Vitamins?
 

In exploring a lot of the threads, I notice over and over people saying they take vitamins to help maintain sobriety. Are there any in particular that you find help more than others? Or just taking a good multi-vitamin for overall health?

I'm all for improving one's health. And quitting drinking is often the first step. Many adopt a number of healthy lifestyle improvements: exercise, eating right, vitamins.

That said, I would be skeptical about any claims that said vitamins will keep you sober. Working your recovery is how you maintain sobriety; if your plan includes vitamins, so much the better. At least you won't get rickets or scurvy while you are getting sober.

Vitamins are essential for us, but they are also found in the foods that we eat each day. Taking vitamin supplements might be helpful if you have a deficiency, but you'd only know if you had that by seeing a doctor.

Having a good sobriety plan and good support is the number one way to maintain sobriety - there is no magic pill that can "make" you sober.

Didn't mean to imply I was looking for a "magic" pill. I know there is no easy way out, just looking for anything and everything that might be helpful.

I think eating a healty diet can certainly be important. Many times we can become deficient in some vitamins and minerals when we are drinking as we don't eat well. I personally drank a lot of my meals in empty beer calories.

Personally though I don't think there is any special vitamin supplement that is going to aid in staying sober in itself...but as part of an overall healthy lifestyle they can certain not hurt if taken within normal guidelines.

I sometimes take a vitamin, but I can't remember it's been that long ago.
All the vitamins I need I get from food.

I try to keep abreast of science, but have more faith in holistic medicine. And from either perspective, I'd say there is little agreement over what supplements are beneficial, as long as one has a healthy diet and no medically-diagnosed deficiencies.

Also, what works for one person might not work for another.

With all that in mind: I have heard that vitamin B deficiency may be caused by alcoholism, and also that vitamin B assists neurological recovery.

I take a multivitamin because I don't always eat as well as I should. But I read somewhere that with the amount of money that we spend on vitamins that we don't need and can't absorb, Americans have "the most expensive urine in the world."

My experience has been a multi vitamin and a b complex vitamin helps me. My diet is not great, but not well rounded enough.

Alcohol is also known to strip the body of various b vitamins. Or so I've read.

I've found theanine to be useful for stress and anxiety.

The biggest help I've found is from 5htp. Can be found in the vitamin aisle. It's a precursor to serotonin and very helpful for anxiety and depression. More than anything I've tried. I first learned of it and used it when quitting oxi cotton, then again nicotine cold turkey, which only last one year :/. Now I find it saves me on days when the roller coaster is on the down swing. Helps with sleep too.

I tool a multivitamin early on.

Then with changes to diet and exercise I started to get everything I need!! :)

I take a b vitamin, calcium and vitamin d with occasional iron. I figure taking them keeps me more focused on my health and that helps keep me in a frame of mine where alcohol would just detract from all the good stuff I put in my body. Along with eating healthy, the main thing being always put steamed veggies at least twice a day hearty servings every day.

I started taking a B vitamin complex and multivitamin when I quit. I don't know if it helps. All I know is that I was drinking enough to not to be getting many nutrients except sugar. I try to eat as balanced a diet as possible now.
(I no longer have debilitating heartburn )

I got a blood panel workup in which they also tested for certain vitamin and mineral deficiencies shortly after I quit drinking. I'd recommend doing this if you haven't already. As others have mentioned we aren't the healthiest of eaters when drinking but even if we do manage to eat relatively healthy alcohol prevents our bodies from absorbing a lot nutrients. I was deficient in folic acid and a bit low on vitamin D so my dr. put me on a b supplement for a while and recommended I get more sun. Nothing excessive but around 15-20 mins a day. I ate like crap and lived like a hermit when I was drinking so this all came as no surprise.
I agree with others if you are eating a healthy diet you shouldn't need to take any supplements but some of us may need a little extra help in the beginning to get back on track.

I take lots of vitamins for different reasons but the one That always pops up in my mind as useful to alcoholics is vitamin B.

What Scott said

My diet isn't always the best so I take them. I always have though, even when drinking.

I take a multi-vitamin every day. Not overly sure why as I eat quite healthy. I guess because they're cheap, it's easy, and isn't going to do me any harm.

My doctor recommended extra magnesium at bedtime for better sleep, less spasms and less body aches, it seems to help me a lot. I take 500 mg at bedtime and really notice a difference when I forget or don't take it for a few days.

Love from Lenina

Hi S&S,

I take multi vitamins, especially B12. As stated, the vitamins are not a magic pill to keep you sober. The vitamins are there to aid recovery. Booze strips a lot of the vitamins from your body. By supplementing when we stop, we help the body to heal.

Cheers,

ZAB

Considering that many alcoholics had a poor diet to begin with, which in part added to their chemical imbalance, good health most definitely can help maintain sobriety by maintaining a good chemical balance.

I don't take supplements, I eat whole food / organic. I don't trust supplement manufactures any more than I trust the pharmaceuticals. Processed food is a killer. Most disease is linked to poor diet.

Asia didn’t have particular diseases as the West until recently, now due to processed food, especially fast food, Asians are experiencing Western disease and obesity is on the rise.