How much Vit D can I safely take being sick with the flu? Need help!

[Jen78fl]

Hi all. Well I am really miserable with the flu and now I have a cough that is constant and wont stop. I took extra vitamin d last night (6800 IU) and it helped but today I have taken almost 10,000 IU and I still have this constant cough. Its driving me insane and I am just sore everywhere. I have stopped bf'ng for now so I am trying to figure out how much VItamin D I can take without side effects. I really appreciate any advice. I am pretty desperate here! Thanks

Jen

[Violet2]

I take up to 20,000 IUs when actively sick and just 5,000 IUs when healthy.

Here's more info on how to use vitamin D as flu medicine.

Don't forget some zinc which boosts the immune system and C which blocks germs from penetrating cells.

Hope you feel better!
V

[sbgrace]

I took 20,000 IU too for three days and I knew my levels of D are high normal. You can likely do more than that really. You just wouldn't do it long term. D overdoses are long term and they are 10,000 IU per day every day over a long term. Short very high doses won't cause issues. And you can stack 9,000 IU per day into one dose a week without any fear of overdose. In fact, they often give deficient people 50,000 to 60,000 IU at once (once per week). That would be fine for you too but I wouldn't do that more than once w/out knowing my D status. You can take a lot more than you did though. You could take 9,000 IU per day routinely without an issue (statistically, no known overdose at that level/is the correct upper tolerable intake).

[Jen78fl]

Thanks for the info! I have taken 19,000 now so I will probably stick with that for now.. hopefullly it will help me start to get over this..

BTW, I am not breastfeeding right now but still do normally 2 to 3 times a day. DD is 20 months so I will probably wean her soon anyway.. Just curious though, after taking these high doses how long should I wait before breastfeeding again?

Thanks again everyone

Jen

[mbravebird]

Keep in mind that with high doses of D, you'll need high doses of A, because D uses A as the body processes it. There have been cases of people getting vitamin A deficiency symptoms from taking large amount of D. Just a heads up!! Eat some liver with your D.

[sbgrace]

You don't need to wait to breastfeed her. She won't overdose from your milk.

[Jen78fl]

thanks everyone

well i am still taking the extra vit D. I am not sure if its helping or not. I used an albuterol nebulizer last night and that seemed to help a little. I really just want this to go away already. I have been sick almost a full week now

[Violet2]

It is possible to get sick to the point of 'no return' ime. I find the supplements work best when I start them the second I feel sick. Last week I woke up at 3am with a sore throat that had swollen to where I thought I would need to go to the ER for a shot (Have had this happen once before)--I immediately upped my vitamins and was better the next day.

You may be too far into the illness to change the course of the bug you have BUT D has been shown to prevent respiratory complications from illness. So there may still be merit.

@Mbravebird: Thanks for the tip on vitamin A--I did not know that!

ETA: RE: Bfing, since they want us to supplement infants with D, I doubt that bfing would be an issue.

V

[SuburbanHippie]

I take 50,000 IUs for 3 days when I feel a cold/flu coming on. I haven't had a "cold" last more than 1 day since I started and I've yet to have the flu once.