Vitamins for Tiredness and Fatigue: Wording, Evidence and the Test

Nine vitamins and minerals carry the authorised wording "contributes to the reduction of tiredness and fatigue" in Great Britain: riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, vitamin B6, folate, vitamin B12, vitamin C, iron and magnesium.^{1, 2} The wording describes each nutrient's normal role in the body, and a food or supplement may print it when it supplies at least 15% of the nutrient reference value, the legal "source of" amount; it is not a trial finding that a supplement will make a tired person less tired.^{1, 3, 4} The deficiencies the NHS says cause tiredness, iron, vitamin B12 and folate, are found with a GP blood test, and the trials that measured tiredness and found a change recruited people who were low: iron relieved fatigue in women with a ferritin under 50 and normal haemoglobin, and a 2025 pooled analysis found the effect absent once iron-deficient participants were excluded.^{10, 11, 17, 19} The NHS lists sleep, stress, hormonal change, illness and medicines among the common causes of tiredness, and asks you to see a GP if it has lasted a few weeks without an obvious reason.⁹ This page belongs to the Wellgard vitamins and minerals guide.

Evidence at a glance

• The wording: Regulation 432/2012 as retained in GB law, and the Great Britain nutrition and health claims register, last updated 19 May 2026.^{1, 2}
• Iron and tiredness without anaemia: two placebo-controlled trials of 144 and 198 women (both funded by pharmaceutical companies), a 2018 review of 18 trials in 1,170 adults, and a 2025 pooled analysis of 1,408 people.^{16, 17, 18, 19}
• B vitamins, vitamin C and magnesium in people who were not deficient: one manufacturer-sponsored B-complex trial of 215 men, a UK trial of 201 adults over 75, a Cochrane review of 109 older adults, a 28-person B12 pilot study from 1973, a 155-person magnesium trial, a 46-person vitamin C trial and a 98-person combination trial.^{20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 27, 28}

Sources checked on 2 November 2026.

What does "contributes to the reduction of tiredness and fatigue" mean in law?

It is an authorised health claim about a nutrient's normal role in the body, permitted on a food that supplies a significant amount of that nutrient, and it does not say that taking more than you need will change how tired you feel.^{1, 3} The wordings come from the retained EU register, now kept as the Great Britain nutrition and health claims register, and each may be used "only for food which is at least a source of" the nutrient named.^{1, 2} "Source of" is defined in the same law as a significant amount, and Annex XIII of the food information regulation sets that at 15% of the nutrient reference value per 100 g, or per portion for a single-portion pack; supplement labels declare their nutrients per recommended daily portion, and it is that daily portion that is read against the 15%, so a supplement whose daily portion supplies at least 15% of the NRV for iron may carry the iron wording.^{3, 4} The wordings sit in the class the claims regulation describes as "the role of a nutrient or other substance in growth, development and the functions of the body", Article 13(1)(a), a statement about the nutrient's role in the body rather than about any one person's shortfall, and the annex cites the European Food Safety Authority opinion that assessed that role against each entry.^{1, 26} So the wording is true of the nutrient whether or not you are short of it, and the question for a tired person is different: am I short of it?

Which vitamins and minerals carry the tiredness and fatigue wording?

These nine, with the NHS daily figures for adults aged 19 to 64 and the NHS line on supplements, in the NHS's words.^{1, 5, 6, 7, 8}

Vitamin D is not on the list: it has no tiredness wording, and the NHS does not list tiredness among the effects of deficiency, which on its vitamin D page are rickets in children and bone pain from osteomalacia in adults.²⁵ Signs of vitamin D deficiency covers the test and the thresholds.

Riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid and vitamin B6

Each of these four B vitamins contributes to the reduction of tiredness and fatigue, the authorised wording, and none has an NHS deficiency page; the NHS says you "should be able to get all" of each "from your daily diet".^{1, 5} It adds that riboflavin, niacin and pantothenic acid "cannot be stored in the body", so intake is a daily matter.⁵ The one of the four with a hard ceiling is vitamin B6: 200 mg or more a day "can lead to a loss of feeling in the arms and legs known as peripheral neuropathy", the effect of 10 to 200 mg "is unclear", and the NHS line is 10 mg a day from supplements unless a doctor advises otherwise.⁵ Is it OK to take B complex every day works through the ceilings product by product.

What the trials in people who were not deficient show, as counts: in a randomised placebo-controlled trial of 215 employed men aged 30 to 55, a high-dose B complex with vitamin C and minerals taken for 33 days improved scores for perceived stress, general health and vigour, and the men rated themselves less "mentally tired" before and after a demanding task; the study was sponsored by the product's manufacturer, and it cannot separate the B vitamins from the vitamin C and minerals in the same tablet.²⁰ A Cochrane review of vitamin B6 on its own found two placebo-controlled trials in 109 healthy older people, 20 mg a day for 12 weeks in 76 men and 75 mg a day for five weeks in 33 women, and "no evidence for short-term benefit from vitamin B6 in improving mood (depression, fatigue and tension symptoms)".²² We found no placebo-controlled trial of riboflavin, niacin or pantothenic acid taken alone against tiredness in adults with normal intakes (literature searched to 2 November 2026), so the wording for those three rests on the nutrient's role in energy metabolism rather than on a supplement trial.

Folate and vitamin B12

Folate and vitamin B12 each contribute to the reduction of tiredness and fatigue, and these are the two nutrients whose deficiency the NHS describes with tiredness at the head of the list, found or ruled out by a blood test.^{1, 11} The NHS symptoms of a vitamin B12 or folate deficiency begin with "extreme tiredness" and "a lack of energy", then pins and needles, a sore and red tongue, muscle weakness, psychological problems and problems with memory, understanding and judgement; "some of these problems can also happen if you have a deficiency in vitamin B12 or folate but do not have anaemia".¹¹ Who is at risk, in the NHS's words: pernicious anaemia is "the most common cause of vitamin B12 deficiency in the UK"; dietary lack "is uncommon, but can happen if you have a vegan diet and do not take vitamin B12 supplements or eat foods fortified with vitamin B12"; anticonvulsants and proton pump inhibitors can affect absorption; and both deficiencies affect "around 1 in 10 people aged 75 or over and 1 in 20 people aged 65 to 74".¹¹ The MHRA adds metformin, whose product information now states that vitamin B12 deficiency "may affect up to 1 in 10 people who take it".¹⁵

The GP's blood tests check haemoglobin, whether the red cells are larger than normal, and the levels of vitamin B12 and folate; the NHS notes that some people have symptoms with normal-looking levels and some have low levels with no symptoms, so the result is read with the symptoms.¹² Signs of vitamin B12 deficiency and folate deficiency symptoms cover borderline results and treatment. On what a supplement does when levels are not low: the one UK trial, 201 adults aged 75 and over with moderately low B12 and no anaemia, gave 1 mg of vitamin B12 or placebo daily for 12 months; blood B12 rose 177%, and there was no effect on nerve conduction, cognition or clinical examination; tiredness was not measured, and the trial was funded by the Food Standards Agency and the Department of Health, with the vitamin B12 donated by a manufacturer.²¹ The only placebo-controlled trial of vitamin B12 against tiredness in people who were not deficient is a 1973 UK pilot study: 28 adults complaining of tiredness, all with normal blood results, completed a double-blind crossover of hydroxocobalamin injections, 5 mg twice a week for two weeks, against matching placebo injections with a two-week rest between; because the vitamin's effect appeared to carry over into the placebo period, only the 14 who had placebo first were analysed, and among them general well-being (p = 0.006) and happiness (p = 0.03) favoured the vitamin while the fatigue question itself did not reach significance; the paper carries no funding statement.²⁷ No placebo-controlled trial we found has measured tiredness after folic acid in adults with normal levels (literature searched to 2 November 2026).

Vitamin C

Vitamin C contributes to the reduction of tiredness and fatigue, the authorised wording; the NHS puts the adult need at 40 mg a day, and its deficiency disease, scurvy, begins with "feeling very tired and weak all the time".^{1, 6, 13} The NHS says vitamin C "cannot be stored in the body, so you need it in your diet every day", that taking more than 1,000 mg a day can cause stomach pain, diarrhoea and flatulence, and that less than 1,000 mg a day from supplements "is unlikely to cause any harm".⁶ The trial closest to the question recruited people who were low rather than deficient: 46 healthy young adults in Korea with a serum vitamin C under 50 micromoles per litre took 500 mg twice a day or placebo for four weeks; attention improved against placebo, fatigue showed a "distinct tendency of improvement" that did not reach significance (p = 0.06), and the work was funded by a pharmaceutical company and the National Research Foundation of Korea.²³ A single small trial in people selected for a low level says nothing about adults who eat fruit and vegetables most days, whom the NHS expects to meet the 40 mg from food.^{6, 23}

Iron

Iron contributes to the reduction of tiredness and fatigue, the authorised wording, and it is the one nutrient on the list with placebo-controlled trials of tiredness in people who were low but not anaemic, every one of which recruited by a blood test.^{1, 16, 17, 18} The NHS lists the symptoms of iron deficiency anaemia as "tiredness and lack of energy", shortness of breath, noticeable heartbeats, paler than usual skin and headaches; heavy periods and pregnancy are "very common causes", and bleeding in the stomach and intestines is another, which is why the GP looks for the cause as well as the count.¹⁰ The NHS daily figures and the 17 mg supplement line are in the table above, with one warning worth repeating: "very high doses of iron can be fatal, particularly if taken by children".⁷

The trials, as counts. In 144 women aged 18 to 55 with unexplained fatigue and normal haemoglobin, four weeks of 80 mg of iron a day lowered fatigue by 29% against 13% on placebo, a difference of 0.95 points on a 10-point scale, and only the women with a ferritin of 50 or below improved; the trial was sponsored by a pharmaceutical company, which the paper says took no part in the analysis.¹⁶ In 198 women aged 18 to 53 with ferritin under 50 and haemoglobin above 12 g/dL, 12 weeks of 80 mg of iron a day cut fatigue scores by 47.7% against 28.8% on placebo, with no change in quality of life, depression or anxiety; the trial was funded by a pharmaceutical company.¹⁷ A 2018 systematic review of 18 trials in 1,170 iron-deficient non-anaemic adults pooled four trials of 714 people for self-reported fatigue, finding a standardised difference of minus 0.38 in favour of iron, and no difference in maximal oxygen uptake across nine trials; it had no specific funding.¹⁸ A 2025 meta-analysis of 18 studies in 1,408 non-anaemic children, adolescents and menstruating adults found fatigue improved in the randomised trials (effect size 0.34), and reports that "supplementation effects were absent when excluding ID participants", that is, when the people who were iron deficient were taken out.¹⁹ So the evidence for iron and tiredness is evidence about low iron, and the test that decides it is ferritin: what is ferritin gives the UK thresholds, iron for heavy periods the commonest cause, and how to choose an iron supplement the label arithmetic.

Magnesium

Magnesium contributes to a reduction of tiredness and fatigue, the authorised wording, with the NHS daily amount at 300 mg for men and 270 mg for women and 400 mg or less a day from supplements "unlikely to cause any harm".^{1, 8} The NHS says magnesium helps "turn the food we eat into energy", that you "should be able to get all the magnesium you need by eating a varied and balanced diet", naming spinach, nuts and wholemeal bread, and that more than 400 mg for a short time can cause diarrhoea.⁸ There is no NHS deficiency page for magnesium; the signs of a measured low level, and the medicines that lower it, are on the signs of low magnesium, and does magnesium help you sleep covers the sleep trials, which measured time to fall asleep rather than daytime tiredness.

The one placebo-controlled trial of magnesium alone that measured fatigue in adults with normal levels, 155 adults aged 18 to 65 with poor sleep given 250 mg of elemental magnesium or placebo for four weeks, found no difference in fatigue against placebo (a 3.0-point fall against 1.8 on the Fatigue Severity Scale, difference 1.3, p = 0.39), while insomnia scores improved modestly; it was funded by the university institute that ran it, and one author directs a contract research organisation funded by supplement companies.²⁸ A 2026 trial in 98 adults with inflammatory bowel disease in remission, who took vitamins B1, B6 and B12 with magnesium or placebo for four weeks and reported lower fatigue scores on the supplement; it is a combination in a diagnosed condition, so it says nothing about magnesium alone or about healthy adults, and the authors declared no competing interests.²⁴ The wording for magnesium therefore rests on its role in energy metabolism, which is what the register assessed.¹

What else does the NHS say causes tiredness?

Mostly things that are not nutritional: the NHS list of common causes of tiredness and fatigue starts with sleep and ends with medicines, and iron deficiency anaemia is one of five conditions it names.⁹ In the NHS's words, common causes include "not getting enough sleep or finding it hard to get to sleep (insomnia)", "an unhealthy lifestyle (such as having an unhealthy diet and not getting much exercise)", "stress, depression and dealing with life challenges, such as bereavement or looking after a new baby", "hormonal changes (such as during puberty, pregnancy or the menopause)", "some illnesses, like glandular fever and COVID-19", and "some medical treatments and medicines, like chemotherapy".⁹ Its table of conditions pairs symptoms with a possible cause: daytime tiredness with gasping, snorting or loud snoring at night, sleep apnoea; lack of energy with palpitations, shortness of breath and pale skin, iron deficiency anaemia; tiredness with thirst, peeing more often and weight loss, diabetes; tiredness with restlessness, nervousness, irritability and muscle weakness, an overactive thyroid; and extreme fatigue for at least three months with problems thinking and flu-like symptoms, ME/CFS.⁹ An underactive thyroid has its own NHS page, where "feeling extremely tired (fatigue)" heads the symptom list beside feeling cold, weight gain, constipation and low mood, diagnosed with TSH and T4 blood tests.¹⁴ Thyroid supplements explains why no supplement is the first step there.

Test rather than guess

The NHS says to see a GP if "you've been feeling tired for a few weeks and you're not sure why", if tiredness affects your daily life, or if it comes with other symptoms such as weight loss or mood changes, and that you "may need tests, such as blood tests to check for anaemia, diabetes or hyperthyroidism".⁹ For anaemia the first test is a full blood count, which the NHS says "will also check for" vitamin B12 or folate deficiency anaemia; the B12 and folate levels themselves, and the thyroid hormones, are separate tests the GP adds when the picture points that way.^{10, 12, 14} Ferritin, the iron store, is the test that finds low iron before the count drops: what is ferritin gives the UK thresholds and the guideline, and it is the measure every fatigue trial above used to choose its participants.^{16, 17, 18} Before the appointment, note how long the tiredness has lasted, and anything the NHS or the MHRA links to a deficiency above: heavy periods, a vegan or very restricted diet, long-term metformin or acid-suppressing medicine, age over 65; then ask for the numbers rather than "normal", because the thresholds on the ferritin and B12 pages give a borderline result its meaning.^{10, 11, 15} If a result is low, the GP sets the treatment: for iron usually a course of about six months with repeat blood tests, for B12 tablets or injections depending on the cause.^{10, 11} If every result is normal, the NHS causes above are the next place to look, and a supplement carrying the wording is a way of keeping intake at the reference amount rather than a treatment for the tiredness. The same test-first logic runs through why am I so tired on Mounjaro and perimenopause fatigue, where the tiredness has another likely cause and a deficiency can hide behind it.

Who should see a GP straight away?

Anyone whose tiredness comes with shortness of breath, palpitations or pale skin, the NHS picture of anaemia; anyone with pins and needles, numbness, a sore red tongue or new problems with memory or balance, which the NHS lists for B12 deficiency and says can become permanent if left; anyone with unexplained weight loss, thirst or passing urine more often; and anyone who has been told they make gasping, snorting or choking noises in their sleep.^{9, 10, 11} Anyone with low iron and no obvious reason for it, such as heavy periods or pregnancy, needs the cause found, because the NHS names bleeding in the stomach and intestines as another common one;¹⁰ what is ferritin gives the UK rule for men and women past the menopause.

What we don't know

• Whether any of the nine nutrients changes tiredness in an adult whose blood results are normal: the iron trials were in low-ferritin women, the UK B12 trial in older people measured nerves and cognition rather than tiredness, the 1973 B12 pilot study and the 2025 magnesium trial were small and ran for two and four weeks, and no trial of riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid or folic acid alone has measured tiredness in adults with normal levels (literature searched to 2 November 2026).^{16, 17, 21, 27, 28}
• Whether the ferritin threshold below which iron relieves tiredness is 50, as the two trials used, or the 30 that UK guidance uses for low stores; no trial has compared them.^{16, 17}

Frequently asked questions

Which vitamin deficiency causes tiredness?

Vitamin B12 and folate deficiency, whose NHS symptom list begins with "extreme tiredness" and "a lack of energy", and iron deficiency anaemia, whose list begins with "tiredness and lack of energy"; all three are found with a GP blood test.^{10, 11} Severe vitamin C deficiency, scurvy, also begins with feeling very tired and weak, but is rare.¹³

Do B vitamins give you energy?

They help the body release energy from food, which is why riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, vitamin B6, folate and vitamin B12 each contribute to the reduction of tiredness and fatigue under the authorised wording; a supplement at the reference amount keeps intake where that wording applies, and the largest placebo-controlled trial in adults who were not deficient, 215 men over 33 days, sponsored by the manufacturer, tested a combination with vitamin C and minerals rather than the B vitamins alone.^{1, 5, 20}

Can low iron make you tired without anaemia?

Yes: in 198 women with ferritin under 50 and normal haemoglobin, 12 weeks of iron cut fatigue scores by 47.7% against 28.8% on placebo, and a 2018 review pooled four trials of 714 iron-deficient non-anaemic adults and found less self-reported fatigue with iron.^{17, 18} The 2025 pooled analysis found no effect once iron-deficient participants were excluded, so a ferritin test comes first.¹⁹

What am I lacking if I am so tired all the time?

Often nothing nutritional: the NHS puts sleep, lifestyle, stress and low mood, hormonal change, illness and medicines first, and asks you to see a GP after a few weeks of unexplained tiredness for blood tests that check for anaemia, diabetes and thyroid problems.⁹ Iron, B12 and folate are the deficiencies the NHS links to tiredness, and the test tells you which, if any, applies.^{10, 11}

Does vitamin D help with tiredness?

Vitamin D carries no tiredness wording and the NHS does not list tiredness among the signs of deficiency; its advice is 10 micrograms a day in autumn and winter for bones and muscles, whatever your energy.²⁵

Sources

1. Commission Regulation (EU) No 432/2012 as retained in GB law, Annex: list of permitted health claims, entries for riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, vitamin B6, folate, vitamin B12, vitamin C, iron and magnesium, each "may be used only for food which is at least a source of" the nutrient, with the EFSA Journal opinion cited against each. legislation.gov.uk.
2. Department of Health and Social Care. Great Britain nutrition and health claims (NHC) register. Last updated 19 May 2026. gov.uk.
3. Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 as retained in GB law, Annex: nutrition claims and conditions applying to them, "source of [name of vitamin/s] and/or [name of mineral/s]", permitted only where the product contains at least a significant amount. legislation.gov.uk.
4. Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 as retained in GB law, Annex XIII, nutrient reference values and the significant amount (15% of the reference value). legislation.gov.uk.
5. NHS. Vitamins and minerals: B vitamins and folic acid. Page reviewed 3 August 2020 (review overdue). nhs.uk.
6. NHS. Vitamins and minerals: vitamin C. Page reviewed 3 August 2020 (review overdue). nhs.uk.
7. NHS. Vitamins and minerals: iron. Page reviewed 3 August 2020 (review overdue). nhs.uk.
8. NHS. Vitamins and minerals: others (magnesium). Page reviewed 3 August 2020 (review overdue). nhs.uk.
9. NHS. Tiredness and fatigue. Page reviewed 2 June 2023 (review overdue). nhs.uk.
10. NHS. Iron deficiency anaemia. Page reviewed 26 January 2024. nhs.uk.
11. NHS. Vitamin B12 or folate deficiency anaemia: overview. Page reviewed 20 February 2023 (review overdue). nhs.uk.
12. NHS. Vitamin B12 or folate deficiency anaemia: diagnosis. Page reviewed 20 February 2023 (review overdue). nhs.uk.
13. NHS. Scurvy. Page reviewed 27 September 2023. nhs.uk.
14. NHS. Underactive thyroid (hypothyroidism): symptoms. Page reviewed 28 April 2025. nhs.uk.
15. MHRA. Metformin and reduced vitamin B12 levels: new advice for monitoring patients at risk. Drug Safety Update, 20 June 2022. gov.uk.
16. Verdon F, et al. Iron supplementation for unexplained fatigue in non-anaemic women: double blind randomised placebo controlled trial. BMJ, 2003. Randomised placebo-controlled trial, 144 women, 4 weeks, 80 mg elemental iron a day; sponsored by a pharmaceutical company, which the paper says was not involved in the analysis. PubMed 12763985.
17. Vaucher P, et al. Effect of iron supplementation on fatigue in nonanemic menstruating women with low ferritin: a randomized controlled trial. CMAJ, 2012. Randomised placebo-controlled trial, 198 women, 12 weeks, 80 mg elemental iron a day; funded by a pharmaceutical company (the paper's funding statement; not shown on the PubMed record). PubMed 22777991.
18. Houston BL, et al. Efficacy of iron supplementation on fatigue and physical capacity in non-anaemic iron-deficient adults: a systematic review of randomised controlled trials. BMJ Open, 2018. Systematic review and meta-analysis, 18 trials, 1,170 adults (fatigue pooled from 4 trials, 714 people); no specific grant, no competing interests. PubMed 29626044.
19. Fiani D, et al. Psychiatric and cognitive outcomes of iron supplementation in non-anemic children, adolescents, and menstruating adults: a meta-analysis and systematic review. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 2025. Systematic review and meta-analysis, 18 studies (12 randomised), 1,408 participants; funding not stated in the PubMed record. PubMed 40945632.
20. Kennedy DO, et al. Effects of high-dose B vitamin complex with vitamin C and minerals on subjective mood and performance in healthy males. Psychopharmacology, 2010. Randomised placebo-controlled trial, 215 men, 33 days; sponsored by the product's manufacturer. PubMed 20454891.
21. Dangour AD, et al. Effects of vitamin B-12 supplementation on neurologic and cognitive function in older people: a randomized controlled trial. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2015. Randomised placebo-controlled trial, 201 adults aged 75 and over, 12 months, 1 mg a day; funded by the Food Standards Agency and the UK Department of Health; the vitamin B12 was donated by its manufacturer. PubMed 26135351.
22. Malouf R, Grimley Evans J. The effect of vitamin B6 on cognition. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2003. Systematic review, 2 randomised placebo-controlled trials, 109 healthy older people, 5 to 12 weeks; Cochrane review, funding not stated in the record. PubMed 14584010.
23. Sim M, et al. Vitamin C supplementation promotes mental vitality in healthy young adults: results from a cross-sectional analysis and a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. European Journal of Nutrition, 2022. Randomised placebo-controlled trial, 46 adults with low serum vitamin C, 4 weeks, 1,000 mg a day; funded by a pharmaceutical company and the National Research Foundation of Korea. PubMed 34476568.
24. Ramezani E, et al. Effects of B vitamins and magnesium on fatigue, disease activity and quality of life in inflammatory bowel disease. Scientific Reports, 2026. Randomised placebo-controlled trial, 98 adults with inflammatory bowel disease in remission, 4 weeks, vitamins B1, B6 and B12 with magnesium; no competing interests declared, and the paper states it received no funding. PubMed 42010310.
25. NHS. Vitamins and minerals: vitamin D. Page reviewed 3 August 2020 (review overdue). nhs.uk.
26. Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 as retained in GB law, Article 13(1)(a): health claims describing "the role of a nutrient or other substance in growth, development and the functions of the body". legislation.gov.uk.
27. Ellis FR, Nasser S. A pilot study of vitamin B12 in the treatment of tiredness. British Journal of Nutrition, 1973. Double-blind placebo-controlled crossover, 28 adults completing (48 entered), hydroxocobalamin 5 mg injections twice weekly for 2 weeks against placebo with a 2-week rest; 14 analysed; no funding statement. PubMed 4583554.
28. Schuster J, et al. Magnesium bisglycinate supplementation in healthy adults reporting poor sleep: a randomized, placebo-controlled trial. Nature and Science of Sleep, 2025. Randomised double-blind placebo-controlled trial, 155 adults, 4 weeks, 250 mg elemental magnesium a day; fatigue a secondary outcome; funded by the authors' university institute, one author directs a contract research organisation funded by supplement companies. PubMed 40918053.

This article is general information, not medical advice. Tiredness that has lasted a few weeks, or that comes with breathlessness, palpitations, pins and needles or weight loss, needs a GP appointment, and iron, B12 or folate for a suspected deficiency follows a blood test, not a guess. Report a reaction to a prescribed medicine through the Yellow Card scheme, and a reaction to a food supplement to your local authority's food safety team, which works with the Food Standards Agency.

Spotted something out of date? Email support@wellgard.co.uk with the page address and the sentence.