Any excess is harmful, even with regard to certain nutrients essential to our survival and our well-being, including vitamin D. Indeed, vitamin D overdose exists, and this can have devastating effects on the body.
Vitamin D overdose
The vitamin D is important for your bones, muscles, nerves, immune system and more. But like anything, too much vitamin D can be harmful. Although a rare occurrence, vitamin D toxicity – also called hypervitaminosis D – can occur when a person has excessive amounts of vitamin D in the body. As for how an overdose of vitamin D manifests itself, the main consequence is hypercalcemia, an excess of calcium in the blood.
Symptoms this can cause include vomiting, nausea, and severe weakness. In more severe cases, hypercalcemia can also affect the kidneys and heart rhythm, which can be particularly dangerous. Note that hypervitaminosis D cannot be caused by diet or exposure to the sun. This is because the body regulates the amount of vitamin D produced by sun exposure, and even fortified foods do not contain large amounts of vitamin D.
This means that vitamin D toxicity is usually caused by excessive doses of vitamin D supplements. These supplements are particularly prescribed for people who suffer from vitamin D deficiency, a very common problem that affects almost 70% of the French. The dose at which vitamin D supplements become toxic is not known. However, it is certain that it would have to be very high, well above the dose that doctors will usually prescribe.
One case of vitamin D overdose reported in UK
So far, doctors have not seen fit to warn patients about the risks of vitamin D overdose. This was the case until a middle-aged Briton was taken to hospital due to hypervitaminosis D. According to an article published in the journal BMJ Case Reportsthe man initially presented with symptoms such as vomitingof the nausea and leg cramps for three months. Subsequently, other symptoms, including tinnitusa weightloss, a increased thirst and some diarrheaappeared.
Unable to relieve these symptoms, his doctor eventually referred him to a hospital for treatment. In particular, it was learned that the man decided to start an intensive regimen of vitamin supplements after hearing about these supplements on a radio show. After contacting the show’s nutritionist, the man took a daily dose of 150,000 IU (international unit) of vitamin D. This is 375 times the recommended amount of vitamin D supplement, reported CNN.
The maximum recommended dose by the UK National Health Service is usually 400 IU of vitamin D per day. It should be noted that the Briton stopped taking these vitamin D supplements when his symptoms started, that is after approximately one month of treatment. Unfortunately, his condition did not improve, and even tended to get worse. At the time he was hospitalized, he had lost 12.7 kg and his kidneys were in trouble. To prevent such an accident from happening again, doctors recommend not taking a vitamin D supplement if you are in good health, and instead suggest improving your diet and sunbathing.