hey im a little confused about b12... is this something that comes with iron def anemia? or a different sort? what i mean is, does it come from loosing blood, say from heavy periods. i have anemia but im wondering about b12 deficieny.. a little confused

helpwanted--No it does not come from heavy periods or blood loss. B-12 deficiency anemia is from other reasons such as, PA (pernicious anemia) an autoimmune disease, lack of B-12 in diet, gastric bypass causing malabsorption, auto/gastritis, malapsorption reasons such as not enough IF in the stomach and things like that.

Now, when you are DX'ed with anemia they usually check B vitamins for deficiency because you can have both (IDA and PA) at the same time or from other reasons listed above.

If you didn't have that tested you should ask for it. I have a friend that was DX'ed with IDA. I sent her back for a ferritin test which resulted in her changing docs. Her new doc immediately tested B-12 and folate and sure enough she had PA. So it's a good measure to take if you are anemic. FLFLOWERGIRL:)

thanks flower girl, you are so full of knowledge!

helpwanted--Not an education that I wanted, that's for sure. Life lessons.....FLFLOWERGIRL:)