10 weeks from loading doses and tingling is back... jave to have blood test and 12 weeks and another jab. Is this par for the course?
I am also 10 weeks from loading jabs.... all my symptoms have come back. Pain, fatigue, itchy rash on lower arms back and tops of legs, loose bowels after every meal and pins and needles in hands and feet. I have a blood test booked in for 21st of this month and next injection a week after.
Crap isnt it! At least my doc is giving me jab straight after bloods.... another 10 days to go downhill untill then
It is not uncommon for some symptoms to appear to get worse before they get better as the B12 you are having starts repairing the damage done to your nervous system and your brain starts getting multiple messages from part 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.
It is also important that your Folate level is monitored as this is essential to process the B12.
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
Replacing B12 will lead to a huge increase in the production of blood cells and platelets (which occurs in the bone marrow) and can lead to rapid depletion of folate and iron stores; this can then limit the expected recovery of Hb. Both iron and folate may be needed.
I am not a medically trained person but I've had Pernicious Anemia (a form of B12 deficiency) for more than 46 years.
I wish you well.
Thankyou i will ask when i go for the blood test on 25th. At 1st level of b12 was 98 and after 8 loading doses shot up to 1475 but that was 2 months ago. This last week symtoms are returning.
Elaine
You are certainly not alone feeling the need for more frequent injections in the run up to your next one.
The difficulty is in persuading your doctor to agree to the need for it.
According the the N.I.C.E Guidelines (which instruct doctors) on the treatment of B12/Folate deficiency if you have "neurological involvement) the maintenance injections should be every eight weeks - not twelve and even then they are allowed to be "pragmatic" about treatment..
I will message a link to you - click on it then on "Scenario: Management" and scroll down to "Treatment for B12 deficiency" noticing the different intervals for those with neuropathy as opposed to those who don't.