Vitamin toxicity

Just a word to please keep in mind (had to go back and remove the work "brief" lol)......As I read through the posts and conversations here, I realize how many of us don't have the benefit of a good medical professional guiding us through this twisted gnarled path we find our selves on. We are forced to be our own advocate in the search to find the map that works best with our individual paths.
I'm sure in the Fibro 101 page it probably addresses this but as I haven't yet gotten through all that fabulous, wonderful stuff to help me make my own map (are you winded yet from that run-on sentence?) I feel compelled to mention it here and now. ( BTW I am thankful and extremely appreciative to Sherrine for your all your great info, your positive support and constant encouragement to anyone who needs it)
Since we often need/want/experiment/take a much higher dose of vitamins than what the RDA suggest, I would like to stress the importance in knowing your vitamins solubility! Vitamins are classified as either fat soluble (vitamins A, D, E and K) or water soluble (vitamins B and C). This difference between the two groups is very important. It determines how each vitamin acts within the body.
Fat soluble vitamins, once they have been stored in tissues in the body, tend to remain there. This means that if a person takes in too much of a fat soluble vitamin, over time they can have too much of that vitamin present in their body, a potentially dangerous condition called hypervitaminosis (literally, too much vitamin in the body).
Water soluble vitamins are not stored in your tissues, your body uses what it needs and the excess is excreted out of the body through the kidneys. Of course there isn't such thing as "never and always" in the medicine, so there are some exceptions (like vit E), but that's it in a nut shell.

I know this is a long post and I probably lost half of you several turns ago but just please be careful when self-medicating (a necessary evil for all of us) with any herbal and vitamin supplement. Do your homework! Just bc it can be found in abundance doesn't mean we should take it in abundance.

**could't have said it better and more simply.....portions of this were taken from MedinineNet.com (http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=10736)

Hi, FinkleMay, and welcome! Yes, you do need to realize too much of a good thing can cause problems. The same holds true with herbals. These can interact with medications so this is why I always say to pass anything new you want to try by your doctor. I do this and then I know it is safe for me. My doctor has a list of my supplements and the doses I take daily...along with my medication list.

Many with Fibro don't seem to absorb things as well. I also have Crohn's disease so I definitely have a problem. I live in sunny Florida but yet was very low in vitamin D3. I now take 5,500 IU a day of vitamin D3 and have gotten my levels up in a good range. They have remained in this range for several years even though this is a higher dose than normal. This also shows me that vitamins can help us!

The supplements that I take have helped me a lot. Because vitamins are not regulated, I buy products that I feel are of good quality and I have seen good results. I take krill oil and have had help with that too but I spent two weeks researching which company I was going to buy them from. It's important to do your homework and talk to your doctor before putting things in your body.

Thank you so much for the compliments. I really appreciate it. I'm also glad you are working your way through Fibro 101. There is a lot of good information there.

I'm looking forward to getting to know you better. Don't hesitate to ask questions because we are here to help you. Hope to hear more from you soon.

Sherrine