Has multivitamins helped you?

[Hairbrush123]

I have been taking multivitamins daily since the new year (it’s Boots’ own brand - not sure if it makes a difference) to see if it’ll help with my overall health.

I would love to know if anyone takes them and what benefits they have seen so far and if so - how long did it take?

I only take them when I am feeling like I need to and they have a near instant effect (within a few days).

That might be biased because I am taking them when under the weather and would have felt better anyway IYSWIM. But I am not sure - for example recently I was getting bad cramp in my calves at night for about a week and decided to try Potassium - instantly better.

I think if you were 'good' to begin with it might not make that much difference.

A multi vitamin is just a supplement/safety precaution really.

It's just topping up any vitamins/minerals you might be lacking in your diet. What the body doesn't use you pee out.

You aren't necessarily going to see results by taking a multi vit. You will still get ill occasionally and have shit days.

They aren't designed to make you feel wonderful, just to supplement what you may be lacking in your diet.

I'm a vegetarian and I take one every morning to be on the safe side really. I don't feel any benefits from it though other than reassurance.

@LemonSwan

I only take them when I am feeling like I need to and they have a near instant effect (within a few days).

That might be biased because I am taking them when under the weather and would have felt better anyway IYSWIM. But I am not sure - for example recently I was getting bad cramp in my calves at night for about a week and decided to try Potassium - instantly better.

I think if you were 'good' to begin with it might not make that much difference.

I think that might be placebo effect to be honest, or as you say, you are poorly and are going to get better, then that's going to happen regardless of whether you are taking a multi-vitamin.

The potassium supplement for leg cramps though is known to be effective.

I take multivits, but I don't see an effect if you see what I mean. I just think that long term I might have problems without them because I don't eat enough fruit and veg.

I don’t take a multi-vit as don’t feel I need extra of some things (e.g. confident I get enough calcium in my normal diet) but take cocktail of separate Vit C+zinc (immunity), vit B (energy), high dose vit D (fatigue, bone health), and stomach-friendly iron (fatigue). I do feel they help maintain a good level of general health and am less prey to bugs and tiredness.

I have taken a multivit & extra vit d for three years, ever since i went for an unrelated blood test and the doctor said “Um, your D levels are supposed to be between 100 and 200. Yours are 16…how are you feeling?” I was on a very high vit d for a while to correct, and now just take an additional supplement as i’m prone to dipping.

I obviously DID feel better when i started this regime, as my levels were so low before. For someone with healthy levels that probably wouldn’t be the case. but the other thing that’s really helped recently is switching to a multivit with iron. Maybe because i’m a vegetarian, but i felt much less lethargic and washed out from about 3 weeks later.

Both things together really improved my everyday quality of life.

I've been taking extra vitamin D over the last 2 years to help me avoid catching Covid. It didn't prevent me getting a cold two weeks ago though.