Multivitamins and heart rhythm

[gothic_beauty]

Hey guys!

I was wondering if anyone could give me some information about multivitamins. I have been taking a multivitamin every morning for a couple of years now. I always thought it was good for me, but after reading about the many ways that different vitamins and minerals can mess with heart rhythms, I have become worried about this particular habit of mine. I am equally afraid to stop taking vitamins, because if my body has become used to them, then surely a sudden lack would also throw off my heart rhythms. To what extent do multivitamins affect heart rhythms? Is there any particular vitamin or mineral that affects the heart? Should I keep taking vitamins, and if not, is it safe to quit doing so cold turkey? I know they're not exactly heavy drugs, but I'm just nervous as usual when it comes to my health ...

Also, I was just reading the label on the bottle, and realised that my vitamins contain 25 mg of glutamic acid. Isn't that like MSG? And isn't MSG really bad for your heart as well? Have I been doing myself more harm than good? Eek! Again, what do you all think??

[achillea]

If your diet is pretty normal, you are getting everything you really need there.  You don't actually become 'dependent' on vitamins in the sense that your body will crash if you stop taking them cold.

[gothic_beauty]

I think I will take both of your advice and stop taking multivitamins. Sounds like it would be a good idea to have a blood test done and see if I am lacking in any specific vitamins that I can then take as supplements. I'm just afraid: if I simply stop taking my multivitamins, isn't it going to mess up my body and my heart? I've been taking them for so long that I am worried I will give my system a nasty shock :(

[is_something_wrong]

I doubt a multivitamin can do any harm to the body or heart rhythm, but often it's a waste of money. A better approach is to see if you actually lack any vitamins or minerals, and if you do, replace them by taking that specific vitamin or mineral, through pills or diet changes.

In my country, we often lack vitamin D in the winter (cold and little sun) so we take fish oils or vitamin D supplements. Whenever I do this through a multivitamin, my B12 gets too high.

No vitamin directly affect the heart rhythm, but several minerals do. Make sure your potassium, calcium and magnesium are within normal limits. As DeltaDawn said, vitamin K can be a problem when you have A-fib (coumadin is as far as I know, a vitamin K "blocker").

The problem in your (our) case is the worrying about the heart, not the vitamins, I think :)

[DeltaDawn23]

I was taken off my mutli-vitamin by the hospital after my last Afib cardioversion.  I think it was because the Vitamin K interferes with the Coumadin I'm on.  Also, I have been reading in the news that a multi-vitamin is not necessarily the best thing for older (I'm 66) women and may increase mortality. The article I read said that especially Vitamin B6 was not good.  I don't think going off of it is an issue.  If you eat well, you should be getting your vitamins, plus so many foods are supplemented that you probably get all you need anyway.  Hope some of this helps.  Good luck.