…to think a multivitamin may have cured my crippling driving anxiety?

[ReallyAVitamin]

Okay, the backstory is (and I’ve posted about this issue a couple of times previous under different UNs because it’s honestly been so debilitating)

I am late 30s, have loved cars and been driving since I was 17. Have driven the length and breadth of the country, would just leave the house, with no destination, on my days off and see where the road took me…. Basically I loved driving and I loved cars.

About 2.5 years ago I developed totally unexpected, sudden and crippling driving anxiety. Disaster, I’m a single Mum working in sales.

Have been trying to medicate with propranolol which helps a bit, but not enough for the level of anxiety I had. Have looked into hypnotism, taken online CBT, listened to driving anxiety specific hypnotism audio going to bed. Nothing has helped, and my world has gotten smaller.

But… I started taking a cheap multivitamin from Lidl about 3 weeks ago, and for the last week, I’m actually looking forward to getting in the car because the anxiety is 90% reduced. I’m actually going out of my way a little to test the specific anxieties I’ve had.

I’ve have a pretty good diet, breakfast, lunch and dinner all homemade. I think it’s pretty balanced. But the only thing I’ve changed in the last couple of weeks is this cheap multivitamin. Could it actually be possible my anxiety was down to a vitamin deficiency? It’s probably mad 😅

No idea, but which multi vitamin did you use?

It's possible you may have had a vitamin B deficiency making you anxious but it has worked and is harmless at the correct dose and cheap so why not

With many conditions, placebos are as effective as laboratory medications. Don't knock it. Very pleased to hear you're feeling better!

It’s literally just a cheap one from Lidl, the brand is MinaVit. I’m in Ireland and it was about €3.50 for the month packet.

I have to be mad to think this has helped ease 2.5 years of anxiety… but I dunno! 😅

Oh, I absolutely have considered a placebo situation. But I didn’t take the multivitamin thinking it would do anything for the anxiety. I honestly just bunged them in the trolley during the weekly shop.

But now that I think it actually COULD be the multivitamin, hopefully the placebo effect continues 😅

Absolutely why not, I’ll definitely keep taking it and do a bit of research into what I may have been lacking that could result in anxiety etc. Maybe there’s some women on here that might know something more.

When I first posted here about the issue, I was so blown away by the number of women experiencing driving anxiety during perimenopause. It’s actually a relatively common thing when I looked into it. I’m a few years away from that but maybe it’s a hormone/vitamin thing?

Vitamins D, B & magnesium can all affect anxiety, so it's certainly possible.

And iron, of course.

Vitamin D & iron deficiencies both very common in women.

Don't knock it if it works. But a lot of vitamin deficiencies do have anxiety as symptoms - magnesium and vitamin D, for example.

Honestly, if this has been the root cause all this time, I don’t know whether to cry or laugh really. It’s been a difficult couple of years trying to navigate this. I live rurally so I’ve had to subject my body to a lot of anxiety stress to be a mom and keep my job. I really hope it’s over

Maybe my diet isn’t as balanced as I thought.

I think it was on mumsnet a poster said their psychiatrist said for mental health issues to first check for deficiencies in 3 vitamins/minerals - I think 2 were vit D and zinc and I can't remember the other.
Great you are feeling better

Our food isn't as nutritious as it should be, even if you have an optimal diet (who does).

And we are supposed to take vit D in winter
in Ireland either way.

I had a similar experience with anxiety in the car that resolved when my blood pressure which unbeknownst to me was very high, was treated. It’s quite extraordinary how different my experience is now.

Propranolol really helped me

I know, and I do actually have my bloods done every year but they just tell me I’m fine mostly. They did recommend a Vit D supplement years ago (8?) but have said everything looks fine since.

I was shocked when I had my DC and they were basically prescribed Vit D supplements from birth due to our lack of sun 🙈

Anxiety and depression can also be a symptom of low iron/ferritin or B12.

Oh, don’t get me wrong, it definitely helped a little with the physical symptoms, sweaty palms and racing heart. But it wasn’t a ‘cure’ for me, my mind was still racing. I think I’ve genuinely had quite a severe case of driving phobia/anxiety.

For someone with a lesser level of anxiety, propranolol is definitely something that could help.

And are you happy to drive anywhere and everywhere now? I can’t tell you how much I hope this might actually be manageable now, it’s been really hard the last couple of years. I’ve felt so inadequate as a person.

Yes. If I’m tired or get a lurgy it returns (I wonder if my BP goes up in those cases) but otherwise it’s not an issue anymore really. I too love driving and the anxiety was not in line with who I think of myself as.

Might well be the vitamin.
I suffered years of horrible myoclonic jerks ..not just at night when going to sleep but whenever relaxing. Eventually saw a neuro who sent me for all sorts of tests, but also put me on vit B12 and D3
Bloody cured! I still can't believe that after all my years of sleepless nights all it took was a vitamin! Vit B and D are so important, and I assumed I was getting enough in my diet...obviously not!

When my b12 is low I get very anxious, its the only time it ever happens and is one of the first signs for me that my levels are dipping again.

Low vitamin D makes my life feel like Final Destination so yes. It may well be that.
I always say that octors should do blood panels for anyone with MH issues even if it looks like it's not physical. Vit D was also connected with hightened suicidal thoughts and so on.

Could be a B12 defiency, one of the symptoms is anxiety and irritability as it helpt to make serotonin.
Great to hear that the anxiety has stopped regardless.

What the actual f😂