…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 😅

When I had agoraphobia, gp suggested antidepressants, but I really didn’t want to take them as I’ve had side effects before and ultimately they didn’t work for me.

she then suggested Rescue Remedy- it REALLY helped! I don’t know if it was placebo effect but ultimately, I don’t care if it helped

keep doing what works!! Are you potentially perimenopausal? That can trigger anxiety out of nowhere too.

This is your reminder… Go take that multivitamin!

So glad you found a solution to help. And is your agoraphobia under control now?

I don’t think I’m perimenopausal. Still regular periods and the women in my family don’t seem to go through the menopause until their early 50s, I’m late 30s. But I couldn’t believe how common sudden onset anxiety of all kinds is with perimenopause, definitely something I will be keeping an eye on.

I used to have terrible restless legs, now I use a magnesium spray and it's totally disappeared.

YANBU. I cured my perimenopausal anxiety by starting to take a 'Well Woman 50+' multivitamin and mineral supplement and an ashwagandha supplement. I started taking them both at the same time, so I'm not actually sure which made the difference (or maybe it was a bit of both)! I have a tendency to be anaemic, but full-on individual iron supplements don't agree with me.

I'd had really bad post-natal anxiety which I never sought help for, so when I started to feel those same feelings resurfacing I was determined not to be dragged back down again. I thought I might as well try some supplements before ending up on serious meds and hey presto - anxiety gone within 2 weeks. It was like flipping a switch!

If you fancy finding out whether it was the cause you could turn your body into a science lab and stop taking the multivitamin for a few weeks or reduce the frequency and see what happens.

if it works... it works. congrats x

Haha… I had this EXACT thought! 😅

I really would love to understand if this has been the cause, but I’m so unbelievably elated and relieved right now to be able to drive without panic that I’ll have to consider that experiment a bit further! I’ll let you know if I go ahead and stop taking it 🧬🧪🔬

Thank you x

Multivitamins have considerably helped my anxiety. My folate was low but it was in a grey area in the NHS, below normal range but not low enough for them to prescribe supplements. It's only because of the NHS app that I finally managed to get my own results after insisting on a blood test. I started taking folic acid plus a multivitamin and now just the multivitamin with folic acid in it. When all my blood results were uploaded recently I realised that I've been low end of normal or below for over a decade and no one had said anything! My diet is also good. Plenty of green veg, citrus fruits, other stuff high in folate but for some reason I need to supplement.

This! There are many vitamins and minerals that might increase anxiety levels if we are deficient. Most British people are deficient in magnesium and vitamin D if not taking supplements.

I started taking a high-ish dose of Vitamin D during Covid. It seems to have cured my anxiety and my fear of flying!

That’s amazing and im so glad for you!

I spent a few years on antidepressants for my generalised anxiety (a few years before the driving anxiety hit) and I wonder now could that have been helped with a blood test and supplements and opposed to going straight for the anxiety medication (on which I gained 2st 😩)

That’s so interesting and I suppose another case that shows, as a PP mentioned, that while we think our diet is balanced, maybe our food just isn’t providing the levels of vitamins and minerals we need. Really glad such a simple thing has helped your anxiety!

@Amethystanddiamonds that's really interesting, can I ask what your low number was as I might be in a similar position.

Really interesting. Has it helped with anxiety related to anything not driving related? @ReallyAVitamin

honestly, the driving issue has been the greatest source of anxiety for me for the last couple of years. So this anxiety easing is such an enormous weight lifted off my mind and body. As a result, anxiety levels as a whole have dropped so I can’t really differentiate, if you know what I mean?

The last week the symptoms have continued to ease. I’m actually looking forward to driving again. Because it had gone on for so long, there’s still that bit of trepidation and that little voice in my head sometimes but the anxiety has ~80% eased.

I’ve just started taking ashwagandha the last couple of days as well and hoping to see even greater improvements 🤞

I'm so glad you are feeling better. Multivitamins also massively helped my anxiety.

look up Julia Rucklidge, she is a legit scientist who studies this! It’s not just a placebo (well according to her research anyway!)

@Eyelashesoffire it was 3.4. The bottom of normal range is 3.9 but GP said they won't prescribe folate unless it's below 3.

Doesn’t surprise me at all! Theres also research that vit d deficiency is linked to adhd symptoms. With lower sunlight in some areas and diets not always great loads of people have vit d deficiency

I wouldn't be surprised at all. I was depressed every winter until I discovered high strength vitamin D.

I’m so glad too! Thanks for the recommendation, just had a quick look and found a podcast interview with her so I’ll put it on the playlist 👍

I had always associated Vit D with bone strength, and vitamins in general with physical health really. I don’t think I’ve ever really considered the effect on your mental health.

Ashwagandha is magic. I used it with CBD for severe PPA and it really helped.

Hi OP
My daughter has driving anxiety and did have hypnosis which really helped but now out of the blue the anxiety is back again 😔She is back to work in March after ML and I have now started going out with her on all the routes she drives for work twice a week.Her husband works full time and she needs to do this without any distractions ie children,so we are driving after school drop off with baby napping in the car.
She definitely is better having company in the car and we are hoping that after lots of successful trips her brain will have reset .
She has propanol which helps but trying to sort this beast out without the meds.
I have suggested she tries listening to a podcast if on her own in the car.
The multivitamins are also definitely worth a try . She is vegetarian so maybe she is lacking in vits.
I shall show her this thread she doesn’t do MN .
Am glad you are feeling better now,it’s a really crippling feeling when brain takes over body.X