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Comment by vecter | Hacker News Reader

I had a mini-episode of this earlier this year. Reposting as a warning for people:

I had mild Vitamin D deficiency which was diagnosed by a doctor many years ago. I was given Vitamin D supplements, which I stocked up on more than usual recently due to my staying in all day due to WFH and not getting any sunlight.

I used to take 50mcg of D3 1-2x a week and I upped that (without consulting a doctor) to 5x a week. Within two weeks, I started having extreme thirst. It was crazy to the point where I drank so much water that I could hear it sloshing in my stomach yet my mouth was parched dry and I was still very thirsty.

I did a quick Google search and found that Vitamin D poisoning was actually a thing [0]. I stopped my Vitamin D supplements the next day and my thirst went away that same day. Be careful folks.

[0] https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/health/1203879/vitamin-...

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It seems very unlikely this was Vitamin D related. 1400iu daily is a relatively low amount. Further, Vitamin D is fat soluble, so the amount you take on a given day will have little effect on your overall Vitamin D status, as it builds up in fat over time. If you were really at the point where you had hypervitaminosis D it would have taken a long time to reduce to normal levels.

That's very surprising that something bad happened with as low as 50mcg (2000 IU). I was suggested to take that much by my doctor _daily_ without even bothering with a test (granted I'd taken a test years prior in a similar climate, perhaps that was enough for him). I even temporarily upped it for a period to 4000 IU basically for the same reason as you. And I think I've heard some people claim that as much as 5000 IU is safe without a test?

It's just surprising that this happened to you given that you're naturally deficient.

I had the exact same thing - too much thirst, even with low doses (1000-2000IU), but especially with 4000Iu or 5000IU, and really a lot with the 60kIU which the doctor originally prescribed. But the doctor advised to keep on taking vitamin D, as my levels were low. A second opinion from another doctor was no different. I did some research on my own and figured out it could be because of a Magnesium deficiency. I started taking Magnesium supplement and after supplementing for some time resumed the vitamin D along with Magnesium, and that fixed the thirst issue. If I would take vitamin D without magnesium, the thirst problem would come back. Even now if I take high dose vitamin D or even a calcium supplement without taking Magnesium, it leads to a lot of thirst. It's been a long time but from what I remember, I figured that it was because of vitamin D's effect on Calcium levels and the (electrolytic?) balance between Calcium and Magnesium in the body.

For another anecdote, I regularly get bottles of gummies which are 1500IU each (you're talking about 2000IU for reference), eating 3-6 of them a day, all through seasons which aren't summer.

I've never traced negative health effects to this. Not being a doctor, I can't give advice, but my doctor thinks this is safe, and in fact, a good idea.

Fun, but that's a lot of sugar and tooth decay when a pill would do.

It might be a good idea to go outside at lunch to get some sun. WFH doesn't have to mean staying inside 24 hours a day.

There is no data anywhere showing that 2000IU causes toxicity or harm in anyone.

Could it have been anything else?

how much is 50mcg in IU?

"One International Unit (IU) equals 0.025 mcg of cholecalciferol (Vitamin D3) or of ergocalciferol (Vitamin D2)" [1]

[1] https://walrus.com/questions/converting-units-iu-of-vitamin-...

Hmm, so 2000IU. That doesn’t seem like a lot, but I guess it really depends on the person.

It's almost impossible that their symptoms were caused by vitamin d in this case. It takes times to build up and reduce vitamin d levels, changes wouldn't happen overnight

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