Multiple vitamin overdose

Injury	Disease	Nutrition	Poison

Symptoms	Surgery	Test	Special Topic

Overview

Symptoms

Treatment

Multiple vitamin overdose

Home Treatment:

Do NOT induce emesis (vomiting), unless instructed to do so by Poison Control or by a physician. For any acute or suspected overdose, seek emergency medical care immediately.

Before Calling Emergency:

Determine the following information:

Patient's age, weight, and condition
The name of the product (ingredients and strengths, if known)
When it was swallowed
The amount swallowed

Poison Control, or a local emergency number:

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Call Poison Control or your local emergency number -- they will instruct you if it is necessary to take the patient to the hospital. See Poison Control centers for telephone numbers and addresses. Take the container with you to the emergency room.

What to expect at the emergency room:

Some or all of the following procedures may be performed:

Placing a tube down the nose and into the stomach (a nasogastric or NG tube) to wash out the stomach
Administering activated charcoal
Taking a blood sample
Giving IV fluids
Admission to the hospital
Treating the symptoms
Checking vitamin A levels in the blood
Giving iron antidote or calcium antidote

Expectations (prognosis):

Niacin flush (Vitamin B3) is uncomfortable, but lasts only 2-8 hours. Vitamins A and D may cause symptoms when large daily doses are taken, but are rarely toxic in a single ingestion. The B vitamins rarely produce any symptoms. Iron and calcium overdoses have good prognoses, if treated early.