Started B!2 Injections and have questions. I would really be thankful for any insight here.

Allergies, blood and immune system
1

I did a Micronutrient test and found out my B12 levels and Biotin were really really bad. my whole life i have thought there was something wrong with me i couldnt put my finger on. I am 32 and am just FINALLY finding some answers. I even thought I had ADD and was put on VYVANSE. If you have ever taken that you know it gives you alot of energy but for me even while taking that i felt like everyday was a marathon i had to push through for lack of energy. I have 2 toddlers so I do it. I force myself to get things done but i feel like i am fighting this intense exhastion inside me.   So, I did 5 Methyl b12 injections 5 days in a row and now i am on them once a week for 12 weeks. on top of that i take a Thorne basic nutrients 2/day  with an additional 600mcg methyl B-12 , 400mcg menthyfolate and 500 mcgs of biotin.  Then even in addition to that i take a 10,000 mcg plain biotin and a liquid dropper of 2500mcg meythl B-12  with an extra 400 mcg methylfolate added into that.

The 5 days and 2 days after taking the shots with all of this i felt soooo much better!!!! I wasnt Tired, my back muscles used to hurt and be so tense that i would have to constant heat and get massages once a week, i would get winded easily, had memery problems ( hense the ADD) , get this weird tingling in my back, have weird bouts of constipation and IBS type symptoms, sometimes even in the middle of talking to people mid story my mind would go blank and i felt so akward. All of this was so much better in those 5 days and even two days after i stopped the shot for the week. The third day i noticed things slowly comming back even though the only thing I stopped was the shots. I was still taking all those other suppliments.   The biggest thing i notice is the Severe tiredness I feel again every single day all day after 2 days of not taking the shots. Is this normal? Does anyone know orr did you exprerience the same thing? I was so happy that all these things i have lived with forever were getting better and its a very defeating feeling that they are coming back. I wasnt sure if it takes a while for your body to get regular, like maybe i will be on this rollercoaster of ups and downs until my body realises it will get b12 regualarly. Anyway, I am curious and very thankful for any insight anyone has on this.

P.s. I am so sorry for any misspelling. I know I spelled things wrong and thats how tiered i am. The thought of reading this over and correcting it seems exhasting. Today I get another shot and at least will have one once a week for 12 weeks so at least maybe i will have some more energy.

2

its so hard to read the chart from the vitamin testing. Im not sure if this will make sense to anyone but my B12 says deficient at %14, my Biotin deficient at %34 and then I am borderline on B2,B3, Folate, Pantothenate, D3 and Cysteine.

3

I take it that you are not in the United Kingdom unless you bought your methycobamalin from Europe.

Firstly I would be interested to know why you are Vitamin B12 Deficient

Anyone at any age, can become B12 deficient. However, certain people are at an elevated risk. They include the following - do you see yourself in the following?:

"Vegetarians, vegans and people eating macrobiotic diets.

People aged sixty and over

People who’ve undergone any gastric and/or intestinal surgery, including bariatric surgery for weight loss purposes (Gastric bypass).

People who regularly use proton-pump- inhibitors. H2 blockers, antacids, Metformin, and related diabetes drugs, or other medications that can interfere with B12 absorption.

People who undergo surgeries or dental procedures involving nitrous oxide, or who use the drug recreationally.

People with a history of eating disorders (anorexia or bulimia).

People with a history of alcoholism.

People with a family history of pernicious anaemia.

People diagnosed with anaemia (including iron deficiency anaemia, sickle cell anaemia and thalassaemia).

People with Crohn’s disease, irritable bowel syndrome, gluten enteropathy (celiac disease), or any other disease that cause malabsorption of nutrients.

People with autoimmune disorders (especially thyroid disorders such as Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and Grave’s disease) Type 1 diabetes, vitiligo, lupus, Addison’s disease, ulcerative colitis, infertility, acquired agammaglobulinemia, or a family history of these disorders.

Women with a history of infertility or multiple miscarriages".

Secondly some of your symptoms do match those of B12 Deficiency and once treatment with B12 begins it is not uncommon for some to seem to get worse before they get better and even for new ones to appear as the B12 starts to repair the damage done to your nervous system.  B12 Deficiency damages the myelin sheath of the nerves and prevents the signals getting through to the brain.  All of a sudden it's like a thousand BT engineers getting to work on the telephone system and the brain finds it hard to cope with the avalanche of new messages.

Thirdly I'm glad to see that you are supplementing Folate as this is essential to process the B12.

Fourthly the usual test in the Uk is for serum B12 but as you have been self injecting it would be pointless having that done as the reading would be sky high and you certainly seem to be flooding your system with B12.  

.Treatment of cobalamin deficiency

Current clinical practice within the U.K is to treat cobalamin deficiency with hydroxocobalamin in the intramuscular form outlined in the British National Formulary, BNF, 

Standard initial therapy for patients without neurological involvement is 1000 μg intramuscularly (i.m.) three times a week for two weeks, then every three months. 

The BNF advises that for Pernicious anaemia and other macrocytic anaemias patients presenting with neurological symptoms should receive 1000 μg i.m. on alternative days until there is no further improvement, then 1 mg every 2 months.

However, the GWG recommends a pragmatic approach in patients with neurological symptoms by reviewing the need for continuation of alternative day therapy after three weeks of treatment".

As I understand it Methyl is more quickly absorbed than hydroxo but even so perhaps you could apply the principle in the highlighted paragraph about the frequency of injections "until there is no further improvement" into your regime.

Fifthly you may need to ask your doctor to test your "Intrinsic Factor" and "Parietal Cells" to rule out Pernicious Anaemia - P.A. which is another form of B12 Deficiency.

Finally, I am not a medically qualified person but one who has had P.A. for 45 years and I'm still "clivealive" at 75.

  

4

Thank you so much for replying. My doctor and I are in the process of figuring out why my levels are so low. I am from the states. She thinks I have a gene mutation which she will be able to confirm at my next appointment and in getting the ground and all that checked as well. I have 2 sisters with this also so it's definitely genetic and I'm not vegetarian I actually eat a lot of meat or alcoholic. The only if all that it could be is that anemia, nothing else fits. I have a feeling this is going to be a long journey to find out what exactly is causing this but if I can get more energy that would be amazing. As well as not getting all that other aweful stuff you get with low levels. I'm hoping my body is doing that getting worse to get better thing

5

More than 40% of US citizens are deficient in Vitamin B12, despite having diets that have them consuming B12 on regular basis via meat, poultry, dairy, and cereals.  Why? Lack of knowledge regarding enzymes, digestion, and absorption. 

In a normal healthy person the stomach lining has what are called "Gastric parietal cells" which produce "Intrinsic Factor" which travels with food through the small intestine which is made up of three parts - the Duodenum, the Jejunum and the Ilium..

Iron is absorbed in the Duodenum, most other nutrients in the Jejunum and our friend B12 in the Ilium.

Here the Intrinsic Factor binds to the B12 and the "B12/IF Complex" enters the cells on the wall of the Ilium after binding to receptors on the surface of the Ileal cells, allowing it to enter the blood stream.

Sadly some people with "traditional P.A." either do not produce Intrinsic Factor or if they do, they also produce an antibody which destroys it and it is then called "Autoimmune Pernicious Anaemia".

In addition it can happen that we produce "Parietal cell Antibodies" and "Intrinsic Factor Antibodies" which totally wipes out any chance of absorbing the B12.

In a way it would be good if you were found to actually have Pernicious Anaemia because there is good treatment, readily available and relatuvely cheap even though it means having B12 injections for the rest of your life.

It took 13 years between gastric surgery at the age of 17 before I eventually got a diagnosis of Pernicious Anaemia by which time I was so B12 deficient I was like a walking Zombie.  

Following a "Schilling Test" It was on the Wednesday afternoon of 10th May 1972 that I duly presented myself at the surgery and Dr Wool greeted me with the words “Do you want the good news – or the bad news?” I said that perhaps she ought to give me the “bad news” first. She replied “The bad news is, that you’re going to die – and you’re going to die within the next two years”.

Naturally with me having been sick/unemployed for nearly three years, a young wife with heart problems and two daughters under six I was somewhat rather keen to know what the “good news” was. So I asked Dr Wool what the “good news” was. 

She said, with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes, “The good news is you’re not going to die within two years if a) you eat raw liver three times a day, or b) you have regular injections (of vitamin B12) every four weeks from now, for the rest of your life."

I opted to have the injections and the only difference is that now I have the injections every three weeks due to the return of some neuropathy in the run up to my nect jab.

Sadly many doctors in the Uk adopt a "one size fits all" attitude regarding the frequency of injections but we human beings are not all the same, so often we struggle to get the treatment we need.  

It took me nearly six years to get my frequency increased having variously been told my neuropathy "it's all in your mind" and "it can't be due to the P.A. because you are getting the B12" or another favourite "let's treat you for depression".

I really do hope that your doctor can get to a definite diagnosis for you and I wish you well for the future.  

6

Thank you so much for your reply. Who knew lack of vitamins can do this. Makes sense to me that it can, but my whole adult life I have asked multiple doctors about vitamins and everyone replies that they do nothing. So frustrating that you have to research everything your self, I now research everything about my own health because I find I get where I need to go waaayyy faster. My 2 toddlers have also had a lot of misdiagnosed things that I go home from the doctor where they said nothing was wrong and sure enough I find the answer and the doctor is just like "oops". My current doctor however I feel is he most proactive one I have ever had so that makes me happy and thankful that I won't have to suffer longer for things I that could be caught. I am going to ask her to test for that factor thing. I also did genetic testing and she said that will tell her a lot about why I'm not absorbing it, so hopefully the answer is right around the corner. If both of you guys have this problem also, do you have any kids? If so, do they have it as well? I am worried about my 2 littles! I started giving them a multi with menthylated b12 and menthylfolate in it just in case. I took my once a week shot yesterday afternoon after I posted this and within an hour I had normal energy. It's so odd how I crash once they start wearing off. And it had only been 1 week since I had the injection. That is crazy to me

7

I'm not worried about my two daughters (now 47 and 49) as my P.A. was caused by the gastric surgery I had as a teenager and as far as I know there is no family history of it.

Vitamin B12-deficiency is a-silent-epidemic-with-serious-consequences

What do all of these diseases have in common?

Alzheimer’s, dementia, cognitive decline and memory loss (collectively referred to as “ageing”)

Multiple sclerosis (MS) and other neurological disorders

Mental illness (depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, psychosis)

Cardiovascular disease

Learning or developmental disorders in kids

Autism spectrum disorder

Autoimmune disease and immune dysregulation

Cancer

Male and female infertility

Answer: they can all mimic the signs and symptoms of vitamin B12 deficiency.

B12 deficiency: an invisible epidemic

"B12 deficiency isn’t a bizarre, mysterious disease. It’s written about in every medical textbook and its causes and effects are well-established in the scientific literature".

As to your injection frequency, here in the UK it is recommended to inject every other day until there is no further improvement and then every two or three months. However guidelines are but suggestions based on an average and we are not all average.

There are other members of the Pernicious Anaemia Society who have to inject every day whereas I "manage" on one injection of cyanocobalamin every three months and supplement with a Methylcobamalin sublingual spray "when I feel the need".

Fortunately you cannot overdose on B12 as any excess is excreted via yoiur urine.

Goodnight and God Bless from the U.K.