B12
Posted , 5 users are following.
hi im asking for my mother she has been refused her b12 injection due to corvid-19 how long is it safe to do so or is it safe to not have it
0 likes, 12 replies
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Notes on B12
alarna03814 colin95849
Posted
I was worried about mine too i was due it on the 29th this month but my doctor phoned me today to let me know its been moved forward. So I'm not sure why some GP's are refusing it and others aren't. From a post I've seen on twitter, apparently WHO claimed it was an essential medicine and should not be stopped for patients who cant absorb the vitamin due to non-diet reasons.
ceejayblue colin95849
Posted
majority of GPs have no understanding of B12 and it means they don't read the NICE guidelines or the NHS ones or the info in the British National Formulary manual. Too many think we can just take tablets but if you have absorption issues then they are a waste of time and money! I got my injection 2 weeks ago but was told I may have to take tablets if we aren't off lock down by 24 June when my next injection is due. Told the nurse I will self inject if that's the case, didn't tell her I already do because i have neurological symptoms.
sometimes you have to fight to get heard and make them understand.
sheila24125 colin95849
Posted
I think it will depend on how frequently she has it, mine is every month but some doctors only allow every 3 months. Because of Covid I purchased some B12 daily tablets from a reliable vitamin web site just in case my doctors stop giving my injection. It is not life threatening but can lower your immune system and with me I get very tired if I go overdue. On the basis that B12 maintains the immune system and Covid attacks the immune system you could argue with your doctor. I am 72 years old so it may depend on your mothers age. Good luck.
lassie12B colin95849
Posted
I have been refused my injection also, and been given B12 tablets, instead which are probably useless, they are 1000mcg (daily), but still, I am normally good on my injections I get them every 12 weeks, so I am coming up to the 12th week now and been on the tablets for a few days, I am okay, I had a dizzy spell that lasted and hour and a half i'm not sure what that was about but apart from that i'm fine, but everyone is different. I have been told as soon as this is all over I shall be able to get an injection asap.
The doctor told me I am more at risk of getting Covid-19 due to my P.A and other autoimmune conditions, so that's worth bearing in mind! Nice of them to tell us so soon! (NOT)..but we are not in the highest category, obviously if you are over 70 then you re automatically in a higher catagory as well.
The pernicious anemia society is very good have a look at their site, but pernicious does mean deadly so if you don't get your B12 for long enough you can die from not having it. (sorry to be blunt) I hope she manages to get an injection.
As someone with P.A i am use to being completely forgotten about by the NHS though!
ceejayblue lassie12B
Posted
If you have PA you are not able to absorb B12 from food so therefore the tablets are a waste of time and money. I self inject B12 between my GP surgery injections which are every 10 weeks. This is because I have neurological symptoms and I need the injections to keep them at bay.
lassie12B ceejayblue
Posted
Obviously i know that, but i have no other choice and as i said i'm actually okay i was due my injection this week, i am currently fine, my practice said they will give me an injection as soon as they are able. i manage fine on 12 weekly injections and so far on tablets-for a week have been okay. i await to see what the next 2 weeks bring. i don't have any other choice quite frankly. i do not have anyone to how me how to self inject, i can't afford the injections anyway-i have very low income less than £200 a month-yes i actually live on that. so i have no other choice.
ceejayblue lassie12B
Posted
Your surgery can show you how to self inject and prescribe the B12 and syringes etc if they would be prepared to do that. I was on 12 weekly but by week 10 I was flagging, tiredness, anxiety levels through the roof so my GP moved me to 10 weekly but I still have neurological issues and so that's why I decided to self inject. Have no idea how you manage on £200 a month, but assume you must be on free prescriptions so hopefully your GP could help. The group I belong to on facebook has amazing support and is run by B12 deficiency experts and I would probably be a mess as I didn't know about co-factors that you need to take and just how debilitating being B12 deficient can be.
lassie12B ceejayblue
Posted
I found the groups on facebook extremely unsupportive, especially as i was managing quite well, they just seemed to me to be full of people wallowing in their illnesses, i'm not like that, i get on with it, i go to work, i work hard,. i put a happy post up -for me-.. about having a cycle and i was banned because i dared say i could actually be well enough to go and exercise!! For me cycling is about so much more than exercise ! It was all so petty! If i'm ill, i'm ill and i shall deal with it..if and when it comes. I'm glad you are able to find ways to to feel well. :}
chris27080 colin95849
Posted
Her levels are probably good and in any event two or three years worth are stored in the liver, and would have been restored. Alternatively the sublinqual pills do work. I recommend the 5000 mcg size. Even though they have a low rate of absorption 1-5 pw are the same as a monthly injection. The reason for the range is that I understand only 200 of the injection are absorbed . That sounds counter intuitive so the higher rate allows for the possibility that it all is. Left untreated long term PA may have wide effects but these are likely to be noticed so I doubt it is likely to be fatal.
ceejayblue chris27080
Posted
You can still have bad neurological symptoms even if you have above the minimum level of B12. The problem with saying that the B12 is stored in the liver is that when it is used by the body it goes through the bile duct and into the stomach and if you can't absorb from the stomach it doesn't get used efficiently, if at all. I am on 10 weekly injections at my GP and if I didn't do my own injections in between I would be a mess. My anxiety levels rise leading up to my 10 weekly one and I get fatigue and my neurological symptoms increase and become hard to deal with.
Too many doctors don't understand B12 or PA at all and a lot of people are mis-diagnosed and end up with their organs shutting down. There is an excellent video on You Tube that shows how a doctor had B12 deficiency and didn't recognise it in himself until he became doubly incontinent and unable to stand and a friend who was another doctor suggested testing his B12! Once on injections he was able to then feel better, but some damage was done. B12 deficiency and PA are not conditions that should be ignored.
colin95849
Edited
my mam has spoken to the dr and they have confirmed that she will be ok thank you all for your advice
joshuapryce1987 colin95849
Posted
She could try over the counter B12 vitamin tablets.