Anyway, long story short - EKG, chest X-Rays, and blood tests, all seemed normal, as did my vital signs, (except for my blood pressure, of course), and no paralysis was evident, so they sent me home, and told me to call my GP on Monday. The symptoms are still going on, though they are not as bad as they were at the peak. The doc officially called it a TIA, since it improved on it's own, and he prescribed no treatment. Outside of feeling a little dizzy, and generally cruddy, I reckon I'm OK, for the moment.
The ER doc was surprised that my symptoms were somewhat consistent with a stroke, but there was no evidence of muscle weakness, (or paralysis), 2 hours after the onset of symptoms. His opinion that it was a TIA, was a default diagnosis, but I could tell that he wasn't happy with it. (IOW, there's always a chance that it might have been, so naturally we have to err on the side of caution, but I sensed that he felt that something else was going on. I've been home a few hours now, and had a chance to think about this a bit.
I've noticed that during the past week or two, I have experienced somewhat frequent periods of not really dizziness, so much as a feeling of light-headedness (and balance issues, at times). (Does that ring a bell)? Also, my blood pressure seems to be increasing. The diastolic level used to be around 115 to 120, but lately it's been consistently over 120, and often 140 or more, (at the doctor's office). This morning, in the ER, the alarm on the BP monitoring equipment was enough to drive someone crazy, because it went off, every time the dang thing measured my pressure. I assume that it was set at 160, because my pressure was pretty consistent around 165. After a couple of hours, it finally settled down to 157, so the dang alarm quit going off. One other thing that was especially noticeable this morning - as soon as I headed for the ER, my mouth, (and later my throat), became really dry. I was wishing that I had brought some water along, and I couldn't figure out why I was so thirsty. My kidneys seemed to be hyperactive while I was in the ER. Not only was the frequency way up, but so was the volume. I probably wouldn't have noticed the volume, except that they gave me a urinal, (bottle), to use, and I filled it up in about an hour and a half, (more or less), which really surprised me, since I hadn't had anything to drink since I had gone to bed the night before, and I had emptied my bladder before I left to go to the ER.
Okay - consider that I live in Central Texas, where sunshine is almost always plentiful, and it's especially prevalent this year, since we're having a bad drought. We've had an unusually high accumulation of "growing degree days" this year, due to the reduction in the number and density of clouds. Soooooo, I'm probably getting more than enough vitamin D, from sun exposure alone. I've been taking 4,000 IU of vitamin D3, daily, for about 6 or 7 months, now, I believe. I have a number of the symptoms that the Mayo Clinic lists for vitamin D overdose, (including itching skin):
I have quite a few of those symptoms, though certainly not all of them. For example, I don't seem to have any pain, (I'm not sure if stomach pain is a "required" symptom for vitamin D overdose). I feel tired, and very weak, in particular.Late symptoms of severe overdose (emerge after months or years of starting supplements)
High blood pressure
High fever
Irregular heartbeat
Stomach pain (severe)
Check with your doctor as soon as possible if any of the following side effects occur:
Early symptoms of overdose (emerge within days or weeks of starting vitamin D supplements)
Bone pain
Constipation (especially in children or adolescents)
Diarrhea
Drowsiness
Dryness of mouth
Headache (continuing)
Increased thirst
Increase in frequency of urination, especially at night, or in amount of urine
Irregular heartbeat
Itching skin
Loss of appetite
Metallic taste
Muscle pain
Nausea or vomiting (especially in children or adolescents)
Unusual tiredness or weakness
Late symptoms of overdose (emerge within weeks or months of starting supplements)
Bone pain
Calcium deposits (hard lumps) in tissues outside of the bone
Cloudy urine
Drowsiness
Increased sensitivity of eyes to light or irritation of eyes
Itching of skin
Loss of appetite
Loss of sex drive
Mood or mental changes
Muscle pain
Nausea or vomiting
Protein in the urine
Redness or discharge of the eye, eyelid, or lining of the eyelid
Runny nose
Weight loss
I found the following information in a blog, and I consider it to be very interesting, (the blog was written in December, 2008, so it's a fairly recent blog.)
This information is from:The problem with milk fortification is that not only is there a wide range of sensitivity to vitamin D, there is also a wide range of intake. In my opinion, this data suggests that sensitive individuals develop vitamin D side effects from daily use of 1000 to 2000 IU of vitamin D. For example, my son drinks an average of 2 to 3 quarts of milk every day. This means he gets between 800 and 1200 IU of vitamin D from milk and then probably averages over the course of the year another 400 IU/day from sun exposure. The babies in Britain showing up with vitamin D side effect were probably getting plenty of sunshine and drinking plenty of fortified milk. My sense that 1000 to 2000 IU regularly causing side effects was reinforced by a thorough internet search for advice on vitamin D supplement programs from clinicians who help clients put together supplement programs. I found several clinician reports of 2000 IU/day doses leading to problems after months of use.
If you’ve been reading my column, and reading the information at the Vitamin D Council website, you’ll know that 1000 to 2000 IU/day is often not enough. So, the hard facts are that there is no known dose of vitamin D that provides everyone with full benefits without causing anyone side effects.
http://www.cforyourself.com/Blog/2008/1 ... fects.html
The symptoms are still present, which makes it a little inconvenient to do some things. For example, eating is like trying to chew food, when half your mouth is still about half-deadened, from a shot of novacaine. Nothing tastes very good, either, so I guess my tongue is partially numb. (Move over Barbara, 'cause I seem to have joined your club). I wasn't able to eat much for lunch, but that's probably a good thing, because I need to lose some weight, anyway. LOL. It's a little tricky typing with partially-numb fingers, too. I'm just glad they're still working as well as they are.
Does anyone have any thoughts on any of this?
Love,
Tex
P. S. Yes, I've stopped taking vitamin D supplements, until I can get a handle on what's going on.
P. P. S. I notice that the list of possible symptoms provided by the Mayo Clinic does not include numbness, nor certain other peripheral neurological effects, so here are some additional symptoms:
Certain nerve symptoms that could be included are particular sensations, pain, reflex issues, numbness, temperature sensitivity, taste symptoms, paresthesias (sensations such as tingling, burning, pins-and-needles, and prickling), hearing impairment, and some others.
From this site:
http://www.helium.com/items/1379631-vitamin-d-overdose
