Vitamins...

Maddie&EthansMom wrote: Is it possible to take too many vitamins? They can't hurt you can they? I take 10 different vitamins everyday. Isn't it true that your body just gets rid of what it doesn't need or isn't using?

Just curious. Anyone else take a lot of vitamins?? I'd rather take them than medicine. I'm so paranoid about getting sick and they really help.

gr33n3y3z replied: you can take too much of anything
If you want to take Vit.'s have your Dr set you up with them.
I've herd of ppl. over dosing on Vit.

mammag replied: Though overdose amounts are high you can get too much of certain vitamins. Vitamin D for instance can cause loss of appetite, thirst, vomiting, headache, & diarrhea. I would recommend watching the amounts and getting as much as you can from food. You can also go to a nutritionist and have blood work to see if you are lacking in any particular vitamins, though I don't know how costly that would be.

coasterqueen replied: I have no idea, but holy moly 10? What about just a multi-vitamin?

MomofJandB replied: I have heard that to much of certain vitamins can be bad for you. I don't have any facts, but I would run what you are taking past your doctor just to be sure!

Maddie&EthansMom replied: Okay, some of them are herbs? Same thing?

MommyToAshley replied: Wow...10! I can't even remember to take one every day!

I have also heard that too much of one vitamin is not good for you. I would run it pass your doctor, just to be safe. I have also heard that the vitamins you get naturally from food is better for you than those that you get from vitamins. So, I think that if you eat healthy then you may not need so many.

Maddie&EthansMom replied: I take:

Multivitamin
B-10
B-100
Flax Oil
Ginkgo Biloba
Biotin
Calcium + Vit D
Vit C (not everyday)
MSM with Glucosamine

So there's nine, but I take 10 pills (2 MSM)

I don't think any of these could hurt me. And I don't even take the recommended amount on most of them. Like I'm supposed to take them several times a day, but I just take them once.

ediep replied: Be Careful.....I don't know anything about those particular vitamins, but I do know that too many of some vitamins are toxic. SOme vitamins pass through your body if not needed, but some don't and those are the ones that can build up. I would check with your doc since I was told to only take a multivitamin unless another specific one is needed.

~Roo'sMama~ replied: I don't think there is anything wrong with those particular supplements, especially if you're not even taking the full recommended dosage. I know you can take too many of some kinds of vitamins, but I don't think you can take too many kinds, kwim? You could check with you doctor just to be sure, but I think you're ok.
The only ones I'd wonder about are the ones that are already in your multi vitamin, like the calcium and vit D.

Maddie&EthansMom replied:
This is what I was thinking, Sara. I don't drink milk so my doctor recommended the calcium supplement.

DansMom replied: I was always told to be careful with the oily ones---A, E (and maybe D). These are stored in your body, so you can overdose. The non-oily ones (C and B ) will get flushed out if you take too much. You'll notice if you take too much B vitamins that your pee turns orange. That's flushing out the excess.

Some minerals can be dangerous if taken too much---iron, for sure. I'm not sure about calcium. What you're taking sounds fine to me though.

loveydad replied: how do you swallow all those! Man it seems like you'd be chewing vitamins forever!

~Roo'sMama~ replied:
LOL my mom had us taking tons of different vitamins and minerals when I was a teenager - we each had a big bowl full of bottles! I'd have little piles of pills lined up to take every morning... I'd take as many as I could in one swallow to get it over with and ended up with issues with swallowing pills for awhile.
Now I'm lucky if I remember my prenatal! I'm doing pretty good with it lately though.
The pills she made me take actually did make a difference though... I felt better when I was taking them every day.

paradisemommy replied: well not to totally scare you but watch what the vitamins are coated with (what keeps them together) some won't break down in your body because of the coating they use - i used to be into health and fitness pre pg and in my younger years and used to crush my vitamins (it's totally nasty) but helps your body to break it down. i remember hearing one time how this totally fit guy who popped tons of vitamins ended up passing away and it was because of the vitamins not breaking up and getting stuck and it scared me to death..

but again - please don't let this freak you out...just food for thought..

Maddie&EthansMom replied:
Thanks Tammy! So far I can't see that any of them are really coated. Just the multivitamin and the calcium. Wow! Who would have thought such a thing could happen? That is scary.

It isn't hard to swallow them. Only the ones that taste bad. And several of them are very small.

texasp3 replied: Yah, you can definitely get too much of a good thing in the vitamin and herbal supplement world. Since you're taking a multi-vitaim PLUS additional single vitamins, I'd check to see what your total daily intake is just to be safe. Vitamin toxicity can be from one really large dose, or from a lower (but still too high) dose over a period of time. Also, you need to pay attention to supplements that cancel each other out. Calcium binds iron, for example, making it much less effective.

There's some good info at http://www.chclibrary.org/micromed/00070510.html.

Or if you really want to read up on it..

http://www.merck.com/mrkshared/mmanual/sec...chapter3/3a.jsp