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Vitamin D3 - 10,000iu Daily, toxicity from rat poison ingredient?

I've recently learned that the Vitamin D3 supplements I have been taking from Nature's Bounty, contains an ingredient that is basically the most potent form of rat poison found on the market. That ingredient is called cholecalciferol. As many of us know, us chronic Hep B patients should be taking 10,000iu daily of Vitamin D3. I chose to take it in this supplement because I thought it would help. As it turns out, I'm actually afraid I'm suffering from toxicity because of this and maybe even have some early symptoms of hypercalcemia.

What are some of the common known issues of hypercalcemia?

weakness of bones and muscles, bone loss, fatigue, depression, confusion, tinnitus, stupor or coma, polyuria, nephrolithiasis, renal failure, ectopic calcification, conjunctivitis, fever, chills, anorexia, nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, diarrhea and constipation.

Of these, I am experiencing the following: weakness of bones and muscles, fatigue, depression, brain and heart issues, tinnitus, what feels like bone less & diarrhea

After looking this up, it was linked to this ingredient along with the fact that there may not be enough Vitamin K2 going into your bloodstream to regulate the Vitamin D3 being taken from your bones. I actually have not been taking K2 as much until recently again, and when I did I felt it was a small dose so I strengthend it which seems to make a little difference lately. Most of my weakness was is coming from my upper body, starting with my neck to my shoulders. It's actually made it very difficult for me to drive. However, I do want to note that some days I've taken 20,000iu daily and during the summer, the weakness was going to my legs during hot months (it is winter now for us so it's fairly cool or cold).

I also suspect that my kidney issues, with the recent 2nd cyst that was formed on there, may be caused from this. It now makes sense to me because my calcium was fairly high last test at 10.0 mg/dL and it has been this way for the last couple of tests when I started to feel this way. I have not seen it above 10 since 2015. I have to wonder if this is too much.

Anyway, I have a few questions. Since I know some of us here take Vitamin D3 at 10,000iu these would be good to ask (and I know @stef2011 is on person who has been an expert here in this:

1. Should I stop taking the 10,000iu in this supplement? I used to take one from Puritan's Pride at doses of 5,000iu in morning and 5,000iu at night but have to wonder if I should stop this all now.

2. How much Vitamin K2 should I be taking if I need to continue 10,000iu daily?

3. Is there an alternative supplement that does not contain the ingredient of cholecalciferol in Vitamin D3?

4. What foods are good for the right combo here to get the right amount of vitamin D3 at this level? I happened to notice that whenever I eat salmon, I'm usually better for 2-3 days afterwards so I think this may be one.

Here is my current daily regiment:

Vitamin D3 Supplement (10,000-20,000 iu daily, I usually alternate)
Calcium supplement from Nature's Bounty (1200 mg which includes 1,000iu of Vitamin D3
Fish Oilfrom Nature's Bounty (1000mg and 300mg of Omega3)
Ultra K-2 Complex from Nature's Truth (1600 mcg daily contains K1 and Menaquinone-4 & Menaquinone-7... before this I was recently only on 100-200 mcg daily)
B6 (100mg  from Nature Made)
Magnesium from Nature's Bounty (500mg)

I have yet to have my levels of Vitamin D3 monitored and it's been a while for this since I had a severe deficiency but plan to do so at my next appoint. But definitely want to get some opinions here before I moved away from continuing to take this (I may stop for a few days to see if I notice a difference). There is so much I read about this and I can safely say I'm experiencing some of the symptoms related to too much Vitamin D.

Thanks!
7 Responses
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Avatar universal
Happy new year buddy

Re vit d/rat poison.
Just be careful if you end up growing whiskers, a tail and big ears then definitely stop taking it lol
Helpful - 0
2 Comments
Happy New Year and thank you for the laugh!!
What is life if you cant have a bit if a laugh ;)
Avatar universal
dont worry poison is made by quantity, water is a poison as well if you drink too much it kills you too, so that article is hilarious
just get calcium in blood measured, it pratically never happens that vit d can raise calcium levels you d need millions of iu per day for more than 6 months
so to make things easy you can measure calcium in blood so you see and then parathormone pth, if too much vitamin d is getting into cells pth goes down to less than normal and after this it will take time for calcium to go up, so it would be an eraly sign you need to lower vit d.also checking vitd25oh levels can tell you if you take too much if less than 150ng/ml, no risks if around 100ng/ml best
Helpful - 0
1 Comments
Thanks for your comments, Stef. I see that Life Extensions made a Vitamin D3 w/ K2 supplement in it. I found it here: https://www.lifeextension.com/vitamins-supplements/item02040/vitamins-d-and-k-with-sea-iodine?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIy9WQk52D5wIVA-iGCh2HpQUREAQYASABEgKY7vD_BwE

Do you think this would be ok to take? I've been mostly taking mine w/ the Vitamin K2 mentioned but I recently upped the K2 since I have not been taking K2 for some time now and realized I really needed that to help regulate where the calcium goes (into the bones!). I've generally stayed away from dairy myself. Do you find there is a time of day it is better to take the Vitamin D3? I actually am WELL overdue for a Vitamin D3 test so I think it's time to get one. I'll consider it for this week rather than wait until April at my next visit. Thanks for your knowledge, as always!
Avatar universal
do not confuse ng/ml to mol/ml, nmol/ml is another range
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
i did not read al the post, 20.000iu is too much, usually about 7000-10.000iu is ok but you can tell only by testing
vitamin k2 is a must to avoid calcium going to wrong places, i take 200mcg daily
vitamin A (retinoid type) is also important although deficiency is very rare my sister had that, in this case you dont get hypercalcemia but vit d works badly and you can get strange symptoms
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Avatar universal
your symptoms are similar to my sister's, you better check for vit A too.she had gut issues making deficiencies of all kinds
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1 Comments
I have to wonder how right you are about this. I've been getting odd symptoms and driving at night as become more difficult due to me having a hard time seeing. I've always experienced some difficulty at night but this time, it seemed worse. I did get a bottle of Vitamin A but the dosage on each vitamin is extremely high so I'd rather test to see if I truly am deficient or not before I take it, and even if I do, it'll not be as frequent.
Avatar universal
I had the same problem from taking too much vitamin d. I took a year off from mega dose vitamin d and just used whats in my multivitamin. Most of the symptoms went away.
Helpful - 0
7 Comments
That's quite interesting as well. Just curious, how much was your dosage on the mega dose and then what did you reduce it to? I've tried staying away from any Vitamin D for like 3 days and just felt weak after the 3 days, but could not be certain it was the vitamin D3. Naturally, I was not taking enough Vitamin K2 with what I was previously on so that could have played a big part too.
I was taking between 15,000-20,000 iu per day. I dropped it down to 2,000 iu(which is in my multivitamin) but increased it back to 5,000iu. I wasn't taking enough vitamin k2 either. My multivitamin has the right amount of vitamin k2 in it. Have you tried taking dhea? I noticed from studies most people with any hepatitis is low in dhea. It has helped alot with my joint and bone pain. I would start a low dose of 5mg dhea to see if it helps but its probably better to get them checked. Also too much of vitamin c and vitamin b5 can cause problems
Im sorry I meant vitamin b6. Also getting on testosterone replacement therapy has helped me alot. Im 32 but had the testosterone levels of an elderly man
Thanks Jason_256. I wasn't on 20,000iu until a little recently but I definitely feel this was too much as well. My norm was always 10,000iu but I'd switch to 5,000iu on some days too. Vitamin K2 definitely plays a big roll from what I hear. I've found a good 5,000iu brand w/ Vitamin K2 (and other Vitamin K) integrated so I started with this one and I've been noticing and feeling a slight difference compared to nothing at all. It's funny you mention DHEA because that is something that was suggested to me by a friend who is a nutritionist, and I did start taking it back then before I was on any meds. I'm just very confused if my symptoms right now are due to Hep B, the meds, a deficiency or if I'm truly having major neck problems that require surgery. They said some folks who take TDF or TAF, have experienced some back pain but I get none there. It's not even neck pain any more, than it is weakness from the neck. Anyway, thanks for sharing!
Jason, I am curious, what was your reason for dropping the dosage? Any worrisome symptoms and what not that you think caused you for the need to drop?
I was having problems with tingling in my arms and legs. Although that could've been from too much vitamin b6. When I take anything over 5,000 iu get bone pain, headaches, and feel sick. I cant take too much vitamin k2 either. Any green food  I eat cause me to become weak. I have neck pain also but I take over 600mg riboflavin which helps alot with headache and neck pain.
Thanks for sharing. I have to wonder if the tingling in the arm and legs and the headache are related to a neck issue, which is causing pain. I have not tested my vitamin d and vitamin levels yet, but like you I was feeling more bone pain with a higher dosage. I'm back down to 5,000iu daily and this seems to be working for me for now. Unfortunately, if I miss anything by more than 2 days, I start to feel weak.
Avatar universal
If you have hypercalcimia you should not be suplimenting with calcium  interferon can also cause calcium disorders their is alot more information on the internet on post interferon  long term effects now 5han what was available in the past good luck
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