Vitamins and Supplements

[Fismith69]

Hi 👋🏼, do any of you take any multi vitamins or herbal supplements? I was taking a vita biotic to boost my immune system ( I work in a hospital)for a about a year but not sure if I can take them after recently being diagnosed with HF.

[stevejb1810]

You are ideally placed to get first hand advice, working in a hospital. I think the advice is to be careful with herbal supplements because some can interact with you ‘normal’ meds. I don’t know if any issues with vitamins, provided of course you are not overdosing with them . If in any doubt, don’t take the herbal ones until you have had the opportunity to talk to a pharmacist or GP.

[MichaelJH Heart Star]

If you are on prescribed medicine for any medical condition you should always check with your GP/pharmacist as Stevejb1810 advised. One herbal supplement St Johns Wort, can interact badly with prescription meds and is best avoided - there are others. Fish oil supplements may interfere with drugs like warfarin. Vitamins within the recommended daily allowance are usually OK - but check first. I take Vitamin C, with cardio's agreement as there does appear to be a link between blood vessel irritation and plaque build up (vitamin C prevented scurvy a blood vessel disease).

[MichaelJH Heart Star in reply to MichaelJH]

One thing I forgot to add was be very careful if buying vitamins/herbal remedies/supplements over the internet. While online shopping with companies like Holland and Barrett is fine be wary of those in South America/Africa/Asia. There may be little quality control on what you are getting and other ingredients could be toxins/carcinogens.

[Fismith69 in reply to MichaelJH]

Thank you! I’m definitely a Holland and Barrett girl, rather pay the extra and know what I’m getting 👍🏽

[Transformerman]

Vitamin supplements are not known to have any problems. Herbal remedies, as mentioned by others in this thread, are another matter and you should consult with your GP or a Pharmacist about their use. You can reassure yourself about vitamins at the same time!