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 12 February 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."
97 Answers Page 3
All medications including vitamin, herbal, and "natural" supplements potentially have side effects and may cause interactions with other medications you may be taking and even with each other.
If you must take vitamins take a multi-vitamin rather than risking overdosing on single formulations... unless your health care professional prescribes differently for specific medical conditions.
Yes you nailed it on the head there. I recall taking a single multi vit and having no side effects what so ever.
I have also just learned when taking supplements you should only take max 3 a day and check for interactions. My vit D and magnesium Oxide interact. Also I think I have over done it on the supplements and it's making me lethargic and stressed. The liver can only take so much toxicity and everything is toxic even in small doses. I will just take my St John's wort and CBD oil from now on and when it gets to flu season I will add a multivit and drink echinacea tea. No wonder my liver is always raised ALT.
In 2016, I had the night panic attack while visiting my family in Brazil. I am a pretty healthy person. Workout regularly and I am vegetarian. Back them, living alone in a small apartment having this awful panic attacks At night I started to going over, food, supplements and vitamins I was taking that would lead to my panic attack at night. Then I realized that I was consuming a lot of hemp seeds due to being rich in iron. I don’t take even Tylenol for pain, and I was considered these vitamins safe, so I stopped consuming any product made of hemp seeds and the night panic attacked disappeared after 3 months. It has last 4 years since I had a major episode and then two nights in a row, I woke up panicking. I am a pretty calm person, and rarely something interferes with my sleep, or worries me.
Recently, during the pandemic, I found myself with not job, with a $80k in debt, in the process of getting ivf as my husband can’t conceive through the natural way, not mentioned I’m 43, so my clock is ticking fast, but on top of all that our landlord requested that we move out at the end of the month. So even though, o was worried but I never let any problems take away my sleep, continued to do my runnings every other day, and my calorie reduced diet, drinking my spinach’s juices, and taking my complex B vitamins. Then 2 days ago, the worst happen, then again last night. When one wake up, in the middle of the night, with a severe panic attack. This 2 last time, took me around a hour to calmed down and go back to sleep. Today, doing my researches, and seeking what I was doing differently that triggered this night panic attacked I came across this forum, and the increased intake of complex B, vitamin B12 2500mcg and hair, skin and nails gummies that I’ve been taking over 2 months. After reading these posts, I am positive these vitamins cocktail has been causing my night panic attacks to return, and I have no doubt, The sooner I stop taking them, the sooner this night panic attack will go away. The lesson, I take from this is, be very sure what you put into your body. There’s no such thing as natural supplements and vitamins, it’s all bullshit. It is all a scam! God bless you all and believe me, take away from your life anything that is taking away your peace of mind!
I completely agree with you on having a better understanding in what we put in our bodies. It's been about 6 weeks since I stopped B Complex and I still get anxiety attacks here and there, not to mention that I still feel tense when standing/walking at times. Hopefully this will go away soon!
And you just made me realize that I've been adding quite a bit of hemp hearts to my dinner meal prep (4 meals a week) for about a year now. I had no idea that hemp contains B6, folate, etc.
I have too noticed when I take B-Complex or B-12 on its own I too get jittery, foggy minded and over stimulant and also causes me anxiety. My wife is right, there is enough B vitamins in foods and its how our body absorbs it from food. I suffer with acid reflux so I also take omeprazole but I have read up omeprazole can cause deficiency in multiple vitamins because your stomachs zero acid won't absorb nutrients. So I will correct my diet to meet my acid reflux issue and stay off b supplements. I only take vitd, zinc and copper and few others.
I'm so happy to stumble upon this thread!!! So my experience has been as follows:
About May 2019, I started taking multivitamins (Centrum multivitamin for men) for no reason other than the fact that i was turning 40 that December, and have been told that I should start taking it. I am a healthy, athletic man who works out 4x a week and plays basketball 2x a week, who leads a balanced lifestyle with chicken/salmon and veggies most of the week. Anyway, I've had anxiety since 2014, and prior to 2019, anxiety attacks would come on maybe once every 2-3 weeks or so, but since 2019, I've noticed that I've been generally more anxious on a consistent basis, and fast forward to June 2020, I began taking B Complex under the advice of a life coach for anxiety. Since taking that, I've noticed that not only am I getting anxiety attacks more regularly, the intensity is harder to contain, and also been getting this floaty/standing on a boat feeling whenever I would stand/walk, which scared the living crap out of me!
Yes! I am long recovered now. But last winter I was visiting someone in the hospital and we got into a very fast elevator and when it moved down I looked at my husband and told him that was the feeling I had in my head when the Bs took over my life. It was so horrible. Floaty boat feeling describes it as well.
Also very glad to read this, my symptoms are almost text book to what everyone else is saying!
First week of taking a high dose Vit B multi (plus I’m also taking folic acid (B6) for pre-pregnancy) which I should have accounted for- I had nausea, some random stomach pains, frequent passing urine, but lots of energy! (I was thinking I might be in early stages of pregnancy with some of these symptoms). I was also taking Vit D daily dosing and a probiotic. All new for me, as I am trying to prep my body to be healthy for a pregnancy!
After a week of taking them I was going out for the day and had a coffee first thing, I was busy and hadn’t had the chance to eat and ended up having another coffee that afternoon. All of a sudden I had a panic attack out of nowhere that almost lasted a couple hours, where I had to control my breathing in order not to let it become out of control. This was strange for me as I haven’t had one in about ten years since but generally am an anxious type of personality.
Anyway I put it down to the coffee, and for the next few days have had baseline high anxiety and panic feelings at times, a bit depressed at times and tearful due to not knowing the cause of this anxiety. I also was waking up with shakes which feels like it’s coming from within my body- so odd as honestly life’s good and I have nothing to be panicked or anxious about!
I had no idea it could trigger anxiousness so unfortunately have taken them everyday for the past two weeks including yesterday!
I will now stop taking all my b supplements and probiotics and focus on calming my system. No coffee or anything and hopefully it will go back to normal by a couple weeks! What a terrible experience when you think you’re doing something good for yourself!
I found caffeine made it worse. Hang in their it should be better soon.
I am currently going through the same thing, it’s day 5 without taking mega b complex and my throat is still feeling tight, my breathing isn’t great, having trouble sleeping and I generally feel ill.
I was taking the mega b complex for a couple weeks and started to feel symptoms after one week fast heart rate, difficulty catching my breath and a slight chest discomfort I then had a massive anxiety attack(my first)
My question is did anyone feel that eating made the physical symptoms worse and is there something I can take for relief of the physical symptoms or do I have to ride this out I feel like I have poisoned myself and I’m going crazy
Hello! The only thing that really helped me was hydrating. Lots of plain water. Tried to just flush it out of my system. It took a few weeks, I’m sorry to say. But it’s been a year for me and all is now well. My advice to you would be: hang in there! What you’re feeling is normal. Don’t let worry consume you. You will feel better! It will pass.
A few months ago I was eating a lot of protein bars and started to feel off. Read the label and noticed they were packed with B vitamins. So, some foods might trigger you as well.
Take care! You’ll be feeling better soon.
Thank you
Oh, and I forgot to mention: I read somewhere that B12 attaches itself to the appropriate proteins in your blood. And it takes a week (approximately) to recycle red blood cells. So... that’s why it can take a while for the B12 symptoms, at least, to go away.
YES this can cause all kinds of anxiety. I have taken b12 here and there a few times, and I recall very vividly the overwhelming symptoms I had: anxiety, racing heart, even chest pain! So when my doctor told me (because my iron is on the low side) I would “benefit from a multivitamin” I was mindful to choose something with no more than 100% daily values of things. Naturelo women’s one daily. I was good for a week. I did have more energy but slept well. Then on day 8 I noted a slight chest pain. I thought maybe my heart burn had returned. But my H2 blocker wasn’t touching it. It got worse over the next 3 days until I felt light-headed and dizzy the afternoon of the 3rd day (of feeling off - day 7 or 8 on the vitamin). The only thing I was taking at that point was the damn vitamin, so I stopped it. The next day was better. Now I am off for three days, little worse today. I had a panic attack this afternoon at work and chest pains in the morning.
This is from taking no more than the daily value! I am 100% sure that is what this is, and dang... I hope it gets OUT of my system! And I’m seeing I have to wait 1-2 weeks? LORD have mercy. I was shaking like a leaf at the worst of it, cold, hands turning blue. Heart arrhythmias. I did not know if I was going to make it. I’m still contemplating ER just to check. No more Bs for me. EVER.
Hang in there. I spend $4000 at the doctors still I figured it out. I'm happy to report I am back to normal 6 months later. If you didn't take it long it shouldn't last long. I took it for 3 weeks on accident so it took 5 weeks to go away. Baby aspirin helped me with my heart issues caused by b12.
Follow up on my post from Nov 9th.
Thanks God I am back to normal, I mean 99% as I was before. Now, retrospectively I tried to look back to figure out what caused me this major panic attack accompanied by this severe anxiety.
1. In my efforts to have a healthy life I did the following:
I took the B 50 Complex for several weeks prior to the panic attack.
I took for a few months inulin and two other soluble fibers (as pre-biotics)
I took a multi-strain probiotic (a double dose).
2. All the above are well known to feed the gut bacteria. What happened in fact is that, yes they fed the gut bacteria (good and bad) but this exacerbated, over-excite the vague nerve (the brain gut connection). Hyper-excitation of this nerve plays a strong role in anxiety and the control of sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system. During the weeks I had the generalized anxiety, I felt my heart was beating one inch below the sternum, exactly where this nerve is.
3. The B vitamins are also well known to boost the adrenal glands function, allowing to increase the production of epinephrine and norepinephrine (also known as adrenaline and noradrenaline) and other cathecolamines. These neurotransmitters in overdose cause an increased HR, palpitations, restlessness, fear, anxiety, panic.
4. Despite all the above, my anxiety prone feeling would have probably remained unnoticed and wouldn’t have culminated into a such an ugly panic attack without a triggering factor. This was just a thought, something totally subjective, caused by my own thinking, the fear of a potential future catastrophic condition.
Now I’m feeling much much better, I took a short vacation (which was very good for forgetting what I went through). I stopped all the supplements, excepting Omega3, magnesium, l-theanine melatonin, and l-tryptophan for sleep and mood. My sleep is back to normal.
I wrote all this hoping that it could help other people who went through similar problems
Hi! Thank you for commenting! Do you mean the prebiotic as well as the probiotic caused your anxiety too? I did not really understand
I feel like honestly it is solely the b12 that causes so much anxiety, and many people have noticed they went back to normal once they stopped taking it.
This is an answer to Audrey18.
Yes, the probiotics, are over the counter gut bacteria, the prebiotics are fibers that represent the main food for the gut bacteria and also B vitamins are known to promote the overgrowth of gut bacteria. All the above taken together especially the prebiotics and B vitamins, will create SIBO (small intestine bacterial overgrowth). New studies suggest that SIBO especially is people with leaky gut, will produce anxiety and depression... Read the following article
These are two-way communications systems, so that, for example, the microbiota – the combined pattern of microbes in the gut – can affect the stress response, the immune response, hormonal control of digestion and the predisposition to various conditions such as irritable bowel syndrome, obesity, diabetes, depression and anxiety. In turn, the ENS – and likely the CNS – can affect the pattern of bacteria in the microbiome as well as the digestive processes of the gut. However, it is becoming clearer that this is only the tip of the iceberg – the ENS, CNS and the microbiota can interact to produce dysfunction in the digestive, neurological, immune and hormonal systems, and to affect mental health.
The HPA axis is central in controlling the response to stress – and, as evidenced by the phrases like “my guts were tied in knots” or “I saw the accident and my stomach just dropped” – is both affected by and has effects on the ENS. The stress response – controlled in major part by the HPA axis – can be directly affected by abnormal gut bacteria early in life.
Serotonin (5HT) – a neurotransmitter sometimes called the “happiness hormone”, affecting mood, depression and anxiety – is found in its highest concentrations in the gut. A recent study from CalTech found that bacteria in the gut play a “critical role in regulating host 5-HT.” The microbiome is implicated in both anxiety and depression, disorders where 5-HT can play a critical role.
Hi I just took B12 3 days ago 2 doses and the 2nd night started shaking... I have been dealing with anxiety so thought it was that but felt so much different. My cheeks have also been super flushed and warm and I kinda feel really weird mentally from time to time like dizzy and fainty... to day is day two off of it and it’s making me feel even crazier.
I have always been very sensitive to B vitamins. They worsen my anxiety, cause panic attacks and cause increased teeth grinding. I can’t even take a multi with B vitamins. There is definitely a relation between the two, at least for some people.
Hi guys
Im so relieved I found this thread!!! Ive been taking desiccated liver pills which are really high in vitamin b’s and ive had the worst anxiety come out of nowhere. Ive had insomnia and heart palpitations too. Ive stopped taking the pills but its coming up to three weeks of anxiety. How long did it take for the effects to wear off? Is there anything I can do to lower the b vitamins?
Many thanks
It depends on how long you have taken the vitamins. For me it took about 3 months to be 100% completely back to normal. But I also took them for 6 weeks on accident (infused water). Other people are much less. My doctor told me 3-4 weeks to be normal. At 4 weeks I was 99% back to normal. That last 1% took a while. Hang in there, you will feel normal again with time.
Look back at my old posts it says it took 5 weeks to be 99% normal. Also I was told drinking pure water was the best way to flush the system (no more electrolyte water for me ever again!) Sometimes l-theanine helped me with anxiety. Strangely low dose baby aspirin helped with heart palpitations.
Thank you so much for your response! I really appreciate it. Im just riding this out and taking herbal nytol to keep me calm. Hopefully this will pass quickly
Hi, I’m retired but very active, I go to gym, do other sports too. Recently I started taking for the first time in my life a B50 complex pill and a vit D, in order to increase my deep sleep, as Dr. Stasha Gominak was suggesting. Two three weeks later, I started shaking and feeling an internal fear and tremors. I didn’t know why and what was happening with me. Suddenly the idea that I might have Parkinsons emerged in my mind. This just triggered a sudden and extremely severe panic attack in an already boosted anxiety condition caused by the B vitamins. I’m 60 and have never felt something this. I’ve been in my life sometimes a little anxious in certain situations, but nothing like this. The symptoms of this panic attack were terrible, I couldn’t take deep breaths, the breath was very shallow, I was shaking continuously, very dizzy, couldn’t eat at all, with nausea, with a heavy mental fog.
Imagine you’re speeding on the highway and the police stops you. Take that feeling and multiply it by 10. I could sleep only with melatonin, but I was waking up in the middle of the night with internal shaking and fear. After a few days of this condition I felt so tired as if I ran 2 marathons. I tried everything, meditation, praying, breathing, nothing really helped, it just reduced the symptoms for a short time, but then the shakes came back. This fed even more the idea that I have Parkinsons. I was very depressed and I started having suicidal thoughts. Then I said to myself, hey stop... maybe it’s something else. Maybe it’s a chemical unbalance of the brain due to some recent changes or external factors. What did I add recently? Ah the B complex. I stopped the B vitamins, and I started to feel a bit better, but not completely better, then I realized that it takes time for these chemicals to be completely eliminated. I then discarded the idea that I have Parkinsons. All this happened to me very recently, it lasted a week and I am still in a recovery mode, but I’m felling much better now, with just one episode of mild tremor per day. I restated slowly my activities. The problem was that when I felt my first symptoms, I didn’t realized that the vitamins were the reason and I continued to take them for a while. And this made things much worse. One more thing I want to add, I could not imagine that a panic attack like the one I had could bring someone in a such miserable state in such a short period of time.
I found this discussion thread after searching about anxiety and B Vitamins, and I see that other people confirmed my discovery. I am glad that I can contribute and let people know what can happen by taking a simple vitamin complex.
I don’t understand how come websites that describe the side effects of different drugs don’t mention anything about this.
I am sure that each person reacts differently to external drugs (even if the drugs are just benign vitamins). It depends on the body mass, gender, etc.
I can’t believe they are still selling B100 and B200. Maybe elephants could benefit from these.
MRTT1:
Glad you came here to leave your "review." I remember the night terrors, absolute fear, and overall stress I had vividly. I wanted to jump off a bridge at times to end the anxiety, and I was seriously wondering if I was losing my mind. Unfortunately, the experience of having these symptoms for weeks on end left me with a full blown anxiety disorder and it was hard to differentiate between me having some other disease or condition (as you mention Parkinson's in your case) and just side effects from B12. It's just a "water soluble" vitamin, they all say. The lack of answers from doctors, verified medical science, and reliable user experiences online really affected me during this time -- I am really glad people are on here posting their experiences and how they got better. I know that would have helped me a lot during this "trip," for lack of a better word.
I'm still curious of the mechanisms that lead people to have such bad side effects? Clearly people take this stuff without anything negative things to report. I only took methylcobalamin B12 about 1000 mcg. I would definitely consider myself to have had anxiety issues beforehand, but nothing like after taking B12. I am a highly logical person and going into a doctor's office talking about B12 and methylation and extreme anxiety was very difficult for me to do -- but there was not other explanation in how I could wake up and feel the worst anxiety I'd ever experience.
Anyways, I imagine your negative symptoms will go away in due time, and just embrace the anxiety, don't fight it. Don't put a timeline on it and don't obsess in trying to cure it with other supplements (other than melatonin). You also probably don't have Parkinson's, but never hurts to keep an eye on it (not a physician of course).
Hope you keep feeling better soon. Anticipate some setbacks here and there with your anxiety. I can attest to being worked up and stressed for my life weeks on end does not do good things to your mental health.
Keep us posted soon so other people can be helped.
Some people with both MTHFR and COMT (especially homozygous) genetic polymorphysms are VERY sensitive to methyl groups. Common methyl donors would be B12 (in the form of methylcobalamin), folate (in the form of methylfolate) and other methylated B vitamins. Those people should consider unmethylated forms of B12 (hydroxocobalamin) and folate (folinic acid, not to be confused with folic acid).
It took me at least 5 weeks to feel better. Hang in there, you will feel better. You are not crazy. Take one day at a time and know now that your body is super sensitive to b vitamins. I check all my drinks now to make sure it has no added b vitamin. No matter how long it takes, YOU WILL FEEL NORMAL again.
NOTHING is "JUST" a vitamin, OTC, herbal, etc. They can cause adverse reactions, have side effects, have serious interactions with other remedies and especially with prescription medications.
Anyone taking any preparation or medication, or who has a medical condition should always consult with their doctor or pharmacist before taking any of these.
And ALWAYS tell your doctor about ANY of these remedies that you may be taking.
I was told 2-4 weeks to feel better. I got to much b vitamins from propell eltrolite water. I gave up diet dew and coffee and replaced it with flavored vitamins water... drinking 4 a day. In 2 months I felt horrible..horrible anxiety, dizziness, heart palpitations, strange gasping, and feeling unwell . I went to the doctor and paid for lots and lots of tests. My b vitamin levels were off the charts. Doc said to cut it all b vitamins, said I will feel better in 2-4 weeks. It is week 3 and I have recovered 90%. hoping the last 10% in a week. Avoid eltrolite water or at least read how much b vitamins are listed on it. They can mess you up.
Hang in there! Sounds like you’re doing great. It took me a while but everything did in fact get back to normal. Crazy how vitamins can do this to you.
Thanks Eeklady. I can't tell you how many times I have read your posts on here. Your posts kept me grounded. I dont know what would have happened if I haven't found this thread.
Ohh I’m glad to be of help. Thanks for saying that. It was a really scary experience for me. I always thought vitamins were harmless... But I think this might be a more common reaction than we think. And once I “survived”- I really wanted to make sure that other people knew it would be ok too. By this time next week I bet you’ll be back to your old self! Just lots of (plain) water. That helped me tons. Best wishes!
**propel electrolyte water** was what I was trying to type up above. Avoid it if you read this post. It cost me a lot of unneeded suffering.
5 weeks and I'm back to normal. thanks again eek
Glad to hear you’re all better!! :-)
Hello :) Do you feel better by now?
Yup. Never going by b vitamins again
I'm approaching Week 4 this Monday since stopping B Complex. I feel like the symptoms are on and off (almost as if it's relapsed) - anybody feel that way?
I’ve been taking the Kirkland B12 super complex for about a month. I went on vacation the end of July into August and 3 days into the vacation before bed that night my anxiety shortness of breath started. I have never had this form of anxiety before. I had stopped taking the pills on the vacation but when I came back I started taking them again.. I have been having this shortness of breath problem consistently. I stopped taking the pills about 6 days ago. I do feel better but I am still having this feeling. I am hoping within a week I can flush it out of my system and feel a lot better. I decided to take the medicine on my own without a doctors advice. I thought it would give me more energy. It was nice to find this thread.
Update*** I have been feeling better since I stopped taking the super B complex about 2 1/2 weeks ago. I would say I feel 75-80% better. Still have those moments where I feel I need to take deep breaths.
I'm going on week 4 and am 95% better. Eek says it takes time.. maybe some of us take 5 weeks.
I’m going on week 5 now. I still don’t feel 100% yet but I am definitely feeling better. I didn’t feel that great this weekend but I think it is slowly going away. I went to a fund raiser and a wedding this weekend and felt the anxiety more. I just get the need to take a deep breath is what my symptom is and get weird feelings throughout my body. Will keep posted. I do believe it is getting a lot better but slowly.
Maybe try chamomile tea. That's what I did the last week. It's like my brain needed to heal and to be shown a way to calm down. Chamomile tea helps with mild anxiety. Most people take into help sleep, but on anxiety forum they use it for generalized anxiety.
I’ve been feeling quite anxious lately from health scares and changes in my life. Up to now I’ve been able to function day to day but needed something to relax me a little bit. I decided to take vitamin b complex on the advice of a Health store worker. Only have been taking them for 3 days or so and my anxiety shot through the roof. I didn’t think anything of it but now believe the vitamin b is the cause. I’ve told people about this who don’t believe a vitamin can do this. I really hope it is the case because I’m going out of my mind with mental fog and anxiety! Does anyone know how long it will take to get out of my system?
My case was exactly the same. Health scares, feeling a bit anxious, a friend recommended super b and after the second day of taking it, I was experiencing full on panic attacks. My advice? Hang in there! It is normal. Don’t let your mind think that you’ll never feel better. I was so worried about that. You will! It took me probably a good week and a half to almost two weeks to feel less anxious and I was extremely shakey (if that is a word) as well. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. Drink lots. That will help. Relax. And rest. I have found that for me that “calm aid” lavender pills work wonderfully. No scary side effects. I get them on amazon. But I will stay away from B complex from now on! Take care and don’t worry! It’s normal or at least, it was for me. Hugs!
I am going to try the calm and. My anxiety has been uncontrollable so I stopped my b complex this morning and hope it helps. Something has to!
Hi! It took me several weeks to get back to normal after quitting but hang in there. Lots of water!!! You will feel better soon. Just try not to worry.
Hi I know this is an old post but roughly how long did it take for the anxiety to go away?? Did it take you a full 2 weeks??
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