Can you take too much Vitamin C?

Yes, in spite of frequent claims to the contrary. Although vitamin C is water-soluble - any excess is excreted rather than absorbed - too much of it is not a good thing for some people. This is also true of the B vitamins, which are also water-soluble.

Excess comsumption of vitamin C may cause:
- Intestinal irritation, intestinal gas, and painful urination.
- Skin rashes.
- Depletion of copper from your body.
- Increased absorption of iron by your body.
- Increased risk of formation of oxalate kidney stones.
- Blood tests to produce inaccurate results (e.g., blood-sugar tests)
- Symptons of scurvy, following a sudden drop in dosage after consuming excess amounts for a prolonged period (e.g., reduce consumption slowly).

Everything in moderation and in balance makes for a healthy lifestyle. This includes all water-soluble vitamins. All fat-soluble vitamins should be treated with due caution (A, D, E, and K).

It has a temporary effect- it can give you diarrheoa as the excess is passed out from the body, but the effects in this sense are not long term. As Vitamin C tablets often come from a citrus source they can also cause adverse reactions- in my case sore tongue and mouth ulcers, but they canalso produce a rash, or stomach ache as they disturb the body's acid balance.
The main thing to be wary of is taking large doses of Vitamin C and then stopping, suddenly- which can cause withdrawal symptoms and even scurvy. Sailors in the early 20th century were known to make use of this method to make themselves appear ill and be sent home, the idea being that provided you return to a normal level of the vitamin fairly quickly, no long term damage would be done to the body.

Vitamin C is a water soluble vitamin.So, no matter what amount you take in, the excess amount of it will simply pass out through urine.
Hence taking too much of vitamin C has no effect on you unlike Vitamin A,E and other minerals.

yes, can cause diarrhea, gas, or stomach upset

+5

If you are thinking that 2,000 mg of Vitamin C might be harmful to you, see this quote by Dr. Eduardo Castro in his article Much to Do About Cholesterol:

Linus Pauling, the only person to win two unshared Nobel prizes, one in physics and one in chemistry, studied the inflammatory condition in arteries and found substantial evidence that much of the damage in arteries is due to a very mild form of scurvy from inadequate intake of Vitamin C. A marked decrease in arterial damage and inflammation is seen when 5,000-15,000 mg of Vitamin C are taken daily.

I have read that Dr. Linus Pauling used to take 18,000 mg of Vitamin C a day. You will know that you have too much vitamin C when your bowels become too loose. If you are ill with a cold you will want to take extra vitamin C. So just back off the dosage when your bowels become too loose. You can't overdose on Vitamin C.

The only proven benefit of taking high doses of Vitamin C is to the income of the people selling it to you. Study after study has shown that taking Vitamin C supplements (beyond the tiny amount needed by the body) is not useful in the prevention or treatment of any disease.

No; as it's not retained in the body.

I haven't had a cold or flu in 15 years and i owe it all to Vitamin C. I would normally take about 2,000mgs, wait an hour or so and let my bowels tell me if i needed more. (you'll have diarrhea or a stomach ache if you take too much and don't need it, in my experience). But, i've taken up to 10,000mgs on a day when the sore throat was stubborn, and it would go away that same day. But, these days, i've been trying to take massive amounts to help my adrenal glands and i've noticed it's irritating my urinary tract. I don't know what to make of that, but i'm going to take a break and see what happens.