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I might be anemic for B12, anyone wanna help this newbie out? :(

Posted , 2 users are following.

paul02113
paul02113

Hey ya'll, first post here.

So for over almost two months I've been dealing with neuropathy issues, presumably from lack of B12(tingles, burns, balance issues, brain fog, blurred vision, aches). I went out of country to get it treated(no insurance here), and they prescribed me Adeno B12's capsules(3 x 250mcg a day)

I noticed they worked rather well the more I took em, but when I stopped going back to the doctor, my prescrip ran out and the last week or so I've been eating these generic cyanocobalamin's and even tried out these Costco methyl 1000ug ones. The methyl ones were of no use, even when I doubled down on them, in fact I got bad headaches, even the cyano's were a bit more effective, but not even that much. Since then I feel like I've been anemic(brain fog, short breaths, bitter taste in mouth, neck tightness, loss in appetite). 

I got my blood drained for a few tests today and I'll see the results in a week. During my 4th week since symptoms started I actually got baseline tests back home and every single one of my levels checked out normal for CBC and B12. But I have this question. Is pernicious anemia DIFFERENT from anemia resulting not keeping my B12 deficiency in check? If its the latter, how long should I take before I "normal out"?

1 like, 3 replies

3 Replies

  • sanya11314
    sanya11314 paul02113

    Posted

    Paul, hello, I found your original post.

    If you have a normal CBC

    you don't have pernicious anemia for sure,

    the counted number and look (huge red cells, if too huge they don't even get into the blood stream) give it away and is no way to overlook it in lab.

    THE sign of pernicious anemia are huge red blood cells, because in their developement they couldn't divide.

    So called 'megaloblastic' anemia, huge, but the count is low = oxygen problem = shortness of breath, headache, dizzy, cold hands and feet, pale skin, tired; all those oxygen related symptoms.

    The symptoms of any anemia (depending though how severe) due to low oxygen supply due to little amount of red blood cells or haemoglobin (red blood colour that binds the oxygen) that carry it, is the same,

    the reason though is very different

    since pernicious anemia comes down to really bad VitB12 deficiency where oral intake cannot level out the deficiency due to an intrinsic factor problem= destroyed intrinsic factor producing stomach cells.

    (other anemias are down to iron deficiency or toxins or genetic variation like sickle cell anemia....).

    Hence the TREATMENT is different for those anemias.

    You haven't been diagnosed with any anemia it seems and it is very easy and cheap to diagnose (CBC).

    Low VitB12 level found in blood does not mean one has to have pernicious anemia, it is simply a VitB12 deficiency with all the VitB12 deficiency effects.

    If you can bring up your level with oral supplements, it's fine enough.

    If one had pernicious anemia, one would depend on VitB12 shots.

    It was called pernicious (=dangerous) anemia, when those shots did not exist and there was no cure.

    All the best,

    oh, and the turnaround for red blood cells is max 3-4 month, so an adult red blood cell functions about 100-120 days. Hence every 3 month all of your blood is new again, each and every cell. Hence you see changes quickly regarding VitB12, not within days, but weeks or latest few months.

    • sanya11314
      sanya11314

      Posted

      There is one thing regarding anemia though:

      You can have normal

      CBC and iron, transferring, but if the FERRITIN was low, it is already taking effect for some unknown reason and falls into the class of 'iron deficiency anemia' with tiredness, concentration problems.

      Very early stage and has nothing to do with VitB12.

      Usually we women in fertile decades are struck by that constellation constantly and have to paddle through it and try to keep iron up.

      But just to add: when Ferritin is low and everything else in CBC normal, it can cause symptoms of light anemia and needs iron to be addressed.

    • sanya11314
      sanya11314

      Posted

      transferring? Transferrin! (iron binding protein) See, my latent anemia is killing my concentration. cheesygrin

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