B12 supplement as a new vegan - Vegan Foods for Life

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B12 supplement as a new vegan

13 Replies

I became vegan last April. I bought a multivitamin containing vitamin D and B12 and it gave me really bad chest pain, I thought I might have a heart attack so I stopped taking and didn't supplement for months. Then I tried another vitamin with just b12 and vitamin D (since my level is 29) and my b12 was 300 but as a vegan I need to supplement, same extreme chest pain. I tried a supplement now just the other day 500 mcg cyanocobalamin B12 and feel chest tightness/pain although not as bad as before and heaviness and tingling in my arms hands fingers. Does anyone have any idea what I should do. I need to take B12 on a vegan diet.

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13 Replies
Agoodenough profile image
Agoodenough

Hi Fuego and welcome to Vegan food for life. I’m sorry you have experienced chest pain. I have taken B12 regularly (Solgar 1000 ug) and Vitamin D occasionally and have never experienced such problems. Have you consulted a doctor or a naturopath?

Ali 🙂🌱

in reply to Agoodenough

I told my doctor I’m vegan and she suggested taking a multivitamin but wasn’t much help after that. I consulted my nutritionist and she suggested just eating fortified foods. I need to find a doctor in functional medicine but it’s so expensive so I thought I’d see if anyone could help me here first. Thank you!

benwl profile image
benwlVolunteer

I've started taking vitamin B12 and D in oral spray form which is apparently more easily absorbed than regular pills.

I think it's unlikely that the vitamins themselves are causing your pain, more likely to be something else in the supplement or the tablet itself - so using a spray might help you.

in reply to benwl

Thank you I will try that

JAS9 profile image
JAS9

You didn't say - have you tried methylcobalamin? It might be worth a try, although unless you’re a smoker or have kidney failure, cyanocobalamin should be fine. Also, 500 mcg a day is more than you need - which is about 250 mcg a day. Here are a few videos you might find interesting: youtu.be/ZLwPACAhEW8

These are about Vit D:

youtu.be/7LYsYbgdzvo

For the next video, jump to 4:45 to skip to Vit D vs sun exposure:

youtu.be/hoF5Jnt0zNc

Dr Greger and Dr Popper are vegans that I believe you can trust their opinions.

andyswarbs profile image
andyswarbsVolunteer in reply to JAS9

These are excellent resources. Well worth watching.

Thank you so much I’ve watched a lot of Dr Gregors videos and a few of dr poppers . The one I took most recently was 500 mcg cyno and before I tried B12 and vitamin d together gummies and that was 259 mcg metho and it left me with heart pain as well . :/

Brightfeather profile image
Brightfeather

I use liquid Vit B12 fron Metabolics and have never had any adverse reactions.

Jens58 profile image
Jens58

I would also directly message the website that Dr Greger runs/ posts on which I think is nutritionfacts.org to ask for advice.

Kai-- profile image
Kai--

Supplemental B12 & Vitamin D/ hormone (& other nutrient) resources, Fuego: healthunlocked.com/cure-art.... 😌 🙏 🍀 🌺 🌞

.

andyswarbs profile image
andyswarbsVolunteer

I forgot to say multivitamins, in my book are a bad idea. Some vitamins you can have an excess of generally without issue, others you need an amount within tolerances. So B12 generally you can consume lots and excess, as with vitamin C gets peed out. Some multivitamins come with iron, and that you definitely don't want too much of!

Yeah i was reading a lot of information saying that taking high amounts of vitamin d can delete your calcium and magnesium since they work together so I thought the heart issues were from the vitamin d but then when I tried taking vitamin b12 by itself it wasn’t the same feeling as before but I still had some chest tightness and trouble sleeping

Deplete*

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