Severe B12 deficiency - Guidance
Posted , 4 users are following.
It's the 2nd time i fell into severe b12 anemia, I've had most of the symptoms, pins and needles, cramps, digestive problems, depression, panic attacks, exhaustion, mental fog, metallic taste, dry mouth and troat and so forth, absolutely horrible, reached a point where I couldn't get out of bed.
Went to the doctor, explained her i already had b12 def.before (she even measured my blood pressure which was low), told her i was sleeping very badly and feeling tired. She reluctantly prescribed blood tests: b12 and folic acid.
B12 came in very high levels, folic acid very low, red blood cells were below normal.
Went to another doctor who knows i don't eat any meat, nor drink any milk, told him about the symptoms and that i started supplementing with 1000mcg sublingual and felt a little better. He told me to stop because the symptoms i was getting was actually from overdose which was the reason why in the blood test b12 came high.
Sure I'm not an idiot and didn't stop, in fact i doubled the dose, had i done what he told me i would probably be in the hospital or worse.
It's been 6months since i started supplementing with b12 and only 2 since i started taking 5000mcg. I did a lot of research on the subject and learned one can't overdose it.
Now my question are: I'm getting better, very slowly, but is it normal to be taking so long? Also still feel very tired in certain times of the month (being a young female).
Can i still take this dose or is too high or too low? I haven't done any more blood tests lately, it seems pointless cause they don't tell how my active levels really are.
I appreciate any guidance since I can't go anywhere else. Thank you.
1 like, 5 replies
clivealive Jasmyne88
Posted
It is not uncommon for some symptoms to appear to get worse before they get better as the B12 starts repairing the damage done to your nervous system and your brain starts getting multiple messages from parts of the body it had "forgotten about" or lost contact with.
I sometimes liken it to a badly tuned radio on which you have turned the volume up high trying to catch the programme you want when all of a sudden the signal comes in loud and clear and the blast nearly deafens you.
A lot will depend on the severity and longevity of your B12 deficiency as to how long before there is no further improvement or recovery.
Some symptoms will "disappear" quite quickly whereas others may take months or even years. There is no set timescale as we are all different.
You cannot "overdose" on B12 as any excess is excreted via your urine - so keep taking the tablets especially if you are not eating animal products which is the only "natural" way to source it.
It is important that your Folate level is monitored as this is essential to process the B12 you are supplementing.
There is a complex interaction between folic acid, vitamin B12 and iron. A deficiency of one may be "masked" by excess of another so the three must always be in balance.
Symptoms of a folate deficiency can include:
symptoms related to anaemia
reduced sense of taste
diarrhoea
numbness and tingling in the feet and hands
muscle weakness
depression
Folic acid works closely with vitamin B12 in making red blood cells and helps iron function properly in the body.
I am not a medically trained person but I've had P.A. (a form of B12 deficiency) for more than 45 years.
I wish you well
Jasmyne88 clivealive
Posted
Thanks you so much Clive! Makes a lot of sense. I'll keep in my mind everything you said.
All the best.
patricia64333 Jasmyne88
Posted
Hi Jasmine, gosh you've really been thru it havnt you,
I first visited my Dr in may with very severe itchy feet, burnt like mad when I got into a warm bath, he ruled out diab, never mentioned b12, and I was told peripheral nueropathy, I went in to see my own Dr in sept, because,I was tired,very low,prone to tearful outbursts and always suffering with a sore tongue, she did tests for B12, and I was told they were. OK, November I was back in to see her saying I was no better, have you had your b12 levels tested ??? ,said yes,so she looked, oh dear !!! she said they were 169,borderline, , but she started me on the loading dose anyway,to see if it helps.
A bit more energy, but started to have a large area of itchy rash on my chest area, put up with it as Clive on this forum says this can happen,but check my folic levels, so back I go Dr , gave me betnovatecream (brilliant) stopped itching straight away, my folic levels were low, 3.1 so taking 5mg tabs a day, and I'm starting to feel better, my next injection is. March, but I've purchased sublingual b12 tabs just in case, Dr ok'd this.she didn't mentioned. Overloading my system with b12, incidentally which ha d risen to 2000, after my I'm hoping that once my system gets used to a boost of b12, I will feel like a new women, incidentally I'm 70, so I suppose I can't feel like a 21 year old again haha, this doesn't really answer your question I'm sorry to say, but just felt that after reading your story, I wanted you to know you arnt alone, this forum has hundreds of sufferers,I'm sure one of them will have an answer for you, good luck and hope you get things sorted out and start to feel well again. Ive found this forum very helpful, as i knew nothing about pa, now i read anything i can find, Clive has answered a lot of my questions.
Patricia.
Jasmyne88 patricia64333
Posted
Thank you Patricia, it's one of the reason I posted my story, to find out people with the same condition. It's hard when people around you don't understand a thing and the doctors are even worse. Anyway I'm feeling better slowly, it will take time but I'll get there.
All the best for you too.
patricia64333 Jasmyne88
Posted
Ps. any time you want to chat,just post a reply.