B complex - Vitamins & Supplements Message Board

Fred1976 · 08-13-2004, 01:31 PM

Hello. I suffer from anxiety and have been having a few too many beers every evening.(4-6) I have cut back on the beer to 3 or 4 twice a week. I have been told that to help my anxiety and Panic attacks B Vitamins are recommended. Would anyone have any suggestions on which brand is a good brand and which foods I should focus more on? Does it take time to start feeling better also? Thanks.

Jess75 · 08-14-2004, 09:09 AM

I don't know the exact names of the manufacturers but your local health food store has different ones, liquid if perferred. I was looking at different one's at Whole Foods. Gnc has them too!

isolated one · 08-14-2004, 06:08 PM

I can tell you from my own experience that a B-Complex does not help with anxiety. However, it's a very good idea to take the B-Complex because alcohol robs the body of B vitamins. It also does the same (but to a lesser extent) with other vitamins and nutrients, so it would be a good to also take a multi vitamin as well. I like my beer and take both. I also take a standardized extract of Milk Thistle. Anxiety is a big issue with me as well. Valerian at least has given some relief. It should not be taken with alcohol. Hope this helps.

Kime · 09-07-2004, 11:02 AM

Hi isolated one,

How much B were you taking? I understand that niacin is especially important for people who drink alcohol and also that is the most important B for helping anxietly because it blocks the production of excess adrenaline, so maybe you weren't taking enough niacin to make a difference with the anxiety because the alcohol depleted the niacin. If you were only taking 1 B-50 capsules every day or something like that I'm not surprised that it didn't help. Vitamin C also blocks excess adrenaline and so it is a good one to take, too. For best results you should take vitamin C to close to bowel tolerance which for most people is at least 5 grams 3 times a day and you can check to see how much niacin you need by taking 100mg of niacin every 15 minutes on an empty stomach until you flush. You can take it with food in your stomach, but that delays absorption and sometimes you can get the flush quite a while later and it can surprise you unexpectedly. The flush tells you that that is how much your body wants, and if your stores of niacin are low it can be quite a lot, I took 3200mg the first time I flushed, and I don't even drink! I did have a full stomach, though. Now I usually flush with 100mg because I take 300mg of niacinamide every day, but at first I was taking 1000mg a day. After you find the amount that makes you flush you can switch to niacinamide, which doesn't cause the flush, and take the amount that make you flush divided into two doses a day. If you are taking enough niacin and C and if they are going to help you you should notice a difference within a day, I should think, but if you don't take enough niacin to flush it would probably take longer depending on how short your body is on niacin and how much you are taking and if it is enough to gradually raise your stores of niacin to the level they need to be at. After a while if you are taking enough your stores will be replenished and you won't need to take as much each day. If you are taking more niacinamide than your body wants you will become nauseated and you need to lower the dose to below that level, but it won't hurt you. The slow release form of niacin has been found to possibly cause liver damage but the regular form is perfectly safe.