Thank you so much! Wow, you should be a motivational speaker. That was exactly what I needed to hear!

I take iron supplements because my ferritin (iron stores) is low. Low ferritin causes restless legs syndrome (which I have), because your brain needs iron to synthesize dopamine. Since my iron stores are low, my brain is not making enough dopamine, so I get restless legs syndrome. Restless legs syndrome wakes you up many times during the night, which leads to exhaustion and depressed/unstable mood during the day. Eventually, once my iron stores become even more depleted, I would also develop iron-deficiency anemia (I'm almost there, but not quite). I'm on high-dose iron supplements to help prevent iron-deficiency anemia, and also to replenish my iron stores and get rid of the RLS. Which should lead to better sleep and an improvement in my moods and energy level over all.

Did that make sense?

I'm also on vitamin D supplements, because my vitamin D is also low. Low vitamin D can lead to depression, as well.

Finally, I'm on omega-3 fish oils, simply because of the benefits shown in bipolar disorder.

Other than that, I don't take any vitamins or supplements. I'm a strong believer (and so is my doctor) in only taking supplements if a blood test has shown that you are deficient in a particular vitamin or mineral, or there are good studies to back up the use of a particular supplement in a disease that you are suffering from (e.g. fish oil in bipolar). Otherwise, it's better not to take vitamins or supplements, as some (such as folic acid which was recently linked to increased risk for colorectal cancer) can actually cause more harm than good.