I Started Supplementing Vitamin A Recently. Interesting Observation! (and Question)

[Bub]

Hi there! 34 year old male here. So starting in early April, I began taking Vitamins A (5,000 IU) and D3, K2, Magnesium, and more recently E. Ever since puberty, I've ALWAYS had very excessively oily scalp/face, dandruff, dry patches in eyebrows/corners of eye/nose, and hair shedding that goes along with it. Literally on more oily days, my hair sheds more. And I even noticed a handful of times when I was younger, I had random times when for a day or two, my skin ceased all oil production for unknown reasons (Maybe I unknowingly consumed a lot of Vitamin A in foods prepared for me by my parents) and my hair would simultaneously completely stop shedding...only to resume again a few days later when the oil resumed.

So in April 2017, I began supplementing with the above listed things. I started low on Vitamin D3 supps and slowly started increasing it (in the past, I reacted poorly to Vit D3, but I know now it was because I wasn't taking magnesium). So as I slowly increased my Vitamin D3, I started getting some light headaches, BUT I also noticed that my skin's oiliness was majorly decreasing AND my hair shedding was stopping, and the dry patches were going away! Little did I know, my Vitamin D pill ALSO HAD VITAMIN A in it! So even though I thought I was taking only 5,000 IU of A, I was actually taking about 9,000 IU of Vitamin A when all supplements were combined and added up.

I realized the headache was probably from upping my A dose to too much for me to handle. I lowered it...and the oily skin reappeared I decided after a while that I'd try to go higher with my A dose. So now I'm taking 10,000 IU of Vitamin A, and strangely... I tolerate it totally fine, no headaches, but also my oily skin/hair shedding/dandruff are still here. Dry skin patches are here too still.

So my question is -- is it possible that my body got used to that amount of Vitamin A and now I require more in order to experience the positive effects from it? I've been on about 10,000 IU of Vitamin A (retinol) for at least a week now and I'm not noticing the positive effects from before. So I'm considering upping it to 15,000 IU, but frankly, I really don't want to go beyond that if I don't have to. So many things you read about bad effects from Vitamin A, it makes me a bit nervous. But the early positive effects I noticed (minus headache) were really exciting to experience. It cleared up the excessive oiliness and hair shedding for about two weeks initially before I backed down off of the Vitamin A initially.

 

[Tarmander]

Vitamin A can be tricky because of its ability to lower metabolism from its polyunsaturated nature. I have found you really have to pay attention to get the right dose and sometimes that changes daily. More is definitely not the answer necessarily. I would say if you have a dose you can tolerate and it's 10k iu I'd stick with it for 6+ months before necessarily changing it up.

 

[churchmouth]

Also consider lessing/ avoiding vitamin A supplementation around the days you consume liver (very high in vitamin A). If you haven't been eating liver you might be surprised at the good it does you, as it is very rich in lots of vitamins.

 

[chispas]

Occam's razor would suggest that it was possibly just the combo of A and D that provided the benefit. Once you subtracted the D, you didn't obtain the same result (unless I've misunderstood your anecdote).

 

[EIRE24]

Vitamin A is a tricky one. Especially for me anyway. I have mild moderate acne and dry skin and eating liver or vitamin S supplementation never helped me. I do still like to eat liver in general though as I know it's a power house of nutrients.

 

[Bub]

Occam's razor would suggest that it was possibly just the combo of A and D that provided the benefit. Once you subtracted the D, you didn't obtain the same result (unless I've misunderstood your anecdote).

Yeah, misunderstanding - I didn't subtract the D. I just changed my D brand so it was something without Vitamin A in it. But I didn't change the amount of Vitamin D3 I was taking.

I thought I was taking 5,000 IU of Vitamin A, but due to my D3 also containing A, it was closer to 9,000 IU of A. So I lowered it back to 5,000 IU of A. I lost the positive benefits I had been seeing for several weeks (taking away oily skin and hair shedding). So I re-upped it to 9,000 IU, but the benefits didn't return And I seem to be able to handle 10,000 IU of Vit A just fine now (which I couldn't do before...so maybe my body simply got used to it?)

 

[Dave Clark]

Is it true that natural source vtiamin A is less problematic than supplemental form, which I supposse is synthetic? I often read that people who consume cod liver oil, or eat liver, etc. can handle high doses of vitamin A without problems (to a degree, I'm sure). In fact, is there a difference between vitamin A between these two sources, or are they chemically the same?

 

[Bub]

Dave - I'm not sure! THat's a good question.

 

[Ella]

Is it true that natural source vtiamin A is less problematic than supplemental form, which I supposse is synthetic? I often read that people who consume cod liver oil, or eat liver, etc. can handle high doses of vitamin A without problems (to a degree, I'm sure). In fact, is there a difference between vitamin A between these two sources, or are they chemically the same?

If vitamin A is coming from foods like liver, it comes complete with mineral and vitamin cofactors to make vit. A useable. If you are supplementing A you maybe already short on the mineral and vitamins.

 

[Constatine]

You could just be not absorbing it. If it is a gel in a pill try opening it up and mixing it with a fat like butter. Or just supplement with any fatty meal.

 

[ddjd]

what form of retinol is it, Acetate or Palmitate

 

[ddjd]

Little did I know, my Vitamin D pill ALSO HAD VITAMIN A

what product was this?

vitamin A in the form of retinol acetate stops my hair loss and dandruff and oily scalp etc. however retinol palmitate doesnt have this effect. check the first product didnt have acetate and not palmitate

 

[Constatine]

what product was this?

vitamin A in the form of retinol acetate stops my hair loss and dandruff and oily scalp etc. however retinol palmitate doesnt have this effect. check the first product didnt have acetate and not palmitate

I think vitamin A is a huge factor in stopping hair loss. Hair loss seems to be caused partially by improper androgen production in certain tissues such as the skin. Vitamin A is overall androgenic but is anti-androgenic in some tissues. That is it corrects improper androgenic signalling. Stress hormones such as estrogen promote improper androgenic signalling as it increases DHT activity in the skin by many fold (around 30 if I remember correctly).

 

[ddjd]

I think vitamin A is a huge factor in stopping hair loss. Hair loss seems to be caused partially by improper androgen production in certain tissues such as the skin. Vitamin A is overall androgenic but is anti-androgenic in some tissues. That is it corrects improper androgenic signalling. Stress hormones such as estrogen promote improper androgenic signalling as it increases DHT activity in the skin by many fold (around 30 if I remember correctly).

but seriously acetate or palmitate?

 

[Peatful]

but seriously acetate or palmitate?

Acetate

 

[ddjd]

Acetate

Yeah so exact same experience as me. And is the new vitamin A product that doesn't work just retinol palmitate?

I only just realised recently that acetate is so much more effective than palmitate. Acetate completely stops my hair loss whereas palmitate doesn't do anything.

 

[Syncopated]

Ray Peat took 40,000i.u. to 100,00i.u. daily sometimes. 10,000i.u. to 15,000i.u. should not be a concern.

 

[Steven Bussinger]

Ray Peat took 40,000i.u. to 100,00i.u. daily sometimes. 10,000i.u. to 15,000i.u. should not be a concern.

He did this with a very high metabolism, very physically active, eating thousands of calories a day.

 

[TreasureVibe]

Vitamin A could cause cancer...

 

[Watson350]

I take the Whole Foods 365 10k iu vitamin A and I notice if I take it two days in a row I get a headache, it's derived from cod oil and mya contain soy I think. But I'm not sure where I'm getting the other vitamin a that would make me feel as though I overdosed