Vitamin D works along with calcium for building strong bones. It helps in regulating the immune system also, apart from helping in many other body functions. The most common source of Vitamin D is sun exposure and fortified foods. Vitamin D is also found in cod liver oil, fatty fish and eggs. Vitamin D is safe if you take it orally in quantity prescribed by the doctor. Usually, there is no side effect of Vitamin D. However, side effects occur when you take excess amount of Vitamin D. You can have side effects if you take Vitamin D more than 4000 units daily for a long time.
If pregnant women take more than 4000 units Vitamin D daily, it can be harmful for the unborn baby. If breast-feeding women take excess Vitamin D3, it can be harmful for their child. Vitamin D3 is also known as cholecalciferol. You should take Vitamin D3 only after consulting a doctor.
People who have high blood calcium, high vitamin D and malabsorption of nutrients should not take Vitamin D3 as it can be very harmful.You should know the side effects of Vitamin D3. You can avoid these side effects by avoiding excess intake of Vitamin D3. Take the recommended dose of vitamin D3 as prescribed by the doctor. The most common Vitamin D3 side effects are as follows.
Common Vitamin D3 Side Effects
Early Symptoms
The most common early side effects of Vitamin D3 are weakness, headache, muscle pain, dry mouth, nausea, vomiting, fatigue and dry mouth. Vitamin D can cause sleepiness, constipation, metallic taste and loss of appetite also.Vitamin D 3 can cause thinking problems, irritation and behavior changes. There can be excess urination and chest pain. The patient can have shortness of breath.
Kidney Problems
If you take excess amount of Vitamin D, it will increase the amount of calcium in your body. The arteries become hard due to this. This is very harmful for patients who have kidney disease as it can cause renal osteodystrophy. In this disorder, the kidneys are unable to balance blood calcium as well as phosphorus.
When the blood calcium is very high, there is formation of crystals in the kidney and this leads to the production of kidney stones. Therefore, excess intake of Vitamin D can be very harmful for kidney patients.
Metabolic Problems
Excess Vitamin D3 intake can lead to high amount of blood calcium, which causes metabolic symptoms like vertigo, anorexia, abdominal cramps, ataxia and tinnitus in other people. In later stages, it can lead to pruritus, hypertension, seizures, renal insufficiency, mental confusion and cardiac arrhythmias.
Bone Problems
Vitamin D plays an important role in controlling the calcium balance in the body. When there is excess or low intake of Vitamin D, it affects tissues that contain calcium such as bones.A high intake of Vitamin D causes the loss of calcium in the bones, which goes into the blood. High blood calcium makes the bones hard. It reduces the density of bones. This causes bone injuries like fractures.
Cardiovascular Problems
Excess intake of Vitamin D3 can cause cardiovascular problems. Excess Vitamin D3 increases the blood calcium levels, which is deposited in the heart wall and blood vessels. This process is also known as calcification.This leads to heart disease risk. It causes problems in functioning of the heart, thus leading to cardiovascular disease.
