newly DX

[nurseny]

after covid i started feeling unbalanced in my gait and my speech sometimes makes me sound like i'm drinking lots of wine i have already paid quite a bit in bills , so with that said I'm going on one year dx in july and my symptoms have not changed i'm trying to work out more and stay heathy but I have to wonder if this dx is the right one for me. So if I could get some feed back and referrals to other neurologist or tests to confirm dx i would appreciate it.

[bookish]

Covid may affect one-carbon metabolism, as in how you process vit B12 and folate, and also glutathione levels. This may or may not show in blood tests which are not at all conclusive for identifying B vitamin deficiencies, but it might be somewhere to start. There is no definitive test for a B12 deficiency, so low serum could rule in a deficiency but normal or high serum does not rule it out. Can be complex and won't bore you with all of it in case you've been there and done that! Balance and speech sounds like it could be B12 and/or folate to me (but please don't take folic acid alone until you have had the full gamut of B12 tests - serum, active (holo tc), gastric parietal cell antibodies, intrinsic factor antibodies, serum gastrin, methylmalonic acid, homocysteine - remembering that you can still have a functional deficiency with 'normal' levels of the whole lot. Best not supplement before testing as it skews results considerably and they don't all return to base when you stop, making a tricky diagnosis even trickier. Mine seems to be genetic as well as a glutathione absent gene. NAC is useful for me, for the latter. Best wishes

[nurseny in reply to bookish]

thank you are you a Doc just wondering

[bookish in reply to nurseny]

No, no medical qualifications, just an interested patient who has done a lot of reading to try to help themself get better. Really helped me to always get a copy of my blood test results and try to find out what they actually mean. If no-one has tested things that might be useful then you can ask for them or pay and do them yourself if you have to. First thing - ask for copies, and make sure they have tested serum B12 and folate, and see what they were. Then ask for info to help you think about what to do next. The Pernicious Anaemia forum is a good place. Cheers

[nurseny in reply to bookish]

thank you i do have blood work cbc cmp and a bmp but no problems there next time i see the doctor i will focus on those again thank you

[bookish in reply to nurseny]

cbc here doesn't routinely include even serum B12 or folate, but could be different with you. RDW, MCH, MCV etc may give you clues but likely need further testing. Best wishes

[nurseny in reply to bookish]

B12 and Folate were ok

[bookish in reply to nurseny]

What did they test and do you have the actual results with ranges and units? Unless they did the lot they can't say that there is no deficiency with any degree of certainty - remember there is no test to rule out a deficiency. You can have a cellular deficiency of either with above range serum results. It does not need to be low, or be anaemic, or be macrocytic. And they do not know that, in most cases, so they will tell you that you are ok, when testing has not been adequate.