Vitamin B-1 is a water soluble vitamin which means that an extra supply is not stored in your body tissues. A fat soluble vitamin, which B-1 is not, would be stored in body tissues. Vitamin B-1 must be continually obtained from your diet.

Some symptoms in early stages of thiamine deficiency include irritability, fatigue, apathy, abdominal pain, drowsiness and poor concentration. Later stages of thiamine deficiency are much more severe and can manifest in a number of ways. A few manifestations are tachycardia (fast heart beat), vomiting, heart failure, weakness, itching, blue skin color, numbness and memory loss.

Alcoholics, dialysis patients, HIV patients, Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) patients often suffer from thiamine deficiency. If you would like a more exhausting list of symptoms, risk groups and other information associated with B-1 deficiency, try emedicine.com.

Vitamin B-1 is available at your local health food store and drug stores without a prescription. A B-1 deficiency usually is accompanied by a deficiency of other B vitamins. Therefore, B-1 is usually taken within a B-complex and not usually taken alone.

Supplementation for pregnant mothers should be done under advisement of a physician. This article is for information purposes only and is not intended to treat, diagnose or prescribe a solution to any health condition. If you have or think you have a health condition, consult your physician immediately.

University of Texas at Austin psychologist and researcher James Pennebaker believes that regular journaling strengthens immune cells, called T-lymphocytes. He theorizes that writing about stressful events helps you come to terms with them, thus reducing impact of these stressors on your physical health.

Louise Moran, a nurse coordinator, has written about a patient who, during a serious illness, sent daily e-mails to friends and family about her illness, a practice woman believes played a pivotal role in her healing process. Moran said another patient felt that journaling helped her create a new life after breast cancer. There have even been studies suggesting that journaling in healthy people actually improves immune system. Copyright 2004 Patti Testerman