rays, still he couldn't figure out the cause ( thought it might be a heel spur, but there were none).
By pure coincidence, thought of the Oyster Shell, stopped it, within days, I was walking again (without crutches)!!
Advice: if you take large doses of Vit D, please do NOT take extra Ca. Avoid the pain, by ignoring popular recommendation of adding extra Ca, while on Vit D.
I would even go further by suggesting that you cut down on your consumption of Ca containing products (like dairy etc), if you take high doses of D.
– I was hoping for some input ref. Vit D supplementation (D Drops 2000 IU/day) in the case of a severely demented patient (stroke, previous bleeding brain), but I do certainly understand if this particular aspect falls beyond the scope of your blog.
Thanks Steve, and all the best.
CARL
Carl,
I've been helping my father with supplements, and personally experienced the difficulty of getting a person into the sun. My father flatly refused to undress and get outside in the sun. So. That was that.
Despite substantial misgivings, I set up a UVB sunlamp for my father. I don't know how often he uses it, and I don't know how often I'd want him to use it, and I'm worried that it is dangerous. So, I'm not in a position to recommend the UVB lamp.
My father takes a multivitamin with vitamin D. He is not reporting any vitamin D side effects. Since he is taking vitamin D below the UL (upper recommended limit) and has no side effects, I don't see a problem. The UL is 2000 IU.
Now to the testing. If you are a lifeguard, or a roofer, or an agricultural worker, or anyone else working outside everyday with minimal clothing and maximal sun exposure, the science suggests that their body's have taken actions to slow down the production of vitamin D. Without knowing more, it's difficult to recommend supplements to such a person. At the moment, science has little more to offer.
It would be nice to be able to say with confidence to such a person – 99% of people like you (similar genetics, similar environment) who get alot of sun have vitamin D in the blood above X, and your level is well below X. So – your vitamin D metabolism is broken and you should take supplements to get your blood level above X.
Vitamin testing, in time, will provide this data. So – I'm in favor of the testing.
You also asked about accuracy. Vitamin D is difficult to detect because it is in the blood at an incredibly low concentration. It's even harder to detect vitamin D levels in specific tissues, and even if there were a test, I doubt anyone would know what it meant. There is alot to learn and I strongly support increased funding for research into vitamin D metabolism. Development of improved vitamin D analytical procedures is an important part of vitamin D research.
Regarding the calcium. I'm really sorry about the discomfort you experienced taking vitamin D and calcium together. I believe your story. I took a 500 mg, chelated magnesium tablet following internet testimonials from individuals that had vitamin D side effects go away when they added magnesium. Like you, for me the vitamin D side effects got obviously worse.
I've spent quite some time looking into this. There simply isn't much data.
The science is really solid that vitamin D metabolism involves calcium and magnesium. Vitamin D with calcium are amongst the oldest of vitamin supplement formulations, and they are proven to help maintain the health of the teeth and bones. So – your contention that people shouldn't take vitamin D and calcium together as a general principle asking for widespread change. Millions of Americans are taking vitamin D and calcium together.
Based on the limited data, my expectation is that if you would get regular sunshine for a year, and not take any supplements, you could take any kind of calcium supplements without side effects.
I have found several reports online from clinicians who believe that bone pain is common when going from a state of vitamin D deficiency to vitamin D sufficiency. I suspect that this is true, and that it contributes to the vitamin D deficiency epidemic. It's hard to get people to believe that bone pain is evidence of a healing process, rather than evidence of further deterioration.
Thank you for lending your experience to the internet. I have experienced significant pain after taking Vitamin D supplements. However, I am writing because I wanted to offer a comment that my nutritionist provided me regarding the fact that for many years I picked up whatever cold/flu was going around. I recently discovered that I am lactose intollerant. Based on all the ear infections and colds that I had as a kid, my nutritionist suspects that I have been lactose intollerant since I was a kid. If you haven't already looked into that for yourself, it may be worthwhile. Best of luck.
Dear Anonymous,
Thanks for the tip about lactose intolerance. I eliminated dairy products from my diet for over 4 years. I resumed eating diary products 5 years ago. I didn't see any obvious benefit from quitting the dairy, and haven't seen any obvious harm from restarting.
There are lots of food intolerances that can contribute to poor immunity. Perhaps it's time for me to try a 3 day fast again – the fastest way to rule out all food allergies.
Thanks for your comment,
Steve
I am so glad that I came across this website because I was starting to think that their was something wrong with my mind!! I was just told to stop taking vit.d by my doctor because though he perscribed it, I think the dosage was given incorrectly. When he started me on d my level was 8. I was told by his nurse to take Vt. d3, 2000iu twice a day. I did that for a couple of months and my level shot up to 47. The nurse called to relay the news and told me to continue to take the d twice a day. So from Feb. till Aug 2nd, that's what I was doing. By July I was feeling like crap…but I was holding on till that Aug. 2nd appt. My head felt full, especially under my chin area (thyroid) felt a little fuzzy in the head, confused, forgeting things at work, moody, my jaw was twitching on right side, vision was blurry. Once at the doctor's office he saw that my level was 72!!! Should be between 40-50!! The blood test showed that my thyroid was ok, though he wants me to have a tyroid ultrasound on Monday. I've stopped taking the pills on this past tuesday….and by thursday, i started feeling a tiny bit better….my head doesn't feel as full..HOWEVER, my left leg is giving out on me when I walk. I believe this all comes from an overdose of vitamin d. Did I mention that I am a breast cancer survivor and I take lithium for bi-polar disorder? Yeah, I might have a lot going on but I was FINE before I started taking vitamin D!! Can anyone relate??
Dear Anonymous,
Thanks so much for stopping by and sharing your story. Every one of these stories is important. I'm not sure that folks who haven't experienced vitamin D side effects will ever be able to relate, or able to believe our stories, but certainly having more stories helps.
Please please please don't conclude that you are getting too much vitamin D. You are, for sure, getting too much vitamin D from supplements. But, with a blood level recently at 8, and a history of poor health, you have much to gain and little to lose by elevating your vitamin D levels with sunshine.
I hope it's clear from my blog entry that I had incredibly similar problems from exactly the same dose of vitamin D – 4000 IU per day. Over the course of a year, I transitioned from supplements to sunshine, and, by and large, three years later I'm getting more sun then ever and having fewer and fewer problems with side effects.
Reaching people like you is one of the reasons I write this blog. You are a cancer survivor and taking at least one prescription drug, lithium, for sure. Your health insurance provider and physician seem to think that you can't be cured and expect you to take lithium and any other drugs you are on for the rest of your life. I believe that you should never give up looking for a cure.
I'm not advocating stopping any of your prescriptions. I'm advocating giving antibiotics, vitamins, and lifestyle changes a try. If you start feeling better, as your physician if it might be possible to develop a strategy to withdraw the medication.
Thanks for sharing your story and best wishes for a healthier future.
Steve
what are your thoughts on higher doses of vitamin D3 in helping M.S. patients? Some of us have very little exposure to sunlight for 4 months of the year;yes, I suffer from S.A.D. too!!
On August 12th I had a blood test and it revealed my vitamin D is 12. My girlfriend who takes 5000 mgs per day freaked out and told me that was awful. My doctor sent me an email and told me to take 1000 mg Vitamin D3 a day. My girlfriend is seeing a special doctor and she said "oh no no no.. " Don't listen to you HMO doctor, listen to my special doctor. I told her no way was I going to take five times what my doctor recommended, but I would meet half way as I had been reading so my hype about Vitamin D. I am 45 and can't seem to loose weight and I would give it a shot.
So I started taking on regular multivitamin..sometimes the whole thing…sometimes half and then 2 or 3 of the 1000 Vitamin D pills.
I have never felt so tired in my life. I have the worst bone pain in my neck. I literally feel I can't stay away and I am weak and so unmotivated. This is not usual for me. I am a zippy person.
BEFORE I started the Vitamin D I started having what I believe to be arthritis in my hands and joints. If it makes any sense, the vitamin D seems to make it worse… or maybe it was going to get worse already.
Anyway.. with taking vitamin D for ten day 2,200 to 3,400, I feel worse than I have felt in years.
I started googling the effects of vitamin D today and was surprised to find fatigue being on the list.
Day two of taking the vitamin D I had a very high bone pain in my chest. I endured for 5 minutes at my desk but became alarmed and had my boss come into my office, and she blamed it on gas. I told her it was very high in my chest bone and it was getting more intense. It did go away after 7-8 minutes. She made me take an aspirin and a tums in case it was heartattack or reflux.??? That is still unknown.
Anyway after reading this I am going to go down to one 1000 mg per day after skipping tomorrow all together except the multivitamin that has 400 mg in it.
I really don't know who or what to believe but I have read enough to believe that 10 days at this higher level is causing skull pain, a runny nose at night, and fatigue beyond what I can describe.
It is interesting to read everyone's comments.
…sorry about the typos on my comment. Also I have crazy sensitive teeth and a funny taste in my mouth. I am so bummed that I took that last higher dose before googling Vitamin D side effects.
I will have to wait this out. I missed a lot of work this week. I recently had physicals and all my blood work done. … I was so upset with all the pain I even called my doctor because I had not heard back from my mammo…I figured something must be up…
Anyway…I live in super sunny California in the valley… my Vitamin D level of 12 came with all of my sunshine and a car with a sun roof. However I am mostly clothed for the office so I am rarely getting sun… afraid of cancer and aging…so I am very careful with the sun… (used to be regular tanner of natural sun..several times a week for hours)… got worried after 35 so I stopped.
Anyway… I believe I am vitamin deficient in other areas…. as I have never taken vitamins even thought I eat a good 6-8 ups raw colorful veggies daily.
I gave up milk in my 20's for calories sake. And I gave up cereal for the same reason.
Just giving a little background. I used to be a runner 12 years ago too. I have put on a lot of weight at a desk job in the last ten years.. opposed to a mobile job and all that sun light.
I only mention all of this to show that it can happen to anyone…this deficiency and then the side effects.
Toni,
Thanks so much for leaving two comments!
I hope you don't mean it when you say you don't know who to believe. If you don't believe the information in this blog entry is accurate, then who will?
There's just no question that some of your symptoms are vitamin D side effects. The "high bone pain in the chest – am I having a heart attack?" feeling and the crazy sensitive teeth have to be the vitamin D. I've experienced both these symptoms and they come and go with vitamin D supplements.
I'm glad to see you revisiting your decision to avoid the sun. The risks are disproportionately to the parts of your body – face and arms – that see alot of sunshine. I protect these parts of my body from the sun. What I'm doing is getting regular sun on all the rest of my body – my inner thighs, my armpits, everywhere. Just a few minutes a day around noon provides plenty of vitamin D.
Sunning and running is my prescription for losing weight – I wrote a blog entry with that title. I was also interested in your comments about other vitamins. I hope you read through the rest of my blog with an open mind about my view that vitamins A, B1, B3, C, and sunlight (D) are special. Optimize those first to get the most benefits at the lowest risk.
I want to comment again on your statement about not knowing who to believe. As unlikely as it is, you really should believe me. I am a career scientist with the best education the world has ever had to offer (New England Prep School, Ivy League College, Ivy League Ph.D. in Chemistry). Although I don't work in medicine, I study catalyst aging for industry and have a unusually deep understanding about the true complexity of the world. I know better than anyone how very small changes in conditions can result in huge improvements in health and longevity.
I write this blog to help people optimize vitamin intake. My purpose was to teach about vitamin benefits. I never intended to focus much on the side effects. This blog entry on vitamin D is important to me because it should boost my credibility. I hope that the millions of people around the world taking vitamin D supplements and suffering because of it will look at the rest of my advice with a more open mind and push their physicians to reconsider my cause.
We are living amidst and epidemic of poor health caused by vitamin deficiency. More and more pills with more and more surgical procedures inevitably leads to a slow and painful death. The path to health is vitamins and antibiotics. Thanks so much for contributing.
Steve
Dear Sarah,
Thanks for your comment.
Please please please – enough with the vitamin D supplements. What problem would a naturopath have with sunshine? Why would you risk harm to those who come to you for advice when vitamin D can be safely obtained from the sun.
Do you need to watch out for aging and skin cancer? Yes yes yes. But the sun can be used safely. At low doses (and even pretty high doses), sunshine is associated with longevity – not with death from cancer. Do some people need to be more careful with the sun then others? Yes. Of course.
Talk to me. What's the argument for pills being a safer way to get vitamin D than sunshine. Where's the evidence that vitamin D from pills isn't even more dangerous than just these side effects under discussion. Who's to say that low doses of vitamin D as pills isn't doing harm? Why does everyone assume the vitamin D pills are safer than careful use of sunshine?
Hi, Thankyou so much for this post. I am a Naturopath in Australia and have until reading this dosed clients with vitamin D supplements according to blood test results and the reccomendations of the vitamin D council.
I am currently looking into Metabolic typing (determining whether you are a fast or slow oxidiser). I know that for slow oxidisers vitamin D and calcium supplements are NOT reccomended (even if low) and I wonder if this is the missing link behind why some people experience side effects on relativly low doses while others experience no adverse effects while taking high doses for extended periods of time.
I will post more info regarding this if it's relevant in case it's helpful to someone as I have found the comments here to be very helpful and informative.
Sarah
Thank you so much for your post. I have been on 50,000IU of Vitamin D twice a week for a month now and 5,000IU the other five days of the weeks. I have been experiencing: insomnia, nausea, headache, dizziness, light sensitivity, tooth sensitivity, belly pain, and blood in stool. I could not find a moderate list of side effects to this vitamin for larger doses til I found your blog. I am only on this regime for 3months til my Vitamin D levels hit 50% normal. I have 75% lower levels than typical for a 20yr female living in the South.
After reading your blog i am sure you will be able to help me. I live in India and my son 11 yrs was found to have a TSH of 13 and vit D3 level of less than 5. doc put him on calcirol granules i.e 60,000iu of D3 1sachet/week for 4 months. i stopped giving him after 14 weeks as he developed a bad cough and cold at that time that would not go with any med.i thought then it was seasonal and i redid the tests along with ESR and esnophill which came normal and found his TSH level has come down to 4 and d has gone up to 22. its more than 2 months now that he has been having itching in the eyes and nose at daytime,sneezing,cold and cough(especially at night) and no treatment is working. do you think (1)is it the side effects of D or an allergy? (2)how would i know if this is because of cal deposit in his blood?(3)is it safe to give cod liver oil instead as i am sure his levels will drop over time and again TSH will rise.its 3 am now here and i am having my hopes that you would be able to ans me as no doc here knows much about vit D.thank you
For a couple of weeks now, a friend of mine has been having many of these symptoms. She has nausea, headaches, dry/irritated eyes, constipation, she can't eat anything because then she becomes really sick, vomitting, weak and tired alot, insomnia, itchy skin, whelps that randomly appear and then disappear, and a few others on your list. But the thing that worries me is that she has ( Not to gross anyone out) but random irregular clotting when she urinates. She says she can feel something in her lower stomach like a knot, but she's in no wise pregnant. She's in her mid 30's and Im very worried about her. She's super stubborn about going to the doctor. Is there any way maybe this "overdose in Vitamin D" could be her problem?
Hello Steve,
I am now quite sure that after 6 weeks of D3 50,000IU, that I am left with these side effects:
1. Dull pain in the right side of my abdomin.
2. numbness in my left foot.
3. frequent numbness in my left side of my tongue.
4. fatique all day.. could not wake up from bed easily.
5. cracking bones especially knees when walking up the stairs.
When I stop for 30 days this abdominal pain goes away. My GI did all kinds of tests but could not figure out the cause!
Dear Rachana,
Please be careful with the vitamin D for your son. Itchy eyes, sneezing, and coughing are indeed common vitamin D side effects.
You'll see that I recommend sunshine instead of supplements. Your son need only lie down on the ground in a bathing suit for 2 minutes on each side sometime in the middle of the day to get something close to 10,000 IU of vitamin D. A short exposure like this carries no risk of sunburn.
I also recommend you try:
10,000 IU vitamin A per week
250 mg time release niacin two or three times per week
2000 to 4000 mg of vitmin C per day
If your son doesn't respond, try adding a tetracycline antibiotic for 30 days under the supervision of a physician.
Hope your son is thriving soon,
Steve
Alsogair,
Thanks for sharing your story.
It's amazing how much discomfort vitamin D can cause without knocking something surveyed in today's sophisticated blood tests out of the range of normal.
So – there's not a test for everything yet. Sometimes you still have to listen to the patients!
Thanks for your story,
Steve
Dear Anonymous,
Please get your friend to a doctor. You are right to be worried!
My generic advice for improved health – sunshine, vitamin B1, niacin, vitamin C, vitamin A, and tetracycline antibiotics will do no harm but are no substitute for a hospital when a emergency may be at hand.
Please try again to get your friend to seek medical attention ASAP.
Good luck,
Steve
Dear steve,
This is Alsogair again. You mentioned this in your response to an anonymous blogger:
My generic advice for improved health – sunshine, vitamin B1, niacin, vitamin C, vitamin A, and tetracycline antibiotics will do no harm.
I would like to improve my general health and my queastions are: How much of these vitamines is enough, how often, and how long?
Thank you very much.
Dear steve,
You mentioned exposing oneselve to sunshine while on tetracycline and I noticed that drugs.com has an important note on this, and I am quoting them here:
"Avoid exposure to sunlight or artificial UV rays (sunlamps or tanning beds). Tetracycline can make your skin more sensitive to sunlight and sunburn may result. Use a sunscreen (minimum SPF 15) and wear protective clothing if you must be out in the sun".
Thank you.
Alsogair
Alsogair,
Thanks for your interest.
Here are the starting doses I recommend:
10,000 IU vitamin A once per week
250 mg time release niacin two or three times per week
2000 to 4000 mg/day of vitamin C
An obscure form of thiamine known as TTFD – 50 mg two or three times per week
Plenty of sunshine for the vitamin D
The tetra-cycline advice is temporary – one to 6 months of tetra-cycline max. If you are going to start tetracycline immediately, then you need to be even more careful with sun exposure. What's needed to make vitamin D is a small fraction of what causes sunburn, and the tetracycline dose I recommend is the standard low dose prescription for one to 6 months under the supervision of a physician (basically the standard treatment for Lyme disease). You have to have a physician's supervision in the U.S. and that's for a good reason. The vitamins and sunshine you can go ahead with on your own.
Don't hesitate to ask more questions and good luck,
Steve
Hi,
I suffer from shoulder muscle spasm
for 8 years and nothing seemed to work out for me until I discrovered that my body was short of D3 (B12 was 420). This spasm is very annoying as it reaches up my neck and prolongs up to the left part of my head blocking my left ear sometimes. My left leg felt very weak. I suffer alot during winter.
I am on (BION3) which is a multi-vitamin + minerals and probiotic nutrients. I take one tablet a day after breakfast. The GI prescribed this after my last visit to him complaining of fatigue and irratable pain in the right side of my abdomin due to 50,000IU capsule of D3.
The tetracycline with the vitamins you mentioned… Would this icrease the D3 level and help me?
Thank you.
Alsogair,
If you can get into a bathing suit and get into the sun near mid day on most sunny days, you will make more vitamin D than you can tolerate from pills, and I would expect your blood levels to rise as well. Keep in mind, it is tissue levels of vitamin D that are important – not blood levels. These are usually correlated, but not always. If you are getting into the sun as I recommend – you are doing the best you can for vitamin D. Go ahead and take pills too – but I'd be amazed if you could tolerate pills and sunshine at the same time without side effects. There is a reasonable possibility that you will be unhappy with how the sun makes you feel. There is a consensus in the entire medical community (a rare thing) that sunshine does not cause vitamin D side effects.
Taking the other vitamins and the antibiotic can only help.
I've been at this a long time. I believe your primary objective should be to get worse more slowly. I'm positive the vitamins and antibiotics will help with that. Your secondary objective should be to stop getting worse. I think there is a high probability of success. Actually getting better from chronic conditions from vitamins and antibiotics will take time, and you will be prone to believing that it was something else you did, and not the vitamins and antibiotics, that make you feel better. I just want you to feel better a year from now.
You will, in the future, experience new discomforts. Everyone does. If you are following my advice and taking lots of vitamins, it is important to rule out vitamins as a cause. Vitamin side effects fade quickly. I recommend a 3 day vitamin fast at least twice a year to protect against unexpected side effects. If you have any questions, please keep on coming back to ask.
Hope you are feeling better soon,
Steve
Thank you so much for your response. I would like you to elaborate more on this: "I recommend a 3 day vitamin fast at least twice a year to protect against unexpected side effects."
Does this include tetracyclin?
Alsogair,
Vitamins are central to nutrition. You must get vitamins from food and/or supplements for the rest of your life. Tetracycline is a drug that is highly toxic to any bacteria lurking in your body. When attacked by both tetracycline and your immune system, almost all bacterial infections can be eliminated. You need a physician's supervision for tetracycline and he/she will rarely advise use of antibiotics for more than 3 months.
Steve, Thanks so much for your time, advice and information. It is a real ministry and I am so grateful for it! I've read through your post and all the comments and have learned a lot.
I have experienced what seem to be vitamin D overdose symptoms, quite suddenly in the last few weeks after taking around 5,000 IUs a day for several years (muscle weakness, fatique, insomnia, anxiety & heart pounding at night, nausea, loose bowel movements, low appetite). I have now cut down to 650 IUs and also reduced my Calcium, and things have improved a bit over the last few days. I live in Northern Ireland where we do not get much sun!!
I have some questions for you, please:
1) Would taking K2 speed up the process of clearing the excess Vitamin D from my body? I was taking it, but am unsure of it's interaction so have stopped it as well.
2) I noticed that Vitamin E overdose has many similar side-effects, and I have been taking over 500 IU of Vit E a day during the past few years as well. So I cut it down as well. Now I'm not sure which it was, or if it was both of them!
3) I started progesterone drops (Progest-E by Dr. Ray Peat) about the same time I started getting the toxicity symptoms (about a month ago) to stop abnormal levels of bleeding I was suddenly getting all summer. (I have PCOS so knew I was low in progesterone, but creams hadn't worked for me.) They have vitamin E in them to speed up delivery to the bloodstream. Could progesterone increase Vitamin D symptoms at all?
Thank you so very much for all your help!!
Mary
Mary,
Thanks for your comment.
You have asked three difficult questions. Please let me know if you get good answers to any of them.
I don't know much about vitamin K. I'd be surprised if it helped clear out vitamin D any faster.
Good idea to stop vitamins altogether – both D and E – until your sypmtoms are completely gone.
I don't know anything about progesterone/vitamin D interactions. Progesterone is an important hormone. It is certainly possible that the progesterone did something to reduce the tolerance of your body to vitamin D. However, I have no data to support this idea.
Even in Northern Ireland there is sun. In fact, there is plenty of sun in the summertime. The hard part is getting into the sun without much clothing. Northern Ireland is short on warmth – even in the summer.
Tanning salons are springing up everywhere. I saw tons of them in London. Many tanning salons have beds that produce extra vitamin D. If you can't get in the sun, the tanning salons are a practical alternative.
Measured low in Vit D and started 3 months taking D3, 2000 IU 2x day and now my Vit D level is normal. I believe I am suffering D3 toxicity b/c bowel changes from 1x to 3xs daily. Anybody experience bowel changes with D3?
Josie,
Diarrhea is on the Mayo Clinic list. Lots of other people have had extra bowell movements or worse.
Thanks for your comment,
Steve
My Vitamin D3 level came out to be 8.8 and the doctor prescribed me VitD3 shots (600000 I.U) once a month. I got my second shot yesterday and since then i have been feeling drowsy. The drowsiness seems better now but i started experiencing pain in my lower left abdomen and the left side. I experienced similar pain last month when i got the first shot. Is it because of the Vitamin D shots? Please help! Should i get the third shot?
Dear Depressed Gal,
The shots are highly unlikely to be doing you any real harm – they just cause alot of discomfort.
If you want to raise your vitamin D levels without any risk of discomfort, get regular sunshine being careful to not get anywhere close to burning.
If you choose to stick with supplements, 1000 IU/day is a very safe dose that, after a year, will get your vitamin D levels up alot.
Good luck,
Steve
I was prescribed 50,000 mg twice a week of vitamin d3 after blood test showed that my levels we around 15. After a few weeks I began to suffer from unbearable night sweats and hot flashes. I also developed debiliating fatigue. When I checked with local pharmacists and the on call nurse as my doctor, they insisted that my symptoms were not due to the suppliments , but were instead menopausal symptoms. I went to another dr, who ordered hormone tests, which came back in normal ranges for a perimenipausal woman. I got to a point where I was so exhausted that I had to leave my workplace because of the fatigue. I went back to the physician who prescibed the Vitamin D3 high dose suppliments. He informed me that the vitamins could cause flushing,and to discontinue their use. I went on regular doses of 1000 units twice a day. I have not had a single hot flash since I discontinued the high doses. Energy levels are back to normal.
Hi. I first got into contact with vitamin D during my christmas holidays. After reading tons of information about the positive effects of vitamin D I was really excited to get started on it. I took one 1000IU tablet and all of my existing symptoms worsened a lot. When I take even smallest doses of vitamin D3 I get tingling legs/feet and overwhelming fatigue. It feels as if somebody is dragging me down. I just want to lie down and sleep but this doesn't work because of the insomnia the vitamin D3 is causing. There is also a strange feeling in my back which is difficult to describe.
After a single dose of 1000IU these symptoms usually subside 2-3 days later. However, I couldn't believe that such an important vitamin could be causing these problems. Several months later I ordered 5000IU vitamin D3 gelcaps and took one 3 weeks prior to my final exams – Worst decision I ever made. I got all of the symptoms described above and it took me 2 weeks to recover… Yesterday, 1.5 years later, I tried 500IU haha you know the result!
I just can't understand why I get so many problems from oral vitamin D3 supplementation whereas sun doesn't seem to be a problem for me. I seriously doubt that 500iu is an overdose. I am wondering if there is any connection between autoimmune diseases (I have hashimoto's and suspected addison's) and intolerance to vitamin D3 supplements.
Thanks for your excellent post on Vitamin D. I took one 50,000 iu Vit D supplement four days ago as prescribed. I took it before I went to sleep and serious tooth pain woke me up 6 hours later. For four days now, I've been experiencing significant pain every time I open my mouth and air hits my gums around 4 lower and 3 upper teeth; it also happens anytime I eat anything even slightly hot or cold. My nurse practitioner husband told me it couldn't possibly be related to taking one Vit. D capsule, so I'm thrilled and feeling validated after reading your blog. My irritability has also increased. I'm hoping the pain vanishes by the end of the week and I will try a few minutes of sunshine daily in lieu of taking any more supplements. Thank you!
Dear Diana,
Thank you thank you thank you for your comment. Really – these comments keep me going. If you read my most recent post, you'll see how discouraged I can get.
I, too, have to stand up to the establishments. I always knew I was right about myself. I was less certain that what I had to say was generally true. The outpouring of comments at this blog – with yours being and important addition – are proof positive that the facts are indeed the facts.
Is there any chance your husband will reconsider his position?
Again – thanks.
Steve
I am very thankful for your blog on Vit D toxicity. I recently had a blood test and my Vit D level was 14. I was put on 50000 I.u. Once a week of Vit D. it is 3 weeks since I started taking them and I feel very tired and drowsy most of the day, pain in the bone and muscles especially in the legs. My eyes hurt and feel weird. Feel like closing them whole day long. I read your blog today and decided to stop the Vit D as I know that it is overdose.Thanks for verifying my suspicion. Wilma
Dear Wilma,
Thanks so much for your kind words and for taking the time to testify. There is a raging controversy around vitamin D and it is very important that those harmed by vitamin D speak up.
That said, your low blood levels of vitamin D are a big problem. Please consider getting into the sun more to get your levels up.
In addition to sunshine, I've recently started using a UVB producing lamp. I'm worried about damaging my skin, but I'm also worried about low vitamin D levels. So I keep on working to find the right balance for me. All the input from readers is helpful.
Thanks again,
Steve
I tried reading all these comments, but finally started skimming the last 25%. Why aren't there any dates on these comments? Just time of the day, which tells me nothing. I've found the comments very interesting. I've been using Vit. D for several months and recently increased the dose. I wake up with headaches in the night, which is another story altogether, but the Vit D stopped those awful headaches. But….I feel really slow in the mornings and very tired during the day. I've had increased stress at work and have been experiencing the "feelings of doom" for a couple weeks. I've wondered if the Vit D is causing the feelings of depression and when I read a comment on "feelings of doom" I could really identify. I think I will lower the dose to see what happens. I was taking 5000 IU and when I bought a new bottle about 2 wks ago, the bottle had 2000 IU instead of the original 1000 IU per tablet I was taking, and I increased by 5000 IUs all at once without realizing it. The fatique and depression type feelings is why I did an Internet search. I'm hoping I can change my dose and find a good balance. I'm wondering if how the Vit D is derived, from health store instead of drug store brands, make a difference in the side effects?
Dear Anonymous,
I've written a number of posts on vitamin D besides this one. Aspects of my other posts are at least tangentially directed at your question.
I recommend sunshine/UVB lamps to maximize benefits while minimizing side effects. I don't take any vitamin D supplements. I feel strongly enough about it that I don't take multivitamins mostly because of the vitamin D.
If I'm not answering your question, please leave another comment and ask the question again.
Steve
My vitamin D levels were checked because I started HIV medication, my Vitamin D came under 10 nmol/L, I was started on 4000 I/U per day and it went up to around 60 nmol/L, they increased my dosage to 5000 I/U and my vitamin D went down to around 45 nmol/L, so they then prescribed me an injectable form of vitamin D in the amount of 250,000 IU – since the injection I have felt horrible. I have been extremely exausted, sleeping around 12 hours a day, getting really tired easily, nausea, vomiting, metallic taste in my mouth, thirsty, decrease in appetite, I went to the hospital and I was told I wasted my time by going there and that I had to "ride out" the side effects. I had the vitamin D injection a week and a half ago.
Dear Anonymous,
Thanks so much for your comment.
Who is they anyway? Is there a new "standard of care" for HIV that includes vitamin D supplements or requires physicians to use vitamin D supplements to get vitamin D test results of >60?
Do you have any control over your treatment? Can you refuse the vitamin D supplements and use sunlight or a UVB lamp instead, or will "they" prevent it?
I'm so sorry about your health problems. I wish I had something useful to say.
Thanks again for leaving your comment. "They" will believe in vitamin D side effects sooner as the testimony here accumulates.
Steve
I take vitamin for about 2 months and the dose is 4000-6000IU. The first month I have experience: constipation, loss of appetite, and strong chest pain (when I press my stern I feel pain). The positive was: I don’t get the cold so often. The only symptoms I still have after 2 months are lack of appetite and chest pain and the sensation that i don’t get enough air.
Sorry for my English, is not my native language.
Dear Anonymous,
Thanks so much for leaving your comment in English. Your English is excellent, and your comment is crystal clear.
I'm glad to hear that vitamin D is helping you to prevent colds. I believe it helps me too.
I'm interested to know if your side effects will, indeed, go away with time even though you are taking 4000-6000 IU vitamin D every day.
If you read other sections of my blog, you'll see that I stopped using vitamin D pills and switched to a sunlamp. If you read my most recent blog, you'll see why I'm concerned about vitamin D pills.
Thanks again for your comment.
Steve
Hello all,
Having been severely vit D deprived for more than a decade has had monumental effects on my health. When it was finally discovered at Dartmouth I was at a 5. All of the overdose effects was something I was going through at the low end of D.
In my experience ANY med and/or condition the "effects" has been close to the same whether levels are too high or too low.
I was put on 50,000 a day for 3 weeks then lowered to once a week. I can not say my legs hurt more getting on D because people could not walk on wood floor near me as I sat on couch, my dogs tail wagging would hurt my leg bones. My doctors said they were surprised I could still walk.
Granted, taking the D didnt help my mental function ( I was told I was down right mean and confused) but one month later I feel 85% better. I lost a decade of my life to vit D, I have no problem trading one more month of grumpy and confused to get my life back. I no longer must sleep with a pillow between my knees, I can walk up a hill without hurting. Best of all, my brain isnt screaming in pain anymore.
I am very bitter at my past docs who were willing to throw every pain pill and anti depressant at me and give me all these garbage can labels all in lieu of a simple blood test. This is all just my testimonial and experiences. Hope it may help others……….. …………………………
And I learned my grandma was right, Too much of anything or too little isnt good for you, life is a balance.
hi everybody,
I read this thread with great interest the other night because I have been through all the same symptoms. In short the answer to 95% of the symptoms people are experiencing here is magnesium.
Magnesium!
In short, Vitamin D requires a lot of magnesium to activate, and if you are taking high doses of Vitamin D, you are going to use up your magnesium reserves quickly. This is why people often feel good for the first week or two of vitamin D supplementation – they are using their stored magnesium to help vitamin D work as normal. Once the body's magnesium stores start to deplete, symptoms of magnesium deficiency start to show up (just search google for magnesium deficiency and you will recognize all the symptoms listed here).
After extensive research, motivated by my own symptoms, it turns out that magnesium is an essential cofactor for metabolizing vitamin D. Just a quick note on my background – I have a master's degree from MIT and take my research very seriously, so I am passing this information along to help everyone experiencing these terrible problems.
Essentially, Vitamin D soaks magnesium up like a sponge, and if you don't have enough in reserve plus enough coming in in your diet and/or through supplements you start to experience all the symptoms people are posting (and I have experienced myself):
tinnitus (ringing in the ears)
irritability
twitiching
cramps
anxiety
photophobia
headaches
constipation
extreme fatigue
etc, etc
Most all the of the major vitamin D proponents out there (vitaminDcouncil included) mention magnesium as a vitamin D co-factor, but dont emphasize how CRITICALLY important it is! Without it you will quickly start to experience magnesium deficiency symptoms.
Everybody here should run, not walk, out to the health food store and pick up some chelated magnesium (the most easily absorbed form). This resolved all of my symptoms, and gave me back the benefits of the vitamin D again.
Unfortunately, doctors generally have no idea about this because vitamins and minerals fall under "nutrition" in their medical school classes and are not pathological. Combine this with the fact that only 1% of the body's magnesium is in serum (i.e. in the blood stream), which means there is no simple blood test to show deficiency or sufficiency of a person's magnesium stores.
______
end part 1.
start part 2
________________
Just a side story to show how critical magnesium is to health. I have had a co-worker for the past couple years who has complained to me of the panic attacks that he experiences every night bedtime for the past seven years – very similar to what Woodnil describes in her post ( I hope you read this Woodnil). I never had an answer for him, and he is not an anxious guy at work. But last summer my magnesium levels hit rock bottom (I had no idea at the time that this was the problem) – I started getting migraines for the first time in my life at 37, photophobia (had to wear sunglasses indoors), sore neck, sore jaw, metallic taste in my mouth, no energy, ringing in my ears, foggy mind, etc. I was sure I had a brain tumor, but my research turned up magnesium deficiency and supplementation fixed my problems. Anyways, I had a bottle of magnesium with me at work (chelated of course), and gave my co-worker 200mg to take that night. He slept like a baby! Best sleep he had had in years according to him. He got some magnesium of his own, and has slept and felt great since. Cured overnight, and now a huge proponent of magnesium for anxiety.
The body really does crave magnesium, and with high Vitamin D needs even more. Most of us sadly get insufficient amounts in our diet. Please everybody, do a little search for yourself and educate yourselves on magnesium deficiency. This is the underlying mechanism for all the 'toxicity' people are experiencing taking their vitamin D, the vitamin D itself is not the problem.
I am not a big blogger or social networker, but I felt I needed to share this with everyone here because there is no need for these terrible symptoms to continue, they are quite simple to remedy. Vitamin D is great, but it just needs magnesium. Feel better everyone!
kind regards,
Scott
Scott,
The magnesium theory has come up at this blog before. I'll make the same comment I did last time.
1) Sunshine does not cause vitamin D side effects – with or without magnesium.
2) No matter how much magnesium you take, vitamin D supplements will always cause side effects at a high enough dose.
Vitamin D side effects are very real. I'm sure magnesium can help alleviate side effects for some people. I'm not sure that's good news. Side effect suppresion now could mean more serious side effects later.
Are you really suggesting that folks ignore serious pain and continue to take the vitamin D that is responsible in the hopes that magnesium will help?
Readers: if you are in pain and suspect vitamin D side effects – stop all vitamin D supplements and go see a physician. When you are feeling better again, try getting more sunshine.
Steve
I have been taking Vitamin D3 for about 2 years. I have taken them off and on. A couple of months ago, I injured one of my foot. I started back taking the vitamins and I have noticed severe pain in both feet and ankles. I failed to mention that almost a year earlier, I broke my other ankle. After the pain was so excruciating , I stopped taking the D3 vitamins and the pain has subsided. I talked to my podiatrist about it and she was really concerned. Is anyone else experiencing this type of pain? The pain is not like in the joints nor can I compare it to muscle pain, but severe, debilitaing pain.
Dear Anonymous,
I quit vitamin D supplements because of the side effects and now get vitamin D exclusively from sunlight and a sunlamp.
I have not had side effects as serious as yours, but I am getting sharp pains in my ankles. Not debilitating – but really annoying. My perception, from the start, was that the pain was just neurological fake pain – not real pain indicating a problem. When I run, the pain goes away.
I can easily imagine this kind of pain getting out of control and being debilitating. I think it doesn't happen to me because I don't take supplements.
I recommend that you stop the supplements and give UVB light (sunshine or sunlamps) a try.
Careful with the sunlamps.
Steve
Hello people – I'm up at 1:16 am with welts and itching all over – and THANKS for everyone's comments, because I believe I have confirmed my original problem. Too much Vit D! After taking doctor's advice in October I originally felt much better, but started itching around the ribs at Xmas time which got slowly worse (hot-cold sweats at night, with the side I sleep on more effected by rash). Thanks for the clues about how long this might take to clear up! Have also noticed the extra thirst and tooth sensitivitly (just finished three days at the dental clinic – now onto the unbearable rash problem). I hope this is the answer – doctor visits cost money and rarely come up with anything useful for me. I was pleased with the results of the Vit D which I was supposed to be mildly deficient in and I think I just over did it.
Dear Unknown,
Thanks for your comments!
I'm excited to hear from another person who remains committed to vitamin D despite the difficulties. Please let me know if you manage to work this out with supplements. Instead of supplements, I chose to press on with sunshine and sunlamps because of the universal agreement that sunshine does not cause vitamin D side effects – no matter how much sun. I am approaching a maximum practical amount of sunshine and am finding the minor discomforts I believe are caused by the light to be fading away to no discomforts. All the while I feel like I am slowly becoming healthier.
Readers – please keep the comments coming.
Thanks thanks thanks for participating.
Steve
I am so glad I have found this blog. Living in a northern climate, I have been taking 1200 IU of Vit. D (3×400 IU daily) I'd say for a month in December and now since 2 weeks, 2000 to 3000 IU daily (new bottle of 1000 IU tablets this time). I have been browsing the web all morning to look for hints as of to why I have been having sleep problems since about 3 weeks and hot/cold flashes.
I am almost 44 yrs old now so the first thing that came to mind was perimenopause eek! as I have had my periods earlier for the past 2 months but my main symptom, which is having those hot and cold flashes almost ALL day is getting worse every day now since a week. My face feels really warm and tingly, I just feel like I want to let it drop in a bucket full of ice ! Then I get really cold for a min or two then again warm.
In the night it's the same and I wake up so often and in my case, this is something really rare as I usually sleep without waking up and falling asleep in a second too, now I feel anxious getting in bed and it's hard to relax, feeling I have to take deep breaths all the time. Now sleeping like this makes me feel more irritable in the daytime and I have also had some irregular, 'stronger' heartbeats last night too while just watching tv.
It feels like these hot/cold episodes are getting worse every day now and it's really uncomfortable feeling my face hot like that most of the times and when it's like that I have some slight headaches as well.
Now reading your blog I just realized that the symptoms kind of appeared since taking the vitamin D. I will stop taking them now and see if it makes a difference, hopefully it will come back to normal for in a month I am going on vacation ! Thanks for all your info.
— Val.
Dear Val,
Great comment – thanks!
Comments like this are so important. Your symptoms strike me as unusual – hot flashes are not the typical first symptom of vitamin D overdose. It's the heart symptoms that make me believe you've got the right diagnosis. Some kind of chest pain/heart irregularity seems is a common link between almost every complaint about vitamin D overdose.
I hope you'll consider getting vitamin D from the sun (and since you live in the North – from sunlamps in the winter). When I was taking supplements, the side effects just got worse and worse. When I switched to sunshine, the side effects have slowly faded away.
I'm sorry that vitamin D from the sun is 100% good for your health while vitamin D supplements cause problems at well below the doses needed to achieve maximum benefit.
Thanks again for taking the time to comment.
Steve
3 years ago I was found to have low calcium levels and was prescribed Calcit D3. After 1 week I was quite ill, felt sick, had ringing in my ears, palpatations and panicky feelings and burning eyes. Continued to take calcit D3 as advised my symptoms esculated blurred vision, tingling sensations, insomnia, swaying feeling in my head, muscle twitching, myoclonic type jerks in all limbs (which caused me to fall over). I stopped the medication after 2 months, against advice and slowly started to feel better, it took months to be completely symptom free. Following this I developed a goiter, maybe coincidence. I am now pregnant and was given maternity vitamins which happen to have vitamin D in them (only 10iu) after 2 weeks of taking I have a dry mouth, ringing in my ears and feel generally unwell. I have stopped taking them as I have learnt the hard way that oral vit D does not agree with me. Not one Dr has ever said my symptoms could be due to vit D.
Dear Anonymous,
Thanks so much for your comments.
As I have said repeatedly, not one doctor was required to read "The Nutritional Biochemistry of the Vitamins" – the only textbook there is on vitamin biochemistry. Since Doctors don't know the basics about vitamin D, they have no reason to understand it's toxicity.
I'm sorry you have to consult with amateurs on the web to get basic information that is central to health and wellness.
I don't have the answer to this problem. In the meantime, at least the web exists and you can get good information here.
Steve
I'm having trouble reading the most recent comments
Steve
I got Vitamin Do25 hydroxy test done and found my levels as 330. These are too high. I am a CAD/HT and osteoporosis patient n78 years of age. are there any medications for contorlling such hight level of D
jkljkkl
Dear NM,
I'm going to assume you are taking vitamin D supplements. If not, let me know and disregard these comments.
If you are taking supplements, the way to "control" your high vitamin D level is to stop taking supplements and switch to sunshine/sunlamps. Vitamin D levels of 330 are an unusual result from sunshine/sunlamp exposure.
You have coronary artery disease, hypertension, and osteoporosis. In my mind, you fall in my category of folks with much to gain and nothing to lose from giving vitamins and antibiotics a try.
Here's a link to my recent blog on the subject:
http://ctheblog.cforyourself.com/2011/02/vitamins-and-antibiotics-may-cure_05.html
Typing vitamins antibiotics osteoporosis into google brings this link up as the first hit.
I hope you give the vitamins and antibiotics a try and report back soon that you are feeling better.
Here's to your health,
Steve
Has anyone experienced lower abdominal cramping of a low-grade nature? I feel it 50-75% of my waking hours and it seems to have coincided with my D3 increase.
I can't figure out if this is a sporadic/chronic condition because of my 4,000IU D3 2x daily, or if it's a food sensitivity.
interesting to read through. I have been taking 8000 iu's a day for about 2 years per my doctor's idea to support my bones which were losing density. I will say I was rather sporadic for one year but this past 5 months I have been very regular. I have also taken about 600 mg of Calcium in a bone supplement- which included probably 600 of D too. I had a blood test this week to check on my bones with a specialist and I got a quick call back from the doctor that my serum calcium was quite high. He said to stop taking all supplements and drink lots of water and I will have another blood test in a week. I had no side effects that I was aware of but he said that taking a lot of Vit D can affect the way calcium is used in the body. So I will see what happens. Reading on the internet I can see that high blood calcium is not a good thing at all. My moods have been really up and down this week which has been interesting. But hard to say why as I stopped all supplements at the same time. At any rate I am glad I had this test.
My regular blood test in August was fine so think my rigorous regularity in taking supplements since then has obviously changed something. All for now.
I am week 3 of 50,000 IU/week of Vit D. I had a Vit D level of 18 in June and progressed to 11 in November with 2 spontaneous rib fractures during this period (dr says i have osteomalacia). I cannot get supplementation from the sun due to UV-activated SLE (lupus). I can flair even from exposure to UV lights in stores, so I wear 80 SPF on all exposed skin every day and avoid sun before 2pm. I am now experiencing tinnitus, anxiety and fatigue. Given the long half-life of Vit D, should I wait 30 days before starting to supplement at a lower dose like 2000 IU or should I just start taking 2000 IU next week and quit the 50,000 IU/week dosing?
Dear Sombug,
I'm so sorry about your health problems. My thoughts are with you.
I'm so sorry that you have Lupus.
Don't give up on getting your Lupus under control and then being able to get vitamin D from sunshine.
In the meantime, I don't see the harm of giving my general advice for difficult cases a try. If you type "vitamins prevent hip replacement" into google, a column will come up where I recommend a tetracycline type antibiotic and specific doses of vitamins A, B1, B3, C and sunshine. I'd be amazed if this advice cured Lupus – but amazing things occasionally happen. You've got much to gain and almost nothing to lose by giving the vitamins and antibiotics I recommend a try.
Dear Anonymous,
Cramping and diarhea are on the list of vitamin D side effects. Quit the supplements and see if goes away.
Presumably you've gotten the message that I recommend that you start back up on vitamin D using sunshine/sunlamps instead of supplements.
Steve
Wow…I was put on Vitamin D by my doctor because my d level was low according to a blood test. She started me on 1000 units a day. I gradually notice more cramps, constipation, more headaches, joint and muscle pains, fatigue, irritability, etc..etc…She now wants me on 50,000 units weekly for 8 wks…the first dose, I cannot use my left hand, my entire body, calves, thighs muscles are achy and spasming. I have severe constipation and sharp stabbing abdominal pains that sometimes are so bad I am bent over in pain. My bones ache. My heart palpitates and sometimes feels like it will jump out of my body. I feel extremely tired. It has been 2 days since i took a vit d pill as i thought it could be coming from that and am wondering how long it will take to feel better? This is horrible!
Dear Anonymous,
With any luck, you will feel better every day and near normal in just a couple of weeks.
Keep these reports coming. The doctors aren't listening carefully enough yet.
Steve
Hello there!
I started taking vitamin d (oil version) when i was getting sick. I got a flu and vitamin D got me off from the flu within 3 days. on the second day my running nose was all great and the high fever was gone. I took 240mg. Now i've experimented with the vit D intake. Taken it 1000iu-10 000iu per day. the only side effect i have is louder tinnitus. But i am also an athlete and work out a lot, i guess that might be one of the reasons i dont get all these other symptoms at so high dosage. I live in Estonia (we dont have much sun here in the winter) so that must be one of these reasons as well.
At the time when i took 2000iu per day the vit d level in my blood was 67. I have tried to look up the upper limits of vit d level in the blood, but i've not found it. Do you have any ideas what the D in blood range could be?
When i first started using it i got so much energy and so much strenght, i feel myself like a monster in the gym sometimes, because i dont get tired that easily and all.
Also i watched a youtube video where one person commented about vitamin d side effects and such, he thought they are not from vit d but rather magnesium (spasms and such). but i dont have personal experience with the cramps.
From time to time i take little to none of vit d, depending on how i feel. Also it seems to me that the vitamin d oil drops are more effective than the pills. I guess if i would take the pills with bunch of olive oil it would be more effective as well, but i've just taken the pills.
Ive never got sensitive teeth, just louder tinnitus, also feels like i have higher blood pressure, but in reality its not higher, just feels that way.
A month after my doctor recommended that I double my Vitamin D because it has been found to prevent cancer and other health problems, I woke up with vertigo and then later developed tinnitus. I had to diagnose myself because the doctors said nothing could be done for the tinnitus. After discontinuing the Vitamin D and Calcium supplements many of the symptoms went away, but the tinnitus is still driving me crazy. I have read that some people are more sensitive to Vitamin D and that my Norwegian heritage may be the cause. My ancestors' bodies had to use their Vitamin D efficiently. So Vitamin D supplements effect people differently according to their ethnic background. It has been a month since I stopped the supplements but wish I knew what to do about the tinnitus. Will it eventually go away, also?
Dear Anonymous,
One month is not enough to return vitamin D levels to where they were before supplements. You need to give the process six months before concluding that the tinnitus will not fade away with the vitamin D. I sure hope it does. Let us know if it doesn't.
Just because the supplements caused you problems, don't give up on getting the benefits of vitamin D. Get out more in the sun and get vitamin D the natural way. It can take months to get used to getting more sunshine. Just hang in there. There is universal consensus in the literature that sunshine does not cause vitamin D side effects.
Steve
jkljkl
This may be an old article, but I thought i would still chime in. I was given 50,000 IUs of vitamin D from a doctor to take weekely. By that evening, on the first night, my feet had swollen up like bread in a pan. Then over the next week, the bones in my feet started to hurt and I was getting a fever almost every night. The fever was from 100-104. The doctors told me that the vitamin D had nothing to do with these issues. As I kept taking the vitamin D I would get worse. The fevers were getting harder to control and the pain in my feet and lower legs were nearly unbearable. Every joint my body started to swell. I couldn't walk or crawl. Finally one doctor said, "stop taking the Vitamin D". This was after I saw a Hematologist, Rheumatologist, and neurologist. One week later I was getting better. The fever, night sweats, aches and pains were starting to go away. Two weeks after I could go on a walk again down the street. One month later i could jog. Every now and then I still get a "twinge" of pain in my legs for a moment. Just a millisecond, then it's gone.
jkljkl
Thank you so much for your post. I was prescribed a daily dose of 50,000 ui 'experimental dose' for 6 days to treat a severe vitamin d deficiency (with normal calcium levels) to treat Osteomalacia and although I felt amazing whilst I was taking the pills, I found the side effects crept up on me afterwards.
Two days after the tablets I encountered skin sensitivity, akin to sunburn, and intense dull aching in the flank area. As I had also started calcium with Vitamin D3 I initially assumed it was that, and so stopped the tablets. However the feeling never completely went away.
I now have sharp shooting pains in my head, constipation, and severe muscle weakness to the point where my arms and shoulders burn when I hold my sister's newborn. I am going to call my GP now but having spent some time on Google am convinced that these problems are less about the Vitamin D and more about my GP not realising that high Vitamin D levels can cause a comparable spike in blood Calcium for those of us not used to consuming enough Calcium.
Dear Anonymous,
Thanks so much for your comment.
I don't understand why you would blame calcium and not the vitamin D supplements.
You may be right – but what if you are not. For sure, you need more vitamin D. For sure, sunshine does not cause side effects. So – why not get the vitamin D you need from sunshine instead of supplements?
If you continue on with >2000 IU/day of vitamin D and do not have any problems with side effects, please come on back here and let us know. I'm not looking to be right – I'm looking for data. It's a huge pain in the neck for me to get my vitamin D exclusively from sunshine and a sumlamp. If I can go back to supplements without harm, I will.
Steve
posting 3/15/2012: addition to original post of today- constipation and stomach pains- were also common with me when taking the supplements
march 15, 2012
my doctor put me on vitamin d 50,000 once a week for 8 weeks. after 5 weeks- itching of the skin, red eyes, skin rash, two bad colds (one with bad coughing and chest infection) and one severe stomack flu- keep in mind i have not been sick in YEARS with anything-I stopped taking it this week and still have a bad cold and itching. I am so glad I found your blog- it just confirms that it is thevitamn d. For the record I take iron with vitamin c, b suppliment and fish oil- in which i have no problem. Thanks again
Check out this:
http://bedsidereadings.com/health/a-brief-version-vitamin-d/
I find it hard to accept any one's information when they tell me to just trust them, but don't verify.
Tasting for Vitamin D deficiency is not only the way to find out the dosage supplement you need, but also to find out whether or not you might have over dosed.
Trust, but verify was a signature phrase adopted and made famous by U.S. president Ronald Reagan
After taking Vitamin D I developed severe stiffness in my neck and jaw.
D.
I have had a lot of the symptoms described here (palpitations, insomnia, itching, ringing ears, thirst, frequent urination, dizziness, etc).
Fortunatly, I have taken another route and not just dumped vitamin D supplements.
In the medical literature vitamin D supplementation in doses up to 20,000 IU per day is considered to be remarkably well tolerated (i.e no side effects). Of course, this is not true if you read this blog post and the comments here. So what's going on? Why doesn't the medical literature report high dropout rates in vitamin D studies due to side effects, or why don't the studies mention side effects?
My explanation is that perhaps the study subjects are healthy, and we are not?
I am highly convinced that I have "vitamin D induced hungry bone syndrome", i.e vitamin D supplementation seem to cause my bones to absorb all calcium in my body resulting in excessive thirst, heart palpitations, fatigue, muscle weakness, dizziness, etc. I dare to bet that a lot of people here are experiencing the same thing – they build bones rapidly due to many years of vitamin D deficiency. The result is "secondary calcium deficiency" – which rhyme very well with most of the symptoms described in the blog post and in the comments. Of course, secondary magnesium deficiency or boron deficiency could also occur (but I would caution against magnesium supplements if you have these symptoms, magnesium could "stay" and calcium could "go" with vitamin D = even worse symptoms. If your diet is sufficient in magnesium, more is probably not a good idea).
Here's a case report describing the phenomenon:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19814946
This woman had it bad and therefore it was easily detected by blood samples. Having mild symptoms (i.e not being unable to get out of bed) may not show up in the lab work though.
I have visited the health care system, and all my numbers are good. Here's the funny part – in the beginning (when I figured out what my problem with vitamin D supplements were) I took 8-12 grams (up to 12000 mg) of calcium per day (elemental) – and my numbers are good. That's a lot, but that was what my body required to make the symptoms go away (with 4000 IU vitamin D3 or D2). I could lower the inital high daily dose within a few weeks, but still required more than what the RDA say is a safe dose.
4000 IU D3 or D2 gives me a vitamin D status of 41 mg/dl (about 102 nmol/L). Not very high, and this is true for most people, i.e absolutely non-toxic dose (unlike the 100,000 IU/d mentioned in the blog post – which is a toxic dose).
I have "overdosed" calcium for 5 months now and take what is required for me to "wake up". I did a stupid mistake and stopped vitamin D for 3 weeks this winter resulting in a bad viral infection – something I have been free from the passed year (while on vitamin D). The reason was to see what happened to my "calcium requirement". After 3 weeks I functioned completely normally without calcium supplementation – so I know it's entirely caused by vitamin D. During the viral infection I loaded up on D again and the body once again became a dry sponge hungry for huge doses of calcium to stay awake, functioning, not dizzy, not weak, not fatigued and not thirsty. Basically, I take calcium in 250 mg increments (throughout the day) until my thirst and fatigue is gone and my head is clear again. The longer I do it the less calcium I need, and now I probably average 3-4 grams (4000mg) of calcium supplementation per day (and probably 600-800mg through diet). According to the case report referenced above I will have to do this for a few more months.
Suffice it to say I have not discovered any soft tissue calcification. It's also worth noting that I am highly physically active (when I get my calcium that is), so perhaps I can "sponge" more calcium than most people.
I tried 1000 IU for a week and thought I was going to die. SEriously. Chilled, sore throat, muscle cramps especially in my back, aching, lowered body temperature (I did take it, it was about 1 degree low in the middle of the day). Horrible.
Since then I even quit drinking Vitamin D milk. I am deathly allergic to fish, so I can't really take fish oil either without irritation. I began to wonder if some of my symptoms were related to contamination of the vitamin D supplement with its fish oil source. However, taking allergy-D tablets more than occasionally still makes me feel ill, though if I am not careful. I do try to take it occasionally in the winter, but not regularly. I would rather expose myself to sunlight, as that gets a much better result.
I'm kind of liking Almond Milk but i can't find anything like that that has no added D. The only milk with no Added D is whole milk made by Organic Valley. It tastes great but I could do without the sugar and fat.
I took vit D 50,000IU 2x/day. Only 3toook 3 pills so far.
I got
(1) diarrhea
(2) gas
(3) back pain
(4) foot pain
(5) hand pain
(6) muscle weakness
(7) felt very hungry
the back pain is near kidney area, wonder if I should be worried?
my back hurts near the left kidney, should I be ocnverned about kidney problems?
Dear steve
i am from jordan. your blog was truly god-sent…. iam 37 years old very healthy as far as i know, but ended in the ER 5 days ago.. i though i was having a heart attack.. my heart was going fast, chest discomfort and little dizzinesses. i went for full cardiac tests and labs test and all were normal…then next day, severe pain in all of my body, bones pains, muscle spasms, panic attacks…. all of my tests were normal, so i was confused what's happening to me…the only thing new in my life is a daily dose of vitamin d3 of an average of 7,000 IU/day since three-four months!!! i know now what's wrong with me…i stopped supplementing d three days ago, no calcium and supplemented only magnesium (400 mg)…and i feel little better now. bone pain and spasms is better. thanks. Luai
I consider myself very lucky to have stumbled upon this site a month ago after searching for months for some kind of answer to the health problems I have been experiencing since about August 2010.
A couple of months prior to the onset of symptoms my doctor advised me to take calcium tablets with added Vitamin D because of loss of calcium from my bones. Within a couple of months I started to experience bad sinus (at 49 I've never had it previously) breathlessnes, insomnia and when I did sleep waking with a start feeling dreadful anxiety. I ended up at the ER on 3 occasions but no cause was found other than generalised anxiety probably associated with menopause although I have already been through menopause.
Symptoms increased over the summer months particularly (I now realise) on the days I took a higher dose. On some nights I could feel my heart pounding throughout my body and in my ears which was extremely frightening and added to the feelings of anxiety. My eyes were always red and sore and my teeth became extremely sensitive (not sure if this is connected as my teeth have been sensitive in the past but not this bad)and ringing in my ears. After I noticed a fair amount of hair loss in the shower my doctor finally ordered some blood tests including my vitamin d levels. It was found that my vitamin d level was 100 (normal range between 50 and 150 in Australia). The doctor seemed surprised that my vitamin d level was so high and asked me if I went out in the sun very much not seeming to remember that she had prescribed the vit d supplements.
After finding this blog I stopped the supplements and have stayed out of the sun as much as I can. After a week the pounding heart and anxious feelings were almost gone and today nearly a month later it is hardly noticeable. I'm sleeping well again, my eyes are clear again and my nasal sinus is almost gone. The ringing in my ears is still there but not as bad. I think the hair loss has been caused by stress associated with this situation.
I believe after some research that my vitamin d level is HIGH FOR ME. My daily intake was only around 1,000 to 2,00 but I am of thin build with little body fat and the added supplements either pushed me over the edge or I am extremely sensitive to them. I'm feeling pretty much back to normal again but I feel like I was living in a nightmare for that period of time. I'll now get my Vitamin D from the sun as I have always done in the past. Hope this blog and the comments help someone else as it did me. Thank you.
Over 3 months ago I was diagnosed with Vitamin D deficiency.Immediately I started taking 1200 mg of VD, drinking a lot of milk and I was out in the sun every day.Suddenly I'm having all the symptoms described by everybody in this Blog. Something hit me and I realized that the VD is making me sick, poisoning me. meanwhile I've seen different doctors and they didn't know what was wrong with me . Less than a week ago I made the decision to stop taking VD and so far my body is getting back to normal. Today I had a blood test and I'm not VD deficient . I will never take VD in my life again.
I have always been a vitamin person and at age 60 I am very healthy. I had been taking 1200 IU vitamin D daily. However, last fall my gynecologist advised that my blood test indicated my vitamin D level was 29 and recommended I add another 2300 IU (though the lab report specified it was in the normal range).
Now 6 months later and I am suffering from fatigue, low energy levels, tingling numbness on my whole left side, terrible pains in my thumbs, like you would not believe, plus I’m at the point where I am handicapped by the helplessness without use of my thumbs!! In addition I have such dreadful pains in my wrists, forearms, upper arms, and calves. And I have trouble walking since I am also experiencing awful pains in my feet. I believe the aches are bone as well as muscles pains.
Following a few particularly bad days this holiday weekend (taking naproxen 2 times per day), I’ve been researching online this morning thinking that I must have a dreaded immune deficiency disorder, and I came across your website. Thank you, thank you, thank.
To confirm that it is, in fact Vitamin D overdose causing so many problems, I am going to stop taking it until my pains subside. When the pain goes away I am going to go back down to the 1200 IU vitamin D daily, that I had been taking (since I eat natural organic fortified yogurt and almond milk routinely).
I love my doctor, but I plan to call her office and let them know what is going on with that high of a dose of vitamin D!
Ps: I am scheduled for a total knee replacement next month resulting from a knee injury, and I am so pleased I found your posting prior to my surgery. I imagine physical therapy at the rehab center, and my recovery would have been greatly affected by my severe aches from vitamin D! Now I need to be sure to stay out of the sun for a while, and hopefully flush the toxic levels out of my body.
Dear Steve,
The first symptom I had,the morning after accidentally taking 300,000 iu of vit D3 (dropper fulls instead of droppers!)was an hallucination and continued severely disturbed sleep, for several nights.
It has been three weeks. These past two nights of NO sleep clearly feel caused by vit D3.
There is something intense about sleep. When I do sleep, and wake up, the transition feels surreal. I feel like an alien in my body and it takes time to get up and adjust to being awake, a similar feeling to hallucinating. ANYONE
RELATE?
I read your response to Anonymous – "Thanks, especially for your comment that vit D may be causing insomnia. – I've also experienced insomnia caused by vit D, I'm going to add it to the side effects . . . GOOD!
I read your suggestions to Bex for how to accelerate recovery. I am beginning to follow them. During the day I feel less symptoms but now afraid I will not sleep and very tired!
How does having taken SUCH a huge
300,000 (one time) dose affect my symptoms? Can you explain why D3 causes insomnia.
It would help immensely to hear from other brave souls who have had insomnia as a symptom of vit D3 overdose.
I couldn't do without you guys! Thank you, Steve! Warmly, Wendy
This is a very interesting blog.
I began supplementing with 4000 to 8000 or more IU daily. Like a previous reader, I eat mostly fish, dairy, and veggies, with very little bread or gluten. My experience so far:
First 2 weeks: nothing unusual; no change. 3rd, 4th, 5th weeks: feeling just great. Noticeable change in mood. Depression gone. Life is good. I have more energy. Noticed a mild sensitivity in my teeth but did not think anything of it until reading this.
6th, 7th weeks: getting drowsy in the afternoons and fall asleep earlier at night. Can't stand bright lights on after dark or reading computer screens in the evenings. Can't read in bed. (This is actually good because it motivates me to get to bed earlier.) Tooth sensitivity increasing somewhat. Occasional mild headaches. Several incidents of severe constipation.
At this point, thanks to this blog, I have decided to stop supplementing, to see what happens. Will definitely begin supplementing again this winter.
Man thanks for this writing, I was vitamin d deficient and started to supplement myself. It did great job for me. But at one point (around three months) of starting supplementation I started to experience some vitamin d toxicity symptoms. I was very surprised because I read that there were no documented cases of vitamin d toxicity with usage of less than 30.000 IU/day. For these three months I was using between 3000-4000IU/day through diet and supplementation and I was sunbathing on regular basis (maybe 3-4 times per week around noon for 30-60 minutes full body exposure). I also noticed that my body differently reacts to sunbathing than to supplements, I stopped using supplements and decided than in future I am going to use them only in winter months, and during summer and spring I am going to sunbath.
i have just noticed under my eyes to the side of it are a big red botchy hives and I have been taking Vitamin D with Vitamin C supplements everyday for over a year now and it is now bad I had to look it was the vitamins – I will immediately stop. Also my skin and face are ichy.
Could red swollen hive like splotches on the face be from taking Vitamin D 50000IU This is my 5th week taking it and now for the last 2 weeks my face is really itchy and it feels dehydrated tight like with hive like swollen bright red patches. The left is worse and that is the side I sleep on. I am a lupus patient I guess I could just be having flair up, but not use to having anything this bad on my face. Just wondering. Thanks for any info you may have. Becca B
I was diagnosed with Vitamin D deficiency in November from a blood test and was prescribed with 50,000 I.U. of D — "for the rest of my life." I didn't know what the cause was of feeling systemically bad along with leg muscle pain and very cold, cold feet. I had to wear socks to warm feet so I could sleep at night. The leg pain concentrated in my calves and got so bad it felt, on my left leg that I had thrombosis. I called my doctor and he said it would be okay to stop taking them. Since, I got better, but I continued taking Calcium with vitamin D–and when I do, I get pain in the groin area (hip joint) and can't get good sleep at night. I still feel systemically unwell and after reading your blog I am going to suspend anything that has vitamin D in it. I do feel like I am being slowly poisoned. I am 70 years old — otherwise very healthy. Until now, I have felt healthy and strong. Now I feel I am slowly deteriorating.
qweqwe
There is a lot of mixed inforamtion here, people are either taking too much or not enough…we need to find the happy medium, and yes we are all different, but why people think that a doc's words are gospel, I will never know…who knows your body best, you or your Doctor, and if you do not, then LISTEN to it. Docotr's recommended dosages are too low, if when you go into the sun for an hour, which most can handle with ease, you absorb approximately 20,000 international units, with no side affects, then use that as a guide line and go from there, 3000 or 5000 daily is not enough for most, yet 50,000 5-6 times a week is too much for a prolonged period of time, and the Doc who suggested it is an idiot! Many of the side affects people are talking about are also the side effects I had when I was diagnosed with very low vitamin d levels, achey bones and joints are due to vitamin d deficiency,and yes frequent urination is a side effect to over dosages of vit.d, but also many other things, as are many of the syptoms mentioned above, so you need to aks yourself was there a problem before you began taking vitamin d? What prompted you to take vitamin d,problems? Someone recommended taking 5000 once a week, whcih is utterly ridiculous, your body can only absorb so much in a day, in a dose, so you are wasting, and understand that the best way to do anything is on a constant and consistent basis. I had many of the problems mentioned above due to vit. d deficiency, an when I began to take vitamin d, it quickly disappeared, and I mean quick within days. If you are out itneh sun all day, then don't take the supplement too, shy would You?? Also, in the winter increase your dosage. I take 20,000 internation units daily and have been from Sept. 2011 to recent and I've never felt better, and no side effects, but with sumer approaching I will be getting some sun, not much so depending on that I will modify my dosage accordingly, and if I get a full day of sun then I know I'm good for apprx. a week without supplemented vit. d, it just takes common sense and a little bit of educating yourself, and I do not mean by blogs like this, the scientist was great but the comments from many people are not, there is a lot of mixed and misleading comments, people understand that they are just comments, many could do more damage than good! I see more people having so-called toxic reactions and yet it is rare, so it makes me wonder if a lot of these people have underlying issues and it's not the vitamin d at all! Few people know how to read there body or keep track of what you put in it or dot oit or don't do enough of, but I honestly don't believe that many of these people have issues with vitamin d. Also remember everybody, it's a blog, many people can blog to mislead others, you wonder who, well physicians for one, pharmaceutical reps, people who lose money because of it,and believe you and I there are many people and they know WHO they are, it would surprise you to know who wants you to stay sick, or get sicker! So don't believe all you read in a blog, write most of it off, because most people don't know the real facts, they just believee what thers say or write.
Hello
I had been taking vitamin d3 everyday 5000iu for the last two years, recently my supply ran out and I decided to stopped taking it because I had planed to move to Australia (I currently live in Ireland no sun) so I presumed I would get enough vitamin d there as I like to sunbath a lot.
But after about a week or two I started to feel different I was overreacting to minor stress and I was feeling very fatigued I thought nothing of it at the time, but over the next two weeks It got progressively worse and things really got bad around 4 weeks mark after stopping cold turkey, I started to experience sever depression my mind was racing I couldn’t concentrate and was having repetitive thoughts I was spaced out and my short term memory was effected , it felt like my mind was put through a blender it was devastating and I was traumatised by this sudden change, It was so bad I even had to cancel my travel plans.
This continued for another two weeks with no improvement, then I remembered that the only thing I had changed was that I stopped taking the vitamin d, as I don’t take any other supplements and eat very healthy. So I rushed out and got a fresh supply of vitamin d and began taking it, that was a week ago now, and my symptoms have improved by around 70% in that time. I believe I was going through some kind withdrawal from vitamin d and looking back I really should have tapered down over a long period instead of stopping cold turkey, as vitD does have a profound effect on the body and mind, I mean it works!! But I never thought something like this could happen from stopping vitamin d.
Has anyone ever experienced this??, is there a solution? Because am baffled by what has happened to me, was I taking too much? Should I stop taking it? What does this mean? Can anyone shed any light on this situation for me, as I am feeling lost on the situation as not many people really know about vitamin d so help is hard to find. Any help would be great because I still don’t feel 100% and I have been left very traumatised by the whole thing.
I feel the best way to get vitamin d is through the sun but unfortunately here in Ireland it’s almost nonexistent but hopefully when I eventually get to Australia I won’t have to take supplements.
Also I never experienced any negative side effects while taking vitamin d only positive effects more energy better mood and greater athletic performance as I am an otherwise healthy 28 year old male.
Francis
Francis,
What a great comment. I have to admit, it's the only comment like it in the whole of 441 comments.
I suspect that your experience is not so out of the ordinary. The folks who support the Vitamin D Council and DAction swear by the safety of vitamin D supplements in the 4000 to 10000 IU range. People have a hard time seeing data for what it is. I believe the grossly inadequate data that we have today suggests that you are part of a minority of the population that can take 4000 to 10000 IU vitamin D per day and get only benefits with no obvious side effects. It's not at all clear to me that sunshine is better for you. It may be – but it may also be that supplements are better for you. It frustrates me that we are investing so little scientific effort into understanding vitamin D metabolism. It's scandalous that your question really can not be answered.
I think your plan is good. Stay on 5000 IU/day in Ireland. When in Australia, get lots of sun and ease off on the supplements – drop to 2500 IU, then to 1200 IU, then to 600 IU – at least a month at each level unless you are having overdose side effects.
Come on back later and update us on how you are doing.
Thanks again,
Steve
Do you think that taking the Magnesium when the Vitamin D is high increased the deposition of calcium in the tissues?
I have a friend who inadvertently took calcitriol for 8 wks and began experiencing all the symptoms of Vitamin D poisoning.
First he felt weak, sleepy and like he had the bad flu. Then he developed severe nausea and started to lose weight and he had no appetite. Then he got a blinding headache and became very light sensitive. The headache resolved after he stopped ( he finally figured out it must be the vitamin injections that were making him sick.) His 1,25 Vit D levels were elevated. He is left with burning and stinging sensations in my arms and legs, muscle weakness, stuffy nose and shortness of breath, heavy feeling in my chest, palpitations, chest pains, intermittent numbness, metallic taste in my mouth and severe constipation. He also has severe insomnia. His teeth are getting sensitive also along with other tooth and mouth sensations/pain. What have you found is useful to treat the constipation? It has been six weeks since he stopped the supplementation. Also does the insomnia eventually go away?
Anonymous,
Ugh! I'm so sorry. My most recent post is about sleep. Living more naturally, spending plenty of time outside in bright light, exercising outside in daylight, and getting vitamin D from the sun and melatonin from the pineal gland all can help with sleep.
Constipation is easy to treat. Vitamin C is a safe and effective laxative. If you are serious about it, take one vitamin C about every hour (roughly 16 per day) until you get the desired laxative effect.
The vitamin C can cause gas and cramping – this will be gone in 24 hours. Taking 2 vitamin C every morning and evening generally prevents constipation.
Good luck,
Steve
I have just learn I'm Vitamin D toxic
25 years ago I had thyroid cancer and the parathyroid was also removed. I took 6500 mg of calcim and 50,000 IU a day,I was never told to have the D level checked and am in really bad trouble now. Have all the symptoms of D. poisoning.
I changed Dr.s about 4 months ago and he found this. He has stopped the D. but I feel so tired,don't want to eat and several other of the symptoms of the side effects. Will I ever get the Vit D level back to normal? Rita
I am so happy I found this blog. Back in Feb, my PCP reported during my annual that I had a Vitamin D deficiency. As a result, she required that I take 5000iu for 3 months. The supplements plus my diet, I was getting 6000IUs easily. For about a month, I felt okay. I was sleeping good and had energy, but suddenly I noticed nausea. I thought it was stress due to work or from the TMJ that I was also diagnosed with. About a week later I suffered a panic attack when I was never prone to them. It never registered that it could be the Vitamin D. I experienced shortness of breath, fatigue, tinnitus, bone pain, eye irritation, lightheadedness, palpitations, insomnia, loss of appetite, diarrhea, extreme anxiety, and more panic attacks. As a result, I lost 5lbs. I had my last dose of the 5000IU on 4/26….except one of my favorite protein drinks that i consume daily has 200IUs of Vitamin D.
It's been a month since I stopped the vitamins. In between that time, I've been in the ER and to my PCP and they don't believe that the amount of Vitamin D I was on would cause those side effects. They just recommended that I go on an SSRI. The bone pain, tinnitus, nausea, shortness of breath, and eye irritation have subsided. The rest still remain but to a lesser degree. I have good days and then I have bad days. How much longer until it gets out of my system? What can I do to speed up the removal?
I started taking vitamin d supplements last year like 5,000 IU a day for a few months and I literally got such bad bone pain in my hands and feet I had to stop. I took it again 6 months ago just once, and that night my skin felt like it was burning. the weird part is that I was vit. d deficient when I was tested during this time?? Could I be allergic?? I'm going to have to opt for sunshine till someone gets to the bottom of all of this.
Thank you for this blog. I started taking 2000 iu of vitamin d. After a few weeks i went back to the dr. with extreme headaches. He said i had cluster headaches. I will say i have never had headaches like this. He gave me some meds to take. Then, I had constipation and diahrea. Also, I was sleeping most of the day. Vitamin D was the only new pill that was introduced to me. I stopped taking them and am almost 100% better. Also, I should mention i only weigh 80# and am not sure I should have been given that dosage.
Thank you
Sandy
Dear Anonymous,
What a story. You can t make this up. You took vitamin D for 25years without side effects and then had atjkelrrible problems? Amazing. I m going to assume that you were taking 5000 IU per day, not 50,000. I hope you feel better soon.
steve
Dear Anonymous,
Another great story. Wow. Your Doctors are amazing. It is not the vitamin D. Take an SSRI!!!
I made a lot of recommendations to accelerate a return to normal health. Exercise hard and drink lots of water. Avoid calcium and magnesium. Make sure your aren t eating any foods enriched with vitamin D. Don t eat fish. I am sure I had some other suggestions which you should find if you hunt through all the comments.
I am so sorry for this unnecessary suffering. Don t give up on vitamin D.d. You need to get it safely from the sun.
Steve
Sandy,
Thanks so much for sharing your story. You are unusually sensitive to vitamin D. The Upper Safe Limit set by the Food and Nutrition Board adis independent of weight and is 2000 IU. So there was nothing really wrong with the prescription. The trouble is that the medical community does not yet kjaccept the fact that vitamins D supplements are dangerous while getting vitamin D from the sun is not dangerous. Youa need to get your vitamin D from sun exposure.
I am sorry about your suffering.
Steve
Thanks. I am totally getting of the vitamin D. I thought it would a great addition to my health routine, but with today I finally realized what has been causing me to feel weird. I currently still have the nausea which isn’t cool at all. Reading this info and calling the poison control hotline is a HUGE wake up call for me. I’m not going to play doctor any more. From now on, I will get my doctor’s advice on which vitamins I should take and when.
I feel so sick right now…
It's become avante garde for doctors to now test you for Vitamin D. Megadoses of Vitamin D supplements are dangerous. When my Vit D count came in at "11" and my calcium was high at "10" my doctor said not a concern. He put me on increasing doses to get the count normal. In the process I started feeling side effects. The internet told me the combo of these two results could be a Parathyroid tumor. Normally benign. It drove me to a site of world renouned experts in the field. Go to parathyroid.com They say that "good doctors today DO NOT prescribe Vit D supplements" at all. The site is well written and will give you good talking points to share with your primary doctor. Our doctors aren't God and crossing into their ego zone can be dangerous as well. Get another opinion for comparison.
Dear Anonymous with Swollen Eyelids,
Did you tell the dermatologist and opthomologist about the vitamin D? Probably wouldn't have mattered. Just curious.
I'm optimistic that by coming to this blog you've found the root cause of your eyelid discomfort. Irritated eyes with fluid discharge is on the list of symptoms. It's just fascinating to me that this might be the only symptom you are suffering from.
What got you on such a high dose of vitamin D. Wow. 15,000 IU/day on average.
If the vitamin D is not the problem, please write back. I had concluded that 10,000 IU/day is an upper threshold of tolerability for anyone. I want to know if you are able to take this much without side effects.
Thanks so much for taking the time to comment.
Steve
My Vitamin D-3 intake started when I saw a video on Youtube about a German doctor who studies D-3. I have Multiple Sclerosis. She said there is no way to od on D-3 unless you take extremely high doses over long periods of time. She suggested taking 60000iu daily for diseases and I did. After I would start to feel better I would drop it down to 15000-20000iu per day. Even the 600000 iu was per day. I have been taking this for about 2-3 yrs. on a daily basis. If I felt like I was getting a relapse I would go back up to 60000-75000iu per day. Since I had started taking the D-3 I had never gotten sick besides the MS. My son had gotten bit by a spider and it turned into staph. I gave him 20000iu per day of D-3 and stopped giving him the antibiotics altogether because the D-3 worked wonders on the staph. He is almost 9 years old. Lately I have noticed that I have been getting ear infections, teeth sensitivity, severe stomach pains, nausea, loss of appetite, a cough, a runny nose, not severe, just enough for me to wonder why I was getting sick, chest pain, joint pain, ringing in the ears, quite severe depression, constipation and other symptoms mentioned here. I know many of these symptoms are also MS related but I had never had stomach problems like I am having now.
(Sorry, had to make 2 posts as I was over the character limit.)I have also recently changed to an organic diet which, as you know, includes lots of vegetables. I can not go in the sun as it exacerbates the MS. I just assumed that these symptoms were from the MS or the 8mg of Estriol I take daily for the MS. I was also taking calcium on a daily basis because my doctor told me that I needed it to absorb the D-3. I never told her how much I was taking as she wasn't the one who recommended it. Now that I have read your blog I am convinced that the D-3 is the reason I am having all of these problems. BTW my sister is also suspected of having MS. I had given my sister some D-3 to try and she immediately broke out in a rash and itching when she took it. This perplexed me because D-3 is supposed to be the " sunshine vitamin." It has only been in the last week or two that I have been experiencing these symptoms. The Dr. in the video did say that if you put on as little clothing as possible and go into the sun for 15-20 minutes a day that would be sufficient Vitamin D-3 intake. Since I have been taking the D-3 for so long how long do you think it will take to get back to " normal " whatever that means for us MSers? In all honesty I would not have taken you for your word had you not done these experiments on yourself as I have been to specialists and they have failed to help me with this dreadful disease. Tomorrow I plan on stopping the D-3 completely and unless I feel I'm getting sick or an exacerbation is coming on. I will not take it for a long time and only when I feel it is needed and in very small doses. I have been studying herbs as I have tried all of the shots for MS and they left me very ill and even left permanent indentations in my legs. I have read that St. John's Wort has been used for hundreds of years as an anti-biotic. Unfortunately the brand I have conflicts with my meds and also contains magnesium stearate, which is said to be dangerous. I have an appointment for an endocrinologist next month in order to get my hormones intact but I am hoping that by stopping the D-3 I will start to feel better. I know this is a lot of information but I have been to many neurologists and have not received adequate care from any of them. It is very frustrating. I have to research on my own, go to my doctor and tell her what to prescribe for me. She is not an expert and, in fact, knows very little about MS but is the only one that I can count on to try to help me at all. I am obviously not a doctor so I research the studies and try to do everything naturally that is why I am taking the Estriol. Women with MS who get pregnant have an abundance of Estriol and their lesions are 75-80% gone by the 8th month of pregnancy. I was taking just the Estriol when I discovered that I need to take Progesterone with it also. I decided to go to an endocrinologist so that he can do the needed testing and get my adrenal system back on track. Now I am wondering how much of what I am experiencing is from the D-3 as I felt great when I started taking the Estriol, which is in bio-identical form. Any idea on how long it will take to get back to pre D-3 supplement shape or any other suggestions for MS supplementation?
Dear DKRtist,
I'm so sorry about your MS. Please read the above comment string nearer the front where I wrote alot about how to accelerate recovery from vitamin D supplement overdose.
Please consider using a UVB lamp. The lamp is much gentler on the skin. With luck, your skin may not react in the MS way. If it does – stop with the lamp of course!
I recommend you focus on vitamin A (10,000 IU/week – yes per week), vitamin B1 (thiamine, one pill per day of enteric coated TTFD – I strongly recommend this). If you can't find this supplement on-line, write me another comment asking for purchasing information. Take as much niacin (vitamin B3) and vitamin C as you can manage without side effects. At least 100 mg/day of niacin and at least 4000 mg/day of vitamin C. You've already got the vitamin D covered.
Thanks for your comment. Hope you do well with your MS. Keep on working for full remission!
Steve
I was havin heart palpitations for a few days. Had blood work done . All test were good except for PVC s which were benign . My dr said vitamin d was a little low. Two weeks ago he put me magnesium and vitamin d3 5000 mg aday. Also Said safe to take womans one a day whih also has vitamin d in it. Because i was not feeling well , I ignored the side effects. I associated it to be anxiety. Loose stool dry mouth weird taste in mouth now dizziness ./ head ache . I kind of figured it out myself knowIng something new isn't working for me. I looked it up here. I called my dr and he said to cut all vitamins now!!!!!' I so upset. Now I am trying to get my old self back .
Marcy,
Thanks so much for your comment. I hope you are back to your old self soon too.
5000 IU/day of vitamin D for 2 weeks is not much extra vitamin D. Having bad side effects at such a low dose/short time is unusual. Anxiety, loose stool, dry weird taste in mouth, and dizziness are pretty general side effects that could be caused by something else.
Please attend to the low vitamin D levels identified by your Dr. If you get outside into the sun, your vitamin D levels will go up without risk of vitamin D side effects.
Steve
Dear Anonymous,
Vitamin D is associated with hair loss – both deficiency and overdose. I just typed vitamin D and hair loss into google.
"Too much vitamin D: High levels of Vitamin D can also cause hair loss, which is why it is important to have the right balance of vitamin D."
That's pretty crappy data, but I'll bet if we keep digging we'll find the real source of the info.
Hope you'll consider getting into the sun!
Steve
Thanks thanks thanks to the last two commenters. I've been feeling more and more isolated as I become increasingly confident that sun exposure is needed for optimal health and that vitamin D supplements are no substitute for the sun because vitamin D supplements do not stimulate the pineal gland, and do not stimulate the production of hormones, endorphins, and a number of neuropeptides.
I'm so glad that others see the sense in my position, and are joining me by spending more time outside in the sun.
Steve
Great blog. Thanks for the info. I'm going to try to spend more time outdoors.
I would be grateful if you would reprise your advice re skin cancer and exposure to sunlight.
Many thanks again
I take vitamin d twice a day. 10,000iu each does for a total of 20,000iu per day.
I train 3 times a week with heavy weights.
Vitamin D has definitely changed some things about me physically.
I increaded my bench press to add more than 50 pounds in 4 months. All of my other exercises went up also.
I have gained lean muscle for no other recognizable reason.
I started taking it after reading that over 90% of the world is deficient in it and that it is very much so strong that it is like a hormone…and with the studies I have read, vitamin d is incredible for weight training and I have found it exceeded all expectations that I had for it.
It is worth noting that I was already taking several other supplements when I started taking vitamin d and that it is possible that it worked along with other supplements and that caused my huge increase in weights at the gym.
Has anyone had vision blind spots lasting approx. an hour from to much Vitamin D?
I have been catching up with the posts, I posted about my dreadful experience after only taking 2000 iu of D3 on 2 consecutive days 2 or 3 years ago. Hard to believe, it took me around 20 months to recover. I have discovered that I am hypersensitive to all meds, supplements, some foods, all food additives etc and am having to take this sensitivity very seriously. If I had realised this sooner I would never have touched the D3. I now get my Vit D from the sun which can be difficult in a Northern climate, but there are no side affects.
I wish this Vit D info was more universally available and accepted. Thanks for this Blog.
Dear Sir,
In Octoder 2011, My doctor advised me to test my Vitamin D levels. My Vit D level came out to be 5.7 ng/ml.
Doctor advised me to take Vit D injections (600,000 units each). He gave total 3 injection (1 injection/week. I took Last dose of injection on 10-Dec-2011. Again I tested my Vit D levels around 20-Dec-2011 and it came out to be 112.7 ng/ml. Then I stopped all the supplements.
By March-2012 I noticed that I am urinating large volumes and very frequently (almost once every 45 mins) as a result I am feeling very thirsty all the time and drinking lot of water still the thirst persist.
I have been tested for both Diabetes Mellitus and Diabetes Insipidus. Both the test were negative.
Recently I got tested my Vit D levels again in June-2012 and it was 78 ng/ml this time.
Please guide if the symptoms of excessive thirst and frequent urinaton that I am experiencing since Mar-2012 has been due to the Vit D injections that I have taken in Dec-2011.
It has already been close to 4 months and there is no improvement in my condition. If it is due to Vit D supplements then how will it recede and in how much time.
Please share your views.
I was taking 50,000 1x a week for four weeks per my doc for low levels. Then I supplemented with 5,000iu after the mega does. I started to have major hair loss within 5-6 weeks. My level is now 41. I've decided to stop all D. I'm wondering if the hair loss is from increased testosterone levels??
I can't find any info on vit D and hair loss or maybe it's just not a known side effect yet.
mY VIT D WAS AT 6 so dr put me on 1.25 iu vit d twice a week for three months and then I was suppose to take one every two weeks….I nade a booboo and have been taking 1.25 twice a week for 7 months…..I feel tired all the time have abdominal pain and have had chronic diarrhea…I get blood work this week….should I be started on steroids or IV fluids or what to get this crap out of my body? Thanks in advance.
what a dummy I am
Three months ago I had a heart attack; prior to the attack I had no symptoms, no chest pain, low blood pressure, normal heart rate, etc. But I had 95% blockage in the right coronary artery, a stint was put in and that part of me is doing fine. While in the hospital they tested me for everything in the book and one of the things found was my vitamin D was extremely low. 3 days after, and also my last day at the hospital, I was prescribed 50,000 IU Vitamin D once a week and took my first dose.
Went home, and two days later I started experiencing pains in my chest and an odd feeling in the heart, hard to explain the feeling, but kind of like fast beat, palpitation, or maybe vibration. Since this was just after my heart attack, I assumed it was another heart issue and off to the ER I went. I then spent several hours their while they ran test after test and could find nothing wrong with me. Heart was doing just fine. As the week went on the pains subsided and was doing OK.
Took the prescribed dose of 50,000 IU vitamin D a week later. Two days later, I am back at the hospital again with chest pains and the odd feeling in the heart. This time they kept me overnight for observation and tests. Again heart is doing just fine and nothing wrong with me. The Doctor told me that some people experience “unexplained pains” after a heart event. Not to worry about unless it changes or doesn’t get better. I continued to take my Vitamin d every Friday and by Sunday and continued to have the same “unexplained pains”, each week with the pain subsiding during the week, but returned by Sunday or Monday. My Doctor had no explanation. It was my son who told me it was a symptom of vitamin D.
Searching the internet it was hard to find any information on the normal drug description sites. Your discussion led me to the conclusion that it might be the vitamin D. Three weeks ago I stopped taking the vitamin D. Since then I have had no reoccurrences of the pain and odd heart feeling. Now I don’t want to recommend this to others without checking with their doctors. For me it is obvious that that the high dose of Vitamin D was the cause of my “unexplained pains”.
Thanks for your Blog.
Dear Dennis Cox,
Wow! Another great comment. What an understated story. I've said in previous comments, and should add to the blog if I didn't, that heart/chest/torso discomfort is the most common vitamin D side effect – and the one causing the most alarm. An early comment described 14 trips to the ER with chest pains. I experienced chest pain which that led me to dramatically reduce – and later eliminate altogether – vitamin D supplements and replace the supplements with sunshine. How many times does this have to happen to get folks to wake up?
And yes – please. Everyone check with their doctors. We can't solve this problem. Doctors have to solve the problem. The doctors really don't know about these side effects. Once hospitalized, the cause of these side effects really is not detectable. You were thoroughly tested and all tests were normal. The staff just had to take your word about the pain. So this isn't an easy problem….
Thanks for taking the time to chip in.
Steve
Dear Anonymous,
Thanks for taking the time to comment. You start by mentioning a wound healing problem – a nerve in your foot damaged by a fall. Poor sleep is increasingly being understood to cause delayed wound healing. Getting into the sun causes your skin to make more vitamin D. Looking up at the sky causes the pineal gland to produce healthier levels of melatonin. These hormones, (and perhaps other sunshine activated processes) improve sleep. Extra niacin and vitamin C accelerate wound healing. Read through this blog and try some of these simple potential remedies. Come on back and let us know if it helps.
Thanks again for a great comment,
Steve
I had been suffering from apinched nerve in my ankle/foot from a severe fall I took. I had feelings of neuropathy and wanted the dr. to check out my foot. Instead he ran a cbc to see if I had diabettes or thyroid issues and said everything wasok,.but I was a little low in vitamin d. I told him I had vitamin d vitamins,.I wasnt taking them regularly or anything. He said I could just take those or I could getthe prescription filled I said sure I will get them filled. Turns out was 50,000 mg and I was to take just one a week. Meanwhile I am still waiting to see a foot dr. because this dr. has done nothing for my neuropathy. My nerves about shot. Turns out taking this vitamin d has completely shot my nerves even worse. I was getting the teeth feelings from the start,.mostly buzzing. At the end of the week I was very tired and had a bite of icecream omg!! I about died. My teeth went zing and my cheek went numb. This was for all but maybe 20 seconds. It scared me so bad my heart went racing,.I started to sweat profusly. It took me quite a while to calm down. In the morning I woke up and my teeth didnt feel so bad,.but because of the neuropathy I have going on I think the vitamin d is enhancing my nerves to the max. This morning I still had to calm my breathing (remembering what happened the night before) I felt extrememly naseous . My appetite the last few days has been awful but I managed to eat some food. I have never been so aggitated in my life. I have dry mouth upon waking and just have been soo tired. I am not taking anymore of these pills. Only thing I can think of to get it out of mysystem is to drink tons of water,.I even considered alcohol,.because that usually depletes vitamin d. Only thing is I keep reading that vitamin d is stored in your fat. I figure the dr. gave me such a high doseage because I am overweight. When we talked about it to begin with he said my vitamin d level was a little low,.not major low!
My vitamin d levels were at 27 so my doctor put me on Vitamin k2 with D3 9000 IU per day. My levels went up to 60. I now have the following symptoms: hair loss, ringing in ears, low sex drive, sensitive teeth, itchy skin and peeing every hour during the day.
Dear Anonymous,
Thanks for your comment.
Again, every comment is helpful to convince physicians that they are causing a real problem. There are no tests that will find anything wrong with folks suffering from vitamin D side effects of this type.
The combination of sensitive teeth and frequent urination is going to be hard to explain except as a vitamin D overdose. I'm sorry this happened to you and hope you are feeling better soon.
Steve
I also realize that I had frequent urination and in the beginning of stopping the D had a couple of panic attacks along with dry mouth and metallic taste. Just wanted to add that too. Unbelievable that this can be so toxic. I am hoping to feel better soon.
I started at 2000iu a day for a month. My level was at 23 when I started. After a month I was reduced to 1000iu a day. I started having symptoms of nausea and dizziness. After another month I was very sick. My stomach felt like it had a huge pit in it. No appetitie at all the thought of food made me feel so sick. I had nausea and major fatuge. I started to have to lay down off and on during the days. I would get jitters or shakes during the night. I had labs done and all was good except I was only at 27 with my D so still deficient. My Dr. Said I am probably having a reaction to the D so I stopped. I also have hypothyroidism and am 4 years off of a short 5 month hellish trip on Xanax that I was given due to a trauma accident. I have been off the D for 4 weeks and have lost 10 pounds. My symptoms are better but I still do not feel good and not a lot of energy. I am hoping I am on the right track and will continue to get better. This has been hell! Nothing like the Xanax but this is really difficult too. Some don't believe it is the D but reading this has helped me calm down and realize it probably is the D. Hoping time will heal me!
Dear Anonymous,
Thanks so much for your comment. It's a remarkable story. I have to say, even I'm skeptical that 1000 IU of vitamin D supplements can be so toxic. You mention other health problems that are related to vitamin D deficiency – so your doctors are doing the right thing trying to get your levels up. And they are using vitamin D doses generally recognized as safe. You, however, may be especially sensitive. Please read my other blogs and try to follow my four or five simple recommendations for those with chronic health problems that have much to gain and little to lose. The hardest part of my recommendations is spending time outdoors gazing at the sky to activate the pineal gland (melatonin) and sun-bathing to get plenty of vitamin D and some other good things.
Good luck and I hope you are feeling better soon.
Steve
PS to the last comment re Vit d sensitivity etc.
my vitamin D level has just been checked and it was 88. I followed Steve's advice re sunbathing this summer.
I am wondering if this level will be enough to get me through to next summer as I live in a Northern climate.
with reference to the last comment, I have posted about my experience after a bad reaction to only 2 doses of 2000 iu of D3. It took me many months to recover. I am also recovering from many years of prescribed benzodiazepines. I have discovered that this has sensitised me to all meds, supplements and some foods. This is apparently temporary and very common.
I am posting this in the hope it may help others to realise the dreadful, long lasting effects of benzodiazepines, and to point out that some people ARE this sensitive to D3 (unfortunately).
I hope you get better soon, but in the meantime, try to avoid any other chemical "solutions" to your symptoms, they will stop eventually.
Steve, I hope you do not mind this slightly off topic post.
Thanks for the info! I have been taking 2000IU of D3 for over a year. I have experienced so many problems but did not realize they were side effects. For over a year, I have had non stop muscle twitching radiating all over my body all day/night, muscle tightness, joint and bone pain, insomnia, anxiety attacks, sore throat, abnormal thyroid. I never figured it out but ran out of pills and then slowly started feeling better. I took one the other day to see what would happen and the muscle twitching started to come back! I just had my thyroid retested and it is normal. I don't think I will be buying more of vitamin D for a while anyway. It feels so nice to be back to normal! Thank you for your blog!
Have been having symptoms of insomnia and chest palpitations for 3 months but have been on 1000 iu of Vit D for 1 year or more. Will stop it to test if palpitations diminish. Have always been big fan of being outside so maybe the sun I already get and the supplement are too much? Thanks for the blog – very helpful!
2 years ago I was told my blood test showed low Vit D. I have Osteoporosis and weakened immune system… so they told me to take Calcium with Vit D. I was taking one pill a day for a year. They said to increase Vit D with another 1000IU.
I have many sensitivities & allergies to a LOT of food, chemical and environmental things.
But things seemed to be getting worse with severe chest pains, muscle cramps, fatigue & insomnia, lung infections & coughing, and depressed mood, to name a few.
Complaining to the Docs just had more tests with more RX – and more other side effects – but no relief.
Finally found your blog. Stopped the Vit D and Calcium combo and within days the chest pains were reduced. Within a week I felt much better, little chest pain, less fatigue, better sleep, better outlook, etc
Why didn't my Cardiologist tell me the Vit D was causing all my chest pains???
Thanks for your help!!!
I went for a visit to my GP, he announced he was testing ALL his patients for Vit.D deficiency. He claimed everyone should be in the higer range of normal and most are not. (NOT THAT THEY WERE DEFICIENT).
I was tested and was told (over the phone)I was in "normal" but lower and he was putting me on a "Prescipton" supplement of Vitamin D. To stop by and pick up presciption. I did not but got over the counter Vit. D suppliment 1000 i.u.. I took it.
Shortly thereafter "broke out" with massive blood spots on my legs and hands..like my blood vessels wanted to break out of my body. I have "thickening of the heart" (which my Dr. was acutely aware of) and I experienced heart palpitations again.
I immediately stopped D to see if symptoms would go away…after a week my skin returned to almost normal…except for some, what I would call "scars" from my experience…i.e. blood marks faded but did not to away completely, but enough to make them look like "liver" marks.
I recently experimented with VitD3…and symptoms re-occurred. I immediately stopped. Symptoms now starting to going away.
I would have to say I am at the very least Vit.D hypersensitive and will never take it again, regardless of any Dr.'s admonishments. I took myself off and have been off all presciption meds for at least 6 years, including for heart. Best I have felt since the discovery of my heart issues. Regulate it with foods and supplements.
Just went to get blood tests…and blood pressure done. NORMAL all around, from High Blood pressure etc.
Needless to say, I am wondering if I would be around if I took the "prescription" Vit. D my Dr. had prescribed.
ps. I know my Dr. on personal level. After a few drinks he leveled with me…makes his money on kick-backs from pharma after prescribing and filling. He had to have bought a new Mercedes by now and I am sure the license pla
Thank you for what seems like one of the most comprehensive blogs or reports on Vitamin D side effects.
I agree with you that Vit D is a very important Vitamin/Hormone and that every cell of our body requires it. I am curious from those that were prescribed large doses by MD's if they were given D2 or D3.
From what I understand D2 is not bio available and a synthetic version. This is also what MD's around here (WA St.) have been mandated to administer in the form of shots or RX for patients that have tested positive for deficiency. I have also noticed that MD's are perscribing very large doses to be taken once a week.
I have been taking 4000 IU's per day all year around and backing off in the summer months when I can get out and expose my skin/body. Those of us in the upper NW states do not see the sun alot particularly in the late fall winter and early spring. In other words most of the year. And temps are usually not inviting for me anyway and I don't believe in tanning beds for obvious skin cancer concerns. Being blonde and blue eyed I try to take care not to over expose myself to the sun, but I to have noticed a difference in sleep and disposition by turning my face to the sky when I can.
I will note that the past 5 months I have lost muscle mass and functionality causing frozen shoulder symptoms in my L shoulder. I experienced a very serious fall just over a year ago, and I thought that was the root cause of my issue, but coincidentally I ran out of Vit D this past Sunday 3 days ago and haven't refilled it. I have noticed my shoulder pain is greatly reduced and an increase in active range of motion. I plan to stay off the D for the time being to see if this could be an issue for me or not.
I probably won't completely go off of it though because I have also noticed that while I have been exposed to alot of people who get sick colds/flu etc, I have not. Being that I refuse to get a flu shot I am always looking for ways to support and maximize my immune system naturally.
Hi Steve,
I am so glad I found your website. I am writing in desperation and looking for answers. Maybe you have some suggestions and I would appreciate them. I have been supplementing Vitamin D over winter for about 4-5 months and started noticing alot of Vitamin d toxicity symptoms. My dosage was 3000 IU daily. It started with the flu and severe fatigue. Then came the urination frequency, severe heart palpitations, insatiable appetite, insomnia, depression. irritability, wheeziness, dizziness and feeling a bit spaced out.
I found you website and followed your recommendations on diet and slowly symptoms are fading. It's been 8 weeks and a wiff of dairy or sun and the symptoms go crazy and last for approximately 48 hours. I have read alot of blogs and people seem to recover on average in 6 weeks. Doom and gloom has set in wondering if I will ever get better. Do you have any suggestions?
P.S. Had my bloods done and my Vitamin D and Calcium levels were all within normal range and that was about 7 weeks ago. Cheers.
Hey Steve,
Love your website! I read the guys comment about magnesium deficiency and he has a very valid point so I thought I would try it. BIG MISTAKE !Over 3 days, I had 280mg a day and then developed severe diarrhoea and the bladder went into overdrive. The only other suggestion I have to increase your magnesium levels is to have regular EPSOM salt baths. I have had no reaction to this.
I also find that peppermint tea or strong peppermint lollies with pure peppermint oil helps with the cramps and upset tummy.
A WORD OF CAUTION TO EVERYBODY who takes regular prescription medication for various health ailments:- with the excessive urination, the meds may be flushed out of your system and you will not receive the full benefits of them. Something to consider and possibly discuss with your doctor.
Steve, its been 2 months and I still feel crap, cant go in the sun or ear dairy or vitamin d foods. Do you have a crystal ball to give me an idea of when these symptoms may subside. During winter I took 2000IU for about 4-5 months.
Your knowledge is invaluable and greatly appreciated. THANKS!
Thank you for this post,after being put on hogh dose of vitD,I went from 175lbs to about 130Ibs in a period of 6 months.Some other symptoms came along:weakness,neck shaking,abnormal movement…So,I changed physicians!Many blood tests as well as brain and neck MRI have been done.Al the results were normal a part from elevated calcium and vitD.Now,I'm on disability and I don't know were I will go back to work.So,think twice before you decide to take vitD.
I suggest you investigate a little bit more about the complex relationship between vitamin D and other elements in the body. You assume that because you are supplementing vitamin D, then the "symptoms" you experience -must- be vitamin D toxicity, and fail to see that there are not symptoms of toxicity, but symptoms of other deficiencies created by supplementing vitamin D. Magnesium is needed for the activation of vitamin D, if you supplement vitamin D, it will use the magnesium available in the body for the activation, hence the teeth sensitivity, chest pains, pounding heart, etc. The limited understanding of the biochemical workings of the body in your article, may scare away many people who are severely deficient of this extremely important element, in fact, 95% of the population in the US is deficient in vitamin D. You need to learn a little bit more before finger-pointing to vitamin D toxicity… And of course if you stop taking it, the allegedly "overdose" symptoms will disappear, not because it was an overdose, but because your OTHER elements that you were NOT supplying along with your vitamin D, got dangerously low.
Dear Anonymous,
The magnesium theory has come up at this blog before. I'll make the same comment I did last time.
1) Sunshine does not cause vitamin D side effects – with or without magnesium.
2) No matter how much magnesium you take, vitamin D supplements will always cause side effects at a high enough dose.
Vitamin D side effects are very real. I'm sure magnesium can help alleviate side effects for some people. I'm not sure that's good news. Side effect suppresion now could mean more serious side effects later.
Are you really suggesting that folks ignore serious pain and continue to take the vitamin D that is responsible in the hopes that magnesium will help?
Readers: if you are in pain and suspect vitamin D side effects – stop all vitamin D supplements and go see a physician. When you are feeling better again, try getting more sunshine.
Steve
Hear Hear!!
Thanks again Steve
somebody who suffered for months after taking D3
I too experienced a rash on my face, resembling acne, from taking vitamin d 1200 iu and calcium 500-1000 per day. The rash was finally alleviated by supplementing with magnesium. Apparently vit d causes magnesium to leech from the system. Magnesium is essential for vit d. Now I keep the vit d and calcium in balance with topical mag chloride.
Steve I've been taking sun walks for my Vitamin D for several months during the summer about 1/2 hr per day (mid day) only shorts . When the fall approached then 10K vitamin D a day for about the last 4 months. I also take vitamin K2 (MK4) and Price's high vitamin oil and magnesium and cultured dairy for calcium .
When I went for my 6 month dental teeth cleaning my dentist said this was the worst plaque I had ever had. (the exact opposite of what I had expected) She asked if I had any dry mouth which made me realize that I had. Not connecting it with the D I continued to take the D and developed a nasty tooth ache yesterday , which is consistent with the results of less Silvia.
This seems to be the only symptom perhaps because of the K2 which is suppose to protect against D side effects. Could it be that varying amounts natural K2 in diets in different folks may account for tolerances or lack there of to high doses of D3? Any way thanx to you and your blog I can see that the dry mouth and it's consequences are consistent with the D overdose. .. Bravo for you!
I will add my 2 cents on colds FWIW. All my life I've had 2 or 3 colds per year .I tried vitamin C in every form imaginable without any success. Then decided to try getting large amounts of Vitamin C from my food. This included a whole cantaloupe with my breakfast as well as strawberries and a mango in season…. No colds for 7 years…. Then one cold when I stopped the cantaloupe…Just something to think about.
I was just reading the post where it said concentrated vitamin D liquids (1000iu or more per drop) should be banned. I take vitamin D liquid which is 100iu per drop. Obviously not as high as the ones you mention but do you not think liquid vitamin D is ever a good option even if its a lower dose? I'm thinking I should change to 1000iu tablets after reading this blog instead? I'm going to be stopping my vitamin D from tomorrow for a while though anyway due to itchy irritated eyes. I'll often get this in the summer due to allergies but not had it in the winter before – I've been on 2000iu per day since last May. Going to stop for probably at least 3 months tomorrow and then see how my eye are and maybe try again on lower doses. Thanks for this very interesting blog!
Hey, great writing on the both good and bad with D-vitamins etc. I just want to give my opinion, although I'm not a doctor and have not read a lot about vitamins or anything.
You mentioned living on the latitude of 40 N, well I live on the latitude of 60 N (the Nordic countries) and HERE vitamin D-deficiency is a huge problem. I could never imagine taking D-vitamin supplements if I lived anywhere below 60 N, because thinking logically I think it would be fairly easy to get enough D-vitamin from the sun. Most people here take D-vitamin supplements in the winter time, because the amount of sun light is ridiculously low.
So yeah, personally I feel anyone living below 60 N should just go out in the sun for 1 hour or so (if possible) to get their D-vitamin, not take supplements. Living higher than 60 N is a whole different thing, especially in the winter, and here I think one should take some sort of supplement in the winter, but of course being careful of not overdosing.
Hi Steve,
I think you have just found your calling in life, helping people to understand what is happening to them. I understand that some people live in very cold climates and NEED vitamin D. I am still suffering the terrible effects of toxicity of vitamin D but I just wanted to let you and other readers know that VEGANS take a vitamin D that is free from any animal products (apparently, gel caps have lanolin in them) and the FULL LIFE OF THEIR VITAMIN D IS 48 HOURS. I havn't made any more inquires because I am still toxic. I have also extensively researched the half life of vitamin D and there's not much info but I managed to find out from the Vegans that the half life is approximately 2 and a half months. It explains alot and I think it will vary on an individual basis. I just wish people would include in their experiences how long was the recovery time. This is TORTURE.
Steve, you have done a wonderful job helping people, I just get upset when people challenge you. I don't know what they are doing on your website, maybe learning the hard way.
THANK YOU STEVE!
I am taking 50,000 iu of Vitamin D once a week for 8 weeks (I'm on my 2nd week) because my levels were only at 19. Im feeling very sick to my stomach and weak after taking them. Do you have a suggestion or what are your thoughts on the 50,000 for 8 weeks?
Recently, I was diagnosed as being vitamin D deficient. My levels were at 19. Im a 32 healthy female, but I am living in northern Japan (Navy) where it snows all the time and we rarely see the sun through the winter. They put me on 50,000 iu per week for 8 weeks. After that I will be switching to 500-1000iu a day. I have been concerned about the 50,000 because it makes me sick to my stomach and very tired. Do you think it is dangerous to take these, even for 8 weeks?
I was taking between 3000-8000 IU of Vitamin D after being found deficient, for 2 motnths. I had heart palpitations and chest tightness all this time, trouble sleeping because of that… never linked it to Vitamin D until I read that supplementing it causes MAGNESIUM deficiency. I tried taking 200-400 mg's of that, didn't help. I guess I need more. I stopped the Vitamin D until I can find a supplement with more magnesium.
Hi everyone. Three months ago I started to take 5000 iu of vitamin d daily because I was diagnosed with low d. Then I upped it to 10,000 IU after a month. It was then I experienced almost every symptom that I have read from the commenters here. Severe bone pain, discharge from eyes, severe dry eyes, spine pain, lower and upper back pain, severe burning in my upper back, visible muscle twitching everywhere, severe panic attacks and anxiety (I have never had these), derealization and light sensitivity, severe chest and rib cage tightness, sternum pressure, numbness in my torso, pins in needles in left hand and foot, awful circulation, loud ringing in ears, muscles weakness, irregular periods (never happened before, SEVERE fatigue that comes and goes in waves, sleeping for 10 to 14 hours a day and still exhausted, dizziness, lighteheadedness,tetany, itchy skin, depression (because of my declining health). What a nightmare. I FINALLY put two and two together and noticed my symptoms would amplify after taking my vitamins which included vitamin D3. Then it dawned on me that all of this started when I began taking D3 three months ago. It's been two weeks since stopping and I still feel bad but the above symptoms are slowly lessening. What has really helped me is taking magnesium malate supplements to ease my nerve and bone pain. It also eases my muscles spasms and tetany. I have also been taking Epsom salt baths in order to get my magnesium easier since its not the easiest to absorb intestinally. It has worked beautifully. The magnesium has eliminated my pain, anxiety, panic attacks, and burning/itchy skin, spasms, rib cage tightness, light sensitivity, and derealization. And here I was about to go to a psychaitrist to be put on anxiety meds thinking I was going crazy. I have read that D3 uses up magnesium in body in order to convert into D 1.25, it's active state. So if you are already slightly deficient in Mg, such high doses of D3 will send you into a severe magnesium deficiency state. I had the classic signs of magnesium deficiency with all the cramping and neurological symptoms. I don't know the exact science behind it, I just have my experience. And magnesium saved my life. It calmed me down, relaxed my muscles, eliminated my nerve/bone pain, and eliminated the anxiety within 1 week after stopping D3. I only did the epsom ssalt baths and mg supplements for 1 week to try and offset the horrible state my muscle/skeletal/nervous systems were in. The only symtoms I have now are muscle weakness, some left hand weakness, really bad fatigue, and some brain fog. But this is a cake walk from where I came from just one week ago. I was in the ER at least 3 times over the past 2 months with severe body and chest pain. From now on, I am sticking to sunshine and low d3 dosages like 400 iu. And I will make certain I balance my intake with magnesium. Why don't doctors tell us this? I am so mad. But I am thankful to be alive. I really thought I was heading towards my death bed or something. To everyone going to the psychiatrist to offset the anxiety caused by D3 therapy, please consider taking just your daily recommended dose of magnesium in the form or magnesium malate, glycinate, or citrate. Try this first, especially if you have had no history of anxiety before starting Vitamin D therapy. You could just have this simple nutritional electrolyte imbalance and that's all. At the very least, take an epsom salt bath to see if it relieves some of your nerve and bone symptoms. God Bless everybody and hang in there.
this article is an absolute load of rubbish! I was severely deficient in vit d – so much so I developed osteomalacia (adult rickets) I was given a shot of 300.000 loading dose vit d followed by a months worth of pills each containing 20.000 units & from then on have been on 2000 units a day my consultant says I must take this for the rest of my life,before starting the supplements I was so ill I thought I was dying but since starting treatment my pain is much reduced & Im starting to feel normal again,your incorrect scaremongering will no doubt put people off taking the very supplements that may well save their lives & I really dont know where you have got your info from either! because clinical trials show it is quite safe for people to take up to 5000 units a day with no bad effects whatsoever,I can only say that since I have been taking the large doses of vit d I feel much better,I have my blood tested every 3 months & my levels have now normalised & are fine so what do you say about that ? because according to you I should be feeling the effects of toxicity & yet there are no signs whatsoever & my bloods show my body is coping fine with these amounts & my health is much improved
Hi steve, wonderfully researched piece. Would like to share that staring at and even worshipping early morning sun has been practised over millennia in eastern societies, such as the surya namaskar yoga asana in india. But please be careful, the sun rises in the east, and sets in the west, western societies have evolved over thousands of years to make do with less vitamin d and eat more meat and dairy to make up, so too much sun exposure may be dangerous for you in many ways. Low levels of vitamin d have been correlated with the presence of the hlab27 gene in most cases, this causes ankyolising spondylyosis, and is found almost exclusively in european populations. This could be a protective measure, less bone density or arthiritis in exchange for keeping an optimum level of vitamin d in the body, as much as you can handle. I have hlab27 and my vitamin d level was 8. When i took cholecalciferol 60000 iu over two sccessive days by mistake, got intense stomach pain and diarrhoea which i earlier thought was an infection. In spite of very low levels, my body was still trying to eliminate the vitamin d, which also showed up as protein bubbles in my urine. Also vitamin d and sunlight supplementation should be done n tandem, one helps in absorbing the other. Check if you have hlab 27 gene, it triggers auto immune diseases, then be very careful with vitamin d, it will cause stomach upset. U can regulate melatonin levels also through artificial light, switch on lights during dark and gloomy days and switch off lights an hour before u sleep, and listen to music. I would love to discuss the relation between auto immune diseases triggered by genes and the evolution of indo europeans to handle low sunlight conditions. Write to me at moutussi @ yahoo.com. Utc.
Well lucky old you, just because you are not sensitive to Vitamin D does not take away my sensitivity. Why are you even reading this extremely helpful blog? Go away and eat your poison…….
I just posted about the tinnitus, rash and fatigue- I'll add brain fog to that list because I forgot to mention the eye goop and dental and light sensitivity. I am so grateful I discovered this blog. It is a prayer answered.
Should I take magnesium to help. I am stopping the Vitamin D until I get my levels tested.
I am experiencing a rash on my chest, tinnitus and fatigue. After reading your blog- I am beginning to wonder if I have over used Vitamin D. I have been taking 4000IU daily because it is very gray this time of year (February in Ohio) I am going to consult with my ObGyn and have may levels drawn soon.
I had many of the same side effects that have been reported in this article, especially with regards to chest pain, pounding heart, irritability, irregular bursts of excessive energy followed by fatigue…
I had these symptoms a great deal when I was supplementing on 50,000 IU D3 that my physician prescribed.
I then thought that I might be missing cofactors like the vitamin d council mentioned, so started taking magnesium. This did help but did not make the symptoms go away.
I then stopped the 50,000 IU and switched to fermented cod liver oil, taking 1/2 tsp daily. I had many of the same effects. Chlorella also seems to give me the same effects and I believe there is some vitamin d2 in there as well.
Sunshine is in my mind the only safe source of regular vitamin d.
Dear Anonymous,
It gladdened my heart to be defended by a reader. It further gladdens my heart to see that my reading of the preliminary data about how vitamin D works is proving accurate. Side effects from low doses (2000 to 5000 IU/day) of vitamin are common and disabling. At the same time, higher doses of vitamin d (4000 to 20,000 IU/day) are proving to be necessary to achieve full benefit. The only known path to high vitamin D without side effects is exposure of the skin to UVB radiation. I tried (and still use) a UVB lamp. I felt the lamp was less useful which sparked the realization that sunshine might be playing multiple roles. It does. Sun exposure controls melatonin release from the pineal gland – it sets the circadian rhythm. So – I'm spending more and more time outdoors in the sun and have stopped being afraid to look at the sky and soak in the brightness.
Steve
I have been reading your blog and the comments on vitamin D for a while now, as it's the only place on the web where I can find experiences of people who are having problems with vitamin D supplements. As I have had problems whenever I try to supplement with vitamin D, even low doses, it has been a great comfort to me to know I am not the only one.
I have just found this study done in 2008 which I thought would be of interest to you and your readers.
Supplementation with vitamin D may make the disease worse
To quote parts of it which I found particularly interesting:
"Low blood levels of vitamin D have long been associated with disease, and the assumption has been that vitamin D supplements may protect against disease. However, this new research demonstrates that ingested vitamin D is immunosuppressive and that low blood levels of vitamin D may be actually a result of the disease process. Supplementation may make the disease worse."
"We have found that vitamin D supplementation, even at levels many consider desirable, interferes with recovery in these patients (with autoimmune diseases)."
"Dr Trevor Marshall's research has demonstrated how ingested vitamin D can actually block VDR (Vitamin D Nuclear Receptor) activation, the opposite effect to that of Sunshine. Instead of a positive effect on gene expression, Marshall reported that his own work, as well as the work of others, shows that quite nominal doses of ingested vitamin D can suppress the proper operation of the immune system.
This would explain why I feel worse after taking vitamin D supplements particularly sore eyes, fatigue and flaky palms.
I guess we should listen to our bodies more no matter what anyone else, however qualified, says…
Hi! I'm going to tell u all about a totally different experience. I was tested for vit D a couple of years back and was found to be severely deficient .I had severe malaise & bone & small joint pain (esp in winter) I'm a physician myself & my prof started me on 60000 IU once a week for 2 months & then asked me to taper the dose. I put myself on 5000 IU 3 times a week. My sense of fatigue & joint pains greatly improved but the whole of last year I had repeated attacks of vertigo, a general feeling of imbalance & foggy head . more recently i simply couldn't turn over in bed without having this nasty feeling of falling & dizziness . it felt like i turned first & something inside my head took its own sweet time to turn. I suspected the Vit D might be causing all this & so I stopped. The dizziness & imbalance have greatly improved now but about 3 weeks after i stopped I had a sever attack of anxiety & nervousness. It felt like my brain simply couldn't quit thinking depressing thoughts. I generally pride myself as being one of the most confident , courageous & brave persons I know of :). Anyways I simply couldn't believe that i was this basket case.I was experiencing "WITHDRAWAL SYMPTOMS" …. I can't believe I never thought of this. I've decided to continue to stay off Vit D supplements & get enough sunlight exposure for now .I honestly do not believe the human body needs supplements lifelong to stay healthy. I would love to hear from anyone with a similar experience. lets see where this goes.
Rad,
Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment. Your experience highlights the difficulty of optimizing the use of vitamin D. The half life of vitamin D in the body is long – 30 days. It is made by sunlight and can also be ingested as vitamin D3. There are hundreds of separate cellular systems that respond. It can help and hurt at the same time. When we understand the biology better, we will be able to intervene with drugs or supplements and do all good with no side effects. In the meantime the place to start is with lots of sunshine. If the sunshine doesn't work, a temporary mix of sunshine and supplements can be the right answer.
Thanks again for your fantastic comment.
Steve
I'm reading this blog because I woke up at 2:30 AM and could not get back to sleep! My story:
Every winter, my skin gets very dry and itchy but this has been the worst ever. I was reading a blog about itchy skin that was cured by vitamin D3 supplementation so I decided to try it. I've been taking 1000IU 2X per day with meals for the last three months (although some days I miss). My skin symptoms started to subside greatly and the itching stopped. I was thrilled to have found the magic bullet!
Three weeks ago, I stopped eating wheat and have been generally eating healthier, avoiding alcohol as well for the most part. I have been losing weight but not too rapidly, about a pound a week. But I started having odd symptoms, heart palpitations and the ear ringing being what I noticed the most since that was unusual for me. Then I noticed that my itchy skin which I thought I had cured seemed to be coming back sporadically. I thought it was odd that avoiding wheat and alcohol without changing anything else in my diet should cause this. Never did I suspect the vitamin D supplements because they had helped me so much at first.
Well, last night I realized that I had forgotten to take the D3 so I took 2 pills about an hour before bed. Big mistake. Within minutes I broke out in hives and have been itching like crazy! I became very sleepy but then only slept for 3 hours before waking up and not being able to get back to sleep. Thankfully, I found this blog because while I know that the pills caused this reaction I now realize that some of the other symptoms I've been having may be due to this as well. I am going to stop the D3 immediately but I also wonder if the wheat abstinence is somehow related to it all. I wonder if it affected my daily requirement in some way.
Jackie
I have also been prescribed 50,000 IU once a week for 12 weeks due to very low Vitamin D levels. I have been taking them for 3 weeks. I feel FANTASTIC the morning after I take them, and usually really good the next few days. The only other things I've noticed is that my palms have itched the last two times I took the pill, just for the day after I took it, and today I have a rash on my face. To be honest, the rash could be from the Vitamin D pill, or a myriad of other things I subject my skin to. The itchy palms could also be something I've stuck my hands into, or it could be the vitamin D. Many of the side effects that are listed for vitamin D overdose are ALSO the same symptoms for vitamin D deficiency, so sorting out what is really caused by the deficiency, the overdose, or the imagination is tough. So far, I haven't experienced anything life altering and I feel so great after I take the pills the next day, it seems my body needs it. Interestingly, I spent nearly every day in the sun this summer, for several hours, and I still had a serious vitamin D deficiency when tested. Seems odd to me!
Hello. Im astonished at the level of interaction you have with all the people that comment. Nice! Anyway, I just wanted to know your opinion, please.
I recently tested my vit D levels, and came with 19. I started supplementing with 1,500 IU daily. I might add that im a very sensitive guy, and that was a dose large enough for me to feel some seriously undesirable side effects, like tachicardia, brain fog, slowness, low appetite, and that was just after 3 days of takin it. I also felt better in some aspects, like I felt I could breath better, and sometimes a I felt more energetic and mentally clear, and specially felt my imune system way better.
Then after no more than a week I decided to down the dose to 600 IU, and that wasnt that bad. I just felt like more tired and got some insomnia, maybe a little anxious, nothing unbearable, but the things I mentioned I got better about, specially my inmune system and I feeling of overall well being, maybe better mood, were worth it.
I think is important to add that I was big on evading the sun as much as posible. I just dont like to take it and love being always under a roof and the better if in a dark room.
I finally went after 10 days to my Dr, and told him about my vit D deficiency, and he told me to stop the supplement, and focus on taking a 20-30 min sun bath daily.
Today was my first day without taking any supplement, and my second forcing myself to take some sun, which I hope to continue to do for the rest of my life, if I cant help it. I know i wasnt taking that big of a dose (thank god) but it was enough for me to experience ugly side effects, but I want to point out that I think vit D is a little addictive, as I feel a strong craving to take it, I dont know if anyone feels the same.
What I want to ask you is: do you think that taking the sun 20 min average per day is enough for me to up my levels to normal, and should I stop supplementing completely? I was thinking of taking at least 400 IU, to make sure I have at least some kind of backup. Vit D made me feel sick a higher doses, but at tolerable doses I made me feel more better than ill (i think) and for example I dont want to experiment that feeling of not being able to breath properly that vit D made disappear like magic.
Also, if I do keep supplementing with 400 IU, and taking the sun (or even if I dont), do you think it will build in my body and some months form now I would experiment what some people described?
(I dont take diary, but eat salmon at least 3x week)
Thanks, bye.
Dear Joe R,
The amount of vitamin D you make from sun exposure depends upon the time of day and the amount of skin exposed. I lie in the sun at solar noon (1 pm daylight savings time) with just a bikini-type bathing suit on. I spend less than one minute each on my front, back, and each side (less than 4 minutes total). I think this is making 5000 to 10000 IU of vitamin D in my skin – so way more than what you have been taking in pill form. For a couple of years, I got tons of sunshine plus spent time under a UV lamp doing everything possible to drive up my blood vitamin D level and constantly feeling like I was getting too much vitamin D. My blood levels tested at my physicals never got higher than 55 – so there is one piece of data about blood levels and side effects.
I have also taken to staring into the bright blue sky – and even glancing at the sun – to stimulate my pineal gland which controls the secretion of melatonin – the hormone responsible for our circadian rhythm. Since you eat the salmon, I'd recommend avoiding the 400 IU vitamin D. Unfortunately, multivitamins with a comprehensive set of minerals all contain 400 IU of vitamin D. I doubt it does any harm and am considering returning to take these again myself for the minerals.
Thanks so much for your comment,
Steve
I am so glad I found this site. I have osteo and for the past 3 months I have been taking vit.d 1800 a day and i do a 30 min. walk and fish oil pills. I have been feeling really lightheaded, headache and urinating alot and just not feeling well at all. my blood work showed my vit,d25 was at 27, 3 points below the normal. I also take a pill once a week for my osteo. Could the vit. supplements be making me sick? Also I have been getting alot of palpatations but I already have a heart valve leak. Thank you
Dear Debbiec,
It is highly likely that the vitamin D supplements are causing your symptoms, and, to me, not at all surprising that, despite the supplements, your vitamin D blood levels remain low. I have been getting vitamin D up to my side effect threshold (entirely via sunshine recently) for 5 years and have never had a vitamin D test result above 55. If the data is to be believed, I'm making close to an average of 20,000 IU/day in my skin from sun bathing.
On the other hand, the vitamin D may not be your problem. It is, however, easy to figure out. Stop the supplements for two weeks and see how you feel. Then, if you need more information, take 5000 IU of vitamin D with a hot drink on an empty stomach and see how it makes you feel. The data is the data.
Thanks so much for taking the time to stop and share your story. These stories are of priceless value.
Steve
I know this is an old post, but I'm jumping in anyway, because I am very glad I found it. I read a few others, but none as extensive and well researched as this one.
I was testing by my cardio as having low vitamin D in mid 2012 and told to take 2,000iu daily. Shortly after starting that, I began to experience a lot of crazy symptoms…
Facial flushing to the point of feeling like my face was on fire, it was painful!
Irritability and moodiness
Insomnia
Chest pain, though EKG and etc. all came back normal.
Joint pain, primarily one toe and one hip.
Muscle aches
Fatigue
Weakness…
You get the idea. Most of what's been described, I had!!!
There were periods of time it stopped for awhile and I felt great, then it all started. Finally I put the puzzle pieces together and realized they stopped when I had taken breaks from taking the Vitamin D supplements, such as when I had other health concerns and forgot to take it for awhile….and they always started again, within a few days of taking it again.
Thank you! I'd rather walk in the sunshine than deal with this!!!
Dear Unknown,
Thank you so much for making the effort to tell your story. You were taking just 2000 IU/day vitamin D. Supplements at this dose are everywhere. Lots of people are suffering like you did, and need to hear your story. It's so hard to believe that mainstream medicine could go so wrong. The more readers that stand up and testify, the faster this situation will be resolved, and the sooner people will get vitamin D from the sun instead of from supplements.
Steve
I have to admit that I never known that taking vitamin in a very large dosage can create or cause bad effects to our body. I really appreciate what you did here! I hope you can share things regarding joint pain supplements.
When taking vitamin D you also need companion nutrients..vitamin K and magnesium. Here is a good article to read http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/03/26/the-delicate-dance-between-vitamins-d-and-k.aspx
I just found your website by accident and am very glad I did. I have been going to multiple doctors for the last few months for a swelling in my throat and what seemed like thyroid issues or parathyroid issues. My symptoms include: blurry vision, depression, numbness in my fingers and feet, feeling tired, and severe loss of hair. I finally found my way to a doctor who decided to test all my vitamin levels instead of just throwing pills at me and he found my VitD levels are in the 170 range, more than twice what they should be. I have been on 5000IU of VitD for the last 4 months. I am now stopping all my VitD intake and hopefully that helps as it seems to be the only reason this could be happening. Thank you so much for your post it really helped. One thing I haven't seen is has anyone else had symptoms of hair loss?
I started taking D3 and was having some nasty side effects , back pain , tired most of the time , headaches , dry mouth , dizzy spells , chest pain , major stomach upset and other side effects of this damn stuff . I was taking 4000 IU's but not anymore and now starting to getting back to feeling normal . Maybe just my body makeup but this damn stuff sure did not like me taking this stuff and I sure felt crappy when on it .
We have worked long and hard on this. Feel free to link or promote. We think it is a far healthier option to pills http://www.pillsorfood.com
Thanks for this blog…If it were not for you, I may not have figured out what was going on with me.
Along with taking more magnesium, I'm going to get my hand on some Vitamin F and relieve these symptoms!!!
Thanks so much! xo
Some info I found:
Why suddenly is everyone Vitamin D deficient?
Actually it may not be a deficiency of Vitamin D but a deficiency of Vitamin F, Vitamin D’s antagonist. Vitamin D picks up calcium from the gut and puts it into the blood. Vitamin F takes it from the blood and puts it into the tissues.
What is Vitamin F?
* Vitamin F is a source of essential polyunsaturated fatty acids which are needed to transport calcium from the blood to the tissues.?
* It contains Linolenic and Linoleic Acids which the liver will convert to Arachidonic Acid. Arachidonic acid is the only form of polyunsaturated fat that can be utilized by the body.?
* It does not exist in vegetable oil—only in fat meat and butter—not margarine.?
* Because polyunsaturated fats reduce blood-cholesterol levels, they are much preferred over saturated fats.
Vitamin F Deficiency results in or plays a major role in the following conditions:
* Hives
* Itchy Skin
* Canker Sores (Herpes)
* Hypothyroidism
* Ridged Nails
* Poor Hair Quality
* Dry Skin
* Muscle Cramps (“Charley Horse”
* Sun Poisoning
* Sun Sensitivity
* Heat Prostration
* Prostate Problems
D without F will cause the blood calcium level to increase at the expense of the tissue calcium level because Vitamin D not only picks up calcium from the gut in a deficiency of F, it brings calcium from the tissues back into the bloodstream and then targets the additional D to be stored by the Liver.
Excess Vitamin D from extreme sun exposure is known to cause Cancer BUT only in people who are Vitamin F deficient!!!
In my practice, I use very little Vitamin D but do use it when indicated.
What I do recommend more often are the following supplements if and when needed:
*Magnifical made by Logos Nutritional (1-800-556-5530) because it contains Strontium 90, Vitamin K2 and a small amount of Vitamin D
* Microcrystalline Calcium Hydroxyapatite Compound (MCHC) which is the only calcium proven in a court of law to REVERSE OSTEOPOROSIS!
* Vitamin F Tablets
* Parent Omega Oils which are plant based (not manufactured from dead fish)
From:
http://drprincetta.com/vitamin-d-deficiency-not-exactly/
Thanks for this blog.
Look what I just found:
"Why suddenly is everyone Vitamin D deficient?
Actually it may not be a deficiency of Vitamin D but a deficiency of Vitamin F, Vitamin D’s antagonist. Vitamin D picks up calcium from the gut and puts it into the blood. Vitamin F takes it from the blood and puts it into the tissues.
What is Vitamin F?
* Vitamin F is a source of essential polyunsaturated fatty acids which are needed to transport calcium from the blood to the tissues.?
* It contains Linolenic and Linoleic Acids which the liver will convert to Arachidonic Acid. Arachidonic acid is the only form of polyunsaturated fat that can be utilized by the body.?
* It does not exist in vegetable oil—only in fat meat and butter—not margarine.?
* Because polyunsaturated fats reduce blood-cholesterol levels, they are much preferred over saturated fats.
Vitamin F Deficiency results in or plays a major role in the following conditions:
* Hives
* Itchy Skin
* Canker Sores (Herpes)
* Hypothyroidism
* Ridged Nails
* Poor Hair Quality
* Dry Skin
* Muscle Cramps (“Charley Horse”
* Sun Poisoning
* Sun Sensitivity
* Heat Prostration
* Prostate Problems
D without F will cause the blood calcium level to increase at the expense of the tissue calcium level because Vitamin D not only picks up calcium from the gut in a deficiency of F, it brings calcium from the tissues back into the bloodstream and then targets the additional D to be stored by the Liver.
Excess Vitamin D from extreme sun exposure is known to cause Cancer BUT only in people who are Vitamin F deficient!!!"
In my practice, I use very little Vitamin D but do use it when indicated.
What I do recommend more often are the following supplements if and when needed:
*Magnifical made by Logos Nutritional (1-800-556-5530) because it contains Strontium 90, Vitamin K2 and a small amount of Vitamin D
* Microcrystalline Calcium Hydroxyapatite Compound (MCHC) which is the only calcium proven in a court of law to REVERSE OSTEOPOROSIS!
* Vitamin F Tablets
* Parent Omega Oils which are plant based (not manufactured from dead fish)
From:
http://drprincetta.com/vitamin-d-deficiency-not-exactly/
I thought this was extremely interesting and I'm going to try some Vitamin F, at the very least, to help some of toxicity symptoms from vitamin D go away faster (tinnitus, fatigue, and a bit of depression also)
Without your blog I may have taken EVEN more and gotten so much worse, SO THANK YOU !!!! xox
Coconut oil and diabetes? Coconut oil is the world’s most concentrated source of natural Vitamin F, ideal for diabetics. But I’m not talking about essential fatty acids (EFA).
I’m referring to medium chain fatty acids (MCFA), the one-of-a-kind and rare fat molecules abundantly found in coconut oil.
Almost all the fats you consume, probably at least 98 percent, are composed of long chain fatty acids (LCFA). Coconut oil is one of the very few natural sources of MCFAs in the world.
all I can say is vitamin d has been my ticket to sanity .I was suffering from anxiety ,obesity ,depression,heart palpitations ,muscle twitches,bone and back pain (sometimes severe) high blood pressure,allergies and asthma.NOT ONE doctor thought to have my vitamin d levels tested ! they all wanted to prescribe pills and I wanted to find the root cause to all my probems . I wasnt born this way and somehow I knew it was more than a xanax deficiency or bp med deficiency that was causing all my problems . I done my research and demanded a d test and my level was 18 which was obviously low.they prescribed the 50000 IU once a week .I started taking them and immediately had side effects ..upper GI pain ,chest tightness ,major fatigue ,weight loss ,depression ,increased urination .. I managed to continue them for a few weeks until I done more research.put two and two together and being bout on deaths door when I went back to the doc ..pale as a ghost she looked at me and asked if I was alright ..I wasnt of course I felt really ill ..my d levels were tested again and were still low !! and all other tests came out normal so I tried another route ..I went home ordered me some 5000 IU vit d caps ..waited till I felt better to use em and I started opening the caps and rubbing the oil into my skin ..come to find out thats the only way I can use it .taking them internally I just cannot do ..had levels tested again one year later and it was 28 ..only ten points higher ! I had side effects here and there and knew when to back off but also knew that I cannot survive without em because of the anxiety I suffered while being so low .also I had to increase my magnesium to 400-800 mgs a day as needed .This is important if you take Vit D cause your body uses more because of . so when I was having chest discomfort I would take me some magnesium or soak in an epsom salts bath and it all would calm right down …I let my body tell me when I need to use it now .I havent been back to the doc to have levels tested in over a year now ..job hasnt allowed the time off to do so but I think all is good because I am now able to hold a job and be that calm person I used to be ..something I never thought I would be able to do ever again ..also if anyone here thinks they have overdosed on vitamin d (IMPORTANT ! ) go get yourself some activated charcoal and take you some ..it will absorb it out of your system ..although down side to that is if you take meds on a regular basis it will absorb them too ..do your research folks and know what you are doing before you do it ..know the risks and/or side effects so you will know what to expect ..I learned the hard way but listened to my body and I think we have come to a good understanding now haha..best regards
Steve, one question about sunlamps: I've a sperti kbd vitamind sunlamp. it's a 2006 model I believe. I'm worried about radiation however. After the scare my swollen neck caused me (fears of thyroid cancer/hyperparathyroidism), the last thing I want to do is to expose myself to the UNNATURAL, probably powerful radiation from a uva/uvb sunlamp. Do you know how dangerous it is to your thyroid or is that fear more hype than reality? Thank you.
p.s. I posted last (the mom giving her and her 2 kids 1000 i.u. vit d). I want to resort to d supplemntation as little as possible. Sunshine is hard to come by here in the pacific northwest. Thank you.
Great, great post on vitamin d side effects! My kids and I have been taking 1000 I.U. a day for the past couple years. The good news: Kids have virtually no cavities now (used to get lots), my hair stopped thinning. Bad news: I feel uncontrollably psychotic the longer I take it. Also, my neck is swollen, above my 'eve's apple'. My son sometimes gets headaches and feels weak. So I switched us to 500 IU last week. So far so good. I took none today and noticed my neck swelling has gone down already.
I suspect the excess D is mucking w/ my thyroid/parathyroid big time (hence the swollen upper neck). I strongly suspect anything over 4-500 I.U. per day is too much for my kids and I (in addition to vit d milk and cereal). If we lived in a sunnier local I would give us 0 I.U. but to save our dental healthy mostly, I will use up to 500 i.u. and hope that suffices.
I do think it is unnatural to supplement this master hormone and that it will backfire on you! My husband doesn't supplement any vitamins period and he's never had a cavitiy. I do agree some can thrive in the dark. I wonder if you can improve your chances with attitude/thinking and by living w/out supplements to allow your body to adapt?? Perhaps not though. It may be genetic/unmutable.
Cheers!
New York Times DECEMBER 11, 2013,
A large review of studies has found that vitamin D supplements have little or no benefit beyond the low levels required for bone health.
The meta-analysis, published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, combined data from 290 observational studies and 172 random trials. All the studies used blood levels of vitamin D to measure outcomes. Dosages varied, but most trials used 800 units or more.
The observational studies generally found an association of lower vitamin D levels with increases in cardiovascular disease, lipid concentrations, glucose levels, weight gain, infectious disease and mood disorders. But random trials showed little or no effect of vitamin D supplements on any of these problems. The authors conclude that low vitamin D levels are almost surely an effect of these diseases, and not a cause.
Current guidelines recommend supplements for anyone with a blood level under 30 nanograms per milliliter, but the lead author, Dr. Philippe Autier, said that only at levels of 10 or less would there be a risk to skeletal health. Less than 10 percent of Americans, he estimates, fall into this category. Dr. Autier is a researcher at the International Prevention Research Institute in Lyon, France.
“Unfortunately, there is probably no benefit to expect from vitamin D supplementation in normally healthy people,” he said.
steve, how is it possible reduce the accumulation of vitamin d… and what can help to lower the levels fast. (except stopping the intake of it immediately) what can you recommend to reduce the storage of the vitamin d in the cells?
i think i overdosed for a year now. 4000iu daily.
at first i started to feel great. less fatigued. more alert.
only recently i feel dull pains in legs and kidney area.
nausea.confusion.
i attributed it to perimenopause at first. read a book about whats coming up for me in this regard and read about vitamin d toxicity, found your blog.
definitely cutting out the supplementation immediately. what else is there possibly to get rid of the storage and reverse? thank you
To anonymous at 4:58,
You felt great taking 50,000 of Vit D and Cod Liver Oil. You said you then stopped the vitamin D and only took Cod Liver Oil, and then you got all sorts of nasty symptoms that were cured by the vitamins, PLUS whole new ones.
Just reading this, it seems to me it may have been the Cod Liver Oil that was causing problems. The old symptoms that were cured by Vit D returned after you stopped taking D. Perhaps the Cod Liver Oil had mercury or some other contamination.
how long does it take to heal teeth sensitivity caused by overdosing vitamin D?
how long did it take your teeth pain go away? I am having teeth sensitivity after taking cod liver oil and I am worrying when it will go away.
Thank you for this blog. I am shocked by how some of the folks here are suffering and wish them better health and better days. A few weeks ago, it was discovered in routine tests that I am Vitamin D deficient, so my neurologist prescribed 50,000 IU once a week for 12 weeks, at which time I will be tested again. I'd never had issues with this before, but it's been a difficult winter, with bad weather and lots of time spent indoors looking after an ailing mom, so maybe the deficiency is understandable. Three days after taking my third dose of the 50,000 IU Vitamin D, I woke up in the middle of the night with a fierce headache, a very unusual occurrence for me. This headache was different in another way, in that it was centered in my left temple, and spread downward toward the teeth on that side. In fact, I first thought it might be a toothache, but there is no pain near the teeth themselves, and, in fact, the tooth nearest the pain is one that had a root canal many years ago. The headache has now continued non-stop for five days, and last night I took the fourth dose of Vitamin D. Today the pain is centered on the joint of my left jaw, in that temple, across the brow bone and cheekbone, still toward the teeth, and now has spread to the right cheekbone. The pain is not severe, but it is constant. Has anyone else had pain in the facial bones as a result of too much Vitamin D? There is nothing else new in my diet or meds that might be responsible, that I can think of. The only med I know I have an allergy to is Actonel–I took one monthly pill of that a couple of years ago and suffered excruciating joint pain for five days. Needless to say, I took no more of that. As far as I know, I have no other particular sensitivities to meds.
I have Celiac disease and hypothyroidism. My Dr.checked my vitamin D levels because of this. My level was 6. I started o. 500ish (500,not 5000) I was very fatigued and had brain fog. I stopped the vitamin d. About 3 months later he reconvened my vitamin d and it was 5. He told me that the fatigue was in my head,and to try oscal with d. I had joint pain.,fatigue weakness. Again,I stopped the supplements and felt better. For the pat few weeks I have been trying to get my vitamin d from the sun 10 minutes a day. Yesterday I ended up in the hospital with flank pain,abdominal pain,severe fatigue,weakness,vomiting,diarrhea,muscle aches and pains. Cats can showed no kidney stones,or anything for that matter. Urine and blood came back normal. In the middle of the night it occurred to me that the fatigue I am feeling felt just like when I was taking vitamin d supplements. I looked up hypervitaminosis d, and I have every symptom. How is this possible if my levels are so low? Looking back,I have also been experiencing ringing in the ears,decreased hearing,tooth sensitivity,bone pain,trouble breathing at night,headaches,irritability. I'm at a loss. Vitamin d is the ONLY explanation. I'm wondering if celiac (autoimmune disorder) has now made me "allergic" to vitamin d. Any thoughts?
I believe it caused me tachycardia and anxiety.
I tested deficient, so I took vitamin D in March, April and May. I had tachycardia and two panic atacks in August. When I stood up quickly my vision blackened. I also had a backpain. I took vitamins B, Mg + B6 and some antioxidant per doctor's orders. Something helped. I didn't link it to any particular cause and I still have no idea what it was or why.
Then I started taking vitamin D3 again in February. I had tachycardia and anxiety which went away after I stoped taking Vit D. I think perhaps the alcohol in my supplement coused this, because I don't eat any sugar due to my IBS. This or vitamin D. I felt much better after stopping vit D, which I wasn't expecting. I had back pain at that time too which didn't change after stopping vit D.
Vitamin D absorbtion requires Magnesium it seems. I've read a little about this but I'm unsure about scientific studies on it though. In any case vitamins are interlinked, it seems, and also linked to minerals? There's not much about this topic on the Web, thank you for sharing! I didn't think that the vitamin D itself was a problem, I thought that it were inredients of my particular supplement.
After dealing with fatigue, brain fog, low body temperature for years I have tried everything. When I started I vitaminn D I thought that was the solution. My first thepree days taking400 i.u. Seemed to improve my symptoms. Then things started getting weird. I was experiencing nocturnal panic attacks, hot flashes, ringing in my ears and horrific depression, feelings of worthlessness and suicidal thoughts. So I quit the D. I t gradually got better after two months. I then tried it again for two days at a lower dose and immediately went into a black hole of major depression. The sun does not bother me at all, in fact I feel better after being in the sun. I also eat a lot of fish and the jury is still out on weather or not this causes some dysthymia type effects. Never the less, vitamin D might be a miracle for some, but for me it is a nightmare.
If you overdosed on vitamin d, please share your experience for recovery! I went through all the symptoms of overdose, and now my vit D is back in normal range but my symptoms are still there… How long did it take for you to recover and did you have any lasting negative effects? Please update!! Thank you!!!
KT
vitamin d toxicity explained well here.
strongly advices against megadoses, causes serious arterial calcification etc.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iatYZxyoEkU
i've tried 5-10k iu dosages, for years, on and off. i dont think people absorb d3 very well.
side effects i've noticed :
– daytime fatigue (quite severe)
– muscle weakness (especially at gym. i dont feel like liftin weights at all or doing any sports when on d3.)
– frequent urination (especially at night). when taking d3 i need to wake up for bathroom 2-3 times a night.
– very small but constant muscle cramps/twiches (appear the day i take the supplement. disappear 24-48hours after i quit taking supplement)
– eyelid & temple twitch
– constipation with 10k dosage
I am extremely sensitive to all drugs and food additives (as a result of being polydrugged on prescription mind altering drugs for 30 years), so do not think it will take you as long as it did for me to recover. I took 2 doses of 2000 iu Vit D3 and almost instantly became suicidal, I had dreadful body aches, night sweats, skin eruptions, and palpitations, the worst symptoms for me were the anxiety and depression which took many months to taper away (about 14 months in all). I also had large red hives around my eyes for about a year.
I now get my vit d from the sun…..
I worked out that if Vit D has a half life of 6 – 8 weeks then it would take 18 months or so for my body to detoxify from such a large (for me) dose.
My blood test showed for 2 years in a row that the level of Vitamin D was low around 23. My doctor prescribed 3 doses of 2000 IU per week. I think around the second week, I noticed my lips were getting chapped and I developed itching in my private areas. I know I am severely allergic to shellfish, but vitamin D3 from Costco? In any case, I stopped my dosage and after 3 days my itching has pretty much subsided, and my lips are beginning to feel much better. I am thinking about purchasing the dry form of Vitamin D just in case my allergic reaction was from one of the other ingredients inside the gel cap.
This is the first time I have ever posted on a website besides on facebook! I am posting because my blood was tested by my doctor and I was found to be deficient in Vitamin D. VERY deficient! This was 8 days ago. I agreed to take a Vitamin D Supplement they provided it is D3 and 5000 ICU. I started the supplement that day and took one pill a day with food. On Thursday afternoon I was MEAN as a MULE to people. That night I had insomnia — no big deal — I just thought I had insomnia and a was in a bad mood. On Saturday I just felt "off". Sunday I felt OK but had diarrhea but thought it was from something I ate. Monday I had diarrhea 2 times and was extremely tired. I was TERRIBLY MEAN to people. I walked the dogs after dinner and my bones just ached. I thought it was the weather. Monday night I had insomnia. Tuesday I had diarrhea 3 times and felt nauseous – I thought this was a side-effect of the diarrhea. I was also TERRIBLY tired — but I figured this was due to the insomnia. I was also TERRIBLY MEAN to people and depressed. I also had tingling in my fingertips. I walked the dogs again after dinner with immense bone pain. Despite being exhausted I had insomnia again. On Wednesday I woke up DELIRIOUS! I was nauseous, VERY dizzy — so dizzy I had trouble standing in the shower and drying my hair. While getting ready for work I had to run to the toilet to throw up. By now I was 'seeing stars'. I craved salt (probably dehydrated). I was terribly depressed. This is ALL in 8 days. I almost called in sick to work but had a meeting. After my meeting at work I googled 'side effects of Vitamin D' as I was really at my wits end and it is the only thing I changed in the past week. I found this article –and several others–to my surprise and relief! I am 100% confident all my symptoms are related to taking this 5000 ICU of Vitamin D. I will now go off it and see if I can return to normal. I will also start a daily routine of sun exposure and will try a multi-vitamin with just 400 or 500 ICU of Vitamin D. I am sharing this because I have been FREAKED out by this as my symptoms came on so quickly and by today (Day 8) were violent and almost dehabilitating. PLEASE do your research before consuming large amounts of Vitamin D. I hope this helps someone.
3 mnths ago my vit d level was 20…doctor gave me vitamin D3 must tablets(6 lac units)………..i used to take 1 tablet every month….aftr takin the 3rd tablet fr 3rd mnth…i got fire in my tongue….on the tip of tongue….it burns….plus a heart beat like sensation in my tongue all time….wat shld i do….i cant sleep…..
hey i hav been takin tab (d3 must)(6 lac units) once a month…..sudenly had fire in the tip of my tounge whn i took the tablet fr 3rd time..jus sensation in my tongue which i cant describe….i cant sleep …plz let me knw…wat to do…(sum kinda heart beat feeling in my tongue)….my vitamin d level 3 mnths ago was 20…..
And finally (to your point steve) i am reducing my vitiman D intake as well as making sure im also not struggling with magnesium deficiency. Sorry for the triple post!
Also Scotts post regarding magnesium, wow. I didnt say much about magnesium in my last post but I really think he is dead on. Like I just said, magnesium has really curbed the side effects quicker than some of those who simply quit taking D.
Wow, really appreciate this blog. I cannot have gluten and have intestinal problems so I am always trying to suppliment due to my decreased ability to absorb some nutrients. I was having cognative issues from what I believed was a D deficiency, to which I was also taking magnesium. I didnt have any problems until I quit taking magnesium. Ive had the heart palps, euphoric and doom feelings as well as some fatigue, also frequent mis-spelling of words (could be related to some other nutrient lack).
The heart palps is what really scared me but I am 99% certain via this blog as well as other things around the net that this is too much vit.D as ive been taking 2000 IU every day now for quite some time.
This may have been brought up but it would seem like taking magnesium can help increase the recovery time. If I understand correctly magnesium uses D to do what it needs to do, and since ive started to take magnesium again the heart palpatations have been fading out and i'm able to control them with breathing. Going to taper off of D suppliments. And minus the teeth stuff I basically have the same symptoms as the original blog post and many of the posters. Thanks for this blog. Extraordinarily helpful.
I was told by my Dr at the time 3 years ago, he wanted me taking 10,000 mgs of D-3 a day"he wanted to protect my bones indicating V D3 was the great answer".I had been faithfully taking the D every day.It was around a month ago I started researching all my supplements to see if there was a connection to why I felt so crappy,then I found this blog about the effects of Vitamin D3,OMG I thought are you kidding me???The worse part of my symptoms was the insomnia from hell!!Id call the same Drs office up in tears from lack of sleep begging them for something natural that would help me sleep,they could only make suggestions about things that really didn't work.I had just about every symptom in this blog and now suffer with arthritis, I was to the sever symptom stage, and I am slowly getting better without the D3.I don't even want to go out in the Sun for fear of symptoms returning.I am needles to say VERY ANGRY at the play GOD DR"S who are prescribing D for the unsuspecting public like us.I think they are really trying to do us in.I recently went to by naturopath Robert Thiel http://www.doctorsresearch.com/aboutdrthiel.html , Drs. Research who has put me on Food Research Choline Complex to clear the D from my liver and Food Research Simply liver for helping my joint pain.It has gotten so bad that my left thumb is frozen stiff,I am hopeful the supplements Dr Thiel will help.It is so wrong what they are doing to us,UNACCEPTABLE!!!!
I had a ligament pain on my left knee and back pain and my doctor gave me 60K IU Viatmin D3 pill once a week. After first pill only, I had sever bone pains across all body joints and frquent urination as well. Will these side effect go away after stopping the pils.
This has all been extremely interesting. I have not had my blood levels tested, but I have noticed changes in my body. Like many people, for years I stayed mostly out of the sun. Then, while making a tour of Jordan several years ago, I ended up getting a deep tan despite the sunscreen. A few weeks later I realized that my hair was much thicker and my fingernails much stronger. Aha! I was D deficient. It took me a while to get around to it but a couple of years later I started taking 1000 per day.
Over the last couple of months, though, I started developing a weird set of symptoms. A tic in one of my eyelids. I was moody, with a sense of doom (but my life is objectively pretty good so this did not make sense). Over the past few weeks I have had constant ringing in the ears and some diarrhea.
WTF has been my reaction, as I have not been able to figure anything out. It can't be an infection as my symptoms have not been acute. And then I realized that I had switched from 1000 to 2000 per day … only because there was a good sale on the 2000 bottle.
So, I'm going to cut out the supplements and see if I start feeling better.
Thanks for the blog and all the comments.
Hello All – I have been diagnosed with Cataract in both eyes in Sept 2013 and I had surgery in my left eye in Feb 2014.
I am 30 Years Old IT professional.
I had some pain in my right leg just on outside of knee where Calf muscle end. Doctors called it a tendon. Intiallly some medication were done but is did not helped. Then doctor gave me Local steriod there. After One month I denied further shots and he gave me Vit D 60K IU weekly and on e Cal+Mg+VitK tablet daily.(May 2014)
The first day when I took that Vit D, I had various side effects , fast pulses, frequent urination and severe bone pain. Since that I stopped the Vit D supplement. but My situation has not improved, every single body from head to toe pain(like arthritis) and recently I have severe tooth pain/sensitivity while I rest. I also had frequent refluxes whenever I press on area I had pain. My vit D level is 25.
I dont know what to do. Can some one help me getting better.
If I take only Calcium Supplement only, I feel pain in my knees the next day.
Bhupesh
So, it has been a week since I stopped the 2000 unit supplements. It took several days, but the diarrhea has subsided. Still not completely regular – a lot of gas – but a great improvement. I am much less fatigued and the sense of doom is gone. At lunch yesterday I noticed the ears ringing – but at dinner I did not. I think it is fading but will take some time.
I am grateful to this blog because I might not have ever thought of Vit D as being the culprit.
Thanks for this post. I thought i was going insane. After almost 3 months of 5000 IU vit D3 (initial level of 30) i started having insomnia. I would go to bed just fine, but 3-4 hours later i would be up fussing and turning and could not go back to sleep, or if i could it would be a very light and restless sleep. This kept on going for a couple of weeks, and then this went on a different level, being also unable to fall asleep or to stay asleep for any amount of time. Just a couple of days ago i started wondering if it could possibly be linked to the supplement of vit D that i was taking. I have not retested but i came across your post and i ceased taking the supplement. I am not about 4 days off of it but no improvement. Hope you are still around to comment. Did your insomnia subside after about a month off pills? Thanks so much, glad to see i am not going nuts.
Hi Steve,
I can't believe I'm in fear that I'm experiencing an irreversible side effect from overdosing Vitamin D… god I hope it IS reversible! I fell for all those articles pretty much saying "you can't overdose Vitamin D". I had been taking 50.000 IU PER DAY (!) in December for 3 weeks long "to get to a proper amount again" and continued taking 1x 50.000 IU per week. Felt good, didn't notice any side effects. Now, 3 months later, I am shocked to notice that the upper half of my upper front teeth turned yellow – after research and finding a lot on it, I self-diagnosed it must be calcification of those teeth. Do you agree? I immediately decided to stop taking Vitamin D and only rely on sunshine (and i winter, start taking only tiny pieces of those capsules per day).
I live in Germany, do you reckon summer sunlight is enough to maintain Vitamin D levels? I thought so but I had had a value of only 20 ng/ml while I had exposed myself to the sun A LOT.
How should I go on in order to reverse my tooth decay – I'm really afraid and my biggest hope is I can reverse it.
I've read about Vitamin K2 preventing calcification from Vitamin D(which you're supposed to take with "megadoses" of Vitamin D but I did not do so because I thought I am "only getting back to normal" so the end value I strived for I dod not consider as megadose – but "megadose" means the dose present in the blood right? And right now, only from those 3 weeks daily 50.000 IU, I will still have 250.000 remaining in my blood, let alone plus the weekly dosages on top…
Anyways what I wanted to ask is: In my current state of having toxic amounts of Vitamin D in my body, in order to prevent any worsening of my teeth, do you think Vitamin K could help with the calcification of my teeth, do you reckon?
I can't say how thankful I am for your post and for all the precious time you take to respond to desperate comments of ours!! 🙂
I stumbled across this blog while doing research based on information I have shared below: I think all of you will be interested in this.
http://drgominak.com/
This Dr. in Texas is treating patients with low Vitamin D and has a wonderful Blog that will help. I got this info from my sleep doctor. The http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/ will test your level for 50.00 if you don't have insurance. Try to keep the levels between 60-80.
In her experience you also need to take vitamin B complex (B50) for three months and then discontinue it.
I just started taking it and I am feeling wonderful and sleeping well!
Still not enough…Listen to her speak at Dr. Park's Podcast
doctorstevenpark.com listen to the three part series with Dr. Gromick.
Stay well and keep blogging!!!!
Hi, my hair is brittle like a hay stack and my nails are breaking. My feritin is ok but my D3 *active* is 114 (14 over normal range). I've been supplementing for a long time. Could hair issue be the result of the high D? Thank you!
Oh my gosh. I have been reading your blog and find it the answer to my prayers. I have hashimotos (thyroid ablasion) and low B. I was prescribed 3000 mg per day about one year ago. I experience so many of the symptoms as others. My ears ring, my eyes are so red and painful, memory fog, my right hand 4th finger pain, my leg pain, sweating profusely at night, horrible taste dry mouth, chapped lips, but mostly is stomach pain. I am so tired all the time.
I went to the ER last week and they could find nothing. I was to see a specialist next week. On my own, I quit taking the D three days ago. Today I have no stomach pain at all. I can finally breathe again.
I am seeing a new Endo on Tuesday and will definitely talk about the D levels.
Should I continue to stay off it? Will my other pains go away? You mean I'm not crazy after all?
Thank you, thank you for your postings.
I started taking vitamin D 2000IU with calcium supplement for a bruised rib I got back in January. I had no idea this would be a bad thing. I started to experience back pain, heart palpatations, sternum pain, anxiety. I attributed the pain to the bruised rib and then I found this blog. I immediately stopped all supplements. I took this combo for about a month. It has been two weeks and the back pain is starting to get better. I still experience some sternum pain which I think may be linked to the back pain. Do you think I did permanent damage or should everything go back to normal? Thanks so much in advance!!!
Soo Much Yes…. I've also experienced extreme hair loss, ringing in the ear, weak bones( i broke a leg while playing basketball, doing a move that I've been mastering for 5 years). dehydration in my eyes and ears. peeing was a harder than usual and the pee color was dark yellow and i felt that i had like a lil dust in my eyes. i will not take my pill next time hoping to get better off of the 50k units a week.
I started to take 2000IU Vitamin D along with Calcium to help speed up a bruised rib injury. I started to notice muscle pain especially in my back between my shoulder blades, sternum pain, muscle pain all over, anxiety, etc. I attributed this to the bruised rib until I found your site. I only took the supplement for 27 days. Is there anything I should do or just keep waiting it out?
I saw a pain management doc on March 2, 2015 and she ran a vitamin d blood panel and my levels were less than 12. I went to the pharmacy the next day and found out she had sent in a prescription for vitamin d. It was Vit D2 1.25 mg 50,000 unit. I didn't get the results till 9 days after I saw the pain management doc. I was told to take it twice a week 2 days apart for 2 months. By the end of week 2 I was getting itchy. At the time I thought it was my eczema flaring up. I took the 1st dose of the 3rd week and the itching increased even more. I knew it wasn't eczema. I called the pain management doc and they said it was the dyes. I was itchy so bad that I was bruising myself. I saw my pcp and she ran blood work and it showed a severe allergic reaction. My pcp ruled out the dyes because I can eat foods with green dyes no problem. I've tried benadryl, singulair, and zantac. I was also given a kenalog shot and 3 days of prednisone at 20 mg. I'm on week 7 of itching and losing hope. I've been told I got too much too quickly. Was I overdosed and will the itching end? Please help anyway you can. We have also removed as much vitamin d out of my diet to cut down on the itching.
I have been on liquid drop vitamin D3 for the last 6 months since my doctor determined I was deficient. In the beginning, it seemed to help some symptoms (the most agonizing symptom it helped was chronic pain in my shoulder blades and neck.) However it has led to chronic insomnia and tightness in my chest, as well as depression and anxiety. 5 doctors have been no help.
Since insomnia was one of my original symptoms before taking the D, I never realized the D was actually perpetuating the insomnia until I recently quit taking it. Now, upon resuming the D, I get a strange buzzing sensation in my body and inability to fall asleep.
For the benefit of readers here, there is one thing that has helped me so much in addition to dropping the D! That is magnesium!
I have read that large doses of D deplete magnesium. So someone diagnosed with low D can actually have low magnesium as a root cause. Even exposure to the sun will negatively effect those who need more magnesium (usually causing pounding of the heart.) Taking large doses of D can make the problem that much worse. I believe this was my problem because I've always been an outdoorsy person and gotten lots of sunshine.
The answer is not to stay out of the sun though, the answer is to take enough magnesium and get afternoon sun, just as this blog recommends. The magnesium allows the body to change the natural D into a usable form.
I have found that Natural Calm magnesium citrate drink (or the cheaper Vitacost brand "Natural Tranquility") has helped me the most. I also take a chelated magnesium glycinate tablet (stay away from the cheap magnesium oxide, as it isn't readily absorbed by the body). Magnesium is hard to overdose on since it causes diarrhea if too much is taken. Using bowel tolerance as a guide, I am now taking about 650 mg magnesium citrate + 400 mg chelated magnesium (glycinate) per day. I feel much better and it has helped aches and pains, as well as insomnia!
I suspect it may be able to help some people here who have overdosed on D to get past their negative side effects more quickly.
I appreciate your blog as I have overdosed in less than 4 weeks going from 2,000 to 4,000 to 6,000. First day of 6,000 I had a headache that no pain medication would take away. I also realized some other symptoms were also probably due to D. I can't go out in the sun without sunscreen due to melanoma. Do you think a supplement of 1000 iu a day of D would be okay? I'm scared to death of the sun after being told I would probably die from melanoma.
i am shocked … my left eye is red4few weeks after started taking vitamin d
Great write up! Vitamin D is rarely found in foods. I also believe that sunlight is a great way to get vitamin D, but in today's world, most of us are not enough exposed so that they could get sufficient Vitamin D from sunlight. Eight months ago I was Vitamin D deficient- my doctor diagnosed. As per my doctor's suggestion, after taking Vitamin d patches for several months, I feel better nowadays. I had been suffering from mood disorder. I'm getting better day by day. If anyone suffers from mood disorder due to Vitamin D deficiency, I would like to recommend you Vitamin d patch according to your doctor's advice. Here I've got some great information on Vitamin D deficiency and cures.
Increase in Melanoma Skin Cancer NOT Caused by Sun Exposure:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/11/20/deadly-melanoma-not-due-vitamin-d-deficiency.aspx
here is a link to an article stating that sunlight does not cause melanoma:
it states that vitamin d from sunlight is an antidote to melanoma
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/11/20/deadly-melanoma-not-due-vitamin-d-deficiency.aspx
you have to take 10x the amount of vitamin A along with vit k2 to assimilate it into the bones, K2 is the missing link when taking D, you can take 10,ooo iu of vit d a day to bring levels up, everyone is defiecient in vit d and low levels can cause cancer. It helps to fight cancer. Dr Mercola said we should be having 4000-8000 iu a day.
The problem is when you take the presciption D3 as it is actually D2 which the body dosnt recognize because it is synthetic
Hi alot of research have been done on the link between low vitamin d and obesity. I know a clinic here that give vitamin d injections and claim to help u lose weight. What do.u think of this?
Missy
Very important that you always take vitamin K2 with vitamin D.
Thank you for this blog. My experience with vitamin D supplement started when I went to see my doctor for a yearly check up. I am 52 years old women in excellent health. I was on the third week of Insanity workout and was anticipating the next month. I am very active and my activity level was as if I was still 28. After all of my blood work was done, I received a call from the doctor that my vitamin D level was low and she called in a prescription for vitamin d once a week. My level was 7 and she said it was suppose to be around 40. I took the pill as prescribed and the same day I notice stiffness in my hands a week later I was unable to wear my rings. After the meds were finished I make appointment with my doctor and she was surprised that had happen. I was complaining of finger and joint pain, swelling all over my body, stiffness. I was moving very slow. I was given some Motrin for the pain and she ordered more test. I took the Motrin when the pain was getting bad mostly during the night. I was not given a returned appointment and was not told what the results were from the blood work. I make another appointment a month later and I had gotten worse. I had unnatural fatigue, I think I got a good night sleep; the Motrin was not working so I was in a lot of night pain and I had developed a bad headache. I would have to pull over about in the afternoon to take a nap. Not a power nap but for three to four hours. Ione time I woke up and I still needed rest, my heart rate was over 110 beats per min so I went back to sleep. My veins in my hand was not visible, I was not able to wear normal shoes because they were now they were too small. I had to wear sandals. Physically I was a total wreck. I was moving like a snail and was bumping into objects. I had a ton of bruises. I had fallen at lease three times and one of those was getting out of bed. My mind said I was in the bathroom, but by body did not follow suite. I has to refocus my mind to even doing simple things like crossing the street. I had to cross at the light or I would misjudge the time it take to cross the street. I was very tired at the end of the day and it was hard to cook clean. My hygiene was slipping and I was on the verge of losing my job. I went back to the doctor and she ran more test gave me a steroid shot and some more pain medication. I told her I was unable to take any pain meds that make me sleepy because I drive a lot and I can not be under the influence of drugs. Plus I complain of fatigue. I was given the med anyway. A steroid shot and some prednisone 20 mg to take as prescribe. I requested Lasix for the swelling and she said no. I let the office and within an hour, I was walking upright straight as a broom stick. I thought I was cured, but after the shot wore off and the pills were gone I found myself slipping back into the abyss. She made me a referral to see the rheumatoid doctor and the appointment was making for next month. I was slowing falling into the abyss and the pills were gone and my appointment to see the rheumatoid doctor was two weeks away, I missed the other appointment, my memory has taken a toll. I make another appointment and asked for another shot and more pill to last me until I see the doctor. She said no and when I saw the doctor I was in the same situation after two month of taking the meds. I was not given a shot and no pills were prescribed. I am having a hard time working I sleep too much and I am always in pain and my doctor told me she was going on vacation and I asked her who would be covering for her and she said no one will.
And beware of vitamin D tablets too!
Antioxidants are not the only supplements causing increasing concern.
Vitamin D supplements – already taken by millions of Britons and set for even wider use – have now been found to harm memory, weaken bones and boost the risk of heart attack and stroke in the middle-aged.
What's more, vitamin D does not even seem to protect us from chronic disease or early death.
This month, the Government's independent Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition said that a lack of bright sunshine – the most common source of vitamin D – in the UK is stopping much of the population from getting a healthy amount.
Vitamin D supplements have now been found to harm memory
+3
Vitamin D supplements have now been found to harm memory
It added that natural food sources alone, such as eggs and oily fish, are not enough to boost levels sufficiently.
The current advice is that at-risk groups – including pregnant women, children up to age five, adults over 65, people with darker skin and those who do not expose their skin to sunlight – should take a daily vitamin D supplement.
But if the committee's draft recommendations are adopted, they could lead to new guidance for the whole population.
Low levels of vitamin D have been linked to a number of health problems, including diabetes, depression, cancer and autoimmune conditions such as multiple sclerosis.
But should we all really be taking daily vitamin D supplements? Research is highlighting serious potential health dangers of the pills and questions whether taking the supplements has any beneficial effect at all.
£76m
The amount spent on vitamin D supplements by the NHS in 2011
This month, a study by Mayo Clinic children's centre warned that obese teenagers who take vitamin D supplements can have dangerous increases in their levels of cholesterol and triglycerides – a fat in the blood that can raise the risk of heart disease.
Another study warns that giving vitamin D supplements to healthy adults (middle-aged or older) can significantly harm their memory.
The report, by Australia's Curtin University and published in the European Journal of Nutrition, says that when healthy people are given the supplement, they perform significantly worse in tests that require them to remember lists of words over a period of time.
It is known that taking too many vitamin D supplements over time can cause more calcium to be absorbed than can be excreted, with the excess damaging the kidneys.
Excessive vitamin D can also encourage calcium to be removed from bones, which can soften and weaken them.
A study from the University of Copenhagen has warned for the first time of a statistical connection between high levels of vitamin D and deaths from heart attacks and strokes. The research, published in March in the Journal of Endocrinology and Metabolism, found that people with blood concentrations of 100 nanomol per litre or more had an increased risk of dying from a stroke or a coronary.
Professor Peter Schwarz, who led the study, warned: 'We should use this information to ask ourselves whether or not we should continue to eat vitamins and nutritional supplements as if they were sweets.'"
Interview by HELEN GILBERT
From the Daily Mail
I know this thread is old but and comments would be much appreciated. I took 10,000iu of vitamin for 3-4 weeks and it has affected my joints. First my knee started clicking, then it became painful and a sports therapist said I had damaged tendons behind my knee (I'd never had a knee problem before). At the time, my left knee was fine. However, over the next week my left knee also started to click and hurt, the tendons behind that knee also feeling painful. All the joints in my body also started clicking/popping and they haven't stopped since. My joints feel weaker than they did and I am unable to exercise. It is 3 weeks today since I stopped the vitamin D. Has anyone else had this experience and can you provide any reassurance that my joints will return to normal? Many Thanks.
I feel like I pulled a muscle or have the same problem my elbow was extremely painful and ItI broke my arm I could not move it or bend it I could not put my hand over my head over time it has improved somewhat but my arm that was sore seems weaker than the other arm. I am still having a lot of problems tiredness painful joints swelling my find motor skill is terrible, my typing skill has slowed. hopefully it'll get back to where I was before I took the vitamin D
@ Woodnil
I have been in a very similar situation. I was getting calf muscle spasms at night, (every 2/3) The doctor put me on VitD3 (Cholcalciferol) and after a week, the spasms started clearing up.
Fast forward 2 years, and no more spasms at all , but on a daily/nightly basis, I cough, and go to breath, but no air will get through. I feel like I'm a gonner and this can last for about 5 mins. I go white my eyes bloodshot red and I feel as though I will pass out.
I am going to cease taking the Cholecalciferol, and will come back here in 2 weeks to see if things have improved.
Great article, but i think the missing links are Vitamin K and Vitamin A, as both are acting in synergies with vitamin D. Too much Vitamin D in relation may cause ore aggravate an vitamin K deficiency. And that will cause harth and stroke problems. Same is with vitamin A, it does cancels out the toxicity of D an vice versa.
Personally, i where on and off Vitamin D in usually far larger doses as reported here (never below 5000IU) and i do not have seen any of the side effects mentioned here. I higly suggest to read the book the "calcium paradox", that is a gold nugget on vitamin K, but also the relation to D and A.
The reason i cam on this site is, that after being for 30 days in Thailand due too business, i developed sensitive teeth. I also left the Vitamin A capsules at home, as i am not regulatory use it. So may be i should not take Vitamin D in a sunny country. Or upp the Vitamin A.
I was taking the vitamin d gummies and took more than the recommended dosage because I didn't realize there were so many side effects (they looked like candy!) . I've become nauseous (almost to the point of vomiting, multiple times during the day), my lower back hurts, I have a loss of appetite, I feel tired all of the time. I already get frequent urinary tract infections, so I think my kidneys are more susceptible to kidney stones, which can be caused by the vitamin d calcium build up. My chest was hurting on and off for a couple days, i was constipated. I've just stopped taking the supplements, but I'm nervous that I have developed a large kidney stone now and that it might block my urinary tract at any moment. The lymph nodes on my armpit hurt a little bit, so I'm worried i have an infection of some sort. Anyway,thank you for the post, just wanted to document my symptoms and experience here. I'm 105lbs, 5'2", asian female in my mid 20's. If my symptoms go away, I'll follow up here.
Hi there…I have lupus and Sjogrins . I have been taking 8000 UI of VD for 6 month, may even be closer to 10000. This last month I have been having muscle weakness in my legs…so much so that sometimes I fall down..(this however is what I was diagnosed with, and that I would be in a wheelchair in 10 years.) that was 16 years ago…previously I took 5000 per day for 14 years. over this period of time I have continued to make progress with my disease..the bone density tests which started out with the beginnings of bone lost.. and well on my way to bone disease which my mother and Aunt had.. is completely gone and the last test results said I had bones of a 40 year old…(now 61) I used to have molds and large boils on my back, and became very depressed in winter and didn't start to feel "happy" again until July. I don't have these anymore. The attending specialist suggested that I go on high doses of VD for the disease…in the first place. Back when it was recommended to take 200mg per day…
so I am wondering if anyone else has had muscle weak that they could really pin point to taking too much of VD. As my condition gives me most of the side effects listed in anything I read.. like tireness, soreness, eye light sensitivity, joint pain..ect…
thanks…all comments welcome…very interesting…smile
Hi Steve, Thank you for sharing your knowledge! I am experiencing dry eyes for about a month and a half. I was taking a multi vitamin before that for a couple of months. It has Vitamin D3 in it 2000 IU which I stopped about 3 weeks ago, but then I started Vitamin D3 5000IU which I also stopped – last dose was on Dec 19. As per my PCP's advice I had started D2 50,000 IU, one per week for 3 weeks and my last dose was on Dec 17. How long does it take for dry eyes to get better if this is infact due to Vitamin D supplementation?
I too had low levels, 24, by a blood test. They put me on 8 weeks of 50000 iui once a week. Initially I felt great! On week 7 I developed a hot red rash on my face two days after dose 7. It subsided within a few days. I took dose 8 on Thursday again. Sunday I had a hot flash in church (I'm 31!) And my whole face was flushed. My face, ears, eyebrows, wrists and neck itch. My chest some too. Been that way for 3 days.
Count was 7 and was placed on 50,000 IU once weekly. After my third dose, a lot of the symptoms started surfacing. At first it was dry mouth with a metallic taste, difficulty sleeping, feeling hyper all the time, waking up frequently during the night to urinate, and a achy flu feeling. After my fourth dose, all hell broke loose within just a few days, not only did my symptoms before persist, along came a constant headache, ringing in my ears, anxiety and feeling cranky all the time. I stopped taking it and it has been seven days, and the symptoms are still around, but the anxiety has dropped off somewhat. The physician I went to left the area, and I have a appointment with a new doctor in another week. I am very glad that I found this thread, and feel better that I am not alone on this.
How I got vitamin D? If my problem upper back pain left side?
My vitamin d level is 16.9 and my problem is upper back pain in left side what I do?
I just stopped supplementing vitamin D specifically because of two side effects:
I felt nervous and jittery all the time. As if I was jacked up on caffeine. And I also had horrible tooth pain in several teeth that has subsided since stopping the supplements several days ago.
I eat a lot of eggs and meat (low carb diet) so I get roughly 400-500 IU in my diet. It could be that I just don't need more than that.
I have a question about how and if vitamin d causes severe anxiety attacks. I have been taking 2000 to 5000 of vitamin d-3 for 5 years and was prescribed 50,000 iu of d-2 once a week 2 years ago. I had no adverse reactions. About 2 months I mistakenly bought 10,000 in of d-3. After 2 months I began to suffer surfers anxiety attacks. I was prescribed anxiety medication and valium. A nurse, my niece, researched all of my medications and supplements. She discovered that overdoses of vitamin d do cause anxiety attacks. I stopped all vitamin d immediately. I have not had a full blown anxiety attack since then but am continuing the anxiety meds until I see my doctor. My question to you is how long does it take for too much vitamin d to get out of your system. I am a 62 year old woman about 50 lbs overweight. Thanks, Deborah
I took 10,000 IUs for some time, along with Vitamin K. I had all of these symptoms PLUS the pain in my right arm that was so bad I thought i had either broken my collar bone or had a tear in my tendons. When I ran out of vitamin D supplements for a week, I FELT SO MUCH BETTER. I could actually start moving my arm again. I couldn't believe it was related to Vitamin D until I read your blog, and a few others, and found out the Pseudo Gout is also a version of excess calcium deposits in your joints, which one way to get it is to take too much Vitamin D and it converts in your liver and increases calcium until you have hypercalcemia. I am terrified I have ruined my body, but hopeful that I can restore movement to my arm with therapy. I cannot believe there is massive amounts of info on the toxicity of Vitamin A and next to nothing about Vitamin D. If anyone has experienced what seemed like 'gout' in your joints, it could be Vitamin D toxicity. I would love to hear if anyone recovered from something as advanced as this…??
I can't take vitamin D at all. Even 400 IUs will make me extremely tired, gives me a metalic taste in my mouth and I'm more thirsty than usual. I'm only mildly deficient according to test results (27) with the low end of the range (30). I've tried different kinds of vitamin D and I take already take magnesium but the same thing happens every time. The thing is I've been out doors quite a bit all summer since I haven't been working. I wonder if the blood tests are accurate or if there is some other issue. I've basically given up on taking D. I don't think my body likes it.
This comment has been removed by the author.
I m having the same thing …its been 4 days since i m off but i do go into the sun because i cant avoid it on my way to or from the university…and smhow my clicks and pops r worse …r u feeling any better ? Please let me know
I hv had the same issue in all my joints…though one of my joints strtd clicking before i took vitamin d…but after i strtd takin vit d alll my joints hv started clicking …its been 4 days since i m off but i do go into the sun and smhow i m worse …r u feeling any better ?
Hi i m v thankful to u for posting this.my vit d levels were 3 when i got myself testd …this was around 3 mnths bck .my dr recomnded me 600000 (0.6 million)
units per two weeks ….i wud tk 600000 units after every two week and 40 units every day in the form of fortified milk…i started this 2.5 months ago.at tht time my main symptom was pain amd cracking sounds in one shoulder joint…after like two doxes or a month i felt reallly gud.my mood was bttr but after i think the third or fourth dose i strtd feeling sort of fatigued .i strtd hvin twitches all over my body .i strtd hving sm sort of palpitations in my hands and arms ..where n artery in my finger wud suddenly beat and my heart wud strt beating along.even nw i feel tht the twitches r actually arterial palpitations .i m hving panic attacks anxiety .muchhh increased urinary frequency…and the worst of all pain…i get sooo much pain in my joints …my feet hurt in the mornin…my legs feel stiff…my fingers feel stiff …alll my joints crack and pop soooo much…and for the past week i hv had constant diarrhoea .and fpr two days i m hvin sharp abdominal pain at diff points ….i feel nauseatd and my stomach feels heavy .even nw my esophagus feels heavy land i m hving indigestion….burping and flatulnce is also there …the worst thng is the pain and the twitchin/pulsations whatever it is…i always thought all the symptoms r becox of having been anxious for a year .(before the diagnosis of low vit d)..plz help…wht to do now ? My gut is severely upset right now .
Do u thnk my symptoms r becox of vit d?
Yes i m .it strtd in my left shoulder and slpely spread to all my joints …i just stoppd tkin vit d yesterday n my joints still hurt amd pop i hope they get bttr
Hi i m v thankful to u for posting this.my vit d levels were 3 when i got myself testd …this was around 3 mnths bck .my dr recomnded me 600000 (0.6 million)
units per two weeks ….i wud tk 600000 units after every two week and 40 units every day in the form of fortified milk…i started this 2.5 montjs ago.at tht time my kain symptom was pain amd cracking spunds in one shoulder joint…after like two doxes or a montjhi felt reallly gud.my mood was bttr but agter i tjnk the third or fourth dose i strtd feeling sort of fatigued .i strtd hvin twitches all over my body .i strtd hving sm sort of palpitations in my hands amd arms .even nw i feel tht the twitches r actually arterial palpitations .i m hving panic attacks anxiety .muchhh increased urinary frequency…amd the worst of all pain…i get sooo much pain in my joints …my feet hurt in the mornin…my legs feel stiff…my fingers feel stiff …alll my koints crack and pop soooo much…and for the past week i hv had constant diarrhoea .amd fpr two days i m hvin sharp abdominal pain at diff points ….i feel nauseatd and my stomach feels heavy …..burping and flatulnce is also there …the wprst thng is the pain amd the twitchin…i always thought all the symptoms r becox of having been anxious for a year …plz help
Hello All & Mr Steve,
I am glad I found this blog ! Over a month & a half back my General Physician advise 60000IU of Vitamin D3 pills once a week. I took just those pills for 2 weeks & didn't continue them later. However, a very strange pain in my upper arms, thighs had already begun. Right knee also suddenly gave in one fine day without a cause. I also had pain in the right ear {no ringing, but ear falling silent sort of thing}. Insomnia was already there due to stress due to another reason at home & I had lost about 6-7 pounds of weight with regular episodes of fast heart beating. Then I went to another GP around three weeks back, who said all these symptoms were unrelated & advised me blood tests, CBC, ESR, Blood glucose fasting, RA test. All tests were normal. He then made me drink a single dose of 6,00,000 IU orally. Until then I had no idea that excess of vitamin D could cause an issue, but as days passed all these symptoms worsened. Finally went to another consultant, who also run another series of blood tests in which my Vit D levels were found to be 150ng/ml.
I am convinced that, all these symptoms are due to levels of Vit D in my body & hoping to excrete same ASAP..just do not know how to.
P.S I live in a hot temperate climate, so avoiding the SUN is not much of an option.
Regards,
Rahul
i get angry easily after taking vitamin d, i feel irritated. what does it mean?
I was vitamin deficient 11. Doctor prescribed 50,000iu per week, after the 4th week I started feeling weak, insomia, extreme thirst, dry mouth, lightheaded, chest pain, head heaviness and pressure, nauseous, loss of appetite and itchy skin. It scared me, so I stopped d3 for a few days and the doctor told me to reduced my d3 to 5,000iu a day. I was also supplementing with k2–mk7, magnesium with d3 for 2 weeks but still experiencing the same symptoms. Now I stopped d3 completely and will rely on sunshine for my vitamin d. Never again, lesson well learned. After months of suffering and slowly getting better. I wish everyone a fast recovery.
An interesting article and comments!
I took a lot of vitamin d over a long period of time, and I didn't notice much except for a better disposition—in fact, having hypertension, one period of Vitamin D use correlated strongly with a reduction in my medication, so I got it into my head that Vitamin D was helpful. I think I was wrong.
So, this will sound out there, but here goes. If you look at the research for silicon, you find that it has a serious effect on mineral metabolism in the body, and likely also on steroid hormones—there's a serious crosstalk between silicon and estrogen, in that estrogens will generate similar effects to silicon in some studies. There is _very little research_ on silicon and its hormonal effects. Anyway, I started taking silicon and all of the things you talk about as Vitamin D side-effects became very prominent, including serious chest pain, hypertension way up (190/100, yikes!).
My hypothesis is that the mineral metabolism is partly influenced by the availability of minerals like silicon, which have to do with bone resorption and formation. If silicon is low, the body does not activate as much Vitamin D, in order to avoid absorbing excessive calcium that the body cannot deposit in bone matrix, due to inadequate Si. And other hormones may be involved as well–Si appears to have effect on osteocalcin, as well as Ca, P and Mg homeostasis.
Within a few weeks of getting a decent amount of silicon, well within the safe guidelines, I was sick as a dog—and stopping vitamin D intake seemed to help, tho, if I go out in the sun, bam, sick as a dog the next day. I've also read enough online about vitamin D to indicate people's response to D3 are highly variable—and it is possible sunshine is the only factor, but it could also be that lack of silicon (if we take India/China's daily intake of 140-200mg to be adequate, almost all westerners are inadequate, at 20-40mg/day, mostly from specific foods like beer and bananas) means that blood levels stay low unless there is massive supplementation. The differential in Si blood levels could also explain why some are so much more sensitive to VitD than others.
Nutrition is still in the dark ages, there's a billion dollar pharmaceutical industry that has no objective interest in making people well with unpatentable minerals…Boron, Silicon and Sulfur are all essential, but no amounts declared. Sulfur "everyone" gets enough of from protein, Silicon they just sort of ignore, Boron, same with sulfur, the idea is "everyone" gets enough. Where do we spend millions in research dollars, on minerals or pharmaceuticals?
Steve or anyone:
Please help. I have been on 10,000 IUs per week of D3 for 13 weeks now. I'm having eye problems (red, watery, irritated), insomnia, anxiety, and overall feeling of malaise. Can anyone tell me how long it will take to get the D3 out of my system enough so that I can feel well again? I was put on it in mid-October because my level was 20.8. I desperately need to know when I would feel well again; I've had 130,000 IUs already, plus drinking milk and was taking a multivitamin with 400 IUs per pill in it every day. I feel so stupid and helpless. Might I get SOME relief before it leaves completely?
Hello everyone! I m really glad to have stumbled upon this blog, and knowing that I am not alone!! I would like to share my unfortunate story of vitamin D overdose. After being prescribed vitamin D3 injections 3 x 600,000 IUs every 2 weeks, i.e 1,800,000 Iu's in a month ! I started having ALL the toxicity symptoms, from feelings of doom to hallucinations, palpitations,headaches, nausea, abdominal pain, bone pains, severe confusion, Insomnia, lethargy, muscle weakness and twitches, feelings of doom, tinnitus, excess bone loss, hypotension with tachycardia, skin itching. Its like HEll on earth!!Though its been almost 2 years now but im still having symptoms. Feels like im dying slowly. Many trips to the ER during that period and getting tested for every test known to mankind, all came back negative.
Life is definitely not the same anymore. Any advice for any home remedies? i would seriously appreciate some help!!
I have been following this blog for a while now and today i decided to share my tinnitus story to encourage someone out there. I suffered from terrible tinnitus for 8 years after a constant exposure to loud noise. These noise sounded like a car horn in my right ear and grew worse at night when everywhere was calm and quiet, i lacked sleep and this ruined my psychological life. I had no idea the sound was damaging my hearing until it was too late and i had partial deafness, i had a constant ringing in my ear which always makes me feel like taking my own life. I tried so many drugs even B-vitamin supplements, especially B-5, visited so many audiologist, neuromonics and all was to no avail. I have not seen my ex for a long while and when we bumped into each other she knew i was not okay and i had to tell her all i was facing. She felt so sad but told me there is a cure which let me in amazement. That was when she told me about Dr. Joseph herbal medicine which gives a permanent relief to tinnitus symptoms and cures it. Lord know i needed help so i got the medicine and used it, that was when i met a breakthrough, i am perfectly okay now and i sleep calm without any stress and i hear clearly now. You too can get cured just contact him on (josephalberteo @ gmail. com) for advise and how to get the medicine. Thanks
I just wanted to share my story with you and get some insight as to what you think.
Im a 32 year old female in good health. About 6 months ago I started to take a multivitamin. It has 1000 IU of vitamin D. I had no ill effects, although I did develop tinnitus for no reason that I know of about 3 months in that persists to this day. It's only at night and the ear nose and throat doctor didn't seem overly concerned or have any explanation. I sleep with white noise now and it really doesn't bother me.
So about 3.5 weeks ago I started taking 500mg calcium wHicham contains 1000IU vitamin D as well as 250 magnesium oxide. This was on the advise of good old Dr. OZ for suplimentsale everyone should be taking. I was taking them together, at night. Looking back I think I misunderstood how to take them and im not even sure that was the correct magnesium, but moving on….
Exactly one week after adding the calcium/D/Mag combo I noticed my chest hurt a little and my arm was sore. I happen to have a checkup with my Dr a few days later and mentioned it. By then my shoulders and both arms hurt and I had a few seconds of numbness in my hands here and there. She suggested that it might be my heart and did an EKG as a precaution.
That was fine, as was my general lab work. She scheduled me for a follow up in 4 weeks.
Over the corse of the next two weeks I developed general aches and pains all over. My muscles have sore spots and joints huet. Numbness in my arms and jaw. Headaches, chest pains and kind of feeling like I couldn't get a good deep breath. A couple days ago I started to get nerve twinges in my hands arms and legs. I had some numbness in my jaw here and there for a fee seconds. Some random muscle spasams. Also bursts of tinnitus that are louder for a few seconds. I've been drinking tons of water, doing yoga and trying to remain as calm as possible thru all this.
Of course thru my Google searches I've found ms, fibro and lupus to all have these symptoms witch is scary. It just doesn't make any sense to me how I could go from nothing to all of this so fast with those conditions. I also relized that anxiety and stress could cause this. Truthfully im open to that possibility, but I find it unlikely. I'm not really stressing about much right now besides this, and it just doesn't make sense. I've been thru more stressful times in my life.
Yesterday when I was taking my vitamins I saw the magnesium bottle that said supports brain, muscle and nerve function and i relized then that vitamins could be a possible cause for all of this. I wonder now if doubling my D to 2000iu is what caused all this, or if it was a combo of some vitamins reacting. I wonder what your thoughts are on all of this? I haven't seen sharp pains like muscle twinges listed as a reaction people have had, unless I'm missing that. That and the achyness are the primary pains im currently havin going (today).
While I certainly agree that one should watch vit D levels and avoid taking too much over extended periods, I am very surprised by almost no mention of the importance of increased magnesium when supplementing with vitamin d. Increased magnesium will offset the bone or muscle aches and Epsom salt baths are great for doing this quickly. There's a balance to strike with D and mag is a huge part of that. It's possible that symptoms from vit d are actually mag deficiencies that are brought to light with vit d supplementation. Back off the vitamin d and add magnesium to help rebalance.
I was low some years ago and was put on 50,000IU's. I don't remember how often I was to take them, but I thought large doses of VD3 was harmless. I recently bought a bottle of 5000 IU's and thought I'd take a little extra since we're just coming out of winter. I took 2 to 3 a day for a few days, up to 15,000IUs. I developed a 3 day migraine. Now the migraine is gone and I have a severe sinus infection. I have never produced this much snot in my life, I'm swimming in it. My nose will not stop running. My face is so swollen, painful, and I'm coughing. I feel a little better this morning but I'm not out of the woods yet. I feel so stupid!
This article in the link I am including talks about the need to take magnesium when taking a Vit D supplement. The side effects talked about above sound like magnesium deficiencies. The article talks about how magnesium helps Vit D to be metabolized, so using up Magnesium. Many of us are already low on magnesium, which is a really important mineral for our health.
http://www.easy-immune-health.com/magnesium-and-vitamin-d.html
This article I am including the link to, addresses why magnesium should always be taken when taking vitamin D. The side effects described above actually sound like Magnesium deficiency. Vitamin D needs magnesium to be utilized by the body. This can cause Vitamin D to use up magnesium causing a deficiency. Many of us are also low on magnesium as we are Vitamin D.
http://www.easy-immune-health.com/magnesium-and-vitamin-d.html
Thank you everyone for sharing your experience. Thanks for the blog, it’s been very helpful.
Here goes my nightmare with the Vitamin D3 overdose.
After the birth of my second son, due to his allergies I had to follow elimination diet. Due to not having balanced diet and very limited exposure to sun while still recovering from c section I was having aches and pains (leg) and gum bleeding. I saw two dentists, one suggested 3 months once deep cleaning and scaling and another suggested gum surgery. As pregnancy and exclusive breast feeding has already made my teeth and gums more sensitive I was reluctant to take invasive approach and took matters in to my hands. I realized the prenatal’s which have been prescribed to me during/after pregnancy was not having calcium. I immediately started 250 mg calcium 250mg of vitamin C and within 3 days, gums stopped bleeding and started to heal. I was still having some leg pain if I was standing more than 3 hours continuously.
After sometime, I saw my physician; who upon blood test suggested to take 1000 units of Vitamin D3, 1000mu of B12, B-Complex, Calcium 500 mg (The calcium I brought had 400 u of Vitamin D3) daily.
Initially I only took 250mg of Calcium and C daily, other vitamins once a week. But latter I switched to Doctors suggestion in hopes of getting rid of leg pain and took everything as recommended plus 400 u D3 which came with calcium tablet. It worked – no leg pain.
But after 2-3 weeks of taking vitamins regularly I noticed sensitive teeth and swelling with lump near lower wisdom tooth. Also feeling tired easily.
Started antibiotic the swelling got down to some extent but a new swelling formed near upper 3rd molar. Dentist took x-ray and said lower wisdom has infection and suggested wisdom tooth extraction. She was not sure of 3rd molar and thought it could need filling but can be attended latter. I got my upper and lower wisdom teeth pulled and got to see them closely; they looked perfect to me. Swelling did not stop here. My front teeth and jaw line were looking weird with small lumps.
Though extraction healed, I started to feel discomfort on other side of the mouth, chewing slightly hard food caused another side to swell. This raised a red flag and I quit vitamins immediately as that was the only unnatural thing which came to my mind (I have always been vegetarian and eat 95% of the time homemade food.) Dentist was not sure and said it could be allergic reaction to antibiotics and suggested to visit my primary care.
Two days into vitamin free system, gum swelling and tooth ache was slowly reducing. Meanwhile in an attempt to get natural replacement for vitamin D, I sat 2-3 hours in the morning sun. By mid-day gum swelling came in full swing teeth started to ache very badly and I was in pain with tears which confirmed that Vitamin D3 might be the culprit. Now I’m completely avoiding sun and will do so for couple of weeks and see how things progress. Gum swelling is under control and no teeth ache. I have also done some dietary changes to include vitamin C as well as other vitamins naturally and taking pureed food to allow gums to heal.
Please let me know if you had similar symptoms and if anything helped to resolve.
-Thanks,
Neha
Hi, I am glad to have found this blog. 7th July 2017.
I too had several symptoms and did not know it was from the vitamin D. It started with back pain, burning pain. A few months later I got bone pain in my shoulders. I took 25000 IU every two weeks. After 4 months I added 1000 IU every day because I found a supplement with K2 + vit. D in it. And I also took some codliver oil. So that might have been 4000 IU per day. Then I started to get UTI's all the time for 3 months. And my immune system was so low that I could not go outside even with 90°F (30°C). I got earpain all the time and felt like having the flu. I started searching and found that some people got UTI's from vit. D. After 6 months of taking it (and I did take it 1 year before that also) I stopped the vit. D. I added calcium as a supplement ! Because I thought it would help my immune system. I never should have done that of course. I made things worse, but I did not know at that point. I started getting more bone pain on my shoulders, then my elbows and then my knees / shins. I got very very weak and dizzy.
I stopped the vitamin D for 2 months now and the calcium for 3 weeks. I still have bad bone pain.
I got some advise to take vitamin A and K2 (MK7) and also boron (borax). I am trying this now for the bone pain I have.
I would like to know how long it will take before the pain goes away ???
I never take the vitamin D again !
I am a 38-year-old female and I've been taking 5 to 6000 I use of vitamin D per day for several years, and have just started to experience racing heart beat, blurred vision, vapor feeling in my chest, and physical anxiety symptoms. I have been racking my brain trying to figure out what is causing the symptoms. I have a friend to see is a naturopath and it's pretty informed about natural health and she says that having a high level of vitamin D is good, and my level is 91% I believe . When the doctor first prescribed vitamin D to me he prescribed 2000 IU's per day and I increased it on my own. However, when I stop the vitamin D I get extremely tired, no energy, and even start falling asleep during the day, like clockwork every time I have tried to stop taking it. I also have slightly high blood pressure for the first time in my life and it is not due to diet or sodium or anything. I've also had skin rashes and sensitivity but I can't remember if this started before I took the vitamin D or not although it was around the same time. Five or six years ago. I'm going to try to decreased to 3000 IU's per day and then 2000 and hopefully 1000 after that if I don't start calling asleep again. I'm glad I found this blog or I would've continued to take 5000 IU's per day. If anything has helped you to wean off of vitamin D I would appreciate any advice, thank you.
Hi, I was taking 5000 a day since maybe April or May. Now July. I'm also a runner but didn't run a lot during the winter. Right now I'm dealing with chronic pain in left arm, intense jaw pain every other day or third day, probably because I've been going outside a lot, teeth are really sensitive, before they were sensitive and in pain, I was dealing with a low appetite and it makes sense now. The jaw really really hurts when it does so hopefully staying indoors for a few days and stop supplementation will get me out of the woods.
I had been taking a daily multi-vitamin that contained Vitamin D (1,000 IU) for many, many years. At that time, I did not know that the side effects I was having were from the Vitamin D. I believed the feelings I had were of postpartum, as I had just had a baby. For many years I was moody, anxious, tired, nauseous, could not sleep, frequent urination, metallic taste in my mouth, and suffered from headaches and painful migraines. I would also have periods of being very sad without knowing the reason. My monthly cycle was a horrible experience each month that included migraines and heavy bleeding that I had not experienced prior to my pregnancy.
A few years ago I noticed that when I went outside, I would not sweat and then when I would go inside, I would vomit and become extremely fatigued. That is when I went to the doctor. I was told to stay inside so this would not happen. I did have my blood checked several times but nothing unordinary came up. At one point I was told to take Vitamin D as my levels were low. I did not begin taking supplements as I had stopped taking the multi-vitamins and did not want to begin taking anything until I felt better.
I stopped taking the multi-vitamin and still remember how much different food taste. The metallic taste in my mouth went away and I could actually taste how wonderful the food was I was eating.
A nurse talked with me once when my doctor could not see me and suggested I keep a food dairy as she believed it was something I was ingesting that was making me feel so horrible. I did notice that when I ate dairy I would feel all the symptoms. I immediately gave up diary and found that I felt so much better than I had in a long time. Thinking it was solely dairy, I went on with my life but noticed that there were times that I still felt some symptoms but could never recall what I had eaten to make me feel bad again.
Recently I have begun to feel side effects again and noticed that when I eat foods that are high in calcium (beans, almonds, tuna, kale) I have the side effects. The last experience I had came on when I had been eating almonds for several days and then went out in the sun for a few hours. I got a horrible migraine headache that took most of the early evening and a full night in bed before I began feeling better. I also became nauseous and to sick to my stomach.
I was quite happy to find your blog and read the stories because I have felt so alone in this experience. I have read and read websites that indicate that Vitamin D toxicity is very rare but that does not seem to be my experience. I am concerned that I have high levels of calcium in my blood and should do a blood test to make sure that is not the case. There have been times in the past where I was able to go outside, sweat and be perfectly fine, but I am now thinking I probably had not eaten too much calcium when that occurred. I am just concerned that I have somehow messed up my body by taking the multi-vitamin for so long.
Hi, I was taking 5000 a day since maybe April or May. Now July. I'm also a runner but didn't run a lot during the winter. Right now I'm dealing with chronic pain in left arm, intense jaw pain every other day or third day, probably because I've been going outside a lot, teeth are really sensitive, before they were sensitive and in pain, I was dealing with a low appetite and it makes sense now. The jaw really really hurts when it does so hopefully staying indoors for a few days and stop supplementation will get me out of the woods.
Hello Steve,
I loved you blog read. I have had tinitus, dry mouth, and heart palpitations on and off for about 3.5 years.
I asked my wife when we started supplementing our Vit-D/Calcium. She said about 3.5 years ago. It gets weirder. last year our Vit-D/Calcium brand upped the vit-D from 400 IU to 800 IU. Now that I have been thinking about it seemed about a year ago my early morning 4 am wakings got worse. I have had tham for 25 years but they became noticably worse.
Now that I have been off of the vitamin-d for about 5 days I am sleeping better, only one early morning wakening, but now I have a low level depression from this. However my anxiety level is much lower now that I am off.
By the way I am taking 600mg Calcium at night just like before but without the Vit-D.
My question for you is will this end. Will I feel more energy and less depressed once my body gets use to this?
I went off Vit-D for about 2 weeks about 6 months ago, and same thing, got depressed.
Will this wear off. Pretty fatigued also.
Again, do you think this is temporary?
Thanks!
Steve, what do you mean by "familiarize you with the side effects"?
Do mean find out if dosing once a week causes less? Do you believe that there are less side effects from the once weekly regime?
Thanks!
Could you let us know what your active vitamin D levels are ?
Like many others have already said, this blog has been a godsend, so thanks to Steve and all those who have commented.
I have my own story: I was diagnosed with low Vitamin d and prescribed 50000 iu d3, once a week for six weeks. I didn’t notice at the time but in hindsight after the second ampoule I was experiencing a few funny head pains. Then I had an episode where my face went red after a shower and I felt really weak.
Just before the last ampoule I was getting tingling sensations in my face. The last ampoule completely messed me. I had that many symptoms I really though this was it. I had breathing difficulties, I had a burning/ stinging flush in my neck, face and head. My arms and legs kept tingling, I felt so much anxiety that every time I went to my doctor he just kept saying this was the reason for all the other symptoms. I had acid reflux,wanting to burp but unable to, really bad insomnia, my legs would shake when I was feeling some of these symptoms. I lost a stone in weight and was am still getting blurred vision. When I tried going for a walk I would feel a buzz in my head and feel dizzy. I went to a&e a number of times but each time they sent me Home saying I was fine. My doctor did a blood test and said everything is fine but my Vitamin d is ‘slightly’ high at 118!!!
I really do feel it is the high dose vitamin d. However 6 weeks on I am still getting tingling and burning pain in my neck and head, some of the other symptoms have slowed down.
I am now praying that all this symptoms will go away and from now on I will only rely on natural sun, good diet and if necessary then homepathic medication as doctors just diagnose anxiety/ depression and send you off with anti-depressants.
I hope everyone makes a speedy recovery.
Nita.
Over a year ago, I began taking Vit D supplements because my Vit D levels were found to be deficient. I never went back to retest my levels but instead continued the supplements. I recently started experiencing intense bone pain and got my Vit D levels tested again. My Dr said I had toxic levels of 130. ( He did'nt elaborate further. He said the normal level was 30).
The only solution he prescribed was to stop supplementing and avoid the sun.
I'm worried if this may have caused long term damage. Is this the only course of action taken? So far my symptoms include bone & muscle pain, with occasional bouts of indigestion. Do I need to do anything more?
Steve,
thanks for sharing this post. Im in the hopes that you are still replying to this old thread from (2008)
Started taking 4000iu per day vit D about 6 or 8 months ago after reading an article that suggested my tendentious (that i assumed was from lifting weights running etc) may be a Vit D deficiency….i was having this dull aching pain in my elbows and the tendons in that area, as well as shoulders and knees. Iam 49 and iam a runner, i run nearly every day and lift weights for over 20yrs now, i assumed this joint pain was from this active lifestyle and i was disjointed now thinking ive hurt myself doing what i thought was supposed to help me!
So i basically guessed after this article that it may be Vit D and innocently started a 4000iu per day tiny gel cap into my weekly supplement pill container.
about 3 months ago while well into the addition of Vit D, without any problems, i also started taking Propecia for thinning hair (Which affects hormone levels from the prostate) AND i also (ironically) started drinking skim milk in my diet (which i haven't drank milk in years after giving i up after reading an article about its negative effects etc)….well about 3 weeks after taking Propecia (Finasteride) and drinking alot of milk, i started getting this insane itching skin, with hives. Especially at nite while lying in bed. Immediately we assumed itwas a allergy to Milk ….STOPPED MIK….then the itching persisted so i then blamed the Propecia, and googled the side effects which in fact list severe itching skin and rash/hives as a side effect! so i immediately stopped the Propecia…..however the itching 8 days after stopping persisted! We were boggled at this point as to what could be the cause. As as side note *ALL MY JOINT PAIN AND TENDENTIOUS WAS CURED! I had no more pain yet couldn't put my finger on what cured me! was it the hormonal change from the Finasteride? Or the Vit D supplementation?
So we read that this unbearable itching skin with hives pointed (maybe) to the vit D…..I thought i had developing autoimmune disorder with would explain the tendonitis like rheumatoid arthritis and such…and to be honest i was starting to worry about myself.
So we started to read about the correlation between Vit D (overdose) and itching skin and hives, so 2 days ago (after process of elimination over the past 3 months), I looked at the supplements i have been taking: Vit D 4000iu per day but i was also taking another supplement of magnesium /zinc/ that ALSO HAD VIT D as well @ another 400iu i did not realize, so immediately i stopped ALL MY SUPPLEMENTS just to be sure ( is was also taking glucosamine, Vit A, Milk Thistle type supplement, Vit E, and Saw Palmetto daily) so i wanted to be sure and stop everything. So now ive stopped MILK…PROPECIA….AND All my supplements.
Well the itchiness subsided by the next nite and i was relived!!! that this was just simply a vitamin problem and not (autoimmune disease etc ) …still had very slight itchiness but NOTHING like b4 which feels like pins and needles in you skin, completely random places and times..inside of the legs , shins, neck…even between the fingers!!
SO heres the twist i was fine for almost 48 hours and then last night, a strange swelling on the bottom of my left foot?? not very painful but like a golf ball under my skin causing my to limp today? Iam wondering if this has something to do with a calcium deposit from the Vit D dissipating in my system? or maybe being expelled from my system??
This entire situation has been nothing short of INSANE. And it all started with the other thing new in my life which was the introduction of Vit D. You said in your post that hormone levels could even elevate D levels, which could explain the spike when i took Propecia…and then MILK!
Could you add some insight for me please? you blog has been the only thing ive read that makes any sense to my condition….also, the question of the day! HOW DO I FLUSH THIS DREADED VIT D OUT OF MY SYSTEM???? back to normal levels???
Thanks in advance!
Matt
Hello Steve. Several months ago I started taking a new multivitamin which unbeknownst to me contained 1500iu. I took one per day and an additional 500iu vitamin d pill. After several months on these I developed contipation. I continued taking them but stopped about 3 weeks ago after I developed gastrointestinal issues. I also began having ringing in my ears, dry mouth, stomach pain, frequent urination, trouble sleeping and painful teeth. The worst symptom is that I have so much gas in my stomach and a bloated upper abdomen. The gas and bloating make it difficult to get a deep breath sometimes. I’m a healthy 53 year old woman normally. It’s been 3 weeks since I’ve had these issues. I just noticed today that my teeth don’t hurt anymore so I’m hoping all my other symptoms will be gone soon. I’m glad I came across this post! Thanks!
Hi Steve, Thanks for the helpful blog. I am struggling right now. Due to my asthma acting up along with allergies, frequent nighttime urination and sleeplessness, last Nov, I upped my vit d intake to 8000 iu (I had been taking 5000 iu for the longest time, but had stopped totally when asthma flared up) after listening to a Vit D expert (Dr. Sasha). The nightime urination has become intense and uncomfortable, wheezing is somewhat present, but not as intense as it was from July-Dec. So, as of today I have stopped Vit D supplementation and will determine if that is issue. Your thoughts please along with how much sun exposure do I need as a dark-skinned (brown) person? Although I now live in Mexico, I don't like being in the sun, so mostly avoid it. Thanks again.
WOW! What an eye opener. I realize now that I was probably toxic way before the first signs appeared to me. I was diagnosed with hypothyroid in 2012. I was told low vitamin D was a contributing factor. So of course I like many other started to take a vitamin D pill ( 15000 a day not counting food and sun of course) Up until Nov 2017 I never had an issue. A local weight loss specialist gave me a Vitamin D/ k12 drop form of the popular vitamin. It was to be dissolved under the tongue. I started noticing a burning patch ( similar to the feeling you get from icy hot) above my right knee. I never thought anything of it. 2 weeks later I noticed the burning patches in other areas. Again didn't put much thought into it. Then in Dec I thought I was having heart problems. Chest pain, trouble breathing. A week later I landed in the emergency room. I was experiencing tingling sensations all over my body, massive diarrhea, weakness, dizzy spells, palpitations, my legs wanted to give out.. Etc. They told me I had the flu and sent me home. A day later I started feeling anxiety, I couldn't stop bouncing my legs, then the scary part. A tingly nerve sensation traveling up my right leg, into my arm and up my face. Followed by my muscles on the same side tensing up a feeling of what I only discripe as numbness in my right arm and right side if my face. Like everything on that side of my body froze for a few seconds. Called my doctor and found out my vitamin D was at 108 and my b12 was at 2000. She informed me to stop all supplements.
It's been a month. Though my muscles aren't freezing up and I'm not experiencing the tingles, I do still feel weak, and struggle to sleep soundly. I only hope that some of these side effects aren't permanent. The burning patches come and go yet I'm glad I don't feel the sharp needle like pains in my bones..
Is this thread still alive? It’s 2018 now.
I never realized vitamin D is perhaps the cause of the body ache at night I’ve been experiencing for many years. Once I realized, thanks to this blog and all the comments above, I stopped drinking vitamin D milk, the change seems is super fast, in a few days, I can sleep on both sides of my body and wake up without a headache and sore back. My headache, which had been getting worse and worse for the last few years, seems suddenly is gone.
I realized I had many mild side effects, blurred vision, loose stool, dry mouth, tiredness, stuffed nose.. they are all improving now as I no longer drinking vitamin D milk and no longer take any vitamin D supplements (very low dose, and not taking everyday). I realized my diet (egg, fish) plus sunshine in California give me enough vitamin D.
WOW! There isn't much information on overdose of D on the internet. This is how my story goes:
Feet started to tingle and hurt
Knee joins and legs felt weak (I exercise and am generally fit)
Fatigue
Itchy red watery eyes, sometimes blurry vision
Metalic taste in mouth
Dry mouth
Frequent urination at night especially
The tingling and hurting feet lead me to a battery of tests! Neurologist, MRI of back and feet, several blood tests such as liver and kidney function, Lupis, Lyme Disease, you name it I have had it tested. The doctors say they can't find anything wrong with me. Feet getting worse by the day. Hearth palpitations too. Several EKGs and a trip to the ER with a heartbeat of over 200. They find nothing. Ultrasound of the heart. Healthy they say.
I did not stop. I asked my doctor to test for b12 deficiency, B6 toxicity, the works. Blood finally came back very high D and very high Iron. I had been supplementing with both due to the tingling feet. Seems this could have been the culprit all along. The doctor says to quit supplementing and will retest in 3 months.
My feet are getting some feeling back after being off the supplements for about 4 weeks. I hope to continue to see improvement!