B12 deficiency.

I was diagnosed 25 years plus have had injections every 3 months. Yes I feel I need them more often very tied when it gets to about 2/3 weeks before but my GP flatly refuses to give me them any sooner .. 3monthes he says that should do

I am having b12 deficiency can you suggest some good ways to cure it. Right now I am taking MIC Shots do you have any other supplement. I ordered this from buymicb12.com

I was diagnosed with B12 deficiency last year by a locum GP. He advised shots every 10 weeks following the loading dose supplemented by a daily tab of Methyfolate which aids the work of the B12. I get mine from Cytoplan who give a good discount following the first order.

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Hi everyone, sorry for delay in replying. To 'allsortsofbags', good for you for self injecting and it just goes to show its doing some good. Ninathenana, find out his levels and consider self injecting or doing it for him. Farview - you can still be b12 deficient without having PA.
I hope l've replied to everyone. I find it difficult on here when l go to reply that l've forgotten who said what, unlike Facebook where you can look back while responding. Anyway, it seems like a few Gransnetters are also finding the 8/12 week dose is insufficient so l would say for those who havent already, join the support group, consider self injecting, and dont believe drs when they say you can overdose on too much, its just not true. People with b12 deficiency for whatever reason need to be on optimum levels + folate in upper 3/4 of range to feel better. I know its benefited me

After a blood test came back showing i had this deficiency I started buying high dose of VitB12 from Holland & Barratt. I feel less tired now.

Hi tiffaney well I haven't got PA according to doctor...but in May 2017 after feeling really poorly for ages,a new doctor found my b12 to be really low and had 5injections in a week..but then told to take oral b12...felt Brilliant for a few months..fast forward to September,had my flu jab,nurse asked how I was and I told her I felt poorly just as I did before the b12 injections..she got my notes up a d my level had dropped by 530 so was referred to doctor, who said it was just within normal range..my argument was that it shouldn't have dropped as I take a supplement.. reluctantly she gave me 4ampoules to be injected every 12wks..next one due Dec 27th but feel terrible,tired,not sleeping,pins& needles in hands&feet, really down....so today the 10th am definitely going to let my daughter in law inject me, I asked for my intrinsic factor to be tested again but told wasn't necessary..am vegetarian..

DH has been having B12 12 weekly injections at the GP's for about 2 yrs.
When he is due he suffers sleep disturbance and is consequently grumpy. We didn't realize this was a side effect of being deficient until DD read it on line. He is T2 diabetic as am I but I am insulin dependant. I'd happily inject him. I didn't know that was possible.
I don't know what his levels are.

I've have PA and was diagnosed nearly 30 years ago and 12 week injections just aren't enough any more.

I now SI using the sub cut method but have used sublingual tablets and liquid as well as patches in the past.

Both sublingual and patches have helped but it is only since I started self injecting that I started to feel more like my old self.

Since starting to SI I have noticed a reduction/reversal of some of the damage I'd been carrying.

For instance my eyesight. Even the optician commented on the improvement, not just on the eye test it's self but she showed me those photo's they take and the notes made by the last optician and said she could see some real improvement that she wouldn't expect given my age.

My balance before SI was really bad but that has improved so much too so if you have everything give it a go.

I am a member of a couple of online PA groups and have found the information and support really helpful, lots more information there too.

Good Luck

Farview how often do you get your injections? I was getting mine every 8 weeks and it still wasnt enough. Are you a member of the Pa/b12d support group? This is not the PA only group but a very supportive group run by a lady called Pat Kornic and l can recommend it for advice. I've been self injecting once a week now since l started this post in June and it really makes a difference. I do it subcutaneously (in the stomach) with a shorter needle than the intra muscular one. You cant overdose on B12 so its perfectly safe.

I have pernicious anemia but the only way it affected me was hair loss. Initially my Dr was confused when the results came back as he never sees me and he knows that I have plenty of energy.
I don't know if I could inject myself as my injection hurts like hell so I think there's a chance I would pull back.

Just searched out this thread as my b12 injection isn't due until the 27th Dec...but I know I need one now..not a scrap of energy.. luckily I have my ampoules that I got on prescription so my d.i.l can do them(practice nurse) anyway after reading all these posts have decided to ask her to do it as I can't possibly wait another three weeks...

paddyann, hopefully your MiL will let your SiL go into the appointment with her and she can fill in any gaps in what the older woman says.

I've spoken to my SIL and she will make an appointment for her mum and actually take her to it.They stay about 50 miles from me so its not so easy for me to do it as I dont drive .Hopefully she'll tell the doctor the truth and get some help.

paddyann, there was an article in the paper this weekend saying over 40% of people will delay going to the doctor, in case they get a cancer diagnosis. DFiL was like that, finally when he collapsed in the street, was carted off to hospital to discover he 'only' had Parkinson's Disease, he celebrated the fact.

a bright articulate person.Dont know whats happening with this keyboard

I know that Monica but she;s digging her heels in and refusing to see the GP ,from what I've read B12 wont cause any harm and will be peed away .I was just thinking about a trial time with it to see if it helps.She's a bright articulate person usually but her concentration is gone and she is repeating herself all the time.I think she's worried about dementia so thats why she wont see her doctor .If a supplement helped even a bit she might feel the doctor isn't a big issue and get proper treatment she's in her mid 80's and she thinks the doctor wont treat her because of her age .I'm just worried about her .

paddyann an awful lot can change in three years! The fact that your MiL was OK then doesn't mean she does not have a problem now.

I would be very wary of self prescribing any specific supplement, especially for someone else, without having had medical tests to see whether this was the problem and find the true course of the problem before buying any supplement..

Tiffaney's case, where she has had the deficiency diagnosed and is receiving a standard treatment, which is inadequate to her needs is a very different situation.

Paddyanne l've never used the patches as l'm not sure they'd work with malabsorption, but l would say definitely try and get your MIL to have a blood test. B12 deficiency creeps up on you and can only get worse if not treated.

has anyone used the B12 patches? My MIL isn't eating properly and hasn't been for some time ,maybe a year or more.She's being cagey about it so I cant be sure .She is complaining about fatigue ,has difficulty walking even short distances and has problems with weakness in her legs.
I told her to speak to her GP about supplements or get a blood test but she says they told her her last test ,3 years ago was fine and she doesn't have pernicious anaemia .I wasn't suggesting she did just that she might be deficient in it becauuse of her poor diet.So I've been checking out Vit b12 supplements and saw these patches ,I think they would suit her better than pills ,just looking for advice about them .

retrofunk - Hooray! I had despaired of any gransnetters understanding what I meant. My original post was aimed at those with a diagnosed b12 deficiency and/or Pernicious anaemia, not really at vegans and vegetarians so you are the proverbial 'needle in the gransnet haystack!'.Surely we're not the only 2 people on gransnet who are aware of self injecting!. I agree with everything you say, GPs have no clue how to treat this condition, wasting money needlessly on misdiagnoses. I've been self injecting now once a week since before I posted and I feel so much better. I am 72 and don't intend to spend whats left of the rest of my life feeling like I did on the meagre 8 weekly injection grudgingly given by the NHS. Can I ask how often you SI and are you a member of the Pa/B12 deficiency support group? I'm sure you will be! This is not the official PAS group run by Martyn Hooper btw. Look forward to hearing from you.

I realise that this is an oldish post, but I just wanted to Reply to you Tiffaney. I also inject B12. GPs and nurses don’t understand it at all. The B12 injection
ampoules are available without prescription in much of Europe and the rest of the world. I inject into my thigh muscle, I’m doing loading doses again as I have neurological symptoms and it also affects my memory and cognitive functions. My B12 is caused by malabsorption so tablets don’t work for me.

MaudLillian as a vegan you need to know that there is no B12 in any plant based food, only in meat, fish, eggs and dairy. So it would be a good idea to take B12 supplements as B12 Deficiency can cause some truly horrific and disabling symptoms and worse if left untreated. In my experience it creeps up slowly and is easy to dismiss in the early stages. I also believe many many cases of B12 Deficiency are being misdiagnosed or untreated/overlooked, costing the NHS a fortune I’m sure!

I wonder if a lot of people are B12 deficient and don't know it. One situation is where the levels are lower than the recommended range on the lab report. The other is where the levels are normal but one's body just needs more B12. I've noticed much more energy and better sleep after taking B12.

I am vegan. People often assume that veganism brings B12 deficiency, but it doesn't - you are no more likely to suffer with this as a vegan than on any kind of diet. It's modern farming practices that are responsible, because the soil is impoverished now and we wash all our vegetables to death. Our ancestors ate dirt, basically, and the dirt was full of the bacteria that B12 comes from. Grazing animals, of course, took large quantities of it in with the vegetation they ate, so eating their flesh gave humans B12. Nowadays - not so much. In fact, most animals receive supplements, because they are not feeding naturally at all and their fodder will be just as depleted of useful vitamins as our plant foods are.

This means that most people probably need to supplement with B12, no matter what or who they eat. I have only once had severe anaemia and that was when I was going through the menopause. In fact I had to have a blood transfusion - this was in 1999 when I was 44. This was way before I went vegan.

I take a supplement pill occasionally - usually when I am away from home and not eating my regular sorts of foods. The last blood test I had, everything was fine. I find being vegan is actually extremely healthy, which is a benefit, because I did it for ethics. I have vitamin fortified plant milks everyday as a matter of course - on my cereal and in my tea and coffee, as many of these dairy alternatives come automatically with it added -so actually I scarcely ever think about or focus much on B12. Absorption is sometimes a problem for some folk - and that is not something over which we have much control.