anyone has side effects of vitamins u r taking??

[anala000]

Hi everyone!
gosh, i really hate this pcos..ita frustrating in every way!!

i just started taking vitamins because i read in the site what was recomended.
since 2 days ago i have been on saw palmetto(not sure how many mgs), st johns wort, flaxseed oil, evening primrose oil & cod liver, magnesium and calcium, multivitamins, vitamin c.
I am also on bcp, is it safe to still take all these vitamins?

since taking these tablets, i have really bad diarrhea! its insane! i havnt slept and its alreasy 3am and i have school tomorrow coz i just need to keep going to the toilet. i read on a website that it was the side effects of saw palmetto. but i read another site and it said magnesium tablets gives u diarhea.

anyone else has this problem? because i want to stop one fo these tablets..but dont know which one is causing this.

[SurrenderedCyster]

Hi!
One reason I can't take a lot of vitamins personally, is because of what you described here, as well as dizziness, and abdominal pain.
IMHO, ease up on the supplements, we don't need as many as we think or read about.....

Good luck!

[Lemonade Ladybug]

Yeah and sometimes when you 'start' that stuff it does have that effect because your body is trying to adapt to it.

I would encourage you to talk to someone reputable at an herb shop or some place that can tell you what, if any, interactions you might be having that aren't good ones.

Or you could always start over....stop taking all of it.... then take one kind for a while, then start the next one..etc... until you figured the 'problem' one out for yourself. Keep a journal.

Good luck...
LL

[flamenca]

I am seeing a dietician who told me to take a whole variety of stuff. Reason being that a healthy person, if on a 100% healthy diet, won't need extra vitamins or minerals, but we are not healthy, so our bodies need help. Makes sense to me. She asked me what supplements I took and told me to be careful with general over the counter stuff. A lot of it is not "bio-available", i.e. it contains the vitamins allright, but not necessarily in a form that our bodies can actually use, which means they "wash" right through us with no effect. I am wondering if that might be the case for some of the supplements you are taking, and if that causes the problems?

[cystiecutie]

I'm not sure whether you can take saw palmetto as well as bcp. I understood that you shouldn't take vitex while on bcp either. Does anyone know about this?

[penguinlover]

I would suggest talking to your doctor about this.

The only vitamin I am taking on my own is a multi-vitamin. My doctor recommended fish oil for my cholesterol which I am also taking. That's it.

If I was going to take any other type of herb or supplement, I would run it past my doctor. As an alternative, a pharmacist is a good choice too.

There is a lot of contradictory information out there about herbs. Do they work or don't they? There is no regulation of herbs either. Personally, I don't really trust them.

[februarystar]

There are two types of vitamins - fat soluble and water soluble. Water soluble ones will flush right out of your system in urine and it is very difficult to 'overdose' but fat soluble ones are not so easy to get rid of and can lead to complications. It is also important that you check and double check, both with your doctor and on medical factsheets and websites (check credibility of website though!) how vitamin supplementation can affect any medications you are taking!

[isenephthys]

anala, i agree that you might be on a few too many vitamins. it is difficult to know exactly what is reccomended/necessary for us and there are so many different (and conflicting!) statements out there. i think it is best to add one supplement at a time as l.l. suggested; pick one that seems reccomended for your symptoms and take it for about 4-6 weeks before adding in another. (it often takes months to reach the full benefit of an herbal product so you don't want to rush things b/c you won't know which one is actually helping/harming your progess.)

cystiec- i took saw palmetto for a while concurrently w/my ocp. i had no untoward side effects. i am not familar with vitex, but i did find an interesting site about vitex: http://www.herbmed.org/Herbs/Herb135...tegory5Herb135 it has information from multiple sources and states that there are no interactions.

as far as supplements go, i am taking a daily multivitamin and a b-vitamin supplement. the only s/e i have had is a bit of nausea if i take them on an empty stomach.

[isenephthys]

oh, i forgot to mention that magnesium is actually used as a laxative (milk of magnesia; magnesium citrate)... try eliminating it from your regimen and see if the diarrhea clears up. generally, most people don't need to supplement magnesium unless they have chronic low levels. vitamin c can also be a culprit.

i found some information on vitamins, dosages and toxicity:
http://1stholistic.com/Nutrition/hol...ic-dosages.htm
http://www.acu-cell.com/dis.html

[belle84]

i used to work in a hwalth shop so i had a good selection of ones to choose from

but i take a timed release multi vit/min which has all the normal ... its also have calcium and magnesium and then when i get run down i take an extra 1000mg timed release vit c and an iron supplement

i take these all the time and feel good on them .... if ur taking magnesium and calcium, multivitamins, vitamin c all in seprate tablets u are giving more things for your stomache to break down - so i would recommend a good brand multi vit and multi min all in one!!

im not sure where ur from but a brand called quest is good becuase it slowly releases the supplements as well!!

ALSO (lol about length).... word of warning if you have any type of medicated depression or take MAOIS (monoamine oxidase inhibitor ) PLEASE consult ur dr first as it can cuase stroke when mixed with certain meds. if u take ANY percribed meds you should chekc against ANY supplement here is a quick link on SJW

http://www.uml.edu/centers/CHP/CompMed/stjo.htm

[belle84]

sorry about the length

[Mallory]

There is a lot of contradictory information out there about herbs. Do they work or don't they? There is no regulation of herbs either. Personally, I don't really trust them.

They do work!

Mankind has been using herbs for healing purposes for thousands of years. The human race managed to survive without a meddling government bureaucracy, believe it or not




*