Can I receive B12 jabs while waiting for a gastroscopy?

Hi Shazzie, Join the club!  Actually, your symptoms are very different from my own.  I have generally low levels of vitamins, but especially B12.  Yet I have no anaemia, I'm antibody negative, and no gastric symptoms (except a little bloating after eating).  But my other symptoms fit the PA profile exactly.

Good to hear you are getting an internal checkup.  Apart from the obvious exhaustion, do you have any other symptoms?  Take a look at the checklist on the Pernicious Anaemia Society website for a full rundown on possible indicators.  I have no medical background, just a lively interest in what's going on with my health.  I've read some stuff that says that B12 deficiency is much more widespread than is realised, that the acceptable levels doctors in the UK use as guidelines are too low, and it could be behind the "tsunami" of senile dementia we seem to have here.  Certainly I feel much "older" than I did 12 months ago.   My diet is good, and having no obvious reason for being deficient, I'm concerned to find the cause before the deficiency does permanent harm.

Very best of luck with your jabs.  I'd be interested to hear if you feel an immediate response or not. : )

Hi bluemaran,  I didn't enjoy that jab one bit and to think I've got a lifetime of those yet.  My symptoms are generally fatigued, itchy skin, some nerve problems and some numbness but that's not very often (in my toes and finger).  Just knackered all the time, I've lost 2 stone inside of a year, but alot of that could be down to stress of caring for my Dad (Alzheimers) at home.  I had a blood test which said I was very anaemic and my B12 was very low, so I'm hoping the jabs will correct all that.  I just wish I'd seen the doc months ago.  I put down all my tiredness because of looking after Dad and not sleeping at all.  I've got to have another in two days then alternate days til I've had 5. Then every 12 weeks. The endoscopy is just to rule anything else out.  The doctor is worried about my blood pressure going up and down aswell, whether that's related or not I don't know, or it could be early symptoms of thyroid probs as my late Mum had it and my younger sister has it too.  I will let you know how I get on over the weeks.  I think personally you should change your doctor or maybe see the locum when she's off .  Good luck anyways.

Shaz

Hi Shazzie,

Once we know about the B12 deficiency, all the other symptoms we've been ignoring slot into place.  Itchy, numb, tingly, hot feet, sleepless, deaf, moody, knackered........... you name it.  I wish I could lose some weight like you - I'm ballooning, presumably because I can't access the energy washing around in my blood, so it's building up in flab.

It sounds like you have an awful lot to cope with at home.  I wonder if these things tend to obscure the condition: "I'm wrecked, but look at what I have to cope with each day".  I've worked very long hours for years, and always blamed that - why wouldn't I?  Now I've seen my bloods, I wonder how I kept going so long.  The internal "scopes" are checking for the usual unpleasant things, but it sounds as though you might have a family tendency towards metabolic problems. 

My doctor is still chippy.  She's probably overworked, and I've nettled her by taking some control, cancelling pointless ECGs and chest x-rays, and focussing on the PA. To cap it, I've been late for a couple of jabs since, for which I've apologised (a combination of unavoidable circumstances and a foggy brain), but her general snippyness is disconcerting.  I'm just trying to get sorted with minimum kerfuffle and back to normal life.  Whatever's causing it, I'm gonna kick it's ass!  Oooh, perhaps the jabs are beginning to work! : )

Hi Bluemaran, you didn't mention that you had been putting on weight. It is a symptom of B12 deficiency and explains the paradoxical weight gain of diabetics who go on metformin. You need methylB12 to make carnitine (sort of indirectly). You need carnitine to transport fatty acids into the mitochondria to be processed. Thus, if you methyl B12 is low you can't metabolize your fat. So you have plenty of energy in reserve, but you can't use it. You need adenosylcobalamin to metabolize odd chain fatty acids, and odd chaine amion acids for energy as well. When you bump up your methyl and adenosyl cobalamin (B12) you can start to be able to use up your fat stores. Hopefully you should get this from hydroxocobalamin, although I think that the big fluctuations in B12 seen with the jabs may not help.

Hi Madge, I clicked on the link and read it, didn't understand most of it, but the bits I did have me worried now.  My doctor says my B12 is causing my anaemia, now I'm thinking it could be all sorts and can lead to severe health conditions. I know you were trying to be helpful, but I really wish I hadn't read it. 

Hi Madge,  It all makes perfect sense.  I have the final 48 hour methyl jab today, and then I'm going onto wider-spaced jabs.  I think I can detect an improvement in energy levels already (I'm no longer collapsing in the afternoons), but I might drop a tactful note to my doctor and ask her whether a mix of methyl and adenosyl is worth considering.  If I can start to metabolise some of this fat and lose weight, that will help me be more active generally (and take the strain of the arthritis in my feet) and I should start to "spiral" back up : )  I think the picture is encouraging.

 

Hi Shazzie, please don't panic.  Just read as much as you can.  Use what you learn to push for the right treatment to make you well today, and to protect you from damage in the future.  The internet grants us access to information that we may misinterpret or find frightening.  But it is enabling us to be more proactive about our own health and the health of our loved ones.  It is also redressing the balance of power that exists between patients and the medical profession - knowledge is power.  Without Madge's support, I would have waited another 3 months before starting any treatment at all.  Instead, I'm already 2 weeks into treatment and beginning to feel better.  I have a gastroscopy in early July and, although I accept that it might reveal something sinister, I don't think it will.  But if it does, the sooner I get treatment the better.  If it doesn't, I will know there is nothing to worry about.  And we are here for you.   

Hi Bluemaran, the people that I now who were in a similar "place" to you, took a bit to get going and then it was no stopping them. I also know of a couple of men who just started the Ado/MeCbl mix and lost weight without doing anything else. Good luck.

Hi Shazzie, I agree with Bluemaran. I would say though that I have spoken to the people at the web-site and they are really interested in trying to get the most easy to understand and comprehensive and helpful information that they can put out there. If there are things you don't understand, please ask them and they will get back to you and also try to improve the site. That way it benefits everyone. Hang in there, the best thing is that you have identified the problem. There are people who go for years and years without finding out that they are B12 deficient. Good luck.

Hi Madge,  Feeling well, dodging the long term consequences, and a return to my normal size 10 would be a real hat trick!  I think the outcome you describe is possible, and I have a theory (which I'm keeping to myself for the moment) about what led to all this.  Thanks for your support X : )

Hi bluemaran/ Madge,

Thank you for your posts.  One I'm gathering from reading your posts is the "losing" weight issue.  I'm worried as I need to put weight back on.  I was over 10 stone 12 months ago and now I'm just under 8 1/2 stone. I went from a dress size 14 to a 10.  Now some people would be very happy, but I'm not.  I would be happy to just gain 1 stone back, but how I've tried eating more and I've stayed at 8 1/2. I don't want to lose any more weight, I'm under weight for my height as it is, I should be 9st 6.

Hi Shazzie, there are so many people who would love to have your problem, but I understand. Once your B12 levels go up and if you have sufficient folate and thyroid hormones, your intestine should recover so that you can properly absorb the nutrients. If you don't fix your thyroid hormone levels it won't happen. Happy eating. Off for a week, good luck.