I'm so relieved to read this post, I recently have become very down and depressed, even tearful for no reason. The only thing that I have changed in my lifestyle recently has been the additon of vitamin C and zinc tablets every day. I've never felt worse! Going to stop taking them immediately. Thank you.
A few years ago, I heard about a product called Sublingual B Complex. This was supposed to take the place of a B Complex injection to give you more energy. For a couple of weeks I was putting this pill under my tongue as directed. They said that under the tongue was like a shot because the vitamins actually go into your blood when putting it under your tongue. I was about ready to kill myself from the depression it caused! My wife and kids threw it in the toilet so I would get back to normal.
Hi im having the same problem.How long once you stopped was it until your mood started to get better?
I have been taking conception multivitamins - the kind including folic acid that you are meant to if trying to conceive - and I haven't been feeling myself at all. I feel really tired and listless, just void of any spark really. I stopped taking them for a week and felt much better. I started taking another brand then, as I really felt I needed to be on these pills if I am going to get pregnant for the baby's and my own health and the same thing is happening with this one. I feel sort of overwhelmed by life so I will have to come off them. Very odd!
I can totally confirm all that the previous people have said. A few years ago I started taking multivitamins, I gave them to my partner too. There was no specific reason, I just thought it would be a good idea and help improve general health (I'm also vegetarian and thought that the B vitamins would help as I could be lacking some of these without meat in my diet).
Over the course of a few weeks I developed really bad anxiety and panic attacks in the night. This continued for quite some time and I was reluctant to go to the doctors (being a man!). Because they started so abruptly I was hoping they would suddenly stop. My partner was unaffected.
After a year or two I was still getting the attacks in the night (which would mean waking up totally drenched in sweat and lying awake for hours). I felt absolutely dreadful and didn't really understand why it was happening.
I was worried about the effect it was having on my relationship (as I had finally met the perfect lady) and so after, maybe 3 years, I caved in and went to the doctor and described how I was feeling. He immediately prescribed Amitriptyline (Tryptomer, Elavil, Tryptizol, Laroxyl, Saroten, Sarotex, Lentizol, Endep). This allowed me to sleep properly through the night again. This was most welcome after years of terrible nights.However, I considered that taking an anti-depressant long term couldn't really be the answer. So I experimented with chopping the tablets up and taking three quarters or a half, and trying to wean myself off them. This went on for several more years, sometimes I could stay off them for a few weeks, sometimes even for a little longer. But always the panic attacks would return and I'd have to start taking the tablets again.
Anyway, this last New Years we stayed with friends in a cottage in the country for a week and I didn't take my multivitamins with me. When I got back I was starting to realise that I was feeling better. I thought at first it was just the rest over Christmas and New Years. I stopped my tablets (although it was at a time when I was trying to stop them so I had already reduced the dose myself) I was still ok! I didn't make the connection straight away but for some reason didn't start the multivitamins when we had returned.
I haven't taken any multivitamins since the start of the year (it's nearly September as I type). I have also been careful to avoid fortified breakfast cereals and Marmite / Vegemite (packed full of B vits as it's made from yeast) which I would have regularly as I was a vegetarian and this gave a slightly 'meaty' taste to some dishes.
I am now convinced that some of us our sensitive to B vitamins and that it does cause anxiety and depression in a proportion of people.
I am fairly evangelical about this now and carefully ask friends who suffer from depression/anxiety if they take any multivitamins and ask them if they could possibly stop to see if it improves how they're feeling.
If you wanted to be a 'conspiracy theorist' about this you may think that it would be in Big Pharma's interest to sell cheap multivitamins that could mean ultimately that a proportion of the vitamin-taking population then become a long term consumer of their expensive anti-depressants.
Please everybody, if you're feeling down and you take multivitamins just stop them now...and post here what happens.
Good luck everyone.
I started to take B vitamins 100mg, plus other vitamins. A few days later I was phoning the doctors' in a right state. Thought I was going mad. Felt anxious, stressed, tearfull, and my mind felt like it had a life of its own, with lots of negative thoughts. I had heard that B vitamins are good for anxiety, so I started extra niacin. Still felt terrible. I thought that it couldn't be the vitamins. Got heart palpitations too, night sweats and had real trouble sleeping. I became suspicious of the vitamins and stopped taking them...... within a few days I was almost back to normal. Needless to say I'm going to have to rethink my whole approach to nutrition.
I'm so glad I came across this thread. I thought I was losing my mind. I've been taking multivitamins for years - a good quality, expensive, all natural brand. I would go through cycles of deep depression, and when my depression hit full force, I would stop taking care of myself, and stop taking my vitamins. Then I would begin to feel better, and as my mood improved, I began the vitamins again. It finally dawned on me that every time I took the vitamins, another downward spiral would begin within two days. I stopped the vitamins altogether and I've never felt better. My doctor and my family think I'm making this up, that this is all crazy. But I know how I feel. Thanks to you all for speaking up!
Bingo! Normally, I am a very optimistic person. I started taking Centrum Silver every other day or so. I suddenly became depressed and could not shake it off. I felt it was a physical thing or something created by something I ingested, i.e. not just winter blues, etc. I then started to notice that it was happening on those days I was taking the vitamin. I was so certain there was a correlation between the vitamin and the depression that today I googled a question: "can vitamins cause depression?" Thank the Lord this website and particularly your post and the following one mentioned Centrum. In fact, I have one sitting on my desk now that I was about to take because vitamins are good for you, right....not for everyone!! Thanks so much!!
Oh, one more thing I wanted to add. The times that I am vigilant about eating salads, greens, colorful veggies, and of course fruit in its natural state, are the times I feel the most energetic and healthy minded.
I have noticed a strong correlation between zinc supplementation and depression for me. I've noted it several times over the past decade. So I steer clear of it now. I'm currently experimenting to see if B-complex causes me issues as well, otherwise I take a bunch of stuff with no problems.
Simply AMAZING! I have been slowly drawing a causality between certain vitamins and my brutal depression. I narrowed it down to B9 and low and behold, I'm not the only one.
You are not alone! The same happens to me when taking multivitamins or hair supplements, I've since discovered that I felt even worse the day I took one pill of Vitamin B complex, only with different B vitamins. So yes, it can happen, you are not crazy. I'm lactose intolerant and have IBS, my doctor told me that people are different there is no guarantee that what makes some people feel well cannot make others feel bad or sick. Hope it helps, I'm trying to find more information and came across your post, hope you are feeling better.
I don't believe that vitamins can cause depression. And I must say, stay without eating is really not a good idea. You should make a balance diet rather than overeating and making yourslef overweighty. After the period, you need more magnesium and you are not having them properly, this is the reason behind your depression. Just give it a try, they work like MAGNESUM MIRACLE.
Good for you, its really good when people don't believe, it just means that YOU don't suffer with this condition, but don't go around saying you don't believe. Not even doctors can absolutely say nothing about this because every person reacts differently! Go sell your magnesium somewhere else!
your frustrated I totally understand... I just looked up the topic of depression and this is what I found to be the latest data...... Your brain responds to dopamine a chemical that is released in your blood when you experience something happy or in love or do drugs/alcohol ...... the substances taken is dopamine your body is also able to make its own to in response to your thoughts. Then it's up to your brain to soak it up and give you that good feeling.... over time if every time you get excited something goes big time wrong your less likely to want to get excited. and if you use drugs you will need more and more because your brain doesn't fall for the same trick again....... Vitamins play a big role because they are one of the things that is responsible for your body ability to make dopamine and be able to respond to it and make you feel good..... Your really a bunch of chemical reactions....... if you don't eat good food with the vitamins to run your body machinery don't expect it to run correctly and make you feel good. After your eating right .......... then you need to start working on you thoughts .......... get rid of the thoughts that aren't helping you and look for new ones that will........ only you can........ your thoughts are the last freedom you have. Yet, unfortunatly drugs and alcohol and other diseases can cause another problem which try to takes that freedom away . Your brain from the moment you start useing drugs becomes paralyzed. Your unable to grasp ideas your brain is unable to store concepts so your not dumb you just don't become smarter ..... Everything that is living changes so if your thought are not able to evolve then you really are stuck. SO if your trying to quit something then know that yes when the craving kick in your really gonna have a hard time because you mind hasn't been able to change it's mind into thinking" i don't do that anymore" because it can't absorb the concept in to memory. with time ,good diet, emotional training and the absence of drugs your body can get back into balance.........I have some ideas i came up with to hurry the process up...... their just ideas but that's all you really need sometimes to get you going. Let me know if your interested and I will post some... I really hope this helps you and anyone else reading. I don't have all the answer I know no one does but your not alone in you search and maybe knowing your not alone is the only true answer you can depend on..... take care