‘‘Overdosing’’ on vitamin D supplements is both possible and harmful, warn doctors in the journal BMJ Case Reports after they treated a man who needed hospital admission for his excessive vitamin D intake.
‘‘Hypervitaminosis D’’, as it was formerly known, is on the rise and linked to a wide range of potentially serious health issues.
The middle-aged man was referred to hospital by his family doctor after complaining of vomiting, nausea, abdominal pain, leg cramps, tinnitus, dry mouth, increased thirst, diarrhoea, and weight loss (12.7kg).
These symptoms had been going on for nearly three months, and had started about one month after he began an intensive vitamin supplement regimen on the advice of a nutritional therapist.
The man had been taking high doses of more than 20 over the counter supplements every day, including 50,000mg of vitamin D — the daily requirement is 600mg.
Once symptoms developed, he stopped taking his daily supplement cocktail, but his symptoms didn’t go away.
Blood tests revealed he had very high levels of calcium and slightly raised levels of magnesium. And his vitamin D level was seven times over the level required for sufficiency.
The tests also indicated that his kidneys weren’t working properly.
The man stayed in hospital for eight days, during which time he was given intravenous fluids to flush out his system and drugs to lower excessive levels of calcium in the blood.
‘‘Globally, there is a growing trend of hypervitaminosis D,’’ write the authors.
Recommended vitamin D levels can be obtained from the diet (e.g., wild mushrooms, oily fish), from exposure to sunlight, and supplements.
The symptoms of hypervitaminosis D are many and varied, they point out, and include drowsiness, confusion, apathy, psychosis, depression, stupor, coma, anorexia, abdominal pain, vomiting, constipation, peptic ulcers, pancreatitis, high blood pressure, abnormal heart rhythm, and kidney abnormalities, including renal failure.
- SMC
