An ampoule of vitamin D prescribed a few weeks ago, a multivitamin tablet for breakfast, then a “special bone” supplement purchased for the winter… The tricky detail is that these products can have very different names, shapes and taking rates, while providing the same vitamin.
The right reflex is therefore simple: before adding more, look at what you are already taking. Vitamin D is important, especially for bone health, but more does not necessarily mean better. The risk, in adults, is mainly involuntary accumulation.
Why do we add without realizing it?
Vitamin D can be in the form of prescribed medication, drops, ampoules, food supplements, multivitamins or a “calcium + vitamin D” combination. Each box sometimes seems logical separately: one comes from the doctor, the other from a seasonal cure, the third from a wellness section.
But the organization does not separate products by category.
The vitamin D in a bottle is added to that in a tablet or medication. The official information for certain medications based on vitamin D also requires total doses to be taken into account when combining several products containing it.
The accumulation becomes even more difficult to spot when the doses are not similar: an ampoule spaced apart, a daily tablet, a treatment started then forgotten in a toiletry bag. The units can also vary from one label to another, which makes the addition not very intuitive for a non-professional.
What are the risks with too much vitamin D?
Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin: it can be stored by the body. An excessive intake is therefore not comparable to a simple “extra” dose eliminated immediately. ANSES recalls, in its nutrivigilance and expert assessment work, that an excessive intake of vitamin D can lead to hypercalcemia, i.e. too high a level of calcium in the blood.
This hypercalcemia can have serious consequences, including kidney damage and, in certain contexts, cardiovascular problems. This is why High-dose supplements, especially when taken without monitoring or in addition to treatment, should be considered with caution.
This is not, however, to scare anyone taking supplements. A prescribed vitamin D may be helpful or even necessary, depending on the situation. A dose intended to correct a documented deficiency is simply not a recommendation to be reproduced for the whole family, nor a model to be freely associated with other products.
Before a new treatment, what should you show the doctor or pharmacist?
The most useful gesture takes just a few minutes:
gather your boxes, bottles and prescriptions. Also add supplements started “in treatment”, those taken only on certain days, and products combining several vitamins or minerals.
Then note the indicated dose, the frequency of intake and the start date, even approximate. Bring these elements to your pharmacist or doctor before changing your intake, especially if you already have a prescription for vitamin D, long-term treatment, or a known kidney, heart or bone problem.
The professional will be able to spot duplicates, check if two products overlap and tell you if you need to adjust, space out or stop one of them. On the other hand, do not discontinue prescribed vitamin D on your own initiative : the need depends on your medical context, your history, your treatments and sometimes tests already carried out.
As the periods approach when cures multiply, the point of vigilance is therefore not to look for the product with the highest dosage. This means checking all of your intake before adding a new capsule, drop or ampoule to what you are already taking.