Can You Be Taking Too Much Vitamin D?

Is it possible that you may be taking too much Vitamin D? How would you know? Are you concerned about the possible side effects? Believe it or not, Vitamin D is normally okay when taken in normal doses. In fact, most side effects come from having too little Vitamin D in your system rather than too much. However, it is possible for people with certain medical conditions to have adverse affects to 'normal' levels of Vitamin D.

In very rare cases, vitamin D hypersensitivity may occur, but it is normally caused by medical conditions such as hyperparathyroidism, sarcoidosis, granulamatous TB, carcinoma and other cancers. Patients with any of the above should only consider a vitamin D supplement program in consultation with their doctor. It might be wise to undergo regular blood tests to ensure that the levels of vitamin D in the blood stay within normal range to avoid vitamin D side effects due to overdose or deficiency.

It is important to note an overdose with concurrent vitamin D side effects can never be the result of too much sunlight. Your body has a mechanism that stops the process of manufacturing vitamin D when enough for your body’s use has been manufactured. Overdosing is normally the result of supplementation, rather than ingesting vitamin D via food sources or sun exposure. Vitamin D can be stored in the body’s fat cells for up to sixty days.

Because vitamin D has primarily the function of encouraging calcium absorption, high levels of calcium in the blood, leading to excessive calcium in the intestinal tract is possible. Your internal organs can be permanently damaged by these high levels of calcium.

Other side effects of overdosing can include bone pain, fatigue, thirst, and excessive production of urine. Loss of appetite, nausea and vomiting are also known vitamin D side effects. Kidney stones can also result form ingesting too much vitamin D which again leads to excessive calcium in the system.

Pregnant females should be especially careful when supplementing with vitamin D, as another side effect can be damage to the fetus, resulting in abnormalities – physical and mental – in the baby.

Most healthcare practitioners are more concerned with the vitamin D side effects as a result of a deficiency, rather than as a result of an overdose – research actually indicates that 70% of Americans, for instance, are vitamin D deficient.

Children who are vitamin D deficient are prone to rickets, which results in stunted growth and deformed long bones. There is certainly also a link between vitamin D deficiency and osteoporosis, a condition that is characterized by reduced bone density and concurrent fragility of the bone.

There seems to be a link between various diseases and sufficient vitamin D levels. Vitamin D has been linked to depression, various cancers, boosting the immune system, cardiovascular disease. It remains essential to your good health.