Vitamin D Toxicity: How Overdose Happens, the Symptoms and the Blood Test That Shows It

The patient in the case report had done everything by the book she had found online. Two bottles of high-strength drops, a photo of a “protocol” screenshotted from a wellness influencer, and three months of feeling, as she put it, like a flu that never broke. Her bloodwork told a different story from the one she had been sold: vitamin D far above the measurable range and calcium high enough to strain her kidneys.

Stories like hers are why vitamin D toxicity is trending as of September 2026. High-dose “mega protocols” promising immune superpowers and faster weight loss keep circulating on short-video platforms, while poison-control reports and hospital case series describing people who followed them have been stacking up in medical journals. At the same time, major guidance bodies have quietly moved away from routine blood testing and routine high dosing in healthy adults, leaving a confusing gap between what the feed says and what the evidence shows.

This explainer closes that gap: how an overdose actually happens, what it feels like, and which blood test gives you a straight answer.

What changed recently: why vitamin D toxicity is in the news

Three things have converged. The first is social media. Short videos recommending vitamin D amounts many times above the tolerable upper intake level, often framed as a hack for immunity, mood or fat loss, have been widely shared, and viewers tend to copy the number without the context. The tolerable upper intake level is the highest daily amount a nutrition authority considers unlikely to cause harm in almost everyone; the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements publishes it in its vitamin D fact sheet, which was most recently revised in July 2024.

The second is a shift in formal guidance. In 2024 the Endocrine Society, the largest professional body for hormone specialists, published a clinical practice guideline that recommends against routine 25-hydroxyvitamin D testing in healthy adults and against supplementing above standard dietary reference intakes for most people. That is a notable change in emphasis from the testing-heavy decade that preceded it, and it rests largely on large randomized trials that found no broad benefit from extra vitamin D in people who were not deficient.

The third is the steady drip of published case reports. MedlinePlus, Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic all now carry dedicated patient pages on hypervitaminosis D, which is a reasonable signal that clinicians are seeing it often enough to want plain-language material to hand out. The reported cases share a pattern: a supplement taken at a far higher amount than intended, for months, often with a manufacturing or labelling error layered on top.

None of this means vitamin D is dangerous at ordinary intakes. It means the margin between a sensible supplement and an unsafe one is being blurred online, and the consequences are measurable in a blood test.

What is vitamin D toxicity (hypervitaminosis D), and how rare is it?

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin, meaning it dissolves in fat rather than water and is stored in body fat and the liver instead of being flushed out in urine. That storage is useful in winter. It is also the reason an excess cannot simply be peed away.

Hypervitaminosis D is the medical name for having so much vitamin D in the body that it causes harm. The harm comes almost entirely through calcium. Vitamin D’s main job is to increase absorption of calcium from the gut; push the vitamin high enough and calcium absorption climbs with it, while bone also releases calcium into the blood. The resulting high blood calcium, called hypercalcemia, is what produces the symptoms, the kidney damage and, in extreme cases, the heart rhythm problems.

How common is it? Genuinely uncommon. Population surveys from the NIH suggest that only a small fraction of American adults reach blood levels associated with possible harm, and frank toxicity with high calcium is rarer still. Almost every documented case traces to supplements rather than diet, which is why clinicians frame it as a preventable problem.

Rarity is not the same as triviality. Reported cases include acute kidney injury, kidney stones, calcium deposits in blood vessels and, in infants given concentrated drops at the wrong amount, hospitalization. The time course matters too: because the vitamin is stored, symptoms typically build over weeks to months and can persist for weeks after the supplement is stopped.

Think of it as a slow-filling bathtub with a small drain. For most people the tap runs at a trickle and the tub never overflows. Toxicity happens when someone opens the tap wide and leaves it running.

How vitamin D overdose happens: the four routes

Cases in the medical literature cluster into four patterns, and recognizing them is the most practical form of prevention.

Deliberate megadosing. The commonest modern route is a person taking an amount far above the tolerable upper intake level on purpose, usually following online advice, for months. The individual capsules may each be legal and labelled correctly; the problem is the arithmetic of stacking them daily.

Frequency mix-ups. Clinicians sometimes prescribe high-strength vitamin D intended to be taken once a week or once a month to correct a confirmed deficiency. If that product is taken daily, the intake multiplies seven- to thirty-fold. Mayo Clinic specifically flags this kind of dosing error as a cause of toxicity.

Manufacturing and labelling errors. Dietary supplements are not reviewed for accuracy before sale the way medicines are. Published case series have described products containing many times the labelled amount, and liquid drops where the dropper markings did not match the instructions. Concentrated infant drops are a recurring example; a few extra drops can be a large relative excess for a small body.

Hidden sources adding up. Vitamin D now appears in multivitamins, calcium tablets, bone-health blends, fortified protein powders and some fish oils. Each contributes a modest amount; together with a stand-alone supplement, the total can quietly exceed what anyone intended.

A fifth, medical, route exists but is not an overdose in the usual sense: certain conditions such as sarcoidosis, some lymphomas and rare genetic disorders make the body unusually sensitive to even normal vitamin D intake. People with those conditions are managed individually by their specialist.

Why you cannot overdose from sunshine or food

This is the point readers most often get wrong, so it deserves its own space. Sun exposure, however long, does not cause vitamin D toxicity. Ultraviolet B light converts a cholesterol-like compound in skin into previtamin D, but the same light also breaks down previtamin D and vitamin D into inactive by-products once a threshold is reached. The skin has, in effect, a built-in governor. Prolonged sun does raise the risk of skin cancer, which is a separate and well-documented reason to be sensible about it, but it will not push vitamin D into the toxic range.

Food is similarly self-limiting. The richest natural sources are oily fish such as salmon and sardines, egg yolks and liver, and the fortified sources are milk, some plant milks, breakfast cereals and orange juice. Even an enthusiastic diet built around these foods supplies an amount comfortably within the recommended range. The NHS and the NIH both state plainly that dietary vitamin D does not cause toxicity in practice.

Why does this matter? Because the message “vitamin D can be dangerous” sometimes gets flattened online into “avoid vitamin D”, and that is the wrong lesson. Deficiency remains far more common than excess, particularly in people with darker skin, those who cover up or spend little time outdoors, older adults, and anyone with conditions that impair fat absorption. The NHS, for example, advises that everyone in the UK consider a modest daily supplement through autumn and winter precisely because sunlight is scarce.

The practical takeaway is narrow and specific: the risk lives in the supplement bottle and in the dose, not in the salmon or the sunshine.

How much vitamin D is too much?

The honest answer has two layers: the amount you take and the level in your blood.

On intake, nutrition authorities set a tolerable upper intake level, the daily ceiling considered safe for nearly all adults when taken long term. It is substantially higher than the recommended daily allowance, which gives a cushion for fortified foods and ordinary supplements, but it is not a target. The NIH fact sheet lists the exact figures by age group; your prescribing clinician or pharmacist can tell you where your current products fall relative to it. We deliberately avoid printing dose numbers here, because an isolated figure travels badly without the context of your age, your diagnosis and your other supplements.

The caveat that matters most: the upper level is a long-term safety boundary for healthy people. Clinicians do sometimes prescribe amounts above it for a defined period to correct a documented deficiency, with monitoring. That is a supervised medical decision, not evidence that higher is better for everyone.

On blood levels, the picture is clearer. The standard measure is 25-hydroxyvitamin D, usually written 25(OH)D, the storage form of the vitamin that circulates in blood and reflects both sun and supplement intake over the preceding weeks. The NIH describes levels above roughly 150 ng/mL (375 nmol/L) as the range where toxicity with high calcium is generally seen, and notes that observational data link levels above about 50 ng/mL (125 nmol/L) to possible adverse effects even without overt toxicity.

Put together: the dose that is “too much” is the one that, for your body, pushes 25(OH)D toward those upper ranges. Only a blood test can tell you whether that is happening.

Vitamin D overdose symptoms: what high calcium feels like

Because the harm runs through calcium, the symptoms are the symptoms of hypercalcemia, and they are notoriously vague at first. Many people in published cases spent weeks attributing them to stress, a virus or the supplement “detoxing” them.

The digestive system usually speaks first. Loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting and constipation are the commonest early complaints, sometimes with unexplained weight loss and a metallic taste. High calcium also makes the kidneys pull more water into urine, so excessive thirst and frequent urination follow, and dehydration compounds the problem.

Then come the whole-body effects: fatigue that sleep does not fix, muscle weakness, bone pain and headache. In the nervous system, calcium excess produces irritability, low mood, difficulty concentrating and, at higher levels, confusion or drowsiness. Older adults are especially prone to this and may be mistaken for having a dementia flare.

The kidneys bear the long-term brunt. Calcium can crystallize into kidney stones, causing severe flank pain, and sustained hypercalcemia can injure kidney tissue, sometimes permanently. Calcium may also deposit in blood vessels and soft tissues. At the far end of the spectrum, very high calcium disturbs the heart’s electrical rhythm, which is why severe cases are treated in hospital with cardiac monitoring.

Two features distinguish a vitamin D cause from the many other reasons for feeling unwell. First, timing: symptoms build gradually over weeks to months of high intake rather than overnight. Second, they do not fade quickly when the supplement is stopped, because body stores keep releasing the vitamin. Anyone who has been taking high-dose products and recognizes this cluster should not wait for it to pass on its own.

The vitamin D toxicity blood test: what gets measured

Diagnosis is not guesswork. Two laboratory values, sometimes supported by a third, settle the question.

25-hydroxyvitamin D. This is the test clinicians order for both deficiency and excess, because it reflects total body stores over the preceding several weeks. In toxicity it is markedly elevated, frequently beyond the laboratory’s reportable range. A single very high reading in someone taking large supplements is strongly suggestive, though the diagnosis is only confirmed when calcium is also high.

Serum calcium. Total calcium is the standard measure; some laboratories also report ionized calcium, the biologically active fraction, which is more precise if blood proteins are abnormal. High calcium plus high 25(OH)D is the defining pair. A very high vitamin D level with normal calcium is a warning sign rather than toxicity, and is usually handled by adjusting intake and rechecking.

Supporting tests. Kidney function (creatinine), phosphate and parathyroid hormone round out the picture. Parathyroid hormone is typically suppressed in vitamin D toxicity, which helps distinguish it from an overactive parathyroid gland, the most common other cause of high calcium. Clinicians may add a urine calcium measurement and, if kidney stones are suspected, imaging.

A practical note on timing: because 25(OH)D has a half-life of roughly two weeks in blood but is replenished from fat stores, a repeat test a few weeks after stopping a supplement often shows only a modest fall. That is expected, not a sign the test was wrong. Clinicians generally recheck at intervals until both calcium and vitamin D settle into the normal range.

The blood test is also where the 2024 guideline shift becomes relevant: routine testing in healthy adults is no longer recommended, but testing in anyone with symptoms after high-dose supplementation remains clearly appropriate.

Reading the results: 25(OH)D ranges at a glance

Laboratories report 25(OH)D in either nanograms per milliliter (ng/mL) or nanomoles per liter (nmol/L); multiply ng/mL by 2.5 to convert. The thresholds below follow the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements and are the ones most US clinicians use. They are population guidance, not personal targets, and your clinician interprets them in the light of your history.

25(OH)D level	NIH interpretation	What it usually means in practice
Below 12 ng/mL (30 nmol/L)	Deficiency	Risk of rickets in children and osteomalacia (soft bones) in adults; supplementation is typically advised
12 to under 20 ng/mL (30 to under 50 nmol/L)	Inadequate for bone health in some people	Often addressed with diet, sensible sun and a standard supplement
20 ng/mL (50 nmol/L) and above	Adequate for bone and overall health in most people	No evidence that pushing higher adds benefit for healthy adults
Above 50 ng/mL (125 nmol/L)	Potential adverse effects, especially long term	Observational data link this range to some harms; intake is usually reviewed
Above roughly 150 ng/mL (375 nmol/L)	Range associated with toxicity	High calcium is typically present; this is a medical problem requiring treatment

Two cautions. First, many commercial “optimal” ranges promoted online sit well above the adequacy threshold and have no support from randomized trials. Second, the top band is not a cliff edge: harm is a gradient, and people with sarcoidosis or kidney disease can develop high calcium at considerably lower vitamin D levels. The number tells you where you are; your clinician tells you what it means for you.

What the evidence actually says, and how strong it is

It helps to sort the evidence by type, because the strength varies sharply.

Randomized trials: strong for “no extra benefit”, limited for toxicity. Large placebo-controlled trials, including the VITAL trial of more than 25,000 US adults, found that moderate daily vitamin D did not reduce cancer or cardiovascular events in people who were not deficient. These trials used amounts within safe limits and recorded few adverse effects, which is reassuring about ordinary supplements. They were not designed to test megadoses, so they say little about toxicity directly.

Randomized trials of intermittent high doses: moderate, and cautionary. An Australian trial in older women given a single large annual dose reported more falls and fractures than placebo, and a monthly high-dose trial found a similar signal for falls. Neither produced classic toxicity, but both suggest that very high intermittent amounts can harm even without high calcium. This is the best-quality evidence that “more” can be worse.

Observational studies: moderate, with caveats. Cohort data link blood levels above the adequacy range with higher all-cause mortality in some populations, forming the basis of the NIH’s “potential adverse effects” band. Observational designs cannot prove cause, and people with high levels may differ in other ways.

Case reports and case series: low in the hierarchy, but consistent and mechanistically clear. The accounts of overt toxicity come almost entirely from this literature. Individually they are weak evidence; collectively, with a well-understood calcium mechanism and a dose-response pattern, they are convincing.

Expert consensus. The tolerable upper intake level and the blood thresholds are expert judgments informed by all of the above. They are conservative by design.

Bottom line: ordinary supplementation is well supported as safe; megadosing is not supported as beneficial and is linked to harm.

Who is most at risk of hypervitaminosis D?

Risk tracks intake far more than biology, but several groups deserve particular care.

People following high-dose protocols. This is the largest modern group: adults who take amounts well above the upper intake level for months on the strength of online advice, often alongside calcium supplements that compound the problem.

Infants and young children. Concentrated vitamin D drops are prescribed for breastfed babies because breast milk is low in the vitamin. Dropper confusion, products of differing concentrations, or two caregivers each giving a dose can lead to a large relative overdose in a small body. Children also absorb and retain calcium efficiently, so hypercalcemia develops faster.

Older adults. They are more often prescribed vitamin D, more likely to take multiple products, and more prone to the confusion and dehydration that high calcium causes. Kidney reserve is also lower with age, so the kidneys are less able to cope with a calcium load.

People with granulomatous diseases or certain cancers. Sarcoidosis, tuberculosis and some lymphomas cause immune cells to activate vitamin D outside the kidney, bypassing the normal brakes. Standard supplements can produce high calcium in these patients, and management belongs with their specialist.

People with kidney disease or on certain medicines. Thiazide diuretics reduce calcium excretion, and some prescribed vitamin D analogues used in kidney disease are potent. Anyone on these should not add over-the-counter vitamin D without checking with their prescriber.

People taking high-strength prescription vitamin D. Weekly or monthly prescriptions are safe when taken as directed; the risk arises from misreading the schedule. If the label is unclear, the pharmacist is the fastest safeguard.

How vitamin D toxicity is treated, and why recovery takes weeks

Treatment is directed at the calcium, not the vitamin, because there is no medicine that removes stored vitamin D from fat. That single fact explains the long recovery.

The first step, decided by the treating clinician, is to stop the vitamin D source and usually any calcium supplements, and to limit high-calcium foods for a period. If calcium is only mildly raised and the person is well, this plus plenty of fluids and repeat blood tests may be all that is needed. Levels of 25(OH)D fall slowly, often over two to three months, and calcium normalizes somewhat sooner.

Moderate to severe cases are managed in hospital. Intravenous fluids correct dehydration and help the kidneys clear calcium. Clinicians may use a loop diuretic once the person is rehydrated, corticosteroids, which reduce intestinal calcium absorption and are particularly useful in granulomatous disease, or bisphosphonates, medicines that stop bone from releasing calcium. Calcitonin is sometimes used for a rapid short-term effect. In the rare cases of very high calcium with kidney failure, dialysis can lower calcium directly. The choice and sequence of these treatments is individualized and should never be attempted outside medical supervision.

Follow-up matters as much as the acute phase. Because fat stores keep releasing vitamin D, calcium can drift up again after an initial improvement; clinicians typically recheck calcium, kidney function and 25(OH)D at intervals until all three are stable. Kidney function usually recovers if hypercalcemia is treated promptly, but prolonged untreated cases can leave lasting damage.

Most people recover fully. The experience, by every patient account in the literature, is unpleasant enough that prevention is the obvious better path.

Common myths about vitamin D toxicity, corrected

The viral claims tend to repeat. Here is what the evidence says about each.

“It’s a vitamin, so you can’t overdose.” False for fat-soluble vitamins. Water-soluble vitamins such as C and most B vitamins leave in urine; vitamins A, D, E and K accumulate. Vitamin D toxicity is documented in every major medical reference.

“Higher blood levels are always better.” Not supported. Randomized trials show no additional benefit above the adequacy range for healthy adults, and observational data associate higher levels with some harms. The NIH explicitly lists a “potential adverse effects” band above the adequate range.

“Vitamin K2 or magnesium makes high doses safe.” Unproven. Both nutrients have real roles in bone and calcium metabolism, but no randomized trial shows that adding them prevents hypercalcemia from vitamin D excess. Treating them as an antidote is a mechanism-based guess, not evidence.

“Sunbathing a lot will make you toxic.” False. Skin degrades excess previtamin D under the same light that makes it. The sun risk is skin cancer, not vitamin D.

“If you feel fine, your level is fine.” Unreliable. Early symptoms are vague and easy to dismiss; several reported cases presented with kidney injury before the person connected the dots.

“A high dose once a week is safer than daily.” Only within the amounts a clinician prescribes. Trials of very large intermittent doses in older adults found more falls and fractures than placebo.

“Natural or food-based supplements can’t be overdosed.” False. The body does not distinguish the source; the number on the label and the number of products you combine are what count.

When to see a doctor about possible vitamin D toxicity

Contact your clinician promptly, rather than waiting for symptoms to pass, if you have been taking vitamin D above the standard supplemental range, or a high-strength prescription more often than directed, and notice any of the following building over days to weeks: persistent nausea or vomiting, constipation with loss of appetite, unusual thirst with frequent urination, deep fatigue or muscle weakness, bone pain, or a low mood and foggy thinking that is new for you. Ask directly for a 25-hydroxyvitamin D and calcium test, and bring every supplement bottle so the total intake can be tallied.

Seek urgent care or emergency services for red-flag signs, which point to severe hypercalcemia or kidney involvement:

• Confusion, extreme drowsiness or difficulty staying awake
• Severe pain in the side or back, or blood in the urine, suggesting kidney stones
• Passing very little urine, or signs of dehydration that fluids do not fix
• Palpitations, a racing or irregular heartbeat, or fainting
• Repeated vomiting that prevents you keeping fluids down
• In an infant: vomiting, poor feeding, unusual sleepiness or dehydration after vitamin D drops

If you suspect an acute accidental overdose, such as a child swallowing a bottle of gummies, call Poison Control immediately; in the United States the Poison Help line is available around the clock.

Two further points. If vitamin D was prescribed to you, do not stop it on your own; tell the prescriber what you have noticed and let them decide. Equally, if you have a condition such as sarcoidosis, kidney disease or a parathyroid disorder, any new vitamin D product should be cleared with your specialist first. Diagnosis and every treatment decision belong with the clinician who can see your results.

Taking vitamin D safely: a short, evidence-based routine

The goal is simple: enough to avoid deficiency, never enough to flirt with excess. A handful of habits achieve it.

Know your total. Write down every product you take that contains vitamin D, including multivitamins, calcium and bone blends, protein powders and fortified drinks, and ask a pharmacist to add it up against the recommended intake for your age. Most people are surprised by how quickly the total climbs.

Treat high-strength products as medicines. Prescription vitamin D is safe when taken on the schedule written on the label. Set a calendar reminder for weekly or monthly products and keep them separate from daily ones. If a label is ambiguous, the pharmacist can clarify in a minute.

Choose supplements with third-party verification. Independent testing programs check that the amount in the bottle matches the label, which addresses one of the documented causes of toxicity. This is especially worth doing for liquid drops used in infants.

Measure, do not guess. The 2024 guidance against routine testing applies to healthy adults on ordinary intakes. If you have a reason to take more than the standard amount, or you belong to a higher-risk group, periodic 25(OH)D and calcium checks arranged by your clinician are sensible.

Be skeptical of “optimal” targets. Any protocol that quotes a blood level well above the adequacy range, or an intake above the upper limit, as a wellness goal is not drawing on randomized trial evidence. The trials that tested high intakes in healthy people found no added benefit and some harm.

Finally, remember the direction of the real-world problem. Deficiency is common, excess is rare, and both are avoidable with the same tool: a known amount, taken as intended, reviewed occasionally with someone who can read the numbers.

Frequently asked questions

What are the first vitamin D overdose symptoms?

The earliest signs are usually digestive: loss of appetite, nausea, constipation and sometimes vomiting, often with unusual thirst and more frequent urination. Fatigue, muscle weakness and a low or foggy mood tend to follow. These reflect rising blood calcium and typically build gradually over weeks of high intake rather than appearing suddenly, which is why they are easy to attribute to something else.

How much vitamin D is too much per day?

Nutrition authorities define a tolerable upper intake level, the daily ceiling considered safe for nearly all adults long term; the NIH fact sheet lists the figures by age. Amounts above that level, taken for months, are where toxicity cases occur. Clinicians may prescribe higher amounts briefly to correct a confirmed deficiency, with monitoring, but that is a supervised decision rather than a general target.

Which blood test shows vitamin D toxicity?

The 25-hydroxyvitamin D test, written 25(OH)D, measures the storage form of the vitamin and is markedly elevated in toxicity. It is paired with a serum calcium level, because high calcium is what confirms the diagnosis and causes the symptoms. Clinicians usually add kidney function, phosphate and parathyroid hormone to complete the picture and rule out other causes of high calcium.

Is hypervitaminosis D the same as vitamin D toxicity?

Yes. Hypervitaminosis D is the formal medical term and vitamin D toxicity is the everyday name for the same condition: a harmful excess of vitamin D in the body, almost always from supplements, leading to high blood calcium. You may also see the term vitamin D intoxication in older references; all three describe the same problem and are diagnosed and managed in the same way.

Can you get vitamin D toxicity from the sun?

No. Skin makes vitamin D from ultraviolet B light, but the same light breaks down excess previtamin D and vitamin D into inactive forms once a threshold is reached, so sun exposure cannot push levels into the toxic range. Long sun exposure does raise skin cancer risk, which is a separate reason to be sensible, but documented toxicity cases come from supplements, not sunlight.

How long does vitamin D toxicity take to go away?

Usually weeks to months. Vitamin D is stored in body fat and released slowly, so blood levels fall gradually after the supplement is stopped, and calcium can take several weeks to normalize even with treatment. Clinicians recheck calcium, kidney function and 25(OH)D at intervals until all are stable. Most people recover fully, though prolonged untreated high calcium can leave lasting kidney damage.

Does vitamin K2 prevent vitamin D toxicity?

There is no randomized trial evidence that vitamin K2 prevents hypercalcemia from excess vitamin D. K2 has a genuine role in directing calcium into bone, which is the basis of the claim, but that mechanism has not been shown to protect against overdose in people. Treating K2 as a safety net for megadosing is a guess, not an evidence-based strategy.

Can children get vitamin D toxicity from drops?

Yes, and infants are a recognized higher-risk group. Concentrated drops are prescribed for breastfed babies, but dropper confusion, products of different strengths, or two caregivers each giving a dose can create a large relative excess in a small body. Vomiting, poor feeding, unusual sleepiness or dehydration after drops should prompt an urgent call to the pediatrician or Poison Control.

Should healthy adults get a vitamin D blood test?

Current guidance from the Endocrine Society, published in 2024, recommends against routine 25(OH)D testing in healthy adults who have no specific risk factors, because trials have not shown benefit from pushing levels higher. Testing remains appropriate for people with symptoms, those taking high-dose supplements, and groups at risk of deficiency or of excess, as judged by their clinician.

What should I do if I think I have taken too much vitamin D?

Contact your clinician and ask for 25(OH)D and calcium tests, bringing every supplement bottle so the total can be tallied. If vitamin D was prescribed, do not stop it on your own; let the prescriber decide. Seek emergency care for confusion, severe flank pain, very low urine output, or an irregular heartbeat, and call Poison Control immediately after any acute accidental overdose.

References

• MedlinePlus: Hypervitaminosis D
• NHS: Vitamin D
• Cleveland Clinic: Vitamin D Toxicity (Hypervitaminosis D)

This article is for general information only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Please consult a qualified doctor about your individual situation.