Doctors have warned people not to take too many vitamin D supplements after a man needed eight days of hospital care after overdosing.
The middle-aged man had been experiencing symptoms including vomiting, nausea and leg cramps for three months when his doctor referred him to hospital for treatment.
According to the journal BMJ Case Reports, the symptoms began about a month after he began an intensive regimen of vitamin supplements.
He also had tinnitus, dry mouth, weight loss, increased thirst, and diarrhea.
Doctors said the overdose condition — called hypervitaminosis D — is on the rise, although it’s still uncommon.
The man’s daily regimen included more than 20 over-the-counter supplements.
As part of this he was taking 50,000mg of vitamin D – the daily requirement is 600mg.
Tests showed that his vitamin D levels were seven times the required level and his body had high levels of magnesium and calcium. His kidneys were also not working properly.
Intravenous fluids were used to flush his system and he was given medication to lower excessive calcium levels in his blood.
But two months after he was released from hospital, his vitamin D levels were still higher than needed.
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The report’s authors say that “there is an increasing trend of hypervitaminosis D worldwide,” but stress that this is just one case.
The NHS website says that “some people will not make enough vitamin D from sunlight because they have very little or no exposure to sunlight”.
It is recommended that adults and children over the age of four take a daily supplement containing 10 mg of vitamin D throughout the year if they are not often outdoors, if they are in an institution such as a care home or usually wear clothing that covers most of the body from their skin when you are outdoors.
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