r/vitamins

Quick context so you know who's typing:

I am an ICU resident but supplements have been my obsession for 12 years, worked with manufacturers, formulators, nutrition clinics, and done online consults building and auditing stacks. I know the industry from both sides: the science, and how the sausage gets made.

Drop your stack in the comments and I'll break it down. What I'll cover:

• What's actually doing something vs what's filler
• Doses (most people are under or over, rarely correct)
• Form and bioavailability (magnesium oxide vs glycinate is not the same conversation)
• Timing and stacking interactions (some of your stuff is canceling other stuff out)
• Redundancy. you're probably paying for the same mechanism three times
• What's missing for your actual goal
• Brand red flags if you list them (I will NOT mention any brands unless you asked me to)

Format your comment like this so I can actually help:

• Age, sex, weight (rough is fine)
• Goal (performance, longevity, sleep, recovery, mood, whatever)
• Current stack with doses and timing
• Relevant labs if you have them (don't post full panels, just flagged values)
• Meds. this matters, some supplements wreck drug metabolism
• Diet basics (omnivore, vegan, low-carb, etc.)

I'll be honest. If your stack is good I'll tell you. If you're wasting money on a supplement with no clinical endpoint or taking 5g of ashwagandha because an influencer told you to, I'll tell you that too. Evidence-based, not vibes-based.

This is NOT medical advice. Talk to your own doctor before changing anything, especially if you're on prescription meds.

I'll work through these as I have time over the next few days.

Anyone here that's on b12 injections long term or self injecting?

Hi !

I constantly suffer from having low iron . I recently got my CBC done in which my hb was 7.4 . I have been reading a lot that how copper is one of the co-factor in iron regulation.

I don’t know if I have low copper levels but I do have white hair . My B12 is 498 and d3 is 30 . I workout regularly. But I still have this condition.

Was really thinking about supplementing with copper bisgylcinate . Has anyone tried it and saw any noticeable difference?

I am already consuming iron tabs with vitamin C .

Thank you!

I’m 58, good health but need to drop about 30 lbs and recently gave in and started weight loss medication after failing to lose the weight on my own.
I know I need to up my resistance training and protein intake to preserve muscle. 💪🏼 Looking for suggestions on high quality protein as well as other supplements (creatine, leucine, etc). Thanks in advance!

(Sorry in advance for the rambling, TLDR at the bottom)

For context I'm underweight 5'4 M around 100lbs in my 20's

I've always had a background of not eating the best, and I recently got interested in improving my health

I've heard of a plethora of benefits from taking supplements like Multivitamins, creatine, fish oil, magnesium glycinate, D3 + K2, etc. and so I took started to take them

And I did feel the benefits for the first couple days/weeks, particularly in my mood and energy levels, with my appetite even increasing (benefit for me b/c I'm underweight) but paradoxically after some time I started to notice negative effects to my mental state and mood that came with these benefits

I become a lot more irritable and anxious. A big reason I actually started supplementation was so I could increase my energy levels and motivation, thinking my low energy and motivation in daily life stemmed from deficiencies.

Beforehand, while I had suffered from these issues, emotionally I was doing fine. Now, I often find myself easily raging at things and people while getting these crazy adrenaline dumps. The slightest things would irk me, and I would have constant mood swings, as well as feelings of anguish

After some research, a factor could've been from overmethylation. When I took a B-Complex, it gave me a terrible headache that I had to sleep off and depression for a couple hours after. After this, I looked back at what I've been taking, and the multivitamin I was ingesting had methylated B-vitamins.

I've also found that L-theanine and caffeine do the same for me adding on to these negative effect.

And I've heard magnesium glycinate can cause these same issues, with a small minority of people suffering mental side effects from fish oil supplementation and creatine.

Lutein and zeazanthin is another one I've been taking daily, but I doubt it's a factor because it's an eye supplement (I could be wrong).

The dosages weren't even crazy. 100% DV multi (methylated b-vitamins), 2000 IU D3 in total + K2, 200mg mag glyc, 5g creatine, 1g fish oil 550mg EPA/DHA.

Maybe it has to do with my small frame? Similar to how bigger individuals need more calories, I would need less nutrients?

For now though, I've stopped all my supplementation in the hopes these effects will go away. People usually say it takes a month or so for the body to go back to homeostasis, and my energy levels / motivation levels have tanked again, but my irritability has decreased some, and mood has stabalized a bit after some days.

My plan for now is to just wait it out, increase hydration and try to exercise all the nutrients out

TLDR:
5'4 M around 100lbs in my 20's
Started daily supplementation of multivitamin, D3 + K2, creatine, fish oil, magnesium glycinate.
Beneficial initally, but came with negative mental side effects for me from increased irritability and susceptibility to mood swings.
Dosages weren't even that high! 100% DV multi (methylated b-vitamins), 2000 IU D3 in total + K2, 200mg mag glyc, 5g creatine, 1g fish oil 550mg EPA/DHA.
Also only purchased from trusted supplements brands like NOW, Optimum Nutrition, NATURELO (NSF certified), Sports Research and retailers like iHerb.

Has anyone else had adverse effects from supplementation or a sensitivity to them?

After longer antibiotic use i was advised to supplement vitamin k2. May I ask for some recommendations, which one is the best one? There are many products. Is there a reason to take vitamin K2 specifically, or is getting enough vitamin K from food usually enough? Should I take it with vitamin D3 or K2 is enough in this case? I see there are MK-7 or MK-4 what is the difference? Tyvm

Hi y’all! I
’m a 30F.
I started working night shifts back in December. They are 12hr shifts.
I’ve really learned to enjoy working nights and don’t plan switching to days anytime soon. However, I’m a runner, and I’ve noticed some changes with my energy, strength, and other things like hair shedding since I’ve been working nights. I started taking biotin 5000mcg but feel like I’m lacking nutrients. What are your go to supplements you recommend?

So im not sure what to do. I have been taking 50,000 IU for about 6 weeks now. I was tested back in March and I ended up having levels of 11 ng/ml.

Last week I had a doctor's appointment and I told my doctor that I wanted to be retested to see where my vitamin d levels were at. She refused and said that it was too early and if she tested now the results could be off. Im very afraid of vitamin d toxicity, especially since im taking such a high dosage every week. I heard people say to get tested after a month but my doctor won't let me. I also forgot to ask her if I can stop with the 50,000 IU and start taking lower doses of vitamin d, so I asked my pharmacist if it was okay to switch to a lower dose and he said to continue with my original prescription until I see my doctor.

I really don't wanna experience vitamin d toxicity.😓