B12 Deficiency questions, help please....

Rawspice

55 views but not 1 reply, can't anyone help?

Also, has anyone heard of methylcobalamin or adenosylcobalamin? Do they work better than hydroxcobalamin?

jonnstar

Hydroxycobalamine is the usual form that is used - they are all converted to cobalamin, the active vitamin in your body - its sort of like advil, motrin or sotre brand ibuprofen, they all have different names, but once in your body, they all work pretty much the same as one another. Dont think of them as "drugs", they are the same Vitamin B12 that your body gets from meat, milk, eggs and cheese, just in a very concenteated form.

You should feel great releif within a few days of the first injection.

Might be a good idea to start a daily multivitamin with iron as well, to make sure your body is getting everything it needs. Centrum or th store brand generic are fine

Rawspice

I've had 3 injections of Hydroxycobalamine now, I've since realized though that most people don't rate it very highly, they say methylcobalamin and adenosylcobalamin are FAR more effective...

Thanks for your advice.

japlopper

With a level of 91, it will take awhile for you to feel better. As your body gets the B12 it needs, it uses up iron and potassium and folic acid, so if you suddenly feel worse, you may need to look into those values as well. My mom's B12 was very low, and then she started the shots and without 2 months, she was iron anemic. Now she's taking Floradix (liquid iron) with the B12 shots, and all counts are now normal.

But reversing a B12 deficiency takes time. Its like 2 steps forward 2 back some days. And don't be shocked if the day you get a shot it knocks you out. They always make me tired. It's like my body goes into overdrive using that B12.

jonnstar

I agree, you need extra iron, folate and to a lesser extent most other vitamins in the early stages..... head to the drug store and buy your self a good quality multivitamin (Centrum or the store brand equivalent) and some iron tablets (Sundown Perfect Iron is a good one, it causes a lot less side effects on the gut, Ferochels in the 45mg strength are also excelent, but any iron tablet will do)

Take the iron pills in the morning with some orange juice, and take the multivitamin with dinner.

Start these before your first B12 shot, so your body already has some reserves to work with. Take the iron tablets for 3-6 months depending on your iron and feretin levals, the Centrum you should probably take for the rest of your life - the generics cost only about 3 cents a day - its the cheapest insurance policy you can buy!

Rawspice

But I already started my B12 shots last week, I've had 5 now....thanks for the info though.

Rawspice

Can a low B12 deficiency cause fatigue even if you don't have any anaemia?

Do you know which form of cobalamin b12 you and your mum have tried? Thanks for your advice.

jonnstar

Have you started taking some iron and multivitamins yet?

In the long term, once the injections have your blood levals raised up nice and high, you might be able to start taking a 2000mcg tablet of B12 each day, and be able to leave off the injections - this is how B12 deficiency is treated in Scandinavia. It sounds a lot more convenient than paying for a doctors visit and having a shot every month!

Rawspice

No but I only read your post just over a day ago, I'm cautious of taking anything that has side effects...I've got a doctors appointment next week so I could ask him. I've had 6 injections now, my next one isn't for 3 months.

I live in the UK with free NHS...but yes I would rather take a tablet than have an injection. Many people on another forum though have told me that Hydroxocobalamin is pretty ineffective compared to Methylcobalamin, so maybe I should switch to Methylcobalamin at some point...

Rawspice

Also, I broke out in acne today....I'm putting this down as a side effect of my injection because I don't normally have spots.

jonnstar

I'm pretty sure your doctor will ok a multivitamin with iron - if he does, dont waste your monty on the big brands like Centrum - Tescos, Sainsburys and Superdrug all make good quality brands that are a fraction of the price.

Rawspice

^^Ok thanks.

I must say, after having 6 injections of Hydroxocobalamin I haven't really noticed any difference in me.

jonnstar

It may be then that the low B12 leval was coincidental, and your ill health has some other cause. However, I would give it some more time before you make that assumption.

I take it you have had your heamoglobin, ferretin and thyroid checked?

Do ask your doctor if you can take a multivitamin with iron, it might make a difference to your wellbeing.

TracyRae

I know it's confusing but there are always 2 possibilities. If you have a B12 deficiency, like I do, you have megaloblastic anemia. That is anemia from B12 deficiency. To have pernicious anemia, you lack intrinsic factor, a product of the somach, that takes B12 from food and distributes it throughout the body. To find out of you have pernicious anemia, they do what is called a "schilling test". It's too hard to explain so if you are curious, look it up under search. But if they have never done that, than you must just be deficient. I have been getting B12 shots for 10 years because I had been anemic when it was discovered, and even with the shots my B12 level dropped to 324, which they consider anemic, so I am now getting my shots twice a month instead of once, just to get my levels back up. It does take time to build it, but normal levels of B12 are 180-914. Although most Drs. tend to think under 500 is anemic. So they prefer you to be at the higher end.