by Dawn Smith-Pfeifer
I may be weird. I may be an outlier. But I have too much Vitamin D in my bloodstream.
Let me back up.
Although I love ice cream, cheese and other dairy products, I have never been a milk drinker. Sorry dairy farmers, but I just don’t like the taste (I think it’s hereditary). Cheddar cheese and chips? They were my best friend when I was pregnant with my daughter. (I didn’t feel well throughout most of the pregnancy and nachos were about the only thing I could eat regularly without getting nauseous.)
I also had a skirmish with cancer back in 2012 that required chemo, radiation and a bunch of surgeries. They also put me on a drug called tamoxifen that I took for a couple of years and then switched me to one for “older women.” It was that switch that caused my oncology doctor to check my bones, because Letrozole can leach calcium from your bones.
That’s when I found out I had “the worst case of osteoporosis” that my oncologist “had ever seen.” (So much for bedside manner, eh?)
So, they started giving me a shot every six months to combat it. And my doctor told me to take a multivitamin, calcium and D3 to help with calcium absorption.
Well, turns out that was a little too much vitamin D. At my last appointment, my oncologist decided to test the D in my blood. Standard range is 20-50 (Vitamin D 25 Hydroxy ng/ml). Mine was at 68. That put me squarely in the “Increased risk of Hypercalciuria,” category.
Needless to say, I was a little alarmed. I didn’t even know you could get too much vitamin D. I had to “google” Hypercalciuria just to know what it was and what could happen. Turns out too much can cause kidney stones, kidney damage and “blood vessel calcification” that can lead to heart disease.
I called my oncologist. She said, “Yep, dump the D3.”
I did.
Why am I sharing my old-lady-with-osteoporosis-and-too-much-vitamin-D-in-her-blood story with you?
Because I think it drives home the point that too much of ANYTHING can be toxic.
It’s the dose that makes the poison. When you’re talking about pesticide residues in food. When you’re talking about how many cups of coffee you drink. Even when you’re talking about Vitamin D! Moderation is a good thing, in everything.
