I guess I'm not to bad at 179. It says it should be 211-911 for me and it's not as low as I thought it would be. My Folate was great! 20.8
Everything else on my CBC is almost exactly the same. I've been taking 100 mcg of B12 for over a year now. I guess it's not working as good as I thought.

I'm not sure if this means anything. Other then it explains why I feel like crud having my ferritin level at 4 and my iron at 12.

Sorry to say this, but 179 is bad. My B-12 runs somewhere between 800-900. 800 is without supplements too. Anything under 4-500 can give symptoms. What form of B-12are you currently taking? I don 't know where laundry hell is, LOL, but if you are in the US at 200 and under the doctors usually give IM injections of B-12. Of course not all doctors do what they should. Glad that your Folate is normal. You need B-12 to make new RBC's. Best of luck to you. FLFLOWERGIRL:)

I assumed that anything under 100 would be bad. I've been feeling so crappy that I thought it sounded good to have it over 100(I had hope that it wasn't completely tanked). I take liquid and pill form of V-B12. I have been doing this for a year- I found out last year that it was low along with Vitamin D. They didn't retest that one, I don't know why. I've been taking mega doses of vitamins for a while now with no luck. Like I said before my pcp does not seem to be bothered by this. She says its all in my age.
I'm really considering a hysterectomy. Maybe that would make me feel better! can't stand being so tired! HAs anyone tried this-and do they feel better?

Ps Laundry Hell is in the middle of Southern California with 6 kids, and husband, a brother, and a Mom to take care of!LOL

Flowergirl-what is a normal Folate-if you know? Just curious. ;)

My labs always read folate >20 normal. I don't know what that means on a range though, or if there is one. I guess not. FLFLOWERGIRL:)

Wow--I would need supplements too to keep up with all those peeps! So, if Laundry Hell is in California, you are waaaaay low on B-12. They suggest the top of the range which is around 800.

I was getting at what type of B-12. Obviously your taking SB L B-12 but are you taking Methyl--cobalamin verses Cyano--cobalamin which has to be converted. The Methly is in it's natural form and absorbs well. You cannot get too much B-12 so, you may want to check into seeing how much you can take I have heard of people taking much more than you are daily and that is probably what you need if you are not responding. FLFLOWERGIRL:)

I guess I'm not to bad at 179. It says it should be 211-911 for me and it's not as low as I thought it would be. My Folate was great! 20.8
Everything else on my CBC is almost exactly the same. I've been taking 100 mcg of B12 for over a year now. I guess it's not working as good as I thought.

I'm not sure if this means anything. Other then it explains why I feel like crud having my ferritin level at 4 and my iron at 12.

Hi There
Your B12 is very very low I would suggest you ask your doctor for a uMMA it is a urine tests that will show B12 deficiency you can do a search on it....
I dobt know about your folate as our levels are read different here but if it is rather high this can occur with B12 deficiency...
taking 100mcg of B12 is a waste of time with your levels it is like trying to fill a damnwith a teaspoon of water each day it will dry up before you can add the next one so to speak you need regular big doses of Methylcobalamin the active form of B12 on a consistant basis..........as you are low in vitD you may have some malabsorption problem going on were the gut cant absorb the essential like iron and b12 dependent on the stomach...... eg celiac crohns,ect...Do you have a history of stomach issues......Please get that test done as your B12 is just way to low What is the doc going to do about it as you are under the range did he suggest some injections for if not see another doctor asap to get another opinion

good luck

I assumed that anything under 100 would be bad. I've been feeling so crappy that I thought it sounded good to have it over 100(I had hope that it wasn't completely tanked). I take liquid and pill form of V-B12. I have been doing this for a year- I found out last year that it was low along with Vitamin D. They didn't retest that one, I don't know why. I've been taking mega doses of vitamins for a while now with no luck. Like I said before my pcp does not seem to be bothered by this. She says its all in my age.
I'm really considering a hysterectomy. Maybe that would make me feel better! can't stand being so tired! HAs anyone tried this-and do they feel better?

Ps Laundry Hell is in the middle of Southern California with 6 kids, and husband, a brother, and a Mom to take care of!LOL

I forgot to metion if you can not absorbe B12 tablet form is also useless and so is the liquid you will not take it in and besides the amount in them is to low.......
Cheers

It was really wierd, back in August of 08 I started to drink this liqued B12 that we got from a weight lifting/vitamin place. The first week was like magic. I felt my energy go up a bit. Then the second week I was right back where I started. I'm also taking a vegetable based vitamin line that is suppose to be better absorbed. For three months they had me taking 50,000 units of vit. D and 10,000 of vit. B12.
Actually let me start back to the begining of this mess-
1 year ago I had a surgery(and had completely healed)-one month after that I lost the vision in one eye-I woke up I had an intense headache with no vision. Then I went to the ER and slowly but surely I lost my mobility on my left side. I spent two weeks in there. The only thing they could find was a severe defiency in my vitamins. They gave me 1000 mg of steriods to get my vision back and after two weeks it was fully restored. The mobility started to come back after 2 months of taking all these vitamins. They were giving me the real stuff and let me tell you it was nasty!!They said if I had another incident it could be MS. They also said it could have been a small stroke that didn't register yet. I was also told that vit. defiency could cause all of this. Three different diagnosis.
I just assumed that it was all fine. My doctor has never been concerned. I thought I was taking all the right stuff and started feeling terrible again last summer. My PCP wasn't even going to test for the iron-I asked her too. I got shingles in Oct. and she focused on that.
Now that I know everything is low again it worries me. It might be why I'm having so much pain in my joints and making the shingles last so long. I feel like having six babies so close together has really hurt my body. I can remember feeling terrible after each birth. I nursed each one for a year. So, there again I depleted myself.
If you've read some of my other threads-I gained 3o pounds in three months. I weigh more now then when I was pregnant.I have really bad joint pain. I have been having severe pain down in my pelvic area. It feels like each ovarie starts hurting life they are at war. My stomach is swollen and hard a lot! I don't have diarrhea-ever. I am constipated occasionally. I've had a colonoscopy and nothing other then hemorrhoids. I don't understand why my body is not soaking up these vitamins. I also eat really healthy. I try to focus on foods that will help me.
That's my story in a nut shell....any comments or help is greatly appreciated.
My test results-
1 month ago- ER 1/5/09 1/20/09
WBC 6.2 6.5 5.8 (4.-10.5)
RBC 4.3 4.63 4.28(3.8-5.10)
hgb 10.7 10.7(11.5-15.)
hct 32 32. (34-44)
MCV 74 (80-98)
MCH 24.9 (27.-34.)
MCHC 33 (32-36)
RDW 16.3 (11.7-15.)
Platelets 263 (140-415) 183
Neutrophil 81 H 63 normal
lymphocyte 16 L 30 normal
Lipase level 18 low
TIBC 426 (250-450)
UIBC 401(150-375)
iron 25 (35-155) (I told you all the wrong # before)
iron saturation 6 (15-55)
ferritin 4 (10-291)
B12 179(211-911)
Folate 20.8 (>5.4)
T4 .96 (.61-1.76)
protein 6.6 (6.0-8.5)

Wow, you have really been through something!! I put my dad on Vit D and sublingual B12 after his doctor pronounced him healthy and yet he was scraping bottom of the barrel. He, unlike you, has responded beautifully to these two supplements. He used to beel like total rubbish, became moody, was tired all the time. He kept attributing it to his age. Now that all his figures are quite way up, he is in a better mood, sleeps through most nights and in general feels so much better. Even the stomach pains he was complaining of before appear to have gone. Amazing what supplements will do if the body is abosrbing them, which definitely isn't your case and the reason is why?

I'm sure you are aware that you could have number of things going on at once. Life loves doing that to us!! You will likely need to consult various doctors for various issues.

It could be that you became severly depleted in nutrients etc after having so many babies close together. Your body likely became exhausted and just could pick itself back of the ground so now it's even more difficult to get back up there. On the other hand it could be some other illness which is keeping your levels down, thereby making your inability to absorb B12 and Vit D etc a symptom of whichever illness is the key to the problem.

If your doctor isn't of any use then i think it's time to find another one. Sometimes you have to go through a number of doctors before finding one good one.

I think they need to make woman more aware of these things. My three daugthers will start off right-knowing how to take good care of their bodies. We know more about tuning up our cars then our bodies! I'm 37 and just now being told how important it is to watch these levels. Once they are off-it takes years to get back to normal! We need to take control of our lives and stop this! Thank God for the internet! I believe that the reason why we see depression next to just about EVERY disease symptoms is because we are given such poor advice. How depressing is it to hear-sorry but your 37 and getting old-so your just going to have to get use to feeling like this. Hello....there is a medical reason why I feel like death's knocking at my door! If your told enough times that-this is just life-deal with it. The the anti depressant drug companies will stay in business! If they actually treated us with the meds we needed we would not be depressed. COMMON SENSE! If they taught us how to prevent this stuff then none of these companies would be around. They would have to come up with new ways to make billions!Once I get better I promise to try and help woman I know and woman on these sights. At least guide them the way everyone has done for me on here!:angel:

mysixpack - i totally agree with you on all counts. Even the pharmacy where i get all my prescriptions filled say that the amount of antidepressant scripts they fill is simply amazing and they know for a fact that a lot of those people likely don't have "mental" depression, but depression as a result of other health issues.

I think antidepressants and those "get slim quick" shakes/bars/powders etc etc are all big business. We simply aren't taught anything about basic health as you said. If it's a hormonal thing we're told to go on birth control, or get a hysterectomy. If it's something else we're told it's stress or depression. It must be so easy being a doctor these day's as patients only seem to fall into very few categories!!

Well i do hope these boards have empowered you and given you back some fight to not take all this lying down. A bit of knowledge and some girl power from the boards can be a wonderful thing. I know it was for me. It set me sailing to find answers. I'm still trying to find answers, but i feel at least halfway there.

So don't go taking something a doctor pushes at you just to keep the pharmaceutical companies happy, don't go having hysterectomies and whatever else, unless you have thoroughly investigated everything, built up some of the things you are low in and covered all bases and are sure you are doing the right thing for you.

You will get there.........besides, we're all coming along for the ride :)

Did you all know that the greek word for uterus is Frenzy? It was said, that because woman had one, they were crazy-frenzied-hysterical. This was thought to be true and was taught to doctors up until about 50 years ago. Not that they don't still "think" it. Hopefully were evolving and men will start looking into other reasons for our sicknesses other then our woman parts and our state of mind. For goodness sakes the woman doctors should be on board with this-not feeding into it!!!! I'm not saying all doctors are like this-but for some reason on my HMO I seem to find them all! LOL
One more thing I want to add-These anti-depressants companies are trying to find new uses for these drugs-example-Pain! Next they are going to tell us it treats the common cold!LOL