I am wondering if B Complex vitamins can cause someone with anxiety and panic disorders to actually get increased symptoms from this? Along with having the anxiety disorders, I am also B12 deficient, so I take a B12 Vitamin every day. I found a new B12 that I wanted to try, but it also has Super B Complex in it. I took it for 4 days and my anxiety and panic levels shot through the roof, and made me have heart palpitations. This did not happen to me when I took the Vitamin B12 alone. I'm wondering if this has anything to do with adding in the B Complex since it didn't start until I added that in? I have not taken the vitamins for 2 days now, and it seems to be getting a little better, but how long will it take for the jitters and stuff to go away now? It feels like my anxiety med is not even working right now, that's how bad it is!
Can Super B Complex cause increased anxiety and panic attacks?
Question posted by Foxxii on 21 Jan 2014
Last updated on 20 November 2024
Just wanted to update quick: As I was searching for the answer to this question on the web last night, I came across this post by someone and copied it. Hopefully it will help some other "unsuspecting" person that suffers from anxiety disorders, that thinks "Oh, it's just a vitamin, it can't hurt."
"Certain vitamins such as B-complex are stimulatory and will cause anxiety and even panic attacks in some people. Minerals such as copper, manganese and others are also stimulatory. Certain herbs such as ginseng and eluthero are also somewhat stimulatory and can cause anxiety. Be careful with supplements, as they are not all benign."
The information on this page reflects personal experiences shared by our community members. It is not reviewed for medical accuracy and should not replace professional medical advice.
98 Answers Page 6
Foxxii; I do not agee at all with the increase in anxiety of b complex UNLESS IT HAS Niacin in it which some do.But for years They have used vitamin B-100 in stress classes, drug withdrawal, stop smoking.Now the new brand you are using it could also be a binder mixed with the vitamin B-100 that you do not agree with that could be causing increase anxiety. For now drink extra water and it should flush out of your system within 3 to 7 days in most cases. The one I take and brand because it has been tested for dissolve rate and effectiveness is made by NATURE MADE COMPANY and it is just B-100 and not that expensive compared to other brands Remember to take this in the morning. Chuck1957 NOW HERE IS THE COPY AND PASTE THAT HAS SOME IMFO ON VITAMIN.But remember we don't always feel the difference Vitamin b is safe and water soluable so you sluff of extra b and it does not build up in your system. Chuck.
Common Nutrients You May Lack
If you're deficient in a nutrient, you may feel something when you add a multivitamin to your diet. The three most common nutrients deficient in the U.S. diet are vitamin B-6, vitamin D and iron, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Both vitamin B-6 and iron help make red blood cells, and upping your intake if you're deficient may help improve energy and concentration within a month. Vitamin D is important for bone health, and its effects may not be noticed immediately, but if you're deficient you should get your blood levels checked every three months after starting a supplement, says the Vitamin D Council.
I started B-COMPLEX today and L-theanine. It must be the b complex because my heart is racing and im in a complete panic
I was told in health store that these would help my anxiety not bloody cause it
should i just take L-theanine from now on
I also am having similar experience but lasting month and a half from b12 injection, I have insomnia, too much energy, fast heart rate now anxiety from it not going away. Did anyone have an injection and have similar experience? Did the insomnia ever get better? I never had issues sleeping before.
Yes I think this had something to do with my anxeity
I suffer from panic disorder and anxiety and sometimes even depression. I have always taken Bcomplex, B12, B6 and never had a problem. The only time I had an experience like yours was from some supplements I purchased at Sams Club.
I just think they put other stuff in them. I usually go international. I get B Complex shots and got some
At amway and they are good, no side effects. It helps me a lot with depression. Try to find organic supplements. I have been scared to take anything, but decided to find some help. Hope your better!!
I knew I couldn't have been the only one. I was instructed by my GP to take b12 this past March. As soon as I took it my anxiety levels shot up to the sky! I've been trying to take it off and on for the last couple of months but simply can't. When I take a B 50 complex with only 50 mgs of B12 that seems to work okay. Even tried Saturdat and yesterday to take 250 mgs of B12 and the anxiety usually starts a couple of hours after taking it. I do notice if I take dessicated liver pills for my B12 I don't get anxiety. I'm wondering if this extreme reaction is due to the fact that my thyroid levels are off right now? Not sure and don't want to try it out once I'm leveled. My anxiety was sooo bad today that not even my anxiety hypnosis session worked. in any event I'm glad to see I'm not the only one this happens to.
I'm so glad I stumbled across this question! I was randomly searching for help after my SSRI seemed to have stop working. 3 weeks ago I started taking B Complex because I believed taking more vitamin D would boost my 15 mg Mirtazapine... After a few days my anxiety went through the roof! Every day functions seemed too difficult, I was crying and didn't want to go to work. I thought my meds weren't working so I upped them but I seem to only get worse. So it seems that it's not my meds that are the issue! Day 2 without Complex B and I'm starting to feel a little less anxious... Which is timely as I am going on holiday tomorrow. I couldn't understand what was wrong and felt like I was going crazy because my meds weren't touching my anxiety!
I will never touch Complex B again!!
Correction *vitamin B not D* big fingers
I am so glad other people have had a bad experience taking vitamin b I took it for a week and last Friday had the worst panick attack ever stopped taking it now still feel a little anxious think some of that is thinking it might happen again
I've had panic disorder for almost 20 years. One of my first panic attacks came after I was taking Centrum Vitamins. Recently my bloodwork said I was B12 deficient so I bought B12 100mcg. Both times I took it I got the shakes. After reading this, I'm pretty sure my body just can't handle the B12.
In my opinion, everyone reacts to drugs, supplements, and any else over the counter. Especially when combining a cocktail of various things. Currently, I have a multi diagnoses and currently work all night shift hours, most of which are 10 hrs long. I have Severe anxiety as well as ADHD/ADD and have lots of trouble focusing and all around being able to do my job proficiently. I already take a heavy dose of a new mood stabilizer, a fairly high dose of an amphetamine for focus and alertness, and up to 2mg of xanax a day as needed. I chose to begin taking the "Balanced B-100" vitamins for energy, metabolism, heart, brain, and nervous system support. I take them only when I really need the extra boost. There have been occasions when my anxiety got a little out of control and I had to take a xanax or two but after that I would always be fine. It mostly happens when a lot of people come in to work. That is one of my triggers tho.
I have considered lowering the levels of B vitamins I take but as I said, as long as I have an anxiety pill on hand, I know that regardless of what happens, I know I can control it. I do also try to avoid heavy amounts of sugar, caffeine, and any other things that would increase my energy when I take my ADD meds and a b vitamin of any sort. Definitely, talk with your Dr and even your pharmacist. They can offer great advice.
Just realized this is an older question but oh my gosh I'm really happy I stumbled across it! I've been detoxing from my Ativan and started gabapentin a month or two ago and was upping the dose feeling fine but my agoraphobia went through the roof a few weeks ago. Not until I read this did I even think about my b12... I take vitamin d due to a deficieny but my general care doc had said to also take b12 because most people feel better at higher levels. Well I've been bad about remembering but a few weeks ago I told myself to try harder and have been taking it regularly. I'm dying to know if this is related. I'll stop immediately which would be tomorrow and hope my anxiety goes down after a few days. Thanks to all for your input!
I'm still perplexed... I have no idea if this is what kicked off my anxiety and panic, but it's been helpful to read others' responses.
I'm going to give it a few days and hope for even a slight reduction. I hope you notice a change too.
Did you notice a change? After stopping??? I'm in the same situation now! Anxiety is above the roof for a week now.
I have been on a supplement for about three weeks now and both the morning and evening pack contain (what I think is) a pretty high amount of B vitamins:
(2 pills a day) Vitamin B-6 as pyridoxine HCL/pyridoxal-5-fosfate
25 mg 1250%DV
(2 pills a day) Vitamin B-12 on ion exchange resin
25 mcg 417% DV
(2 pills a day) Pantothenic Acid (vitamin B5) as d-calcium pantothenate
125 mg 1250% DV
(2 pills a day) Thiamine (Vitamin B-1) as thiamin HCL
25 mg 1667% DV
(2 pills a day) Riboflavin (Vitamin B-2)
13 mg 765% DV
I had a panic attack two nights ago that was the worst I've had in about 18 years. My anxiety has been high over the past week or so.
Does anyone think there might be a connection? I'm on an anti-dep for anxiety/depression and it's been pretty well controlled. I've started having more panic attacks in the past two years, but my anxiety has been up since I've started taking these supplments.
Could there be a connection?
I've stopped taking the supplements.
i read on another site that someone who has anxiety /panic for decades has been more or less cured by taking D3 FLAXSEED OIL AND MAGNESIUM chelate (important its chelate). Google that and im sure you will find the site ... anyway, i started taking 3 1200 strength omega 3 fish oil (same as flaxseedoil) 4-5 1000mg vitamin d3 and 3 magnesium chelate a day after a week i felt a fair bit better and now (two weeks ) can tell the difference... it seems anxiety is often exacerbated (as we all have and need it due to fight /flight response) by lack of vitamins... but as i posted above b complex ( with nasonex and guarana ,or whatever it was) sent my anxiety through the roof... keep googling, try vitamins and ask doctor for tests on vitamin deficiencys... also magnesium seems to help with energy levels and fatigue but also aids sleep... also google nasonex and anxiety theres a site where nasonex users have posted their findings ... its frightening what we put in our bodies... good luck ... hang in there, we are not nuts, just always ready to run when the dinosaur comes to eat us...
type in vitamin d3 cured my anxiety , im sure it will come up and type in nasonex anxiety and a site called ask patient will have the thread on ... i know you probably dont use nasonex but it just shows how seemingly innocent meds can trigger the fear
I have mitral valve prolapse and never really knew why I got my anxiety attacks, however found out that millions of people have MVP (mostly women) and have no idea that they have it! Some people can go their whole lives and never find out… Unfortunately for me I suffered from bad anxiety attacks ... went to the cardiologist and that's what I found out. So with that being said ... I, like yourself, cannot use any nasal spray's except for a saline solution. Also, have a lot of symptoms from different vitamins!
Just thought I would let you know… In case you wanted to get check for MVP
I have an acute anxiety problem for 2 years and it was feeling mostly better recenty. I decided to try for the 1st time this year, a vitateen, which has many b vitamins in it. and the night on the day I took it, my anxiety got very bad, and it is still worse these few days after.
I've been suffering from GAD on and off for decades, but usually get over it in a matter of months. This time, due to some major life changes, it's been a couple of years of anxiety/depression and I'm at the end of my rope. Taking benzos without a whole lot of success in general. Seeing a psychologist as well. I usually felt better for a couple of days after a session with him, but always got back to the anxiety. My daughter, the holistic freak, suggested that I take B complex. So I did. Anxiety no better. In fact worse. Finally gave in against my better judgement and started on an antianxiety drug five days ago. We'll, the anxiety is just as bad, if not worse.. So today, saw my psych, expecting to feel better as usual. Nope. Worse than I have been in a long time. Then I thought "What am i doing different? Hmm... B Complex?" Got on this site. This could be the answer. If it is, then bless you all! Will stop taking it tomorrow and see how it goes.
Have been taking 5mg B12 tablets daily, and had become anxious quite a bit. Hawthorne & lime flower tea will remedy this on the whole.
Yes! It does. I took this for 2 months and had severe anxiety. I'll get right to the point though. It took 3 days before I felt normal again. Just stop taking it and in 3 days you'll feel better. Obviously I'm writing this for future readers as the question is a year or more old. This stupid drug needs a warning label on it.
Absolutely can..anything that affects metabolism can cause anxiety or nervousness especially if it increases circulation... which niacin is known for..u can try eating with b complex... really all depends on wats in your system already... how your metabolism was working before u started taking b complex is usually where your issue stems from... b complex is flushed out of your system regularly... and is water soluable... so continues to flush... it only changes Metabolism... anxiety is due to metabolism issues everyone has them some peoples r worse than others...
This is happening to me now.. Know this post is old but this makes me feel so much better. I have been having this constant anxiety/panic for over a week. I just noticed yesterday i was taking to many vitamins with b complex in it, including super b complex capsules, and sublingual drops. Then i just noticed my mulit- vitamin has ginseng in it!! So as of today im not taking any more and I pray that by day 3 i will feel way better!!!
So glad I found this post. For me it's the morning of day 2 of stopping all b complex. My heart still is pounding. I really hope day 3 is better. Thanks all
Hi took vitamin b complex on Monday felt fine then all of a sudden a major panic attack kicked in never felt so afraid it's now been 4 days and still feeling a little weird and spacey so hoping this will pass
I know this is old, but saw some newer comments. I have severe b12 deficiency so my dr put me on a high dose supplement. I took it the other day and felt fine, but then took it again this morning and about and hour later I felt really flushed , hot and then found myself in the middle of a panic attack. Felt like I couldn't breath, heart racing, etc. I take other supplements as well, an adrenal complex, multi vit, cbd, vit d. I'm wondering if the difference is that I took it with food one day but not the other.
i do suffer from anxiety symptoms , a couple of years ago i was taking B complex and also a multi vit (effervescent) and was prescribed nasonex for seasonal rhinitis, one afternoon i had an experience that was different to any id had before, almost hallucinating like, everything seemed surreal and bright and my anxiety was through the roof.
i checked the multivit and it contained guarana (stimulant energy boost) i stopped taking all three.
research on the net showed all three products i was using can cause anxiety/panic.
last year i used nasonex again , all day panic feelings , i stopped using it and found , online , that many people even without anxiety symptoms, suffered panic when using this product.
i think that anyone with anxiety should be very careful what they use as it seems we are sensitive to even seemingly small doses of stimulant.
i dont recommend self diagnosis on the net , but information is better coming from other sufferers with first hand experience than textbook doctors in some instances... especially when the textbooks are often produced from big pharmaceutical companys.
i now avoid products with caffeine , only drink decaff etc. i take high dose vit c and a magnesium with zinc... all seems ok.
the only thing anyone can do is try what works for them , we may have similar issues ie anxiety , but different things work or trigger differently in all of us.
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vitamins, anxiety, panic disorder, multivitamin, disorder, symptom
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