is it normal to feel somewhat disoriented(?) after taking b-complex?

[bitanoken]

i started taking b-complex yesterday after i had stopped taking it some time last year and i've felt disoriented or 'wobbly' both times i took it.

[teebeevee]

I know what you mean. I avoided B vitamins for years (tragically) because they always made me feel weird and racy. My sister refuses to take B complex, says it gives her terrible anxiety. If there are any methylated vitamins in your complex (methylfolate or methylcobalamin), that could an issue, some people just don't tolerate the extra methyl groups, so you could try a formulation without... But I also think that a strong reaction to something could be a signal that you are in short supply and really need it! That's the "vitamin paradox." You can feel worse before you feel better, and that seemed to be the case for me. But what a difficult thing to have faith in and try to sort through and stick through...

[Hidden in reply to teebeevee]

You say "tragically". What happened to you? Can you elaborate please? I do agree that with the vitamin "paradox", you do get worse before you get better. And if you stop too soon, you can experience a "rebound" deficiency because our body tries to regulate the nutrients, so when you supplement, absorption is reduced, and if you stop, the reduced absorption will trigger a rebound deficiency.

[teebeevee in reply to Hidden]

I say tragically because if I had stayed with B vitamins, and B12 especially, I don't think I would have suffered the serious neurological issues I am having a difficult time reversing now.... I am very interested in understanding this "rebound" deficiency idea. I have seen that talked about here before, about your body needing a whole lot more B12 in response to large doses, something about the downregulation of the transcobalamin enzyme if I remember correctly? I wonder where in the medical literature there is an explanation for such a mechanism?

[Hidden in reply to teebeevee]

Its an old theory going back to the 1920s that was observed with vitamin C. Back in those days (and prior) vitamin deficiencies were rampant. If you look up "rebound scurvy" you might find some very old information about it but it hasn't been studied anymore for the past 90 years. Now switching topics back to the B vitamin initial side effects, I asked my doctor just yesterday (when I got my 3rd B-complex injection) about these initial side effects, and she didn't know about them. You have to be careful with doctors as there topic of vitamin deficiencies is not well studied I would think. Teebeevee, I feel exactly like you. Right now I have sensations of pins and needles in my hands, feet, and less so around my body, some of which was not even there before and only started after the initial B-complex shot. If it hadn't been for some of these posts on the internet, I would have panicked thinking the B-complex shot was making me worse. Anyway, Teebeevee, most of the neurological damage can be reversed but it can take anywhere from 3 month to 1 and a half years. I read tons of info on this. The only thing that seems to be permanent is if you have total numbness. This happens when the nerves just completely died. So keep it up and don't let the side effect stop you this time. God bless you.

[Hidden]

I am currently on B-Complex injections. There first was an IV infusion. After the first round (the infusion) I actually got a sleepiness attack. B vitamins are supposed to give you energy. The drowsiness attack was powerful enough that I wanted to park my car somewhere and sleep. On the second round (the injection), the opposite happened. I had a fantastic day and felt very awake. Also, I've been feeling pins and needles since the first infusion. I've read in various places that this is the B vitamins waking up paralyzed nerves. I can't say for sure, but from my experience I do believe that you get worse before you get better when it comes to B vitamins as they revive damaged nerves that start acting erratically before they go back to function, kind of like starting an engine that had run out of gas; at first there will be shaking and backfiring and smoke before it starts running smoothly.