Thiamine, also known as thiamin or vitamin B1, is one the of B vitamins.
Thiamine helps to turn food into energy and to keep the nervous system healthy. Your body is not able to make thiamine for itself. However, you can usually get all you need from your food.
Synthetic thiamine can be used to treat or prevent vitamin B1 deficiency (this is when you do not have enough of this vitamin in your body).
It's sometimes also used to treat children with rare conditions like maple syrup urine disease and congenital lactic acidosis. A specialist doctor will need to prescribe it for them.
You can get thiamine on prescription. It comes as standard and slow-release tablets. For severe vitamin B deficiency it comes as an injection, but this is usually given in hospital.
You can buy thiamine supplements from pharmacies or shops. These include vitamin B complex tablets and multivitamin tablets where thiamine is listed as an ingredient.
Key facts
- If you take thiamine to treat vitamin B1 deficiency, it may take a few weeks before you start to feel better.
- You'll usually take thiamine once a day if you have a mild vitamin B1 deficiency.
- You can take it with or without food.
- It's best to avoid alcohol if you're taking thiamine for a vitamin B1 deficiency.
- Some people may feel sick or have a stomach ache when taking thiamine, but these side effects are usually mild.