Vitamin A: uses, dosing, side effects & brands
Vitamin A is a medicine sold in the U.S. under one brand, for dermatitis, night blindness and photosensitivity disorders. Below: what the FDA label says, every product that contains it, what the pills look like, and its recall record.
Key facts
- Treats
- Dermatitis, Night Blindness and Photosensitivity Disorders
- Available as
- Injectable
- Sold as
- Aquasol A
- Prescription?
- Prescription only
- Generic available?
- Not in our catalog
How vitamin a is dosed
From the FDA label for Aquasol A (application NDA006823). Other vitamin a products — different forms, different strengths — are dosed differently. Follow the label for the one you were prescribed.
For intramuscular use. I. Adults 100,000 Units daily for three days followed by 50,000 Units daily for two weeks. II. Pediatric patients 1 to 8 years old 17,500 to 35,000 Units daily for 10 days. III. Infants 7,500 to 15,000 Units daily for 10 days. Follow-up therapy with an oral therapeutic multivitamin preparation, containing 10,000 to 20,000 Units vitamin A for adults and for pediatric patients over 8 years old, and 5,000 to 10,000 Units for infants and other pediatric patients under 8 years old, is recommended daily for two months. Low birth-weight infants may require additional retinyl palmitate though the exact dosing in these pediatric patients has not been established. In malabsorption, the parenteral route must be used for an equivalent preparation. Poor dietary habits should be corrected and an abundant and well-balanced dietary intake should be prescribed.
Vitamin A side effects
See OVERDOSAGE section. Anaphylactic shock and death have been reported using the intravenous route. Allergic reactions have been reported rarely with administration of AQUASOL A ® Parenteral including one case of an anaphylactoid type reaction. To report SUSPECTED ADVERSE REACTIONS, contact Rising Pharma Holdings, Inc. at 1-844-874-7464 or FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088 or www.fda.gov/medwatch.
Who shouldn’t take vitamin a
The intravenous administration. Hypervitaminosis A. Sensitivity to any of the ingredients in this preparation. Use in Pregnancy: Safety of amounts exceeding 6,000 Units of vitamin A daily during pregnancy has not been established at this time. The use of vitamin A in excess of the recommended dietary allowance may cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman. Animal reproduction studies have shown fetal abnormalities associated with overdosage in several species. Malformations of the central nervous system, the eye, the palate, and the urogenital tract are recorded. Vitamin A in excess of the recommended dietary allowance is contraindicated in women who are or may become pregnant. If vitamin A is used during pregnancy, or if the patient becomes pregnant while taking vitamin A, the patient should be apprised of the potential hazard to the fetus.
Every vitamin a product we track (1)
Same active ingredient — different manufacturer, form, price and FDA recall record. That last one is what our independent score measures.
Only one: Aquasol A.
Combination products containing vitamin a
A combination is a different drug — different dosing, different warnings. It is listed here so you can find it, not so you can substitute it.
Vitamin A and breastfeeding
From LactMed, the US National Library of Medicine’s Drugs and Lactation Database — quoted, not rewritten.
Full LactMed record for vitamin a: levels in milk, effects in breastfed infants, and the drugs it would consider insteadVitamin A (retinol) and provitamin A carotenoids are normal components of human milk. Vitamin A in milk has antioxidant properties. The recommend dietary intake in lactating women is 1300 mcg retinol daily, compared to 770 mcg daily during pregnancy. The recommended daily intake for infants aged 6 months or less is 400 mcg. Vitamin A deficiency is not uncommon, and maternal supplementation may be needed during lactation to achieve the recommended daily vitamin A intake. Maternal single doses up to 120,000 mcg (400,000 IU) or daily doses up to 1500 mcg (5,000 IU) are not expected to harm the breastfed infant. Higher maternal doses have not been studied. Daily maternal doses above 3,000 mcg (10,000 IU) should be avoided.
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, record revised September 15, 2024. LactMed states its information is not a substitute for professional judgement.
Related calculators
Frequently asked questions
What is vitamin a?
Aquasol A (Vitamin A Palmitate) is a medication used to treat Dermatitis, Night Blindness, Photosensitivity Disorders, Vitamin A Deficiency.
Can you take vitamin a with other medicines?
It depends on the medicine. We check it against the FDA labels rather than guessing: our interaction checker searches each drug's own label for the other and quotes what it says, naming the section it came from. Run vitamin a against whatever else you take — and remember that a label not naming a drug is not the same as that combination being safe.
What forms does vitamin a come in?
Across the brands we track, vitamin a is currently marketed as injectable, per the FDA's National Drug Code Directory. Each form is dosed differently — follow the label for the exact product you were prescribed.
Is there a generic vitamin a?
We do not currently list a generic-labelled vitamin a product. That does not always mean none exists — it means none appears under a generic name in the FDA data we track. Ask your pharmacist.
Cite this page
- APA
- pharmaranks. (2026, July 24). Vitamin A: uses, dosing, side effects & brands. https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/vitamin-a
- MLA
- “Vitamin A: uses, dosing, side effects & brands.” pharmaranks, 24 July 2026, https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/vitamin-a.
We summarise public FDA and NIH sources — for a clinical claim, cite the primary source we link to as well.
Sources: FDA openFDA drug label, National Drug Code Directory, and Enforcement (recall) database. This page reproduces public FDA data and is not medical advice. Dosing is set by your prescriber.
Read the full FDA label for vitamin a on DailyMed (NIH) ↗.