How much is too much Vit D?

[Spydre]

My mutlivitamin already contained 250% of the RDA on vitamin D. My calcium supplement (taken twice a day) contains a total of 250% of the RDA. Started taking the calcium supplements because I'm gradually reducing some of the dairy (essentially, straight milk) out of my diet as I seem to be lactose intolerant. Ironically, I had symptoms when I was a teenager, but when I got pregnant it sort of went into remission until recently. Used to be I could eat a bowl of cereal or two, and it wouldn't bother me, or bother me only occassionally - but lately, it's become a daily thing.

Unfortunately, eliminating my cereal also eliminates my fiber source (shredded wheat) so I'm still on the fence about this change - I know I'll end up having to take a fiber supplement because I know that I won't be able to keep up the required fiber in my diet if I don't.

I also plan on asking my pcp to test me for gluten intolerance, just to rule that out. We are planning on changing our diet, as well as we can financially at this point, to be healthier, but there is no way I can convince my husband and two kids to go gluten free (I have enough problems keeping weight ON my kids), and I certainly can't afford separate food just for myself. As it is 1/3 of my monthly income goes to food - and that's with $188 of food stamps thrown in.

I've wandered away from my original point - how much is too much vitamin D?

[MarieT]

My Dr is really onto the Vit D thing. She says that there is lots of research showing that high dose Vit D is good for MS patients. USRDA is 600 IU/day (or 15mcg). I take a 50,000 IU pill once a week. She wants my blood test to be at the very high range (50-60, but I forget the units on the blood test).

There is some evidence that too much (blood test of 80+) is linked pancreatic cancer.

I haven't noticed any real difference since started taking it about a year ago, either good or bad.

Hope this helps!

[Alyms79]

Thanks for asking this.. I was gonna,but you beat me to it...
Im on 50,000 IU of vitamin D once a week,for 12 weeks,it has been 11 weeks. 11 weeks ago I was only 5 points from being totally depleted of vitamin D! My pcp rechecked my blood work a few weeks ago,and has only rose 10 points. My neuro ordered me to start taking 2,500 IU of Vitamin D once the 12 weeks are done. I go back to my neuro on the 22 of this month.

I was wondering if I can start taking the 2,500 IU now,along with the 50,000 IU?

[Sequoia]

The danger with taking too much supplemental Vitamin D is hypercalcemia (excess calcium in the blood). According to the Mayo Clinic, Vitamin D amounts above 4000 IU/day increase the risk of adverse effects.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/vit...xicity/AN02008

Doctors often prescribe larger amounts when a patient's D level has been tested and found to be low.

[Bob698]

My Neuro had me do the mega dose (50,000 IU/wk) trial. My initial D level was very low at 16 but now its considered very good at 46. Neither of us were pushing the "I Believe" button but I did start to feel all-around better during the last month of the trial.
Nothing you could really put your finger on, just a slightly "better" feeling.
I just had an exam with my new "primary" GP (I'm in the VA system and Neuros aren't supposed to be "primary" docs), as luck would have it he's cool but I think he was the Doc that wanted me to get an LP two months after I started my DMD.
He's really cautious about suppliments in general (a big in my book) and doesn't want me taking more than 5,000 IU of Vit D a week. As already stated earlier, there are serious downsides to doing mega doses of anything.
This 50,000 IU Vit D trial was just that, a trial to see how we would respond.

[BigA]

Good for you. VitaminD is probably the most important advance in MS.

Here's a paper from the University of Wisconsin summarizing how much VitaminD a person with MS should take. Click on the PDF in the upper right hand corner.

http://www.overcomingmultiplescleros...+of+Wisconsin/

[Alyms79]

Thanks. I booked marked it.. gonna check it out tomorrow

[nutritiontara]

Rx vit D

The majority of Rx vit D is D2- a less active and less bioavailable form of the vitamin. ask the pharmacist about your particular Rx.

#2 Its not realistic to expect to absorb anything! in large doses at one sitting. A more appropriate way would be to take it daily, even dividing into 2 doses.
has to be taken with food(protein) to be absorbed, only D3, and get some skin exposure if possible

Considering the importance (outside of MS) of vit D; having your vit D retested until "your" optimal levels are revealed by the amount your body needs on a daily dose to maintain those levels is just good medicine.
I retest patients on avg. 3x until we find their optimal dose

[Scooter24]

Another link from Mayo clinic with side effects of too much and recommended dosage.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/vit...xicity/AN02008

[Bob698]

There's also the toxic effect of over doing it. Mostly damage to organs like your heart.
Play aware and play safe. From what I'm seeing, there's some back peddling happening since the early results.

[Redwings]

Another link from Mayo clinic with side effects of too much and recommended dosage.

Bear in mind that the Mayo Clinic article is intended for the general public. The neurologists at the Mayo Clinic might say something very different relative to people with MS.

There is research indicating that people with MS do better when their blood level of vitamin D is at least 100 nmol/liter. It may take a daily intake far greater than 600 IU per day to achieve that. There has to be a reason why some people with MS are prescribed 50,000 IU, and it would be outside the scope of a general article to go into such a special case. To the author's credit, she did note that there are special circumstances where higher doses are given under the supervision of a doctor.

For me, it takes a daily supplement of 2,000 IU of D3 just to keep me in the middle of the normal range.

[Scooter24]

Redwings-I posted that more for the results of over doseage, have heard people say that your body will just get rid of what excess it doesn't need from supplements, I my self take 3000IU a day even though I am out in the sun alot it takes that much to keep me at a level my dr is happy with butto be honest haven't noticed any difference as some have said they did.

[Spydre]

Redwings-I posted that more for the results of over doseage, have heard people say that your body will just get rid of what excess it doesn't need from supplements, I my self take 3000IU a day even though I am out in the sun alot it takes that much to keep me at a level my dr is happy with butto be honest haven't noticed any difference as some have said they did.

I've heard that your body naturally gets rid of the overage acquired through food and sun exposure, but not from supplements. As a matter of fact, my husband was on a prescribed megadose of Vitamin A, and about 6 months after that he went to give blood as part of a blood drive, and they told him that he couldn't donate for a year after getting off that medication.

[Redwings]

There's also the toxic effect of over doing it. Mostly damage to organs like your heart.
Play aware and play safe. From what I'm seeing, there's some back peddling happening since the early results.

I'll provide the counterpoint here.

First, there are no organs like the heart.

Second, it may be true that there's been some backpedaling about vitamin D recommendations for the general public. On the surface that sounds possible. But since the general public isn't the point of my post I, too, will provide no evidence to back that up.

Since this is an MS forum, it's appropriate to focus on vitamin D and MS. There doesn't appear to be any backpedaling about dosage recommendations when it comes to people with MS. I'll use the University of Wisconsin paper that BigA posted the link to as an example.

The UofW paper is from just last year, and there's no backpedaling in it. It cites research from 2010 -- recent information that shows no signs of backpedaling "from early results" for MS. To wit:

"...for an average of ~10,000 IU/d over the course of a year. There were no adverse events in either group."

"The relapse-free zone in the Finnish study was serum 25(OH)D above 50 ng/mL (9), so this is a current target."

"Vitamin D3 supplements can be given to increase serum 25(OH)D. Up to 10,000 IU/day of vitamin D3 has proven to be safe in MS patients (24)."

(Bold emphasis mine.)

[justacowgirl]

Thank you Redwings..that made things very clear for me.

I have been taking larger doses of D3 daily based on Tara's earlier recommendations. I always feel like if I follow the advice given here I am on the right course.

j