Man Hospitalized After Losing 28 Pounds Due to Vitamin D Overdose

After treating a hospitalized man for taking too many vitamin D supplements, doctors are advising against vitamin D overdose as it is both possible and harmful.

The doctors note that the condition, officially known as "hypervitaminosis D," is currently on the rise and has been connected to a wide range of potentially dangerous medical conditions.

The Long List

This particular case involves a middle-aged man who complained of nausea, recurrent vomiting, leg cramps, abdominal pain, dry mouth, increased thirst, tinnitus, diarrhea, and weight loss of about 28 lbs. He was referred to the hospital by his family doctor.

The man had several underlying medical conditions, such as tuberculosis, a left vestibular schwannoma or inner ear tumor that had caused deafness in that ear, bacterial meningitis, a buildup of fluid in the brain or hydrocephalus, and chronic sinusitis.

The daily requirement for vitamin D is 10 mcg or 400 IU; he had been taking high doses of more than 20 over-the-counter supplements every day, along with numerous other vitamins, nutrients, minerals, and probiotic supplements.

He stopped taking his daily supplement cocktail when his symptoms started, but they persisted.

His family physician had him undergo blood tests, which revealed that he had extremely high calcium and slightly elevated magnesium levels. Additionally, his vitamin D level was seven times higher than the recommended amount.

The tests also revealed that he had acute kidney injury and that his kidneys weren't functioning properly. To check for cancer, numerous x-rays and scans produced normal results.

The man was treated with bisphosphonates, which are typically used to strengthen bones or lower excessive levels of calcium in the blood, during his eight days in the hospital. During this time, intravenous fluids were given to the man to flush out his system.

His calcium level had returned to normal two months after leaving the hospital, but his vitamin D level remained excessively high.

Hypervitaminosis D

The authors wrote that Hypervitaminosis D, a clinical condition marked by elevated serum vitamin D3 levels, is on the rise globally, with women, children, and surgical patients being the most likely to be affected.

Dietary sources of vitamin D include sunlight exposure, eating oily fish and wild mushrooms, as well as vitamin supplements, Sci Tech Daily reports.

According to the authors, vitamin D toxicity develops over a slow period (a half-life of about 2 months), and the symptoms can last for several weeks.

They note that the numerous and diverse symptoms of hypervitaminosis D are primarily brought on by an excess of calcium in the blood. They include confusion, sleepiness, psychosis, apathy, coma, depression, anorexia, vomiting, constipation, abdominal pain, peptic ulcers, stupor, pancreatitis, high blood pressure, an abnormal heart rhythm, and abnormalities of the kidneys, including renal failure.

There have also been reports of additional associated symptoms like keratopathy, stiffness or arthralgia, an inflammatory eye disease, joint pain, and hearing loss or deafness.

The authors of the study point out that this is just one instance and that although hypervitaminosis D is becoming more common, it is still relatively rare.

The use of dietary supplements is also a common complementary therapy, so people might not be aware of the risks associated with overdosing on vitamin D, the researchers claim.

The doctors concluded that this case report further highlights the potential toxicity of supplements that are largely considered safe until taken in unsafe amounts of unsafe combinations.