I just started taking a new multivitamin that has a good amount of B vitamins in it. It is supposed to have very high-quality ingredients.

Since I started taking it, I've been headache-y. I never get headaches, and the multivitamin is the only thing that's different in the last week.

Does anyone else experience headaches, or other symptoms, with vitamins?

I haven't had that problem with vitamins, but could it be the filler or some color that they put in the capsule itself? I get hadaches from a lot of colorings that are used in things and I've been allergic to some fillers, too.

RS, I can't seem to tolerate anything with niacin in it. gives me anxiety (like I need more?). There is probably 1 little ingredient that is gettin' ya. (how are you by the way?)

Hi RS, I'm not sure if vitamins cause headaches or not, but I noticed the last time I was using a 'multi' I seemed to have more headaches. Could've been coincidental, I'm not sure. Now I stick to ONLY a super B complex w/C, magnesium, and the Fish Oil. I HAVE, however, been having more 'sinusy' headaches the past couple of weeks. I'm thinking it could be the change in weather or barometric pressure around here. I get them in the mornings, and most of the time they go away with a Tylenol Sinus/Allergy tab.
Hugs

Thanks for your replies, ladies! Today is the first day since Saturday that I haven't had a headache. Maybe my body is adjusting to the new multi?

Mary O--These vitamins don't have any fillers. They are advertised as not having any ingredients that might cause an allergic reaction. In addition to the multi, I've been taking a cal/mag (not from the same company), so it's possible that's causing me headaches. Not sure...

rendy--I'm doing pretty well these days. How are you? :-) The multi does have about 25 mcg of most of the B vitamins, but like 800 mcg of B 12. I did feel a bit flush in the face, and I know niacin can cause that. Hmmmm...

Kleeo--That's funny, my headaches feel like they are in my sinuses too. The air has been drier lately, since the furnace is running. Something else to think about.


Okay, does anyone else get "burps" from their vitamins, complete with vitamin "flavor"? Yuk!

Hi RS

Glad to hear you are taking Vitamins.
Even though my doctor told me I am wasting my money
after reading the posts here i know that they are very important
at this time of our lives.

B Vitamins can upset your stomach. Try drinking more water when you
take them & don't take them on a empty stomach.

Hope you are feeling better..
Angel0508

Yup! My B-complex gives me 'back-wash-taste', as my daughter gracefully puts it! And it is DISgusting!
HUGS!

Kleeo,
Try taking your vitamins in the middle of your meal.....so food is in your stomach before to prevent stomach irritation, then everything washed down with even more food. Should take care of it unless maybe you have reflux. Also, if you are taking multiple supplements, spread them out over your meals during the day. This strategy has worked for me.

I found this info about Niacin on the web:

"Some side effects may occur but usually diminish or stop as treatment continues. Please contact your doctor if any of the following get worse: flushing, tingling, feeling of warmth, headache, dizziness, stomach upset, nausea, vomiting. Also tell your doctor about any side effects that continue."

The headache and the flushing/warm feeling sound like the symptoms I have had this week. I'm hoping it's a good sign that I didn't have a headache today. My multi has 75 mg of Niacin in it, which is 375% of the RDA.

That's interesting stuff, RS. My B complex has Niacin in it but only 25%, and so far I seem to be tolerating it well. Glad you didn't have a headache today - it sure is a bugger when you have to deal with that on top of everything else!
HUGS!

Hi RS,

I've had vitamin headaches before. I think some people tend to get them while others don't. My husband can take a handful of MEGA vitamins and he's never had a vitamin headache, whereas I could only take the "super" vitamins that they give you when you're pregnant up until one month after I had each of my children - after that month, the vitamins gave me headaches. I figured they were just too strong.

As I entered menopause, I tried a MEGA multi-vitamin, but it made me feel ill, even when I took it with food, and I think it was because I was getting too much of one or two vitamins that I didn't need. And I still wasn't getting enough of other vitamins to deal with my symptoms. Now, I take a simple mulit-vitamin, and where I need other specific vitamins - like B-6 or calcium/magnesium - I take a separate, specific supplement. Works for me like a charm.

Hope your feeling better soon!

The headache seemed to go away finally. But the "energy" I felt from this "Daily Energy Multivitamin" felt like negative energy, not good energy. It has felt more like tense, frustrated, angry energy.

For example I was trying to pull something off a shelf in the garage, but it was stuck. I said to myself, daggummit, I'm gonna rip this thing right out...And I did. So I had the "energy" to fight and pull the thing loose, physically speaking, but mentally I had angry energy.

Then the other day there were some boxes that needed to go down to the basement. I was tired of looking at them. Now, I have tendonitis, so I need to be careful about what I lift. But I had energy...angry energy! So I said to myself, daggummit, I'm taking these boxes downstairs or else! I felt a surge of physical energy to actually do it, but in my mind I felt angry energy.

Am I weird?

Chrysaliys, you said that super-mega-multis have made you feel ill before? Can you tell me more?

Rendy, you said B vitamins made you feel anxious?

Che che, in chat you said B vitamins made you feel hyper-stressed?

Has anyone else had these kinds of feelings with B vitamins or multis, or other vitamins?

Thanks everyone!

RS,

Yes, I had similar feelings with the B Complex. I had energy but it made me feel jumpy and weird. I'm happier with just taking the specific vitamin/supliment that helps me.

Oh, I also tried Estrovan. It has niacin in it too and that gave me anxiety attacks as well.

I can't remember ever being so sensitive to various ingredients of stuff!

Greenie, my BF and sister say that whenever they take ANY kind of vitamins, it makes them feel like they are taking speed...

Hello again RS,

My body seems to communicate by headache - a pretty effective way to get my attention, since I never get headaches otherwise.

The first time I got vitamin headaches was two weeks after having my first child. I was still taking the prenatal vitamins - there's alot of everything in them - but stopped breastfeeding after the first week - it wasn't working for me or my baby. Within another week, I had these awful headaches across the front and top of my head, everyday, that nothing would cure. I stopped taking the vitamins, and the headaches instantly went away.

Another time I got vitamin headaches, I was taking a B-complex that had been opened and in our cupboard for nearly a year. They were not expired - according to the date, they had more than another year of life/potency - but apparently, opening the bottle aged them somewhat. I threw those away and bought a new, smaller bottle (FYI - the reason I had so many for so long was I bought a huge container to "save money"). Even though the new B-complex was MORE potent (higher % of most of the B-vitamins) than the old bottle, I don't get headaches with the new. I think the other bottle had gone bad - despite the expiration date.
Now I only buy as much as I can consume in three or so months.

Vitamin E has also given me headspins - I suspected the age of the vitamins, but when I bought new, the headspins still came. After reading something about vitamin E causing high blood pressure, I that taking the supplement was causing me to have an excess in my system, and headspins was how my body let me know it.

Hope this helps!

I, too, get headaches from vitamins. I also get the vitamin "burp" with vitamin "flavor." An interesting note: a while ago my children started consuming a lot of fortified energy bars, and they started complaining of headaches. They bars are full of added vitamins, and think they got overloaded. I try to eat well and get the vitamins from nature.

I just started taking a b-complex sublingual liquid. I had been taking a pillform of the same thing, except the liquid has a "burst of b-12"!. I've had a terrible headache, but then I guess I occasionally get them!! <_< It has 1200 mcg of b-12, which is 20,000 percent of daily value!!! Would that give me headache? Yikes, I'd hate to think I'm taking something that's good for me and is making me sicker!!!

By the way, I have terrible anxiety, only made worse by the headaches. I laid in bed last night and felt like I was having a stroke, my head hurt so bad. It's a weird kind of headache, kinda feels like something crawling across my scalp. today my scalp feels sore. anyone else get this?[SIZE=14]

alicia,

My fancy multi had a ton of vitamin B 12 too, about the same amount yours does. Personally, I suspect that the B 12, and maybe the other B vitamins, caused headaches for me. Maybe it's the same with you, too? I don't think the vitamins are making you "sicker" but your body might be sensitive to them, and perhaps doesn't like such a high amount of them. Any extra will be flushed out in urine, so it's not dangerous or anything.

I'm back to taking my cheap drugstore brand multi, and I feel fine.

My husband happened to mention that he gets very nauseas when he takes multi-vitamins. He heard on some ask-the-doctor call-in radio program that when you get nausea or have other bad reactions from vitamins it's usually due to the iron. The solution is to take multi-vitamins without iron.

On that topic I was reading on some consumer web site which published an evaluation of vitamin brands--I think it was Science in the Public Interest or some similar organization-- that women's vitamins usually contain far too much iron. Too much iron is bad. It also recommended skipping the multi-vitamins with iron or else selecting a multi-vitamin brand that is low in iron.

I'm 53, peri and I don't take vitamins, I am trying to go with herbs and diet for meno symptoms. But... I have also had that sinus like headache and figured it was caused by hormones. I always got a headache right before I would start my period. Now that my periods are irregular I figured I was getting the headache and keeping it as long as my hormones were out of whack that way. I have started using sea salt nose spray peroidically during the day and have added some new humidifiers to the house. This seems to be helping.