Vitamin D deficiency confirmed as common across a range of rheumatic conditions

European League Against Rheumatism ^ | June 18, 2010 | Unknown

[Yaelle]

I want to cry each time I read one of these. My SIL died recently with such an autoimmune disease and had only started taking a small amount of Vitamin D two days before her death. Maybe if she’d been on 5000 units for a couple of years, we’d still have her.

[GovernmentShrinker]

Unless there’s some serious underlying problem with the parathyroid-calcium-calcitriol signalling mechanism (e.g. primary hyperparathyroidism), hypercalcemia from vitamin D supplementation shouldn’t occur without really extreme levels of vitamin D intake. Over the counter vitamin D supplements are not the active form of vitamin D, and are normally only converted to the active form (calcitriol, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3) when the parathyroid gland senses low calcium levels and sends out parathyroid hormone to signal the kidneys and liver to put out the hormone that converts dietary (or sun-on-skin) vitamin D into calcitriol. Apparently colossal amounts of vitamin D supplements can cause hypercalcemia, probably by confusing the crap out of the normal regulatory mechanism (perhaps by triggering release of the converting hormones even without a signal from parathyroid hormone).

Here’s an abstract of a report of two cases of this, caused by supplements that actual contained between 100 and 1000 times as much vitamin D as the labels indicated. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20515399 And an interested related abstract showing no toxicity at 10,000IU supplementation daily http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19918922

[Judith Anne]

Sure. I just recommend that everyone know their usual serum calcium levels before supplementing with oral vit D3. Mild hypercalcemia doesn’t have any symptoms or cause any problems for me, but there are things to watch out for, like dehydration. Doesn’t always have to be serious hyperparathyroidism, there are mild cases.