Is Vitamin D induced serotonin syndrome possible? Please hear me out...

qminati

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Feb 4, 2021
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Last April 2020 I had a severe vitamin d deficiency at 11 ng/ml. A bad case of RLS popped up out of nowhere. The doctor prescribed me 50,000iu of vitamin D3 once a week. After a month of being suicidal with an intense level of RLS the vitamin d3 actually gave me relief. I was so happy but the next couple days the relief went away. I asked my doctor if I could take the vitamin d3 ever day, he said no reason why not. So I did. I wasn't only taking vitamin d, i was also talking sleep agents full of 5htp plus CBD and a bunch of other stuff I don't remember and on the 4th night i took a high dose of magnesium.

That night I had a full blown attack. The shakes, heart pumping out of my chest, crazy vomiting, crazy diarrhea, trouble breathing. The loudest tinnitus ever I felt like electricity was going through my brain. Crazy vertigo, i thought it was the last moments of my life. Long story short, the ER said I was fine and sent me home with Xanax. This attack came in waves for the next week at least, it would be a month before I would feel normal again. The doctors sent me to a psychologist which did nothing for me.

I started learning about serotonin syndrome after research and I fit almost every single symptom. So i started following the advice i read on here and it has been SUPER helpful. Around wintertime i started feeling a lot better. I ended up moving to Medellin, Colombia. In this location the sun is full of vitamin d because its close to the equator. At this point i decided i was done with supplements and ready to live a life of natural sun and exercise with natural grown food which is the only kind of food offered in Colombia.

So on my first day here, I was out in that beautiful sun all day in and out walking around. I felt great in the sun, but that night it was really hard to sleep, no big deal, kind of weird but ok. The next day I decide to sunbathe around noon. I was sweating and feeling great. That night, took some supplements to help me sleep through this unexpected insomnia, I fell asleep around 10pm. around 11pm my eyes POP open, WHOA... heart attack? this felt very similar to the first time it happened last year. I had a brick feeling in my stomach, throwing up, heart going crazy, tremors, yup, it was another full blown attack.

This time i was more scared. The only thing i did was be in the sun all day, that couldn't really be the cause could it? Sure enough i stayed out of the sun and started feeling better 5 days later. I still couldn't believe it was the sun, so i did research and learned about the sunlight in your eyes increasing serotonin, and vitamin d also can increase serotonin.

And this is where I'm confused, on here i read people who take vitamin d with no issues. When i tell you that i have tested this over and over to make sure its the vitamin d, i even took a vitamin 5000iu pill and sure enough, ANXIETY, SHAKES, you name it... I'm having a hard time getting the doctors to believe the sun is the cause of this, but i know for a fact that it is, because i still go out every now and then to see how i react. Initially it seems to make me feel better while I'm actually under the sun, its only hours later that the symptoms show up.

What am i missing? I know my issues are serotonin related because all the advice on this forum has worked wonders for me. So why is the sun causing this? Could it be a separate issue?

And btw i have never had any kind of anxiety in my life until that first attack. I have zero social anxiety, i love people, i love sunlight, i love life. Only time this happens is when i take supplements or certain foods, and now found out that the biggest culprit is the damn sun? On one morning I wasn't even in the sun, i just had the sunlight coming through the window into my eyes and started feeling crazy and i read that sunlight in the eyes also increases serotonin. Any comments and opinions would help me greatly as I feel like I may be the only person on earth with this situation :(
 

redsun

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Dec 17, 2018
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3,013
Last April 2020 I had a severe vitamin d deficiency at 11 ng/ml. A bad case of RLS popped up out of nowhere. The doctor prescribed me 50,000iu of vitamin D3 once a week. After a month of being suicidal with an intense level of RLS the vitamin d3 actually gave me relief. I was so happy but the next couple days the relief went away. I asked my doctor if I could take the vitamin d3 ever day, he said no reason why not. So I did. I wasn't only taking vitamin d, i was also talking sleep agents full of 5htp plus CBD and a bunch of other stuff I don't remember and on the 4th night i took a high dose of magnesium.

That night I had a full blown attack. The shakes, heart pumping out of my chest, crazy vomiting, crazy diarrhea, trouble breathing. The loudest tinnitus ever I felt like electricity was going through my brain. Crazy vertigo, i thought it was the last moments of my life. Long story short, the ER said I was fine and sent me home with Xanax. This attack came in waves for the next week at least, it would be a month before I would feel normal again. The doctors sent me to a psychologist which did nothing for me.

I started learning about serotonin syndrome after research and I fit almost every single symptom. So i started following the advice i read on here and it has been SUPER helpful. Around wintertime i started feeling a lot better. I ended up moving to Medellin, Colombia. In this location the sun is full of vitamin d because its close to the equator. At this point i decided i was done with supplements and ready to live a life of natural sun and exercise with natural grown food which is the only kind of food offered in Colombia.

So on my first day here, I was out in that beautiful sun all day in and out walking around. I felt great in the sun, but that night it was really hard to sleep, no big deal, kind of weird but ok. The next day I decide to sunbathe around noon. I was sweating and feeling great. That night, took some supplements to help me sleep through this unexpected insomnia, I fell asleep around 10pm. around 11pm my eyes POP open, WHOA... heart attack? this felt very similar to the first time it happened last year. I had a brick feeling in my stomach, throwing up, heart going crazy, tremors, yup, it was another full blown attack.

This time i was more scared. The only thing i did was be in the sun all day, that couldn't really be the cause could it? Sure enough i stayed out of the sun and started feeling better 5 days later. I still couldn't believe it was the sun, so i did research and learned about the sunlight in your eyes increasing serotonin, and vitamin d also can increase serotonin.

And this is where I'm confused, on here i read people who take vitamin d with no issues. When i tell you that i have tested this over and over to make sure its the vitamin d, i even took a vitamin 5000iu pill and sure enough, ANXIETY, SHAKES, you name it... I'm having a hard time getting the doctors to believe the sun is the cause of this, but i know for a fact that it is, because i still go out every now and then to see how i react. Initially it seems to make me feel better while I'm actually under the sun, its only hours later that the symptoms show up.

What am i missing? I know my issues are serotonin related because all the advice on this forum has worked wonders for me. So why is the sun causing this? Could it be a separate issue?

And btw i have never had any kind of anxiety in my life until that first attack. I have zero social anxiety, i love people, i love sunlight, i love life. Only time this happens is when i take supplements or certain foods, and now found out that the biggest culprit is the damn sun? On one morning I wasn't even in the sun, i just had the sunlight coming through the window into my eyes and started feeling crazy and i read that sunlight in the eyes also increases serotonin. Any comments and opinions would help me greatly as I feel like I may be the only person on earth with this situation :(

I believe folate, B2, and vitamin A can be depleted by sunlight. Overall sunlight does increase oxidative damage on the skin so its best to moderate how much you get. It stimulates tyrosine hydroxylase as well. You need light for good dopamine function.

I think what is happening is you took way too much vitamin D and perhaps you have hypercalcemia (though I dont think many of your symptoms match) or you depleted other nutrients such as vitamin A, magnesium.

Try taking a combination of vitamin A/zinc, B-complex/Magnesium to counteract it.
 
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qminati

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I believe folate, B2, and vitamin A can be depleted by sunlight. Overall sunlight does increase oxidative damage on the skin so its best to moderate how much you get. It stimulates tyrosine hydroxylase as well. You need light for good dopamine function.

I think what is happening is you took way too much vitamin D and perhaps you have hypercalcemia (though I dont think many of your symptoms match) or you depleted other nutrients such as vitamin A, magnesium.

Try taking a combination of vitamin A/zinc, B-complex/Magnesium to counteract it.
Thanks for the reply, i should also mention that I got great healthcare in colombia and did all kinds of testing that all come back saying i am the most healthy man on earth. So all my levels are pretty good, my D is at a 67 now. My calcium has always been moderate. I thought for a while it was hypercalcemia but my serum and intracellular levels are both moderate. The more testing i get done, the more rare my symptoms feel. The night i went to the ER i thought it was hypercalcemia but my levels were good then and they are good now. I would even be happy if i could at least get a doctor to believe me to help figure it out. I found good things to counteract it from the forum which i am so grateful for. I just cant get over the fact that the sun is doing this and it feels like i may be the only person on earth with this specific condition, the thought of never being able to go in the sun again saddens me.
 

CreakyJoints

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Mar 30, 2020
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304
I've been hospitalised for serotonin syndrome before. If that was indeed your issue, I'm really sorry you had to deal with that.

I am curious as to why you repeatedly took 5HTP - it does not seem very intuitive to me to supplement a serotonin precursor if you are worried about excess serotonin, but maybe I'm missing something here? I apologise if your reasoning is obvious and I'm just not aware of something very basic about it.
 

Perry Staltic

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50,000 IU per day is too much. But even at 10,000 per day you need vitamin K2 and magnesium.

Edit: I responded before reading your full post. Now I see you don't supplement.
 
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qminati

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50,000 IU per day is too much. But even at 10,000 per day you need vitamin K2 and magnesium.
i learned that way too late, thats what i get for trusting my doctor i suppose. I did add the k2 and magnesium on the fourth day after reading about it, and thats when my attack happened. Now even 1000iu gives me anxiety. I fear i did some serious damage.
 
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qminati

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They said 50,000 IU once a week
yes, then i asked my doctor if i could take it daily because it hleped my RLS so well. He said sure i dont see a reason why not. He is the doctor who sent me to a psychiatrist after my attack and stopped replying to my messages
 

tankasnowgod

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Last April 2020 I had a severe vitamin d deficiency at 11 ng/ml. A bad case of RLS popped up out of nowhere. The doctor prescribed me 50,000iu of vitamin D3 once a week. After a month of being suicidal with an intense level of RLS the vitamin d3 actually gave me relief. I was so happy but the next couple days the relief went away. I asked my doctor if I could take the vitamin d3 ever day, he said no reason why not. So I did. I wasn't only taking vitamin d, i was also talking sleep agents full of 5htp plus CBD and a bunch of other stuff I don't remember and on the 4th night i took a high dose of magnesium.
The 5HTP would be a more likely culprit. It's a serotonin precursor.

So on my first day here, I was out in that beautiful sun all day in and out walking around. I felt great in the sun, but that night it was really hard to sleep, no big deal, kind of weird but ok. The next day I decide to sunbathe around noon. I was sweating and feeling great. That night, took some supplements to help me sleep through this unexpected insomnia, I fell asleep around 10pm. around 11pm my eyes POP open, WHOA... heart attack? this felt very similar to the first time it happened last year. I had a brick feeling in my stomach, throwing up, heart going crazy, tremors, yup, it was another full blown attack.

Were they the same 5HTP supplements?
 

Perry Staltic

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i learned that way too late, thats what i get for trusting my doctor i suppose. I did add the k2 and magnesium on the fourth day after reading about it, and thats when my attack happened. Now even 1000iu gives me anxiety. I fear i did some serious damage.

How many weeks did you do 50K, and then how many days did you do 50K?
 
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qminati

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Yes, i took the same 5htp supplement as the first time like an idiot, its called sleep fairy. Thing is, i take it all the time and it never caused SS on its own, only when im out in the sun
 
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qminati

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I did the first week just 50,000, then the second week when i finall spoke to my doctor, i did 50,000iu 4 days in a row
 
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qminati

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The 5HTP would be a more likely culprit. It's a serotonin precursor.



Were they the same 5HTP supplements?
Yes, i took the same 5htp supplement as the first time like an idiot, its called sleep fairy. Thing is, i take it all the time and it never caused SS on its own, only when im out in the sun or taking vitamin d. I actually still use the sleep supplement cuz it works really well, but no SS unless i go in the sun or take vitamin d
 

lampofred

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It could be vitamin A deficiency. RP wrote that sunlight rapidly depletes vit A, and vit D antagonizes vit A.
 
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qminati

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It could be vitamin A deficiency. RP wrote that sunlight rapidly depletes vit A, and vit D antagonizes vit A.
I definitely have a vitamin A deficiency, intracellular for sure. How does the deficiency play in?? How is it related to the symptoms? Thanks in advance
 

CreakyJoints

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Yes, i took the same 5htp supplement as the first time like an idiot, its called sleep fairy. Thing is, i take it all the time and it never caused SS on its own, only when im out in the sun or taking vitamin d. I actually still use the sleep supplement cuz it works really well, but no SS unless i go in the sun or take vitamin d

I am sorry to say I can't with any certainty comment on the vitamin D aspect, because I find vitamin D a bit confusing still; but it seems truly bizarre to me that someone would persist in taking a serotonin precursor when the concern is too much serotonin, surely that's asking for trouble. I think it might be prudent to stop that at least - especially if you've relied on it for a while. It's very unfortunate that you resolved to stop taking supplements and then immediately felt the need to take them again, I hope things work out for you.
 

Perry Staltic

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50k first week, then the next week when i spoke to my doctor, i started 50k every day

So 250k + 50 * don't know how many days. They give people vitamin D shots of 300k and more at one time and it lasts for 2-3 months. Toxicity is reached when blood level is 150 ng/ml. Yours is really good now @67, but that doesn't measure vit D stored in fat. So depending on how much fat you have it may take a while to get rid of that. The point is you may have a larger load than indicated by 67 ng/ml.
 

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