Applies to vitamin a: capsule, capsule liquid filled, solution, tablet.

Serious side effects of Vitamin a

Along with its needed effects, vitamin a may cause some unwanted effects. Although not all of these side effects may occur, if they do occur they may need medical attention.

Check with your doctor immediately if any of the following side effects occur while taking vitamin a:

• Bleeding from gums or sore mouth
• bulging soft spot on head (in babies)
• confusion or unusual excitement
• diarrhea
• dizziness or drowsiness
• double vision
• headache (severe)
• irritability (severe)
• peeling of skin, especially on lips and palms
• vomiting (severe)

Check with your doctor as soon as possible if any of the following side effects occur while taking vitamin a:

• Bone or joint pain
• convulsions (seizures)
• drying or cracking of skin or lips
• dry mouth
• fever
• general feeling of discomfort or illness or weakness
• headache
• increased sensitivity of skin to sunlight
• increase in frequency of urination, especially at night, or in amount of urine
• irritability
• loss of appetite
• loss of hair
• stomach pain
• unusual tiredness
• vomiting
• yellow-orange patches on soles of feet, palms of hands, or skin around nose and lips

For Healthcare Professionals

Applies to vitamin a: intramuscular solution, oral capsule, oral liquid.

Metabolic

Frequency not reported: Hypervitaminosis A syndrome^[Ref]

Hypervitaminosis A:

General manifestations: fatigue, malaise, lethargy, abdominal discomfort, anorexia, vomiting.

Specific manifestations:

-Skeletal: hard tender cortical thickening over the radius and tibia, migratory arthralgia, slow growth, premature closer of the epiphysis leading to arrested bone growth in children

-Central nervous system: irritability, headache, increased intracranial pressure manifested by bulging fontanels, papilledema, and exophthalmos

-Dermatologic: fissures of the lips, drying and cracking of the skin, alopecia, scaling, massive desquamation, increased pigmentation

-Systemic: hypomenorrhea, hepatosplenomegaly, hepatotoxicity, jaundice, leukopenia, vitamin A plasma level over 1200 Units/mL^[Ref]

Other

Acute toxicity occurs at single doses of 350,000 units for infants and at over 2 million units for adults.

Chronic toxicity occurs in infants (3 to 6 months) at 8,500 Units per day for 1 to 3 months, and in adults at 1 million Units daily for 3 days, at 500,000 Units daily for 2 months, or 50,000 units daily for over 18 months.^[Ref]

Frequency not reported: Acute toxicity (single dose of 25,000 Units/kg), chronic toxicity (4000 Units/kg for 6 to 15 months)^[Ref]

Hypersensitivity

Frequency not reported: Anaphylactic shock and death (intravenous)^[Ref]