Too much vitamin D can lead to toxicity, also known as vitamin D hypervitaminosis. The popularity of vitamin D supplementation has increased in recent years. Since supplements often contain concentrated doses of a vitamin, they could cause your vitamin D levels to become too high over time—especially if you don’t have a deficiency.
Vitamin D is available from the sun and a few food sources. Many people also get their vitamin D through supplementation.
It is possible to get too much vitamin D over time. It’s a fat-soluble vitamin that builds up in your system. In comparison, water-soluble vitamins are excreted through urine when too much is taken. When vitamin D buildup occurs, it can lead to toxicity.
Below are the upper limits of vitamin D intake. Taking less than these amounts, unless prescribed by a healthcare provider, can help prevent toxicity.
Age
Upper Limit
Infants 0 – 6 months
25 micrograms (mcg) or 1,000 international units (IU)
Infants 7 – 12 months
38 mcg or 1,500 IU
Kids 1 – 3 years
63 mcg or 2,500 IU
Kids 4 – 8 years
75 mcg or 3,000 IU
Kids 9 – 18 years
100 mcg or 4,000 IU
Adults 19 and older
100 mcg or 4,000 IU
Pregnant/breastfeeding people
100 mcg or 4,000 IU
If you consistently take too much vitamin D, you can develop signs of toxicity, such as:
- Nausea and vomiting
- Constipation
- Poor appetite
- Weakness
- Weight loss
- Confusion
- Disorientation
- Frequent urination
- Unsteady gait
- Dehydration
Although rare, vitamin D toxicity can also lead to a buildup of calcium, or hypercalcemia. This may occur when taking very high doses of vitamin D supplements. Hypercalcemia can lead to serious issues like kidney failure and abnormal heart rhythms. Symptoms of hypercalcemia may take weeks or months to appear.
About half of all people in the U.S. are not getting enough vitamin D, but this doesn’t necessarily mean you need to start taking a supplement. Instead, have your healthcare provider do a blood test to check your levels.
From there, your provider can advise you on how much vitamin D to take. Ideally, you will get your vitamin D from a mix of the sun, foods that contain vitamin D (like fatty fish, beef liver, fortified milks and juices, and egg yolks), and, if needed, supplements.
Here are the recommended daily intakes of vitamin D:
Age
Recommended Amount
0 to 12 months
10 mcg (400 IU)
Kids 1 – 13 years
15 mcg (600 IU)
Teens 14 – 18 years
15 mcg (600 IU)
Adults 19 – 70 years
15 mcg (600 IU)
Adults 71 and older
20 mcg (800 IU)
Pregnant/breastfeeding people
15 mcg (600 IU)
Health.com uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Asif A, Farooq N. Vitamin D toxicity. In: StatPearls. StatPearls Publishing; 2023.
Khan S, Tariq MW, Akhtar M, Raza MTS, Manzoor M. The dark side of the sunshine vitamin: A case of acute renal failure and hypercalcaemia from vitamin D overconsumption. Cureus. 2024;16(9):e70237. doi:10.7759/cureus.70237
National Institutes of Health: Office of Dietary Supplements. Vitamin D.
Sadiq NM, Anastasopoulou C, Patel G, et al. Hypercalcemia. In: StatPearls. StatPearls Publishing; 2025.
Cui A, Xiao P, Ma Y, et al. Prevalence, trend, and predictor analyses of vitamin D deficiency in the US population, 2001-2018. Front Nutr. 2022;9:965376. doi:10.3389/fnut.2022.965376
MedlinePlus. Vitamin D test.
