Reaction from vitamins?

I have never had problems with vitamins before, but I do know that Vitamin B-12 will come out in your urine as NEON yellow. Since you have watery BMs, it may have been coming out there instead of in your urine.

Check your vitamin label for content. I used to get some just general vitamins at GNC and they actually contained well over 100% of the FDA recommended daily requirement of most of the individual vitamins. Some of the ingredients were at 1,000% of the daily requirement. My mother said that made them a waste of money since your body would just absorb what you needed and you'd pee out the rest. One doctor told me that excess vitamins make your kidneys work harder since they have more stuff to filter out. Long term use of excess vitamins may or may not ultimately harm your kidneys, but if you are prone to kidney problems in the first place, it's definitely not good for them.

If you want to continue taking a generic vitamin supplement, don't take one that provides more than 100% of anything (remember you'll be getting some if not most of your vitamins from food in the first place) since it'll only go to waste and may upset your stomach. You may want to have your vitamin levels checked the next time you go to a doctor to see if you are defcient in anything and then only take what vitamins you are deficient in. Since you probably have to eschew certain foods because of your IBS and you have diarrhea, and maybe even because of certain medicines you take, you may need things that most people don't. Salt, for instance. Almost all Americans get too much, but if you eat healthy, unprocessed foods and lose a lot of water through bowel movements, you may actually need salt. So the best way to know what you need to stay healthy is to test for everything. But taking vitamins you don't need won't make you extra healthy or anything. Vitamin C is the only vitamin that has been proven to help prevent and treat a disease.

One thing that does work for most people here (although there is one exception--someone here does have a negative reaction to it) is calcium. Look for one of Innape's posts regarding the type of calcium that helps diarrhea. I found that it not only helped my diarrhea, it stopped my cramping.

Thanks all for the advise. I'm sure it was the vitamins as I only had the one severe attack. I might try the calcium anything to help!

I also get the nausea if I take the multi vitamins with iron so I only get the ones without iron. I also take extra vitamin E, fish oil, calcium, and fiber than what comes in the multi vitamin on advise of my doctor. A lot of people are very sensitive to the iron in vitamins. When I was pregnant, I had to find the special prenatals without the iron (very hard to find however they are out there) and get my iron from food instead. The iron in food doesn't seem to bother me like it does in the supplements.

But taking vitamins you don't need won't make you extra healthy or anything. Vitamin C is the only vitamin that has been proven to help prevent and treat a disease. said...

This is not true. It's known that a lot of people are deficicent in certain vitamins and minerals... the amount of B vitamins needed for some people can be MUCH HIGHER than what the RDA is. If a person is eating a typical western diet then of course it would be wise to take a good multi vitamineral, but that doesn't mean it's going to save you from illnesses such as cancer. Long term deficiency isn't a good thing and I believe that there are plenty of people out there right now that are deficient in several nutrients that will in the long term cause them problems.  Nothing wrong with taking a good Multi vitamineral aswell as Essential fatty acids. You also want to make sure that the supplement you take is good quality!

For example, there was some data of folic acid not long ago about increasing the amount via supplementation gives you a lower risk of Alzheimers... There is plenty of evidence that vitamins can do 'good things' but they also wont save you from a bad diet in the end.

But my IBS cleared up after many years when I started to eat a only healthy foods, vegetables, fruits,  healthy fats, complex carbs etc..

Anyway, I also had a reaction from taking a multi and it lasted about 1-2 days... now i'm fine. It had the following (I only take 50% of 1 serving per day):

 

VITAMINS
  Vitamin A
    Retinol (Palmitate) ...................................... 150 mcg    500 IU    16.70%
    Beta-carotene (natural (D. salina)) ..................... 6 mg   9990 IU    3330%
  Vitamin B Complex
    B1 (Thiamine) ............................................... 12 mg                  1000%
    B2 (Riboflavin) .............................................. 13 mg                  1000%
    B3 (Niacin (as 63 mg Inositol Hexanicotinate)) .... 50 mg                    313%
    B5 (d-Ca Pantothenate) ................................ 100 mg                  2000%
    B6 (Pyridoxine) .............................................. 17 mg                  1000%
    B12 (Cyanocobalamin) ................................... 24 mcg                  1000%
    Folic Acid .................................................. 800 mcg                   400%
    Biotin ....................................................... 300 mcg                  1000%
    Choline (from Bitartrate) ................................ 500 mg                    36%
    Inositol ...................................................... 100 mg                       *
  Vitamin C (as Magnesium Ascorbate) ................. 450 mg                    500%
  Vitamin D3 (Cholecalciferol) .............................. 25 mcg    1000 IU     167%
  Vitamin E Complex .......................................... 100 mg                      *
  Tocopherols: .................................................. 90 mg         
    alpha-tocopherol ........................................... 15 mg      22 IU      186%
    beta-tocopherol ........................................... 1.5 mg                      *
    gamma-tocopherol ......................................... 52 mg                      *
    delta-tocopherol ........................................... 22 mg                      *
  Tocotrienols: .................................................. 10 mg         
    alpha-tocotrienol ............................................ 3 mg                      *
    beta-tocotrienol ........................................... 0.1 mg                      *
    gamma-tocotrienol .......................................... 6 mg                      *
    delta-tocotrienol .......................................... 1.3 mg                      *
  Phylloquinone ................................................ 80 mcg                    67%

MINERALS
  Boron (Citrate) .............................................. 1.8 mg                      *
  Calcium (Citrate-Malate) ................................. 540 mg                    54%
  Chromium (Picolinate) ................................... 100 mcg                      *
  Copper (Citrate) ............................................... 1 mg                   111%
  Iodine (Potassium Iodide) .............................. 150 mcg                   100%
  Magnesium (Aspartate, Oxide, Ascorbate) .......... 210 mg                    50%
  Manganese (Glycinate) ................................... 2.3 mg                   100%
  Molybdenum (Na Molybdate) ........................... 45 mcg                   100%
  Potassium (Chloride) ........................................ 99 mg                      *
  Selenium (Se-Methylselenocysteine) ............... 200 mcg                   364%
  Silicon (Na Metasilicate) .................................. 50 mg                       *
  Vanadium (Citrate) ........................................ 18 mcg                      *
  Zinc (Citrate) ................................................ 11 mg                    100%

If you have any food or chemical intolerances you have to read the ingredients in vitamins carefully. I would get very ill from taking Biotin. It has a lot of sulfite, to which I am sensitive. For me, one reaction to sulfite is to upset my GI tract. This can trigger a heart reaction in me via the vagus nerve, which connects just about everything.

I do take a small vitamin and extra B12,and lots of D3 if I am not out in the sun. I have been tested.