B12 side effects.

[Thewelshman]

My wife was having a B12 injection up until April last year which was held up by covid. now the Dr has said that her bloods are normal and she doesn't need the injections anymore. Now over the last 4 months or so she has been falling due to balance and her speech has been slurred with a swollen tongue and cheeks. Are these symptoms of not having the B12?. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you

[springcross]

Hi Thewelshman. We aren't qualified to give medical advice I'm afraid. Has your wife been back to the GP and told them what is happening as it sounds like she should? She could also speak to your pharmacist and ask advice there. I hope she can get it sorted, good luck.

[Thewelshman in reply to springcross]

She explained to the doctor's receptionist and was told the doctor will phone her next week. We first thought that she had a mini stroke where the hospital ruled that out, had a number of tests for the slurred speach and balance but nothing shows out of place thus why we're querying the interruption of the B12. Many thanks for your reply.

[springcross in reply to Thewelshman]

You could be right but it's always best to get it checked out by the GP. I sincerely hope all will be well. Take care both. xx

[Happyrosie]

As has been said, this is not the forum for this sort of query as we don’t know why she was having the injections in the first place. I would definitely say this requires urgent investigation

[Polaris]

Many on the HU Pernicious Anaemia forum are also having this problem and is the reason many of us have had to resort to self injection. There was a discussion in parliament yesterday asking for injectable vitamin B12 to be made available over the counter, as in other countries.

Balance issues, swollen tongue, slurred speech etc. are strong neurological symptoms of B12 deficiency/PA.

You could try writing to your GP with BMJ research document summary (full document behind a paywall below). It will also show that there is no point in testing once treated with injection, as blood levels will be high regardless and "neurological symptoms should be treated with injections every other day until no further improvement".

b12deficiency.info/b12-writ...

bmj.com/content/349/bmj.g5226

The Dutch link below explains more about testing, B12 misconceptions and the importance of early and adequate treatment:

stichtingb12tekort.nl/weten...

Neurological symptoms should be treated without delay with B12 injections 'every other day until no further improvement', to prevent permanent damage'.

Good luck and best wishes Thewelshman .

PS. I have found supplementing injections with the new liposomal B12 (put simply it's B12 in a bubble of oil to help absorption. This has helped enormously but may not work for everyone.

[Thewelshman in reply to Polaris]

Thank you very much for that information, it will be very helpful to face the doctor with. It is very interesting and informative in the description of a lot to do with B12. Let's hope this can cure my wife's symptoms very soon. Once again Thank you so much.