How Much A Is Too Much?

Orion

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Oct 23, 2015
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858
It's been a little over a week since I began reducing A. Perhaps I overdid it, going down too quickly.

The first day I cut A from 250,000 IU to 225,000 IU; the second day, I cut it to 110,000; the third to 55,000; the fourth to 25,000. At the same time, the taurine I ordered hadn't arrived, but I I increased zinc to over 50 mg, increased D to 10,000/12,500 IU, E to 400 IU, K to 15 mg--taking these, along with the A, sublingually, in divided doses with meals.

Results: A few pimples in odd scattered places (shoulder, thigh), a verge of facial zit breakout--which never quite progressed. Instead my cheeks became covered with tiny bumps. And I became on the verge of getting sick with a cold. Indeed, after the fourth day, with only 25,000 IU, I actually got a full-blown cold.

So on the fifth day, I increased the A to 55,000 IU--no change in symptoms; on the sixth to 60,000, on the seventh and eighth to 80,000; with each increase the cold symptoms become less and less severe. At the same time, those weird facial bumps have decreased.

A symptom I had not expected--which I can attribute only to the reduction in A: the quality of my sleep, which has never been great, really deteriorated on a lower dose of A.

I'm not sure what to make of all this. It seems that I did not need all 250,000 IU of A; my optimal current dose seems to be 80,000--but that still seems high for someone with hypothyroid symptoms, and I'm still concerned that this amount may be lowering my thyroid function.

I did not really test each hypothesis in isolation. While I increased zinc and other fat-soluble vitamins in order to determine whether the A was compensating for a deficiency in other vitamins (hypothesis 3), for the first five days I also took these supplements sublingually, to test the hypothesis that I was "wasting" the A and so needed extra to compensate for inadequate digestion (hypothesis 2). The fact that my current optimal dose is now a mere third of what it used to be, suggests that one or both of these hypotheses is correct.

I should note that on the sixth day, I began to reconsider the wisdom of taking these supplements sublingually. I assume there's some benefit to digesting them and transporting them to the liver? In any case, for the past few days I began taking all of these supplements (except zinc) orally, instead. So this seems to support hypothesis 3. On the other hand, perhaps were I to have continued taking all of these supplements sublingually, my optimal dose would be 65,000 IU, not 80,000.

Well, I hope this long account helps someone (other than me!). And, of course, if anyone has other hypotheses about what may be going on, do tell.



How are things going with you vitamin A dosage and acne?
 

Djukami

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Jun 19, 2017
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140
I want to know a little bit more how Vitamin A works and if I indeed should try supplement it whether by eating more liver (2 or 3 times a week) or a supplement.

So, I opened this thread talking how sweet potatoes affected me - Sweet Potatoes Makes My Thyroid Swell Up

But I still want to fully understand what was going on, because today I am back to the basis of my awful life.
I would fully appreciate if anyone could give his opinion.

I will point clearly what I was feeling after overdosing a bit of sweet potatoes, what I think as a Pro and as a Con:

Pros:
  • My pulse rate immediately increased to 70-80 bpm (the weather is warmer though, so it can affect my pulse...)
  • I think my body temperature increased, but I kinda failed to measured this. Still, today I woke up feeling cold and those days I was waking up feeling warmer - hands and feet (although, this can be kinda misleading because I was also avoiding foods that triggers my inflammation. Initially I was not having that much warmness in my hands and feet. So, perhaps I was starting to have warm hands and feet after, because I was just not eating foods that lower my metabolism, since my body slows down wisely to protect me from more inflammation)
  • More energy. I usual have to wait till I have energy to wash my dishes. Sometimes I accumulate dishes for two days straight... There I was eating and immediately after I had energy to clean the kitchen.
  • Hunger. Seriously, I don't remember feeling hungry for such a long time ago. I want to be specific here: I was craving more sugar/carbs. The reason I know this is because due to my health problems, I have to follow a low carb high fat. Normally, I can literally put a spoon of olive oil in my mouth and doesn't make me gag. However, those days, eating fatty foods were just straight disgusting. I usually eat salmon without a problem and even that was tasting really bad. Also, I remember my mum saying that in the past, people used to give cod liver oil to open the appetite of people (Vitamin A related...?)
  • Bowel Movements. They were just on point, this never happened to me before. I am always constipated. Those days, immediately after waking up in the morning, I had a bowel movement. I was also able to have 2 bowel movements per day, which is unreal for me, lol.
  • Sleeping. I usually fall asleep around 3, 4 and sometimes even 6 AM. Those days, I was starting to feeling tired around 11 PM, midnight and then I would fall asleep around 1-2 AM which is a thing that doesn't happen to me. Ok, I know it's still too late, but also earlier than my standards. And, at least, I didn't need to take something to make me fall asleep.
  • Libido? I don't know. I completely don't have any libido in the last couple of years... But, in those days, man, women's legs were just more attractive. Which, usually, those legs would have been unnoticed for me.
  • It seemed my food intolerance were better...? Usually, when I eat a simple orange, for instance, I immediately feel some wheezing, my breathing becomes irregular and I just feel uncomfortable. There, (hearing my sugar cravings), I ate two oranges and I didn't feel bad. Only after the 5th one I started to feel the wheezing. (There is also the variable of warmer temperatures that perhaps makes me more able to tolerate foods. Still, today I don't really want oranges in my body at all and the weather is warm also)
  • Less OCD, ADHD. I can't completely say this was true, because I was also avoiding the foods that triggers most of these symptoms, ie, all of them, except meat and fish. Yes, I was just living of sweet potatoes and meat/fish (and some rice too)
Cons:
  • Sweating. It's the type of sweating that exists without any reason. I always had this sweating since I remember to exist though. So, it's something that is not new for me.
  • Swollen thyroid. @The_xXx said it could be the goitrogens from sweet potatoes, which makes a lot of sense. However, I still don't know if that was only the reason according to all the symptoms I was having. It seemed my thyroid was overdoing it by self, like being hyper. Or perhaps I just needed more minerals, I don't know. Like, for instance, I also have swollen thyroid after exercising.
  • Sore, ulcers in the mouth. I think this is a common thing that happens when a person has to much vitamin A that is not compensated with the other fat soluble vitamins (especially K).
  • Lost weight to rapidly. Okay, this is a bit weird to point it out because, well, I was indeed not having my caloric needs (it's impossible to live of sweet potatoes. At least I can't eat that much quantity to reach my caloric needs). However, when I under eat which sometimes happens to me because I am never hungry, I don't lose weight this much fast.
  • Trembling. I don't know what could be the cause for this. Since I was clearly needing more calories, perhaps I was suffering from mild hypoglycemia. It could also be dehydration.
Neither a Pro nor a Con:
  • I was peeing less. My pee was becoming darker. Regarding this, I am definitely not sure what was going on: since the temperatures outside are 30 ºC, it can be possible that I need more water. OR it could simply be that the fiber from sweet potatoes stole too much water from my body. OR, and this is what I want to believe what was going on (lol) is since my metabolism was increased (at least I think so) my body was using more water. OR, which may be the real reason after all, it was just the fact I was just losing too much water through sweating (I still did not feel thirst though. But my heart was pounding and after drinking water immediately disappeared)...
  • Even though I said I seemed better regarding my food intolerances, the days I incorporated white rice, I still had back pain and my muscles felt really sore after eating it. So, I don't know, I may be boosting my metabolism, but my inflammation and auto immune issues are still there. So it may not be wise to boost my metabolism to not trigger more inflammation...?
Overall, it made me realize that certainly Vitamin A can give me some good feelings. And since people here focus a lot on vitamin A, perhaps I should try experimenting it more.

All these symptoms are just normal when a person supplements Vitamin A?
I remember @Mufasa saying that he does not need to take thyroid and just by taking A + K2 give him the same effect.
 
Last edited:

chrismeyers

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Jul 23, 2015
Messages
110
Sweet potatoes arent the same form of Vitamin A in supplements. Beta carotene vs retinyl palmitate.
 

Djukami

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Jun 19, 2017
Messages
140
Sweet potatoes arent the same form of Vitamin A in supplements. Beta carotene vs retinyl palmitate.
I know that, but perhaps the Vitamin A RAE makes me think that I was indeed having more vitamin A circulating in my body.
It is still Vitamin A, so I guess the results could be the same.
I'm trying to understand it, at least.

Or, the worst answer for all these symptoms is that I am allergic to sweet potatoes and my body was pulling them out making everything working faster. But I would prefer to understand the Vitamin A part :/
 
OP
N

naftaep

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Joined
Oct 18, 2012
Messages
15
Update on an old thread: I've figured out why I've needed to take so much vitamin A for years (by "so much" I mean over 200,000 IU daily; or else I'd get sick): mold poisoning. Turns out I've been living in an apartment that tested positive for mold (though I've never been able to actually see it); urine tests show high levels of mycotoxins, and also that I've been "colonized" (i.e., I've been exposed to mold for so long that I'm now producing my own colonies).

Micronutrient testing shows that I'm low on vitamin A (despite the massive overdosing for 5 years), on vitamin C (ditto: I've been taking 8-10 grams for 2.5 years), calcium (my main source of protein is cheese), and all sorts of other vitamins & minerals. According to my doctor, in dealing with this toxic load (for years, apparently), I've needed much more nutrients than I could take in. For years I've been taking thyroid, which has made me sort of functional, but I had what I thought were thyroid-like symptoms even though my "numbers" were OK. So: if you find that despite taking thyroid your symptoms persist, or if you find that you need excessive amounts of vitamins, then it may not be simply (as I thought) that an improved metabolism requires more nutrients, but that you may have biotoxins in your "system." Just a heads up....
 

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