1 May 2026Oral drugs
Thiamine = Vitamin B1 oral
Thiamine guidance for vitamin B1 deficiencies including beriberi and alcoholic neuritis.
This guide page is for structured reference only and does not replace a clinician, pharmacist, or emergency review. Dose choice, route choice, interactions, and safety decisions still need professional judgment.
Therapeutic action
Vitamin.
Indications
Vitamin B1 deficiencies: beriberi and alcoholic neuritis.
Forms and strengths
- 50 mg tablet.
- Also comes in 10 mg and 25 mg tablets.
Dose and duration
Infantile beriberi
- 10 mg once daily, until complete recovery, usually 3 to 4 weeks.
Acute beriberi
- 50 mg 3 times daily for a few days, until symptoms improve, then 10 mg once daily until complete recovery over several weeks.
Mild chronic deficiency
- 10 to 25 mg once daily.
Contra-indications, adverse effects, precautions
- No contra-indication or adverse effects with oral thiamine.
- Pregnancy: no contra-indication.
- Breast-feeding: no contra-indication.
- In the treatment of severe cases, injectable thiamine is justified initially but is no longer justified when symptoms have improved.
- Vitamin B1 deficiency often occurs in association with other vitamin B-complex deficiencies, especially in alcoholic patients.
Source
MSF Essential drugs practical guidelines (January 2026)
This page reproduces the structured reference information for this batch while leaving out the Storage and Remarks sections.
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