Suggest The Ideal Dosage Of Vitamin D For Diarrhea

Posted on Tue, 26 Jan 2016

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Tue, 26 Jan 2016 Answered on

Sat, 26 Mar 2016 Last reviewed on

Question : I recently starting taking vitamin d3 2000IU. For the past week and a half, I have had severe diarrhea. Does vit D3 have this side affect at this dosage? I have for years taken 800 IU a day at night with no problems. Could this be an indicator of something else? Today I did not make it to the bath room in the next room. I have used Pepto-Bismol with some success, but when I cut back, it's - here we go again. As I am writing this, I barely made it to the bathroom behind me less than 10 ft away

Answered by Dr. Sandip Kabra (3 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Unlikley to be due to Vitamin D

Detailed Answer:
Hello,
Welcome to HCM.

It is very unlikely that 2000 IU daily dosage of vitamin D may cause severe diarrhea,I have not personally seen severe diarrhea even up to 5000 IU daily dosages in my patients.So I will not think about this possibility.

Also the fact that you have been taking 800IU daily since long time,so it would be unlikely that sudden increased the dosage may cause this symptoms.

So,in my opinion this could be something else like viral diarrhea or bacterial diarrhea but I will be able to say exactly only after complete medical history,thoroughly clinical examination with some relevant tests.

It would be better you should see some nearby doctor or local physician on urgent basis for further evaluation as you have severe diarrhea.

Hope this helps and let me know if you want some more help from my side.

Regards,

Dr.Sandip Kabra

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar