is this normal?

Hi, all the symptoms you are feeling are normal, hopefully you will start to feel better once you have had a few more injection. I was diagnosed with pernicious aneamia(vitamin b12 deficiency ) 12 years ago and have I have injections every four weeks. I sometimes still have symptoms because lots of things can deplete the B12 even with injections. I have had a weird sensation in my head before like it's frozen and numb on one side. Hope you start feeling better soon. Karen.

Thanks so much for the reply Karen. Feel better now I know I'm not imagining things!! Hope all is ok with you. Thanks again. Shelli xx

Hi Shelli,

I have the tiredness you mention and sometimes a bit of dizziness, along with a constant headache (although I think this may be due to taking co-codamol). My main symptom is pain in my chest which has spread to my back.. really uncomfortable but nothing seems to shift it (and nobody seems to know for sure if it is even linked to B12 deficiency!) and I've missed work because of it. My advice is talk to your doctor to put your mind at rest

Hope you're feeling better,

Kat

Hi KitKat

I too have a pain in my chest which radiates to my back. It is like a gnawing pain.

My doctor seems to think it is related to my stomach ie gastric, Gord or Gerd. I am now taking Omeprazole but they have had little effect.

Ask your doctor about this.

Best of luck

Noel

Hi, I have pernicious anaemia as well, and I know it makes you feel so drained. My levels of Vitamin b12 have been at the very extreme and it makes you feel horrific. I can tell when I'm in need of my next injection, I start to feel extremely dizzy, getting head rushes when I stand up or till my head back slightly so much so that my vision is blurred and I get spots in front of my eyes. I also find I will suddenly lose my breath and feel my heart bounding my chest at a very fast rate, an I feel I may pass out, just to note I am a fit person, regularly playing sports and my lose of breath isn't due to a lack of physic and fitness as it can occur when I'm just walking

. But the best thing to do is do regular check ups with the doctor to get into a routine of injections because they do help, and if you're having them in the right time frame then it will make you feel a lot better.

I hope this helped!

Hi Shelli

i am a 71 year old male i was diagnosed b12 defficient about 4 yrs ago and was recieving a one

mil injection of b12 once every three months .. about 2 year i started having black outs and short of breath ..i was told i now had c.o.p.d because of my years of smoking .. since then i had numerous things going wrong with me but everything was put down to c.o.p.d .. i could hardly walk without a walking aid and suffered numerous panic attacks and was puffing inhalers all the time ......... i went to greece last year to visit a friend and landed up in Kalamata hospital after collapsing ..i was given 5 units of bood numerous top up of iron and folic nutrients as well as bee barraged with b12 the Greeks were amazed at the neglect i had in the uk ... they told me no way i had c.o.p.d as a lung function test showed even though i used to be a heavy smoker my lung capacity was good for my age very mild ... all my inhalers were thrown in bin ... as was all uk medicines .. my b12 was increased to 2mils every 8 weeks .. on returning to uk i fell out with my gp practice for the neglect i was shown ... the reason i was having all the symptoms they were attributing to c.o.p.d was not because of low lung oxygen but low blood oxygen levels due pernicious anemia as my red blood cells been enlarged and having low instrinct factor to absorb b12 to make normal cells ... i feel like a new man now .. my breathing does get a bit short at times but i take prednisilone a steroid from time to time and i can function normall i can run about throwing a ball for my yorkies and do normal things i could not do before my familly are amazed at my well being since returning from greecewhen i was taken in to hospital my haemoglobin level was 4.4 and my hcrt level was 14.2 so i you check those levels they are normally fatal .. the thing i am trying to say is please make sure you are getting the proper treatment for your p/a as i was wrongly diagnosed and went through a life of misery ... i hope you are feeling a bit better since your post and wish you well ... keep assking questions

What kind of B12 injections do you get? I was just reading today that some people need the methylcobalamin form of B12 instead of the standard cyanocobalamin. I don't know much about this at all. You probably know more than I, but I thought I'd mention it just in case you hadn't heard about it. I just found your post because I was researching why B12 never seems to do anything for me.

Hi Elsa if you are b12 deficient then you are anaemic .. what level you are at can only be established by

having blood tests taken your body needs b12 and intrinsic factor which is produced in the stomach

together with b12 they make new proper blood cells .. if intrinsic factor is not being produced then the b12

cannot be absorbed and your new red blood cells are enlarged and mishapened and don't have the

same amount of oxygen as properly produced red cells have .. when first diagnosed with b12 deficiency

you should have had numerous injections of b12 to boost the supply to your depleted system ,,

if you go to N.H.S CHOICES and read about pernicious anemia you will find a list of symptoms which there are many attributed to b12 deficiency .. if you do not have your condition managed properly then you will find yourself in the position I was in .. neglected .. if I had not gone to Greece and collapsed and landed in

hospital receiving 5 pints of blood and cobalamin intravenous and foliates then I would be dead today as my blood levels were at fatal levels

uk practice had badly neglected me .. it seems in uk they are in denial of b12 and

the pernicious anemia link .. sufferers of pernicious anemia have severe fatigue . I used to have an erratic heart beat caused by my low blood oxygen and numerous other things going wrong .. so if you find

yourself with symptoms shown on the N.H.S.site please go and demand that your blood levels are

checked out proper .. hope this finds you well and answers some of your questions by the way why you don't feel your b12 injection is doing nothing is proof you are well under the only people who get a buzz as they call it are people whose levels are normal,,, take care CHRIS 01986

Chris, Thank you so much for this. It is very helpful information! I'm glad you received help in Greece finally. Elisa

Thanks so much everyone for your advice - really appreciate it. Since my initial post I have had loading injections and folate tablets daily (that was deficient too). After loading dose still felt so poorly so have been fortunate enough to have weekly injections - feel good after injection but symptoms are returning after 3 or 4 days. Had my last injection yesterday so today I feel pretty 'normal', doctor has told me to have blood tests again next week but am struggling to think of how I will last 3 months until next jab. Hopefully doctor will go on symptoms not general guidelines - but not holding my breath! Xxx

Cronic leg weakness is my problem. Within 4 weeks of loading injections i can hardly walk!! Never experienced this before. Am 51 and never Ill -now it's constant!! Feel about 100 no energy interest in anything and everything feels like an effort. Had a little collapse Monday and loss of vision and am now petrified!! Any advice greatly appreciated

Hi even I have the same symptoms. I feel like something is virating inside me all the time. Very unsteady these days.

How long do u think it takes to get better with vit b12 deficiency.