If you didn't want to hear our opinions why did you ask?

The reason we talked about the dosage is because, as I mentioned, it exceeds the recommended maximum dose per day. Now is it possible that people can tolerate or even benefit from higher? Yes, I believe it is, however, guidelines haven't been changed so I decided to play it safe when giving unprofessional medical advice in the internet!

Also, I don't appreciate the implications about my reading comprehension skills. I understood perfectly that the time you took 20,000 IU was over the course of only a few days.

Finally, I did precisely what you say you wanted, and the answer is no.
I have not personally experienced any possible link between Vitamin D supplementation, at least at doses up to 10,000 IU/day, and a worsening in upper-respiratory symptoms.
My experience has, in fact, been the opposite.

A bit of a late reply, but here we go...

Good on you for playing it safe, and thanks for your opinion. You sound like you got your ego bruised, though. I disagreed with a handful of people here. You appear to me, to have a problem with that.

Your question "why did you ..." (above) and
your "reading comprehension skills" comment shows me you're bothered by what I said. I'm not sure any of that says anything about what I wanted in my posts or replies, though.

Let me put my 2c in.

20,000/day for stoss purposes (treatment of a specific problem or infection) is perfectly safe for at least a few months.

Really, it's perfectly safe for longer; that dose has been trialed for 6 months with no negative effects on the participants.

Vitamin D at a high dose can treat respiratory infections such as nasal infection, lung infections, tuberculocis, and H1N1! and other flus.

It's not uncommon for people taking a stoss dose of vitamin D3 to experience die off and flu like symptoms as well as pain at the sites of former muscle and bone injuries.

Sometimes people do experience problems taking vitamin D3, usually it's the form/oil in the capsule causing the problem. Which is why I recommend the dry form from Bio-Tech.

Often a 5,000 IU/day dose is no where near enough...5,000 IU/day is the maintenance dose for a relatively healthy person, IMHO. If there is a specific medical problem that can be addressed with a stoss dose of D3 the dose is 50,000 IU/day for five days.

If there are chronic conditions that need to be reversed such as osteoporosis, or rhumatoid arthritis, that dose can be 10,000 IU or more/day until the condition is corrected and then you taper to a maintenance dose.

So, I don't think you were in any danger of an overdose. The problem might have been that you didn't take it long enough.

It is quite clear who has the 'ego bruised' on this thread. And it was obviously not s-piper.

On topic, I find vitamin D drops to be an easy way to take it and adjust dosage as necessary.

Zuleikaa, your response is very much appreciated! I agree, I have not experienced any side effects other than notable 'sore throat' and 'cold symptoms' I mentioned.

I wonder if there is a way to check for / measure die off so I could confirm it? In my case, I usually stop the supplement when I start having 'symptoms' ... I take the flu pretty seriously and I much prefer not to have it.

I will also look into the dry form of D3. I did not know such a thing existed.

KDH, when you do not agree with someone, and they try to use shame, guilt, or embarrassment to distract you, it's OK to call them on it. Since my post to you, I have gotten more attempts to shame/blame/ridicule/guilt me for disagreeing, than actual conversation. Interesting.

Is it possible because you started out at this dose and didn't "ramp up" that it caused a problem?

I know for me, anything that affects mucus membranes causes me issues.
Also, anything that acts as a diuretic will cause me to have upper respiratory flu-like symptoms.
Even changing my estrogen dose will cause this to happen temporarily.

So, if you're worried about this happening, I'd say start out slow (like 1,000 iu) for a week, then up to 2, then 3, etc etc.

Might not be so harsh on your body.

Or you could refuse to respond to the bait and end the cycle of shame/blame/ridicule/guilt-->confrontational response.

Just a thought.





I think you are onto something. Very well could be the issue. He's probably sensitive to D3 and therefore, as it affects mucus membranes, he's getting symptoms that appears to be "Cold." My son, who is lactose intolerant, gets this when ingesting higher amounts of lactose despite a lactose enzyme pill.

I too have a problem with vitamin D. I diagnosed it as an allergy to the ingredients. I have several food allergies and this was identical to a food allergy. When i would take it for any length of time, I would start to have "cold" like symptoms that would progress into "flu" like symptoms. Eventually even my bowel would become inflamed and I would develop a rash on my skin usually on my face.

Hope this helps. I can get in the sun and get vitamin D that way but taking many brands of cholecalciferol gives me the same symptoms.