Side effect overdose and contraindications
http://www.easy-immune-health.com/vitamin-d-contraindications.html 
Jan 2010
There Are Amazingly Few Vitamin D Contraindications
There are an extremely small number of Vitamin D Contraindications. Even though everyone knows that you can Overdose on Vitamin D, it is actually EXTREMELY hard to overdose and vitamin d has an undeservedly bad reputation for this potential for overdose. But in studies, vitamin d side effects are EXTREMELY rare and most studies use the term 'remarkably free' of side effects to describe their studies. While there are SOME Vitamin D Contraindications, they are extremely few.
 High Calcium Levels ARE a Vitamin D Contraindication
High blood calcium levels or conditions that can lead to high calcium levels such as:
    * High Calcium Levels
    * Sarcoidosis
    * Tuberculosis
    * Parathyroid disease
are 'relative' Vitamin D Contraindications. This means that if you have these conditions, have high calcium levels or think that you may have any of these problems, then you must NOT take Vitamin D until you get the express permission of your doctor. If your doctor chooses to give you vitamin d, then it should be done in a conservative manner and you should have VERY frequent Vitamin D and Calcium levels in order to make sure that your condition does not worsen with Vitamin D Therapy.
 
Vitamin D Spray for Immune Health
 
If you do have parathyroid disease and get surgery to correct it, then you should speak to your doctor about starting Vitamin D Therapy because parathyroid disease VERY frequently causes vitamin d levels to drop in order to prevent calcium levels from rising further. Vitamin D therapy will often get overlooked in these cases and you are left with untreated severe vitamin D deficiency. After correction of the parathyroid disease, many people expecting to feel better still feel AWFUL months later with Symptoms of Vitamin D Deficiency.
 
Kidney Stones
A History of Kidney Stones are NOT Vitamin D Contraindications, nor does vitamin d appear to create an increased risk for kidney stones- even in stone formers. There are several studies that show calcium SUPPLEMENTS may increase the risk of kidney stones, but there has been no correlation with kidney stones to vitamin d. In fact, one study specifically EXCLUDED vitamin d as a risk factor.
 
"Sodium, phosphorus, sucrose, phytate, vitamin B6,
vitamin D, and supplemental calcium were not
independently associated with risk [of kidney stones]"
Dietary Factors and the Risk of
Incident Kidney Stones in Men
 
While people who are stone formers seem to always be worried about taking vitamin d, from what I can find, there is no evidence that vitamin d contributes to increased kidney stone formation. If you have any studies that show that vitamin d DOES contribute to kidney stones, then I will be happy to change the contents of this section to reflect that.
 
Renal Failure/Kidney Failure
Kidney Failure and even dialysis are NOT vitamin D contraindications. The use of Vitamin D is very well studied in those with kidney failure and seems to be quite beneficial in terms of improved mood, prevention or delay of hyperparathyroidism and even improved survival rates.

 
"In this historical cohort study, chronic
hemodialysis patients in the group that
received injectable vitamin D had a
significant survival advantage over
patients who did not."
Activated Injectable Vitamin D
and Hemodialysis Survival

An INCREASE in Pain After Starting Therapy
An increase in pain symptoms after starting Vitamin D Therapy are not infrequent vitamin d side effects. These vitamin d side effects are often very worrisome and uncomfortable. Many people want to stop vitamin d therapy due to this pain, but that is not a good idea. In fact, the people who need vitamin D the MOST are most often the ones who experience this pain.
The pain is due to the vitamin d forcing calcium back into demineralized bones. Water is drawn into the bones along with the calcium. This swells the bones very slightly and pushes against the inflexible periosteum. The periosteum has a significant number of pain receptors and this can be experienced as bone pain. For those that already HAVE Pain From Vitamin D Deficiency, the pain can become worse. For those that do not have bone pain already, they can experience bone pain upon first beginning therapy. This bone pain is temporary and should resolve in a few weeks.
Since the pain is an indication of demineralized bones, stopping therapy will be likely to leave these people with bones that continue to become demineralized- potentially leading to osteoporosis. Understanding why the pain is being experienced and attempting to manage it with pain relievers, relaxation, warm baths, etc. is a better idea.
 
Very Young Age and Very Old Age
Neither infancy nor being elderly are Vitamin D Contraindications. In fact, both of these groups are overlooked as groups that probably NEED vitamin d more than other age groups, but are the least likely to get it. One potential consequence of this is the epidemic of heart failure. Both infants and elderly are the most likely groups to suffer from Heart Failure From Vitamin D Deficiency, despite being a known cause of heart failure, is very often overlooked as one of the Causes of Heart Failure.
For the elderly, the high incidence of weakness, pain, disability and falls -each in different studies- have been improved by giving Vitamin D. Vitamin D is also well-known to improve mood, and this is no different for the elderly who frequently suffer from depression.
Subtle vitamin d deficiency in infancy and in utero has been linked to decreased bone density, schizophrenia and increased incidence of cavities later in life. Especially since a large number of even young and healthy women are vitamin d deficient, babies are getting virtually no vitamin d in utero and if they are breast-fed and receive no supplementation, they get no vitamin d from breast milk either. The result is an epidemic of unrecognized vitamin d deficiency in children, which is even leading to a Surge in Rickets in Children in the past few years- a condition that was considered 'eradicated' in the 1900's.
 
Cancer or other serious illnesses
Having cancer and other very serious illnesses are NOT vitamin d contraindications. In fact, vitamin d SHOULD be a required 'standard of care' for nearly every serious illness that there is. It improves the immune system, it improves mood, protects the bones from the demineralization that occurs with dialysis, chemotherapy, steroids and immobility.
 
"Vitamin D deficient patients with serious
illnesses should not only be supplemented
more aggressively than the well, they should
have more frequent monitoring
of serum 25(OH)D and calcium. Vitamin D
should always be adjuvant treatment
in patients with serious illness…"
The Use of Vitamin D in Clinical Practice
 
Should patients REALLY have to battle their illnesses with an impaired immune system, depression and, if they survive, have osteoporosis on top of all that? It just doesn't seem like the right thing to do.
 
Allergy
While allergy WOULD be a contraindication, however, there are virtually no recorded incidences of true severe allergies to Vitamin D. There are some people who get Vitamin D Side Effects like itching, but this is often times due to the ingredients and/or carriers of the actual vitamin d itself. If you BELIEVE that you MAY be allergic to vitamin d because of a rash or itching, you can determine if you TRULY have an allergy to vitamin d supplements in two ways:
If you regularly drink vitamin d fortified milk and do not have an allergy, then you do not have an allergy to vitamin dIf you have taken multivitamin supplements without problems or you still can take multivitamin supplements without an allergic reaction, then it is not likely that you have an allergy to vitamin d.
Of course, if you DO have an allergy to vitamin d, then you must avoid supplements and be very vigilant about getting your vitamin d through the sun. If that is just not practical or possible to get sufficient all over (preferably) midday sun exposure on a regular basis, then you should consider getting a Vitamin D Producing Tanning Bed in order to meet your vitamin d needs.
Liver Disease or Liver Failure
Liver disease and/or liver failure is NOT a vitamin d contraindication. While it takes a healthy liver to convert vitamin d into its active form, it just may simply take MORE vitamin d in order to get blood levels up to recommended Vitamin D Levels. But there is no reason NOT to give vitamin D in cases of liver disease, and every reason that they SHOULD have more vitamin d in order to give their Immune System all the help that it can get!
So, while there are a FEW Vitamin D Contraindications, very few people fall into the one category of high calcium levels that is the only major problem with vitamin d therapy. Most people also worry about overdosing too, keep reading to find out why this is just simply not in issue in the majority of cases.
Read more: http://www.easy-immune-health.com/vitamin-d-contraindications.html#ixzz0bjm1XdJq
Yes, you CAN Overdose on Vitamin D, but the risk of too LITTLE is more than your risk of getting too much Vitamin D!
Doctors seem to have a fear of prescribing too much Vitamin D for fear of causing Vitamin D toxicity.

But while an overdose on Vitamin D IS a reality, it is a rare phenomenon to have a Vitamin D overdose. Interestingly, it seems like EVERYONE is always concerned about taking too much Vitamin D- while almost no one is aware of or even slightly concerned about an:
    * Overdose on Selenium
      or
    * Overdose on Magnesium
However, selenium toxicity is MUCH more common that Overdose on Vitamin D. And while Selenium Overdose can occur in nature- an overdose on Vitamin D NEVER occurs with naturally occurring vitamin d in Vitamin D Foods or Vitamin D From Sunlight.
 
Who is at risk to overdose on Vitamin D?
Anyone who takes Vitamin D supplements CAN take too much Vitamin D. But the majority of documented overdoses are from:
      • Children whose parents accidentally give them massive doses of vitamin d
      • Elderly people incorrectly taking massive vitamin d dosages
      • Adults who take more than 10,000 IU's per day for long periods of time.
      • 'Industrial Accidents' where massive quantities of vitamin d are put into fortified foods in error
These categories comprise nearly all people who have had Vitamin D overdose symptoms.
 
Tolerable Upper Limit of Vitamin D
Most governments have set a 'Tolerable Upper Limit' also called a 'safe upper limit' dosage for vitamin d supplements. This is a dosage in which healthy people can take for extended periods of time with few to no vitamin d overdose symptoms.
Currently, the Tolerable Upper Limit is Vitamin D 2000 IU per day. Vitamin D research shows that this 'upper limit' of Vitamin D 2000 IU per day SHOULD be the Recommended Daily Allowance - NOT the Tolerable Upper Limit.
 
Improve your Immune Health with a Tanning Bed
The researchers state that the tolerable upper limit of 2000 IU's is great for children, but that it has no basis in any science for an upper level for adults as the levels required for Symptoms of Vitamin D overdose are at least 5 times that much
In fact, Vitamin D Scientists have come together with this 'Call to Action' letter to induce the North American governments to make the use of Vitamin D 2000 IU as the baseline minimum requirement for all healthy adults.
 
More Info
On Vitamin D
Vitamin D and Sun
Deficiency Causes
Symptoms of Deficiency
Normal Blood Levels
Vitamin D Dosage
Symptoms of Deficiency
Vitamin D
D2 or D3?
Can You Overdose?
Vitamin D Foods
Vitamin D Side Effects
Vitamin D for Colds & Flu
Vitamin D & Teeth
Vitamin D & Cancer
D & Multiple Sclerosis
"The conclusion was that the UL (safe upper limit) for vitamin D consumption by adults should be 10,000 IU/d.
This indicates that the margin of safety for vitamin D consumption for adults is (more than) 10 times any current recommended intakes."
-Vieth et al, 'The urgent need to recommend an intake of vitamin D that is effective'
 
Other studies agree that current guidelines are not based in fact. The Research Article The Pharmacology of Vitamin D, Including Fortification Strategiesstates that there is "no evidence of adverse effects from taking 10,000 IU of Vitamin D a day".
They go on to state, "...cases of vitamin D toxicity with hypercalcemia, for which the 25(OH)D concentration and vitamin D dose are known, all involve intake of (greater than or equal to) 40,000 IU/d."
That's Forty Thousand IU's per day to produce an Overdose on Vitamin D! That's NOT what doctors and governments are telling us, so doctors give us inadequate amounts of Vitamin D in order to prevent a nearly fictitious possibility of overdose on Vitamin D!
 
In an article entitled, 'Vitamin D toxicity, policy, and science' the author states,
"a prolonged intake of 250 mug (10,000 IU)/d of vitamin D(3) is likely to pose no risk of adverse effects in almost all individuals in the general population; this meets the criteria for a tolerable upper intake level."
 
What are the Vitamin D overdose Symptoms
There are very few Vitamin D overdose symptoms.
But those Vitamin D overdose symptoms that might make you seek medical attention if you are taking large amounts of Vitamin D Supplements are:

Vitamin D Spray for Immune Health

• abdominal cramps
• nausea
• frequent urination
• weakness
• nervousness
• itching
• and eventually kidney failure
If you have any of these Vitamin D overdose symptoms, be sure to seek medical attention immediately, don't take any more Vitamin D or calcium supplements and stay out of sunlight. Always tell your doctor that you have been taking Vitamin D and how much.
Your doctor should check your Vitamin D Level and Calcium Level. The presence of hypercalcemia is really the only useful test for overdose on Vitamin D as there is a wide variation in how people tolerate upper level limits of the Vitamin D blood test. If you have high calcium levels already, that is one of the few Vitamin D Contraindications and you must NOT take vitamin d supplements until you are specifically told to by your doctor.
 
How Much Does it Take to
Overdose on Vitamin D
While high blood calcium levels are useful to determine an overdose on vitamin d, it really takes an AMAZINGLY large amount to cause a Vitamin D Overdose. In fact, in East Germany between the 1940's and 1960's, children would ROUTINELY get 6 doses of 600,000 IU's of Vitamin D between birth and 18 months old.
 
This gave these small children an incredible 3,600,000 IU's of Vitamin D in 18 months. That is Three Million Six Hundred Thousand IU's in 18 months in small children as a ROUTINE hospital procedure for several decades!!
A study called Intermittant High Dose Vitamin D During Infancy questioning this practice's safety noted that, while many of the children developed transient high levels of blood calcium levels, "...all the infants appeared healthy and repeated inquiries... have failed to identify clinical vitamin d toxicity as a result of the prophalactic program...".
Also, it is a common practice for doctors around the world to use a therapy for rickets in infants and children a Vitamin D Therapy called 'Stosstherapy' which gives these children with rickets a one-time Vitamin D Injection of 600,000 IU's.
 
Again, Vitamin D toxicity and Vitamin D overdose symptoms are Extremely rare- so in the vast majority of cases, if you are taking Vitamin D Supplements, even accidentally taking a full bottle all at once will not cause Vitamin D Toxicity. However, since a Vitamin D Overdose CAN occur, always stick with recommended dosages and Get your Vitamin D Level Checked in order to get your levels up to the 'optimal' Vitamin D Level as recommended by the latest research.

Can you get too much Vitamin D from the sun?
There have been zero reported incidences of overdose on Vitamin D from too much sunshine.
The body seems to have a feedback mechanism that prevents too much Vitamin D from being made through the skin even though one exposure can give you the equivalent of up to 20,000 IU's for one single whole body exposure!
"Worrying about vitamin D toxicity is like worrying about drowning when you're dying of thirst."
-Dr. John Cannell, Vitamin D Researcher
We were designed to get our Vitamin D from the sun. But other concerns about getting excessive sun should concern you enough to keep exposure to the sun at moderate levels.
So while there absolutely IS a chance of overdose on Vitamin D when you take Vitamin D supplements, it is slim if you take doses as recommended by current Vitamin D research as outlined in the Vitamin D requirements page and get yearly, or more frequent, Vitamin D Level Checks. Can't we just avoid supplements and get our Vitamin D through our diet?