Sublingual B12 supplement causing pulmonary edema

A quick google has told me that taking Vitamin 12 can have serious side effects, which are probably going to more pronounced in someone your mother’s age..

If you’re worried that your mother is B12 deficient because of her hyperthyroidism, and the hyperthyroidism isn’t well controlled, and her GP isn’t helpful, I would suggest asking for a referral to a consultant endocrinologist.

Of course it could be that your doctor is ‘useless’ because your mother isn’t his patient and he couldn’t possibly comment!

I’m not sure why she would need B12 unless a deficiency has been diagnosed. I was hyperthyroid for years, on and off medication, but B12 was never mentioned as being needed. Better to treat thyroid condition.

Yes, my mum is being treated with carbimazole. There have been studies that show b12 is used up more quickly when you are hyperthyroid and when you are old you produce less intrinsic factor so you will absorb less. If you are younger and eat meat you could probably store 3-5 years worth of B12 in your liver, but someone of 89 might not have such a store to fall back on. I've applied to change my mum's doctor to someone more attentive and open minded.

If the cure is worse than the problem why use it
If a doctor is useless change doctors

I’m all for being proactive but my heart sinks at studies have shown ....
Many “studies” are inconclusive and even worse, frequently funded by drug companies with their own agenda
A consultant endocrinologist is the right person to pronounce on your mother’s needs. This sounds dangerously like self- medication. Even vitamins can be harmful if they are not needed, particularly in the very young or the elderly.

It's difficult to know what incentive a drug company would have in promoting B12. If anything, drug companies would be motivated to discredit the importance of any vitamin.
As for endocrinologists, I've heard that they vary in quality every bit as much as GPs. I hope I will be lucky and get a good one when I change doctors.

Do you get your B12 free?
Or do you buy it?
Thought so.

Your mum is most likely being treated perfectly well by her current doctor. If she needed a supplement the doctor would prescribe it. Or at least tell her to take it.

You should stop giving her anything OTC, and let her take her doctor's advice.

A specialist is by definition going to know more about a specific area - the clue is in the title General Practitioner.
Are you medically qualified yourself?
Don’t you see that if pulmonary oedema is a consequence, your self medication may be doing real harm?

You don't really know what is causing the fluid on your mum's lungs. Ask the doctor. (Has the doctor actually said she has fluid on her lungs, or have you "diagnosed" that yourself?)

A routine blood test will show if you are lacking B12 and if you are then it usually given by injection about every 6 weeks or so. I would stop giving your mum B12 tablets, talk to the Dr again and if possible get a blood test done

Dear God. The profit margin on B12 is minuscule, no drug company would spend a fortune on studies promoting it when they could promote one of the patented drugs.

MawB, I've read other people's bad experiences of endos so know that they are VARIABLE, just like GPs. I never said they didn't have more specialist knowledge than GPs FFS.

There is some good advice on here but you sound as if you reject it out of hand.

I just wonder why you asked?

Firstly Violet I think you seem very conscientious taking some responsibility for your mother's health needs, and researching treatment, especially if you think her GP isn't interested. My reservations are as others have said. How do you know there is fluid on your mum's lungs or what is causing it? Has it been shown that she is low on intrinsic factor? It is always tricky using medication, prescribed or otherwise in the elderly, they do not always react in the same way as younger people. It really should be someone with medical knowledge who addresses your mother's health concerns. I would try to see a different doctor or ask for a referral.

Give her foods containing B12. Ditch the tablets.

foods containing B12

Sorry, rubbish link. this one's better

Your mum may be 89 but how does she feel about this? At 90+ my mum was still taking responsibility for her own health although she had major health issues. I accompanied her to the doctors sometimes because she sometimes forgot exactly what was said, but I never took responsibility for her health. She made her own decisions right up to the end when she wa 94. Unless your mum has dementia why can't she organise her own health regime?

No need for the “FFS” violet I did not say you did. You just seemed to dismiss the GP’s input and showed no inclination to see a specialist in your mother’s condition.
So far I am conscious that you seem to be operating on hearsay or *second or third hand knowledge
Comments like “I have read other people's bad experiences” , “there have been studies” etc - a little knowledge is indeed a dangerous thing.

B12 is normally given by 3 monthly intramuscular injection after being diagnosed by a simple blood test. You should never diagnose it yourself. In all my years of nursing there has never been a tablet that gives the correct effect/dose. Many of my patients would have jumped for joy if a tablet was available instead of a jag in the arm or bum!

Gonegirl The doctors have ignored my mum's extreme insomnia for five months now. That's her GP, and several consultants during four emergency admissions to hospital for her COPD, heart failure and hyperthyroidism. My mum hasn't slept more than a couple of hours at night at best in five months, and for long stretches she hasn't slept at all. The last five days she hasn't slept at all at night and just for a few minutes here and there sitting in an armchair. These 'amazing' doctors have all refused to address this. BTW, if you trust your doctors to always do the right thing, maybe you should read a book by a retired GP, called Too Many Pills: How Too Much Medicine is Endangering Our Health and What We Can Do About It. By Dr James Le Fanu.

violet29 called Too Many Pills: How Too Much Medicine is Endangering Our Health and What We Can Do About It. By Dr James Le Fanu.
Can you not see the irony of this when you are dishing out vitamin pills?
My mum often said she couldn't sleep at night. She took a book to bed and read if she was awake for too long. She said something things weren't worth worrying about.
If your mum has been in hospital regularly her sleep patterns may well be disrupted, perhaps what she needs is to establish a routine and stop sitting in an armchair all night.

Too Many Pills: How Too Much Medicine is Endangering Our Health and What We Can Do About It. By Dr James Le Fanu
Oddly enough this was in my mind when I read your posts.
My father was “diagnosed” as it were, with polypharmacy 20+ years ago and taken off all medication including his angina pills but under medical supervision
The “too many pills” LeFanu refers to can just as easily include OTC “supplements”.
Self medication is notoriously inexact, and did you see the post from * ElaineI* even health professionals can have reservations about dosage, so how can you, as presumably a layperson, think you know better?