Instant full body flush, just add vitamins... · 9:42pm Nov 10th, 2016
Tagging FtFoNR because medical shenanigans...
So, interesting experience today. I'd like to think I know how to handle dealing with vitamins and supplements. I do my research, I check safe doses, antagonists, read warnings.
But sometimes, something just slips through in a moment of complacency.
No, I didn't almost kill myself. But the following quick ramble is a lesson that had it been something else, I could have.
I usually take either a Centrum, or a combination of C, and B vitamins since my diet is weak in those areas. Recently, we were going through the medicine cabinet when my mother started getting confused about several bottles of niacin. Still good, barely touched. Two, giant bottles of the things. She doesn't want them. So I'm like... Oh, Niacin. Vitamin B3. Giant bottle. That shit's expensive. I'll take it so it doesn't go to waste.
Mind you, this is a month ago.
This morning I went to take my Vitamins before cleaning out my small fridge. I haven't taken my vitamins in a few days, the Niacin bottle is right in front of me. I pop one, and I pop a centrum. "It's a B vitamin, if there's too much, I'll piss it out."
So, come about, oh, an hour ago. I lay down to take a nap before work. I'm laying there for about a minute when suddenly my face starts to feel dry and scratchy. At first, I think it's nothing but a phantom sensation. Maybe a reaction to my cat, not a foot away from my face. So I turn away from the kitty, but the sensation grows. Starting to BURN... Starting to BURN a LOT.
Starting to burn a lot, and moving to my arms?
I'm out of bed and throwing adequate clothing for going outside on. Burning sensation is spreading. I feel like I've spent a day at a nude beach exposed to the sun at this point. ...Or five minutes in a US Army CS Gas training chamber (CS burns).
Mental checklist. I'm red as a tomato, I burn all over. Eyes are fine, breathing's fine. No welts or hives... Not sure if industrial chemical in the room or not, but not taking chances. Get out of the building.
Outside, I'm skyping a friend on my tablet. Immediate secondary checklist. Any chest pain, breathing difficulties or pressures? No, I'm not having a heart attack. I'm coherent, everything's clear. I'm just... red as Big Mac.
Waiting for anything else to happen. Burning sensation eases a little. Go back inside, still a tomato. No telltale welts or hives, pretty certain not allergic reaction to anything. Review what I've had today. Recall Niacin.
Five minutes of research and I have the reaction.
Niacin flush. Caused by a large intake of Niacin as it helps to open up the blood vessels in the body. Used in large doses for treating various cardiovascular conditions over time.
I review the bottle, 500 mg tablets, time released, and check the daily rec. dosage online.
The daily recommended dosage of niacin is 14 to 18 milligrams, with an upper level of about 35 milligrams.
"Well... I just took enough niacin to go for a MONTH."
Review the rest of the information on the page.
"Okay, that bottle isn't the daily vitamin dose of niacin... That bottle is the 'There's something WRONG WITH YOU' dose." The cotton in the bottle should have been a red flag that wasn't a 'supplement' geared bottle. It didn't get me earlier this morning because I took a time-released tablet.
So it just goes to show you... Even if you think you know what you've got. Double check it. That was just a common vitamin, but I goofed in procedure for handling things like that and it burned me. And that's why I don't even remotely screw around with real medicines. Not only can they hurt you if taken incorrectly, it can come on so fast you don't have time to react.
It's been an hour since then at this point. The burning's pretty much died down, but I'm still nice and warm, and look like a good advertisement for sunblock. Stay safe people.
Yikes! At least you're OK.
In a world where everyone reads, no one does.
I've stood behind a sign and had people ask me a question answered by the sign.
Good PSA and one that should be shared from time to time.
Also a good story for parties when people start telling embarrassing stories.
OUTSCH.
Hope that nasty stuff goes away quickly.
I didn't even know that was a think ow.
Makes me glad I'm only taking Vitamin D3 and Fish Oil.
Well... it's nice to see a blog that isn't about the election...
oh my
it must have given you quite the scare.
at least you are ok thankfully.
and while i dont take much vitamins (just a few a day) i do use inculin due to diabetes (got type 1) and while i havent had any overdose reaction, im making sure i take just what i need when i eat and if i should feel dizzy due to low blood sugar then im gonna munch something with fibre to get it up again and stable.
The ultimate guide to make an accurate Big Mac Cosplay
That's crazy! One of my professors used to encourage taking that stuff. He did it all the time for a "mild body high". I doubt he took 500mg though.
Be safe, be awesome, and the rest of us will try to take your warning/experience to heart if we know what's good for us.
Insert Hilarious Hypocritical Self-Medication Moment Here! *This commentator proceeded to sneeze a barrage of material for the next forseeable future. Take your vitamin C kiddies today!*
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YES
That was seriously nasty. I thought only A an E were so powerful as to take you out in a few times dose. Especially given I take 6 Omega 3 daily because I find its easier than na mouthful of cod liver oil, and if I dont take at least a gram of Vitamin C a day my guts cramp right down.
Hope it hasnt left anything even more insiduous and long lasting behind.
As long as you're eating like, normal food and everything, there's no benefit to supplementation (unless your doctor's having you do so for specific medical reasons). At best you're producing expensive pee. At worst, well you just gave us an at worst story.
Reminds me of an experience I had 15 years ago while I was attending college and still living with my parents. I had recently taken a summer job at a local restaurant and, while draining some boiling water into a sink, had an accident that resulted in second degree burns on my arm. Excruciatingly painful and located such that the ballooning blister on my wrist made it difficult to move my hand.
After a quick trip to the hospital, I went home for the day with a fresh bottle of Vicodin and the doctor's suggestion that, should it be insufficient, I take two Advil every four hours until the pain started to die down. I learned during that experience that Vicodin is not very effective for me as a pain reliever, but it is wonderful for shutting down my critical thinking skills and ability to recognize warning signs. As soon as I got home I headed for the medicine cabinet and pulled out an old bottle of Advil with a torn label.
Unbeknownst to me, my mother (who had recently undergone a major operation), had placed all of her leftover 2000mg prescription Ibuprofen tablets into an old, empty, Advil bottle. (What prompted her to do this, I will probably never know for sure, though I suspect the bottle was easier to open.) She, of course, knew that she needed to remember this was not normal Advil, so tore the label as a reminder to herself of what it was. Unfortunately, this was not very helpful to anyone but herself.
Now, the maximum recommended daily dosage of Ibuprofen is 3200mg. I opened up the bottle and, not noticing (thanks Vicodin!) that the white tablets were not marked "Advil" and, in fact, looked unusually large, I followed my doctor's directions and took two tablets, with the full intention of taking another two four hours later.
4000mg can give you a sour stomach, but it won't kill you. 8000mg probably won't kill you either, but you will be having a bad day. 12000mg in 12 hours, with the addition of other prescription pain killers? Now we're talking some scary territory.
Fortunately, one of the lesser-known side effects of large doses of Ibuprofen is drowsiness. The stuff laid me out unconscious on the couch for a good six hours- long enough for me to miss the second dose. By the time I was awake and ready to take more, my mother was home from work and, fortunately, noticed the bottle I pulled out of the cabinet.
So yeah. Prescription drugs are definitely something to be respected at all times. No one in my family will ever again make the mistake of casually swapping containers. (I hope!)
LOL
I have never seen a pure niacin pill in less than 1000mg tablets. I guess supplements in canada are hardcore? They come in the supplement aisle along with all the others so its easy to think its a daily supplement. You shouldn't take niacin in such high dosages frequently though they are one of the main ingredients in energy drinks, typically in high concentrations. Your kidneys are very efficient at filtering out niacin provided you drink a ton of water.
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I don't eat enough fruits to maintain a healthy vitamin C level. There's a few points to this, but it comes down to being too much of a hassle to keep buying a lot of fruit I keep throwing away.
Of course, Vitamin C antagonizes with Copper, which antagonizes with half the Bs, A, and Iron, Potassium, and Zinc. So a large Vitamin C intake can affect copper, which affects everyone else... By the time you back and forth the list, you have a math equation to consider. So I just take a Multivitamin. It's balanced and accounts for agonists and antagonists. I supplement that with B complex vitamins in response to dry skin and other minor symptoms of low B vitamins.
The whole 'eat regular food and you're fine' thing only really works if you're actually eating a well balanced diet. And, I don't fall into that category. My diet is heavy in starch, meat, and cheese, light on most vegetables, and rather intermittent on fruit. The vitamins I'm concerned about, such as Vitamin C, don't store in the body. You use what your body needs immediately, and dump the rest. So intermittent fruits and veggies leave wide gaps. And it's not because I hate fruits and vegetables. I love fresh fruit, and steamed carrots, broccoli, corn.
Circumstances just kind of screw me over.
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Nah, seriously dude, if you're eating meat there's no way you have any vitamin deficiencies unless you have some major medical condition you're not telling me about. You might not be eating fruit and veg, but those critters you're eating did. You would notice if you were lacking vitamin c. It's called scurvy and it's pretty noticeable. The idea that healthy people need supplementation comes from the marketing departments of supplement companies. Research has shown over and over that supplementation has no effect on health outcomes. The money you're giving the supplement industry? You're literally pissing it away.
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It's called Scurvy, as you said. And it IS indeed rather noticeable when my gums bleed.
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And I said 'Unless you've been diagnosed with something'. I supplement with D and folate at my doctors' request due to my kidney failure. If you've been diagnosed with vitamin c deficiency supplementation with vitamin c is quite reasonable. I doubt you have beri beri or pelagra (vitamin b deficiencies) unless you've been subsisting exclusively on white rice and unnixmatilized corn, though.
Kudos for getting through the experience in what sounds like a very level-headed manner.
I know some of that feeling. I've never yet seriously poisoned myself, unless you count the time I deliberately purged myself with vinegar (I didn't water it down enough) but since I'm mildly allergic to nearly all fresh raw fruits and many vegetables, the "take a supplement" thing is real.
I also eat lots of cooked veggies.
Note: Some don't know this, but cooked potatoes are a decent source of Vitamin C.
So is sauerkraut, so a dinner of sausage with potato and sauerkraut is actually somewhat close to being "balanced."
The big thing is to remember that Humans are creatures of Balance.
A lot of diseases, can be signs that your body is out of balance in some fashion.
Too much of one thing can kill you as just as surely as too little.