Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

How Much Vitamin D Is Too Much? A Case Report and Review of the Literature

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 149 posts

Re: How Much Vitamin D Is Too Much? A Case Report and Review of the Literature

#51

Post by fizwhiz »

kevinmgranger wrote: post #24
PragmaticPulp wrote: post #5

The title doesn’t match the abstract. This isn’t a study of the tolerable upper limit of Vitamin D intake. It’s a case report of a single individual who was taking astronomical doses of Vitamin D with disastrous consequences. It’s certainly possible to take too much vitamin D without coming anywhere near the silly doses this person was consuming. Anyone taking aggressive vitamin D doses should invest in a vitamin D t…

Megadosing B12 (if your diet isn't already sufficient in it, which is common amongst certain vegan diets) is still a good idea, no? I recognize this might be the only exception.

I sure hope so because I've been taking half a serving of these little suckers for a while now: https://amzn.com/B001LXRWWE

Here's a breakdown of the DV for some of the vitamins for a full serving:

B1 = 33x (yes, 3333%)

B2 = 30x

B6 = 40x

B12= 83x

Re: How Much Vitamin D Is Too Much? A Case Report and Review of the Literature

#52

Post by orblivion »

vecter wrote: post #32

I had a mini-episode of this earlier this year. Reposting as a warning for people: I had mild Vitamin D deficiency which was diagnosed by a doctor many years ago. I was given Vitamin D supplements, which I stocked up on more than usual recently due to my staying in all day due to WFH and not getting any sunlight. I used to take 50mcg of D3 1-2x a week and I upped that (without consulting a doctor) to 5x a week. Withi…

That's very surprising that something bad happened with as low as 50mcg (2000 IU). I was suggested to take that much by my doctor _daily_ without even bothering with a test (granted I'd taken a test years prior in a similar climate, perhaps that was enough for him). I even temporarily upped it for a period to 4000 IU basically for the same reason as you. And I think I've heard some people claim that as much as 5000 IU is safe without a test?

It's just surprising that this happened to you given that you're naturally deficient.

Re: How Much Vitamin D Is Too Much? A Case Report and Review of the Literature

#53

Post by fizwhiz »

sva_ wrote: post #47
kevinmgranger wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Megadosing B12 (if your diet isn't already sufficient in it, which is common amongst certain vegan diets) is still a good idea, no? I recognize this might be the only exception.

The trouble with Vitamin D is afaik, as with some other vitamins, that it is fat-soluble rather than water-soluble. So the excess of the Vitamin won't be flushed out through the urine - but rather accumulates in the fat. At some point this accumulation may lead to toxicity ("Hypervitaminosis D" [1]). Personally, I dose 4000-5000 IU D3+K2 in the darker seasons and that has been working well for me. Vitamin B12 is wate…

Do you dose the D3/K2 combo on a daily basis? I've got https://amzn.com/B075R56QCQ which i do ~3 times a week.

Re: How Much Vitamin D Is Too Much? A Case Report and Review of the Literature

#54

Post by voisin »

LegitShady wrote: post #39
ram_rar wrote: post #6

Taking 130,000UI per day for 20 months is insane. Most of the over the counter doses are ~ 5000UI. I'm curious, as to what was the patients diet like? Vit D is a fat soluble vitamin and its my understanding that one needs to eat healthy fats for it to be absorbed by the body.

most of the supplements I've seen here are 1000ui, meaning she'd have to take 130 of the pills. It makes more sense when you realize there are liquid forms of d3 you can buy which probably make it much easier to dose really high.

In Canada at least anything over 1,000 IU in a pill needs to be prescribed (at which point I think it is an injection but I might be wrong). You’ll never find larger for sale.

Re: How Much Vitamin D Is Too Much? A Case Report and Review of the Literature

#55

Post by samatman »

vecter wrote: post #32

I had a mini-episode of this earlier this year. Reposting as a warning for people: I had mild Vitamin D deficiency which was diagnosed by a doctor many years ago. I was given Vitamin D supplements, which I stocked up on more than usual recently due to my staying in all day due to WFH and not getting any sunlight. I used to take 50mcg of D3 1-2x a week and I upped that (without consulting a doctor) to 5x a week. Withi…

For another anecdote, I regularly get bottles of gummies which are 1500IU each (you're talking about 2000IU for reference), eating 3-6 of them a day, all through seasons which aren't summer.

I've never traced negative health effects to this. Not being a doctor, I can't give advice, but my doctor thinks this is safe, and in fact, a good idea.

Re: How Much Vitamin D Is Too Much? A Case Report and Review of the Literature

#56

Post by kjhughes »

Focus seems to be on an extreme outlier case, but the title also asks the question about how much vitamin D is too much and promises a review of the literature.

Has anyone found and read the whole article? Does it suggest an answer to the too-much question based on a "review of the literature"?

Re: How Much Vitamin D Is Too Much? A Case Report and Review of the Literature

#57

Post by hnracer »

ram_rar wrote: post #6

Taking 130,000UI per day for 20 months is insane. Most of the over the counter doses are ~ 5000UI. I'm curious, as to what was the patients diet like? Vit D is a fat soluble vitamin and its my understanding that one needs to eat healthy fats for it to be absorbed by the body.

Most OTC doses are 2000IU or less

Re: How Much Vitamin D Is Too Much? A Case Report and Review of the Literature

#58

Post by copperx »

LegitShady wrote: post #34
kevinmgranger wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Megadosing B12 (if your diet isn't already sufficient in it, which is common amongst certain vegan diets) is still a good idea, no? I recognize this might be the only exception.

"megadosing" doesn't sound like its required for any reason unless you're malnourished, in which case your doctor would tell you how much to take. Adjusting your diet to not require "megadosing" due to malnourishment sounds like a better plan for long term health.

In addition, studies suggest that high levels of B6 and B12 in the blood are correlated with higher risk of certain cancers, such as prostate and lung cancer. In my opinion, having mild nutrient deficiency is not cause for alarm if you're a fully grown adult, and in fact, studies suggest that malnutrition might confer a longer lifespan.

Re: How Much Vitamin D Is Too Much? A Case Report and Review of the Literature

#60

Post by phobosanomaly »

arkitaip wrote: post #12
aaron695 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think 130 times recommended. Or perhaps only 30 times what should be recommend. It's thought the old recommended dose is to low for some people or some situations. Which is why they really want to push it up as much as possible for all because it will save lives. Hence these studies. I'm doing 1000UI daily given current data and covid-19.

I seriously doubt this was a scientific study to test the upper tolerance limits of vit D. I mean, no ethics committee on the planet would approve the dosage.

I was hoping to see an animal model, or on an in-vitro model:

Bao YW, Yuan Y, Chen JH, Lin WQ. Kidney disease models: tools to identify mechanisms and potential therapeutic targets. Zool Res. 2018;39(2):72-86. doi:10.24272/j.issn.2095-8137.2017.055

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5885387/

Nishinakamura, R. Human kidney organoids: progress and remaining challenges. Nat Rev Nephrol 15, 613–624 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41581-019-0176-x

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41581-019-0176-x#citeas

With a nice, simple graph showing effects of Vitamin D levels on kidney function over time.

Post reply on HN