Are These Symptoms of Vitamin D Overdose?

by Gloria Brannon
(Orlando, Florida)

My bones were not absorbing calcium. My doctor prescribed 50000 iu a week plus the vitamin d in calcium supplements 500 IU's daily. I have been getting head aches and today I have been urinating more than usual plus I had a nose bleed (this has never happened before) my tongue has been feeling a bit unusual kind of like I burned it.

My blood work showed 35 on my calcium reading. Is all of this overdosing on vitamin D? If so my main question Is the vitamin D going to leave my system eventually?

What can I do to counteract the level of D? I am calling the doctor tomorrow in the mean time I will appreciate any info.

Gloria Brannon

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Not an Overdose on Vitamin D
by: Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune Queen!

Hi Gloria,

You don't say how LONG you have been taking the vitamin d, but I'm assuming that you have only been taking it for a short time (several weeks?).

So, if you had vitamin d deficiency, then even a year or two of taking Vitamin D at a dosage of 50,000 IU's per week is NOT going to cause you to have an Overdose on Vitamin D. It's just simply never happened at those dosages, so you don't have to do anything to 'reverse' the vitamin d or anything like that.

Headaches are not an unusual Side Effect of Vitamin D and, as long as you don't have any neurologic problesm, can often be countered by taking some magnesium in the amount stated on the Magnesium Dosage page.

But I have never heard of anyone getting a bloody nose or the sensation of a burning tongue from taking vitamin d. Calling your doctor is probably a good idea and he might want to run some blood work to see if anything is going on.

Unfortunately, most of the side effects of vitamin d that I hear about are from prescription vitamin d. And it would be a great idea to read WHY taking the Prescription Vitamin D is far from the best choice.

So, you may want to consider getting off the prescription and instead taking Vitamin D3 Supplements instead.

We'd love it if you come back, too, and let us know what your doctor thinks about the bloody nose and burning tongue. And just to let you know, there IS a medical condition called "Burning Tongue" that is likely to be related to a condition called Peripheral Neuropathy.

Do you have any other medical conditions or take any other medications? That could also help to solve this mystery.

Kerri Knox RN Immune Health Queen

Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune System Queen
Functional Medicine Practitioner
Easy Immune Health.com

not taking prescription vit. d
by: Mary Estalote

I agree you should stop the prescription vitamin d. Please inform yourself about vitamin d and the difference between Vitamin D2 and Vitamin D3. Prescription Vitamin D is d2 not d3.

Although one pharmacist said he thinks it is d3. He wasn't confident so my journey began to seek the truth. Truth is powerful. So make sure you know where your getting info. I have been very deficient several times and When I learned about d3 I started myself on 5000 IU's of Vitamin D3 Supplements a day.

I'm doing better and I also take about 500 mg of magnesium. Im even sleeping again and have NOT gotten sick with flu or a cold.

Vitamin D3 overdose
by: Anonymous

I was getting similar symptoms..headache, excessive thirst, achy lungs. Couldn't believe it was caused by a couple weeks of 1000 iu a day and three days of 6000 iu to avoid the flu. Ended up with these symptoms.

Until I found a site with many people with similar symptoms from high doses of vitamin D I would have remained baffled.

Please check it out. Just fellow searchers who were glad to have found others in the same predicament.

Just google vitamin d3 overdose blog.

It's the one started in Dec. 11, 2008.

Good luck and good health :)

I like to find solutions and not just suffer..
by: Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune Queen!

So, I went and took a look at that blog that you pointed out. While it's unfortunate that these people are having these problems, the vast majority of these Side Effects of Vitamin D are actually problems with an induced magnesium deficiency and not problems with taking vitamin d at all!!

If the people on that site were to read my page on avoiding side effects of vitamin d by taking Magnesium and Vitamin D together, the vast majority of people there would be able to take vitamin d without problems.

Unfortunately, since the blog owner isn't aware of the fact that vitamin d depletes magnesium, he's drawing conclusions that are completely unhelpful.

He's also getting Vitamin D Toxicity and Vitamin D Side Effects mixed up so that the people on the blog believe that they are having symptoms of toxicity when they are definitely not.

So, you can go to the Vitamin D Overdose Blog, but you are not going to find helpful solutions to being able to take vitamin d - only inaccurate conclusions and the advice to not take vitamin d.

Kerri Knox RN Immune Health Queen

Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune System Queen
Functional Medicine Practitioner
Immune System

PS: If you found this website helpful, please consider using the
Easy Immune Health Product Store the next time you purchase your supplements online. Thank you for visiting my site!

Too much Vitamin D3 can be too much.
by: Anonymous

With all due respect, and I realize you are a nurse, there are indeed patients for whom lower doses of vitamin D3 can cause these effects relative to blood calcium elevation, even in the midst of appropriate (400-1000mg) quality magnesium supplementation. I also have a clinical background, and while I had a great reponse to 5000iu of vitamin D3 daily, that was short-lived, and in 3 weeks of supplementing (with both D and 800mg chelated magnesium glycinate, which I have taken for years, successfully), I too had dry membranes, nasal irritation, extreme dry mouth, metallic taste, body fatique and malaise, and the "tongue" sensation that other patients have reported. Also - contrary to the statements made here, this has nothing to do with rancid oils in my supplement. This also occured with several types of supplements, and not just one brand. This is related to the fact that different individuals do not process D the same, and it can rapidly cause elevated calcium, resulting in these mild, initial signs of hypercalcemia, also sometimes referred to as hypervitaminosis of vitamin D (not the same, but related nonetheless).

The rationale behind higher D doses is relative to the amount of D the body naturally makes in sunlight upon daily exposure -which is reported to be 10,000-20,000iu. However, what this does not address is that each person's body would not generate this much D each day. When the body has enough D, it simply degrades the remainder upon exposure to sunlight, thereby keeping the system balanced. This cannot happen with oral D3 supplementation, and therefore, for some folks, a little D goes a lot further than with others, resulting in these side effects.

While it is true that ADDING additional magnesium will help to relieve the symptoms of fatigue, the overall balance is thrown off once blood calcium levels are high. The ideal is to avoid D and D-products as well as calcium-rich products for a week or so or until symptoms are no longer experience, while continuing to supplement with a good bioavailable source of magnesium. Once symptoms have abated, it's okay to restart D3, however at much lower therapeutic levels. Side effects are always a sign that the body is a state of imbalance. Vitamin D is a required secosteroid, however, individuals may have varying results due to invidual needs and body chemistry. Appropriate magnesium supplementation is necessary if D3 is to be continued. What may start out as extra energy may soon result in fatique if magnesium stores are depleted, requiring a much higher level of magnesium supplementation. Better to take more conservative doses of D3 at that point and continue with 400-1000mg of a quality, bioavailable magnesium at that point - such as chelated magnesiums that are bound to amino acids like mag glycinate.

Hope this helps.

D3
by: Anonymous

Hi I was prescribed fultium d3 from my go and had the exact same symptoms nose bleeds dry mouth and the tip of my tongue feeling burnt.
I was completely unaware that lanolin was in these meds, and I react to lanolin on my skin.
I switched to a lanolin free d3 and have had no problems at all.

Hope this helps x

Vitamin D3 Symptoms
by: Anonymous

Thanks for the notes on these topics. I've been working toward increasing my Vitamin D since I tested lower than expected. I am otherwise healthy. The pattern of dosage was driven by the gummy flavors and I eventually developed some mild head-aches which I thought were due to less sleep and the tongue burn on the forward 3rd of my tongue. I am also a regular magnesium powder (CALM) which I generally take at the rate of two heaping teaspoons a day. I'm happy to figure out that it was over taking of D3 that was causing tongue burn. It looks like someone may have solved this by using high-ish dosages of probiotics on their tongue---that perhaps the balance of the tongue's habitat has been disrupted. Anyway, I'm relieved to know that it's that or drinking too much decaf a (new habit) since I'm studying for some exams.

Vitamin D3 Overdose
by: Anonymous

Hi, I've had these exact symptoms with the dry mouth, constant urination, actually a small bloody nose (but enough to ruin a good shirt) and that dang burning tip of the tongue sensation. This is like the third time this has occurred and while this time I do not have a foul taste in my mouth of iron or what not I'm pretty much expecting it in the next few hours.

Anyway my girlfriend had a nutrition exam that I was helping her study for and all of the "excess" symptoms of vitamin D3 to match up almost verbatim to my symptoms and a good part of the others listed on here as well.

It all started to click at this point, granted I am in college and on a poor diet with horrible sleeping patterns, the only constant with these three recent situations was when I had decided to take this Nature Made 1000iu D3 supplement that my parents had gotten me way back when. I have never had problems staying up late studying before except for these rare occasions where my thought process is something along the lines of, "I'm probably lacking on my vitamins" so I go ahead and take one of these guys and well...

Here I am on this page with a headache, dry mouth and this wonderful burning tip of the toungue.

I'm not in school to be a doctor but after this diagnosis, I may need to reconsider........ Kidding. But I hope this helped a few of you stragglers like me who come across this page.

Not an overdose
by: Kerri Knox, RN, The Immune Queen

Your symptoms are almost certainly not that of an overdose. You simply are not going to overdose from taking a 1000 IU supplement on occasion. You could actually take the entire bottle at once and you will not have overdosed.

Most likely, the oil in the bottle of Vitamin D that your parents got 'way back when' has gone rancid and that is the cause of your symptoms.

Please see my page on Vitamin D Overdose and you'll see that in Russia, it used to be the medical standard to give newborn infants 500,000 IU's all at once, and they did not overdose.

An adult is not going to overdose on one 1000 IU pill. There is no record of that happening in all of the millions of people that have taken vitamin D throughout the world over the past 100 years. Even if the manufacturer made a mistake and put 100,000 IU's in the capsule, or even a million IU's in the capsule, you would almost certainly not be overdosing. That's not the way Vitamin D works.

However, if you do think that you are having a vitamin d overdose, please see a medical professional and get a Vitamin D Level and a Calcium level. A Vitamin D overdose is a serious medical condition that should be diagnosed and followed by a doctor. So, please get your labs done. However, I believe that you'll find your vitamin D level is almost certainly low.

5000 iu Vitamin D with K...dryness
by: Anonymous

I took 1 5000iu Vit D3 with K and the next morning, I woke up so dehydrated! My mouth was dry, my nose was dry (got a nosebleed), my lips felt horribly chapped. I had a headache. I drank 4 liters of water throughout the day and felt better but not completely. Not thinking it was the Vit D3, I took another one the following day. Same dehydration feelings the next day--just not as bad.

My Vit D was 20 so the doctor said I need to be taking the Vit D. If taking Vit D3 causes this reaction...then I guess I just can't take it.

I was looking over my MTHFR report from Nutrahacker and I do have 2 Vit D gene mutations (I think that's what it means--I'm not fully schooled in this DNA stuff but working on it).
---------------------------------
VDR Bsm rs1544410 TC: +/- (hetero)

Gene Function:
Vitamin D Receptor

Consequences:
Downregulated Vitamin D receptor

Encourage:
Vitamin D3, Sage, Rosemary

Avoid:
Methyl donors
________________________________________
VDR TAQ rs731236 AG: +/- (hetero)

Gene Function:
Vitamin D Receptor

Consequences:
Downregulated Vitamin Dreceptor, can affect dopamine levels

Encourage:
Vitamin D3, Sage, Rosemary

Avoid:
Methyl donors

vitamin d3
by: Anonymous

I've been taking 5000iu of d3 for over a year.a recently I've been experiencing metallic taste on tongue dry mouth, fatigue and constant urination. I will stop taking d3 for a month and see results.

I also drink few whey protein shakes a day which could be supporting calcium increasing in the blood.

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