question about Vitalert?

S

Stargazer

Cathlete
I read the posts about this supplement and I'm really interested but I'm rather chicken.

One of the ingredients seems to be theophylline. I took this many years ago when I was first diagnosed with asthma. It really made me nervous - like I had drunk many pots of coffee.

Also recently I was with my husband at a cardiologist's and he (the DR not the DH) commented that some people who had taken theophylline for a long time for asthma has some problem with heartbeat (I can't exactly remember which - irregular or skip beats or something not fun)

Does anyone have any input on this? I'm more concerned with long term side effects then near term. I take asthma medicine now (not theophylline) and I guess I wonder if there might be some interaction.

TIA
-joy
 
I by no means am an expert or a doctor, but I think that maybe Vitalert may not be the best option for you due to the side effects. If it were me I would not want to take anything that could harm my body. I think you doctor may say the same, but if you are intent upon taking it I would get a second opinion from another doctor. Two heads are better than one.

If you don't mind me asking why do you want to take Vitalert?
 
Thanks Kristi,
No I don't mind answering....

Well, I read the long post on it that Honeybunch started and I WANT THAT ENERGY TOO!!

I know what HB means about certain tapes just wiping you out. For me its BodyMax, MIS, MIC oh, well you get the idea..
I also have no energy in the evening...SO, if I could just take an inexpensive vitamin supplement and get all that benefit, I would do it, but not if I'm really just taking another drug.

Which I guess brings up a point. When does a supplement cross the line over to being a performance enhancing drug? If I was in the NFL for example and I took Vitalert, would I be suspended for having it in my blood?

Oh dear, I've certainly made this into a complicated issue for myself.
-joy
 
[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Nov-19-02 AT 01:01PM (Est)[/font][p]Hi there:

Where did you see Theophylline on the label? I don't see that. I too have taken Theophylline in the past for asthma with pneumonia, and it made me feel like I wanted to jump out of my skin. I would rather wheeze than ever take it again. It is also illegal to sell Theophylline without an Rx. Again, I don't see that on my bottle, but I definitely would not take something if I was worried about any side effect. Be careful, and as the others said, check with your doctor if you are concerned. Better safe than sorry!
Dawn
 
Hi Dawn,
I didn't actually read the label. I got the information about the theophylline from bfj's reply to Honeybunch on hb's post entitled "New Multi Vitamin that seems to give me energy" (its in the open discussion forum) I believe she was quoting a source about the ingredient guarana (sp?)

Maybe the amount is soo small compared to the dosage given to asthmatics that it isn't a factor?
-joy
 
I too have some questions regarding the Vitalert. Sounds like a wonderful vitamin, but I have problems with breast tenderness (breast infections to be exact, I'm nursing a baby) and I have to cut out ALL caffeine. I would love to take this vitamin if it indeed gives all that energy, but will it cause the same problems as caffeine causes even though the composition is different than caffeine. Anyone know out there??

Briee
 
Hi everyone,

First I have to admit that I have not read through the entire thread that HB started. I have taken some of these supplements, though, and I have decided that they are really a waste of money at best and dangerous at worst.

Guarana is an herbal form of caffeine. Theophylline breaks down into caffeine in your body. I remember giving theophylline to premature infants in the NICU that had apnea and bradycardia (they would stop breathing and their heartrates would drop to dangerously low rates) because it is such a powerful stimulant. It also was commonly used to treat asthma since it is a bronchodilator. It can cause a rapid and irregular heartbeat, and can be dangerous to people with heart conditions or high blood pressure.

Since supplements are considered a food product, they are not regulated by the FDA, so what you read on the label in terms of ingredients and dosage may or may not be accurate. There can also be contaminants in the product that can cause problems. There was something in the news about a year ago about a contaminant in Kava Kava causing hepatitis. Personally, I definitely noticed that there were times when I felt more jittery than others, and I wondered if it was because I was getting inconsistent dosing.

No one wants to find a magic energy pill more than I do!! I constantly feel like other people are so much more together than I am because I am just too tired to get things done. In fact, it really affects my self esteem. But in my experience these supplements do not deliver what they promise. Multivitamins are a great investment, but don't waste your money or risk your health on the other stuff.

FitnessRN
 
Please read my "New Vitamin Crew" watch out e-mail

Hey you all! I posted an e-mail with the above title that you might want to check out! jeni
 
FDA on supplements

I'm not an expert - just a fitness instructor and one who has taken it upon myself to educate myself in this area because those who I thought would know about supplements - don't. I mentioned Shaklee in another e-mail. The FDA does not monitor supplements but has asked Shaklee to meet with them quarterly to discuss guidelines for when they might monitor. The FDA has ONLY asked Shaklee to consult. The FDA also told Shaklee (who is owned by a pharmaceutical company and therefore uses pharmaceutical standards) that IF the FDA were ever to monitor supplements and herbs, it would NOT do it to the high level that Shaklee does = Shaklee has set such a high standard for quality and effectiveness that not even the FDA's standards would be as high. To me this = I don't have to worry about FDA monitoring because it will not be as safe as this company.

Here is something to consider, Shaklee did research into Kava Kava and KNEW that it was potentially harmful so they REFUSED to make it. Can you say that about other companies? They are also so stringent about "no pesticides, fungicides, etc." that they were the only company to pull there Gingseng product a few years ago because the crops for asian ginseng were bad. Can you find another company that did that? Part of their reason was that if the product contains pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, etc., the body requires MORE nutrients to get that gunk out of your body - why make it work harder? The other reason was just quality of product.

PLEASE, if anyone is interested in finding out more about standards for quality products, feel free to even e-mail me personally at [email protected]. We can learn together and get stronger together!

Lastly, according to an M.D., Robert Biggers, who spoke on Sports Nutrition, you don't get your energy from vitamins, rather, they work synergistically to RELEASE the energy from the GOOD foods you eat.

What do you all think????!!!! jeni
 
FDA on supplements

I'm not an expert - just a fitness instructor and one who has taken it upon myself to educate myself in this area because those who I thought would know about supplements - don't. I mentioned Shaklee in another e-mail. The FDA does not monitor supplements but has asked Shaklee to meet with them quarterly to discuss guidelines for when they might monitor. The FDA has ONLY asked Shaklee to consult. The FDA also told Shaklee (who is owned by a pharmaceutical company and therefore uses pharmaceutical standards) that IF the FDA were ever to monitor supplements and herbs, it would NOT do it to the high level that Shaklee does = Shaklee has set such a high standard for quality and effectiveness that not even the FDA's standards would be as high. To me this = I don't have to worry about FDA monitoring because it will not be as safe as this company.

Here is something to consider, Shaklee did research into Kava Kava and KNEW that it was potentially harmful so they REFUSED to make it. Can you say that about other companies? They are also so stringent about "no pesticides, fungicides, etc." that they were the only company to pull there Gingseng product a few years ago because the crops for asian ginseng were bad. Can you find another company that did that? Part of their reason was that if the product contains pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, etc., the body requires MORE nutrients to get that gunk out of your body - why make it work harder? The other reason was just quality of product.

PLEASE, if anyone is interested in finding out more about standards for quality products, feel free to even e-mail me personally at [email protected]. We can learn together and get stronger together!

Lastly, according to an M.D., Robert Biggers, who spoke on Sports Nutrition, you don't get your energy from vitamins, rather, they work synergistically to RELEASE the energy from the GOOD foods you eat.

What do you all think????!!!! jeni
 
RE: Please read my "New Vitamin Crew" watch out e-mail

I think you probably sell Shaklee, would I be right? When I initially mentioned the vitamin in the original post it was because it worked, not because I wanted to promote a product.

If that is not the case, I apologize. But your post seems an awful lot like a sales pitch.

Just Do It! :)
 
I use Shaklee

I use Shaklee but am not an official distributor. Nonetheless, I researched products before I joined and found that there are many companies, like Vitalert, that will sell anything to make a buck. I'm not saying it doesn't work, I'm concerned about the "cost" to those of you taking it. The choice is your's...I'd just be curious what would happen if you called them and ask for their research (proof) of it's effectiveness AND safety. I mean look at Metabolife - now that company is being investigated by the Dept. of Justice for fraud. Weider, who puts out Muscle and Fitness magazine, sold an "energy bar" that had 4x the fat that the label reported and less than the nutritional value than the label reported. Result? $500,000 lawsuit settlement.

I'm simply saying that if you do any research into what SHOULD be in a multi-vitamin, Vitalert has some stuff that just does NOT make sense.

Use Shaklee or don't (I'm not saying to join me) it's a personal choice. I am still learning so much about this and simply wanted to invite people to join me in educating ourselves. Most importantly, I don't want anyone to run into problems in the long term. So I think "Just DON'T DO IT!" in this case.

Sorry to have offended. I simply wanted to keep in the spirit of others sharing information...jeni
 
It's obviously a personal decision. I chose to try Metabolife and regretted it within five minutes. I stopped. I probably would not have chosen to try Vitalert if anyone other than HB had recommended because of my paranoia about those products now. My energy level for the past year has been zippo (Fitness RN I totally understand the feeling that everyone else has more energy than I do and it *is* depressing). I knew my body was deficient in *something* but I didn't know what. Of course, doctors are not much help here. I had one doctor even go so far as to say an anti-depressant would fix it. Hello! No thank you. I was drinking two cups of coffee a day to try to get a boost - it didn't really help.

I took Vitalert with trepidation and have to say I am impressed. I do not feel jittery. I do not even feel caffeinated. I feel like what I suppose a *normal* person would feel like without stimulants. Whatever my body lacked, Vitalert supplied. I don't even know what ingredient it is that kicked into my system or if it's the combination they put together. I am sure it's not going to work the same for everyone but it worked for me. Thanks to HB, I can get through the day without feeling like I'm going to drop. Who knows? Maybe Shaklee or some other company for that matter has a product that can deliver the same results but since this works and the price is incredibly reasonable, I'm going to stick with it.

If anyone is uncomfortable trying it, just don't do it (as Jeni said). If I was uncomfortable, I wouldn't. It just happened to work for me and I am grateful.
 
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