Vaccine Shedding: Facts, Myths, & More
What Are The Symptoms Of Too Much Vitamin D?
Signs of vitamin D toxicity include:
Elevated blood levels
In order for vitamin D to reach toxic or dangerous levels in the body, it needs to exceed 100 nanograms (ng) per milliliter (mL).
Recommendations on optimal vitamin D levels vary, but research suggests that levels between 30–60 ng/mL are likely optimal and may help protect against illness and disease.
Even when taking high dose vitamin D supplements, it's unlikely that a healthy person's blood vitamin D levels would come close to reaching excessive or toxic levels.
Most cases of vitamin D toxicity are caused by inappropriate supplement dosing and prescription errors.
For example, in a 2020 case report, a 73-year-old man developed vitamin D toxicity after taking 10,000 IU of vitamin D per day for many years.
In another 2020 case report, a 56-year-old woman who took an average of 130,000 IU of vitamin D per day for 20 months in hopes of improving symptoms of multiple sclerosis was hospitalized for symptoms including nausea, vomiting, and muscle weakness.
Her vitamin D levels were discovered to be 265 ng/mL, which equals 130,000 IU and is over 30 times the generally recommended safe upper limit of 4,000 IU per day.
Keep in mind that people who are low or deficient in vitamin D may need to take much higher levels than the safe upper limit to reach and maintain optimal vitamin D levels.
However, make sure to consult a healthcare professional on what dosage you should take. This will help you avoid potentially inappropriate or dangerous dosing.
Elevated blood calcium levels
Vitamin D helps your body absorb calcium from the food you eat. In fact, this is one of its most important roles.
However, if your vitamin D intake is excessive, your blood calcium may reach levels that can cause unpleasant and potentially dangerous symptoms.
The symptoms of vitamin D toxicity are primarily related to hypercalcemia, which means excessively high blood calcium levels.
Symptoms of hypercalcemia include:
The normal range of blood calcium is approximately 8.9–10.1 mg/dL, though it may vary.
Hypercalcemia typically develops after people take megadoses of vitamin D for a prolonged period of time.
Research shows that adults taking more than 10,000 IU of vitamin D daily who exhibit symptoms should be evaluated for hypercalcemia.
In the 2020 case report mentioned earlier, the woman who took an average of 130,000 IU of vitamin D per day for 20 months was also hospitalized for symptoms related to hypercalcemia.
These included nausea, vomiting, muscle weakness, and kidney injury. Her blood calcium levels were 3.23 mmol/L (12.9 mg/dL).
Hypercalcemia can be life threatening and requires immediate medical attention.
Gastrointestinal symptoms
The main side effects of excessive vitamin D levels are related to excessive calcium in the blood.
Some of the main symptoms of hypercalcemia include:
However, not all people with hypercalcemia experience the exact same symptoms.
One woman experienced nausea and weight loss after taking a supplement that was later found to contain 78 times more vitamin D than stated on the label.
Importantly, these symptoms occurred in response to extremely high doses of vitamin D3, which led to calcium levels greater than 12 mg/dL.
For example, in another 2016 case study, an 18-month-old child who was given 50,000 IU of vitamin D3 for 3 months experienced diarrhea, stomach pain, and other symptoms. These symptoms resolved after the child stopped taking the supplements.
Altered mental status
Hypercalcemia can lead to altered mental status in people with vitamin D toxicity.
People with vitamin D toxicity–induced hypercalcemia commonly have symptoms like confusion, depression, and psychosis. In extreme cases, coma has been reported.
In a 2021 case report, a 64-year-old man accidentally took 200,000 IU of vitamin D per day because he misunderstood medication instructions. He showed altered mental status and other serious symptoms related to hypercalcemia.
He remained agitated and confused for the first 10 days of his stay in the hospital, but his symptoms gradually improved as his calcium levels dropped. It took about 18 days for his calcium to return to the expected levels.
Kidney complications
In some cases, vitamin D toxicity can result in kidney injury and even kidney failure.
This is because having too much vitamin D in the body can lead to high levels of calcium, which can lead to water loss through too much urination and calcification of the kidneys.
Hypercalcemia can also cause the blood vessels of the kidneys to constrict, which leads to decreased kidney function.
Indeed, many studies have reported moderate-to-severe kidney injury in people who develop vitamin D toxicity.
Interestingly, a vitamin D deficiency can also harm the kidneys and lead to severe complications in those with kidney disease. That's one reason why maintaining optimal blood levels of vitamin D is critical.
What are the 3 effects of vitamin D on the body?
Vitamin D has three main functions in your body. It helps your body absorb calcium, helping to prevent osteoporosis, it helps your muscles and nerves work properly, and it's essential for your immune system to fight off bacterial and viral infections.
What happens to your body when you take the recommended amount of vitamin D every day?
If you take vitamin D every day, you may experience several benefits, your bones may be stronger, your muscles and nerves may work correctly, and your immune system may get help fighting bacterial or viral infections.
What are the major effects of vitamin D?
Positive effects of vitamin D may include stronger bones, correct muscle and nerve function, and fewer illnesses caused by bacteria or viruses.
Multiple Myeloma Symptoms
Multiple myeloma is a rare type of blood cancer that affects the plasma cells in your bone marrow. Your plasma cells are like little factories that make specific proteins called antibodies. Antibodies help protect you from foreign invaders like bacteria, fungi, and viruses. When you have multiple myeloma, one of these plasma cells starts to reproduce out of control. This plasma cell will keep reproducing until it fills your bone marrow and swamps out the other cells.
Bone pain, which may show up as back pain, is a common symptom of multiple myeloma. (Photo Credit: Creatas Video/Getty Images)
Because of this, your bone marrow can't make as many of the other blood cells you need: red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets. And the plasma cell that is growing out of control makes defective proteins (sometimes called M-proteins) that flood into your bloodstream. Due to this, you may get symptoms of high blood calcium, kidney damage, anemia, and bone damage. Some common symptoms include:
Unfortunately, these symptoms could be caused by different conditions unrelated to cancer, which is part of the reason multiple myeloma can be hard to diagnose.
Because this is cancer of your blood, there won't be a lump you could feel — although you may have sore spots on your bones. Often, you won't know you have multiple myeloma until your doctor runs a routine complete blood count. In it's earliest stages, you may or may not have any symptoms.
Multiple myeloma is usually diagnosed when people are aged between 65 and 74 years, and men and people assigned male at birth are most likely to get it.
Learn more about the potential symptoms you may expect if you have multiple myeloma.
It can be challenging to diagnose multiple myeloma early because it doesn't usually cause any symptoms until it's advanced enough for you to have organ damage. And if it does cause symptoms, they tend to be things that can be caused by a lot of different conditions. If you do have symptoms, they may include:
These symptoms can be caused by a number of conditions, most of which aren't serious. But if you have several of them at the same time or they've been going on for a couple of weeks, it's important to get checked out by your doctor.
In the past, you had to have organ damage, as shown by CRAB criteria, to be diagnosed with multiple myeloma. CRAB is an acronym that stands for the signs on blood tests and imaging your doctor would look for. These include:
C = High calcium levels in your blood (also called hypercalcemia). This is defined as a serum calcium level greater than 2.75 millimoles per liter (11 milligrams per deciliter) or greater than 0.25 millimoles per liter (or 1 milligram per deciliter) above the upper limit of normal, according to your lab's cutoff.
R = Renal (kidney) insufficiency. This is defined as a serum creatinine level greater than 177 micromoles per liter (2 milligrams per deciliter) or a creatinine clearance rate of less than 40 milliliters per minute.
A = Anemia. This is defined as a hemoglobin value of less than 100 grams per liter or less than 20 grams per liter below the lowest limit of normal, according to your lab's cutoff.
B = Bone pain or lesions. You may have pain in any bone, but it's most likely in your back, hips, or skull. Using X-rays or CT or PET/CT scans, your doctor would look for breaks and places of weakness in your bones.
Not everyone who has multiple myeloma meets all four CRAB criteria. And people tend to have better outcomes on treatment when they are treated before this organ damage happens.
So to help more people get diagnosed and treated earlier, the Myeloma Working Group has developed updated criteria for diagnosis of active multiple myeloma. These new criteria are generally how doctors diagnose multiple myeloma now. They include:
60% or more clonal plasma cells when your doctor looks at your bone marrow.
Your bone marrow contains cells called B cells. Your B cells make proteins called antibodies that your immune system needs to help protect you from invaders. When a B cell learns about a new substance to protect you from (called an antigen), it makes a plasma cell. This plasma cell's job is to keep producing the antibody that the original B cell learned about. That way, your immune system can continue to protect you from all the invaders you've come into contact with.
In the case of multiple myeloma, one of your plasma cells divides repeatedly. Each of these cells is genetically identical to the original cell and is called a clone. These clonal cells make one single antibody called a monoclonal antibody (may also be called M-protein, monoclonal immunoglobulin, M-spike, or paraprotein). Because much of your bone marrow only makes one type of antibody, you have an raised risk of infection. And because these clonal cells swamp out other cells in your bone marrow, you're also at a raised risk of organ damage from the raised number of plasma cells that invade your organs, like your kidneys and bones.
A ratio of 100 or greater of involved to uninvolved free light chain in your blood serum (if the involved light chain is 100 milligrams per liter or higher).
The M-protein the clonal plasma cells make is a defective protein because one part of it is missing. This test helps your doctor see how much of the defective protein is in your blood.
More than one bone lesion of at least 5 millimeters or bigger on an MRI.
The abnormal plasma cells in your bone marrow can cause damaged and weak spots in your bones. As a result, calcium from your bones is released into your bloodstream. Your body usually flushes extra calcium out in your pee. But when you have too much calcium flooding into your bloodstream too fast, your kidneys may have trouble filtering the extra calcium out.
High calcium levels will show up on basic blood tests, such as a comprehensive metabolic panel or basic metabolic panel. Anything over 10.5 milligrams per deciliter is considered hypercalcemia. If your levels are higher than 14 milligrams per deciliter, it's considered a medical emergency. If your levels are that high, your doctor will send you to the hospital so they can bring your calcium levels down safely.
Symptoms of high calcium levels include:
The abnormal plasma cells in multiple myeloma can make so many M-proteins that it clogs up the filtration system in your kidneys. Over time, this can cause permanent damage.
You won't likely won't have symptoms early on, but your doctor can test for signs of kidney damage with a blood or urine test. If your kidneys aren't working well, you may have the following symptoms:
Your bone marrow makes all of your blood cells. If you have multiple myeloma, the clonal plasma cells can crowd out the cells that make your other blood cells in your bone marrow. In that case, your doctor can do a blood test to see if you have low levels of your other blood cells, including red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets.
Anemia
Anemia is when you have low levels of red blood cells. Your red blood cells carry oxygen from your lungs to your tissues. If you have low levels of red blood cells, you may have any of the following:
Leukopenia
Leukopenia is the medical term for low levels of white blood cells. Specifically, it's low levels of a type of white blood cell called neutrophils. Neutrophils are like your immune system's first responders. They catch and kill invading bacteria, fungi, or viruses. If you have low levels of neutrophils, you may be more prone to infections, which can cause the following symptoms:
Thrombocytopenia
Thrombocytopenia is when you have low platelet counts. Platelets are small blood cells that form blood clots to help you stop bleeding when you've been injured. If you have low platelet counts, you may have the following symptoms:
Multiple myeloma cells can break down bone tissue, which can cause soft spots in your bones. These are called osteolytic lesions, and your doctor can see them on imaging tests, such as an X-ray and CT and PET/CT scans. Soft spots in your bones can lead to the following symptoms:
Spinal compression
If myeloma softens the bones in your spine, they can collapse and press on your spinal cord. If this happens, you may have the following symptoms:
If you have these symptoms, call 911 and get emergency medical help right away. If you don't get treatment immediately, you may have permanent nerve damage that could lead to paralysis.
Nerve damage
The M-proteins made by myeloma cells can cause damage to your nerve cells This can lead to a condition called peripheral neuropathy that causes a pins-and-needles feeling, often in your legs and feet.
Hyperviscosity
The M-proteins made by myeloma cells can also thicken your blood. This can slow blood flow to your brain and lead to:
If you have any of these symptoms, call 911 and get to the ER. You may need a procedure called plasmapheresis to help filter these extra M-proteins out of your blood.
There is no cure for myeloma. As it continues to advance, you will likely have more severe signs and symptoms. For instance, most people will have more bone pain and fatigue or tiredness. Some people may have serious infections, nerve damage, and kidney damage or failure.
At this point, your doctor may suggest you shift your treatment focus to palliative and supportive care options. The focus will be on easing your pain, reducing your symptoms, and improving your quality of life.
Multiple myeloma is cancer of the plasma cells in your bone marrow. Because the cancer cells grow out of control in your bone marrow, it swamps out other cells in your bone marrow that make other blood cells you need to function well. This can cause low blood cell counts, high blood calcium levels, kidney damage or failure, and bone and nerve damage. At first, multiple myeloma may not cause any symptoms, but eventually, you may have bone pain (often the first symptom), weakness or numbness in your limbs, fatigue, loss of appetite, raised thirst, easy bruising, and a fever. If you suspect you have multiple myeloma, talk to your doctor. There's no cure for multiple myeloma, but there is a possibility for remission if you get diagnosed and treated early.
What are the symptoms of smoldering multiple myeloma?
Smoldering multiple myeloma is a precursor to multiple myeloma. It means that you have some abnormal plasma cells, but it hasn't progressed to active multiple myeloma yet. And it may never progress to active multiple myeloma; about 10% of people diagnosed with smoldering multiple myeloma progress to active multiple myeloma each year for the first five years after diagnosis. After that, the chance of progression goes down.
Smoldering multiple myeloma doesn't generally cause any symptoms. Rather, it's usually first noticed on a blood test.
What other conditions can be mistaken for multiple myeloma?
Some conditions that may have similar symptoms to multiple myeloma include:
Vitamins By Condition
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