Resolved question:
I have been feeling depressed/extremely anxious during the past week and nothing has changed in my life except the fact that I have been taking GNC's Women's Multivitamin Pack for the past month. I have read that there is an excessive amount of Vitamin B in these packs, and that many people experience mood side effects because of this. Do you know how long it takes Vitamin B to be flushed out of one's system after a month of taking it?
Submitted:
4 Days
Category:
Internal Medicine Specialist
Hello,
Thank you for choosing DoctorSpring.
You are right. GNC Vitamin supplements (especially the mega , ultra mega ones) do contain high doses of certain vitamins. Eventhough such high doses are never recommended it is unlikely that you will develop side effect from this, especially anxiety or mood related effects. However since there was no precipitating factor for anxiety I would entertain this possibility.
Vitamins A, D, E, K and to some extend B12 are stored in the body- mostly in the liver. These might be stored for months. Other B complex Vitamins are water soluble and hence it is easily excreted from the body in few days (less than a week). The good news in that the mega doses in GNCs are of mostly B complex vitamins and hence it will be easily excreted in weeks. B12 supplements in high dose are safe and will not cause anxiety or mood related issues.
Hope this helps
Feel free to ask followups / clarifications
Thank you