hi, wonder if anyone could comment pls. i'm experimenting with refining the optimum frequency & dose of b12 interventions. i'm finding that i need more frequent injections to get the same response i.e. 0.5 mgs of Hydroxy. SQ weekly. however, each time i have an injection, i get an acute & severe exacerbation of anxiety & depression which lasts approximately 48 hrs. my physical symptoms also exacerbated for a shorter period & not to the same degree. i've had anxiety/depression for some time prior to the b12 intervention. the last injection i had, brought a marked acute anxiety/depression response. however, once it lifted (after 48 hrs) i felt better than i have in a long time. that improvement also included an improvement in my memory & cognitive facility. the latter was markedly affected by the b12 d. i'm wondering if anyone knows why i might be having these acute exacerbations and how to prevent them if possible. ideally i'd like to have the positive effects of b12 WITHOUT the exacerbation of the psychological symptoms. i think, i've had the b12d undetected for a number of years as i had what might be described as advanced symptoms - severe swallowing symptoms, (lost 1/5 stone in weight), non age related severe chest pain with low b/p & collapse,. the Medics were/are baffled (as well as disinterested) & puts everything down to the fact i have ME/CFS. are the exacerbations likely to get better with time/treatment?
with thanks in advance.
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Wonder about functional deficiency caused by an auto-immune response when the blood-serum levels of B12 get high. Some people create antibodies to the mechanism that transports B12 to cells meaning that there is loads in your blood but none is getting through to cells. The theory would go that this carries on until the level of B12 drops below the level at which your body responds.
If that is what is going on then you might be able to get round it by upping the dose and frequency to the point where your body can't produce enough antibodies to stop all the B12 getting through to the cell level .... or you could try experimenting with lower doses to find out the dose and frequency that keeps your levels below the levels where you body is responding.
I tend to keep my B12 at very high levels because I find that it quite quickly seems to drop to a point where symptoms start to return - which I suspect is down to functional B12. I have noticed of late that if I really superdose though I do feel quite tired and start to lose my grip an hour or so later which may be something similar.
Sorry - this is really speculation and hope you find an answer soon.
There are other posts in the last month or so which also report not feeling good after a loading dose and for a few days - one mentioned that her doses were halved in strength and that seemed to resolve things, so may be you just need to go down below 0.5mg.
thank u for that Gambit - food for thought there. i have done the lowering of the dose, but i just revert to full blown symptoms, which is v. uncomfortable especially the swallowing probs. as it causes airway occlusion.
I am on loading dose at the moment also and feel exactly as you do after each dose! Was starting to think it was just me! Asked the nurse yesterday and her only explanation is that it's probably a shock to the system receiving the B12 and that symptoms may feel slightly worse before improving! I feel nervous, low mood and weary after mine, also nauseous for a while 😠
hi Fiona. thank u for that. i was hoping, that in time, my/our systems would get used to the B12 'spikes' & not react when stimulated. i'm wondering, if through long term depletion the neuro cells in the brain have been damaged & the b12 spike causes a repeated 'kick start' repair that elicits this response.............maybe? think, i'm being impatient as i've had such relief from my other symptoms and would, therefore love not to have these anxiety/depression acute responses.
On one level I'm not surprised - particularly if you are injecting as that gives a huge initial spike that will kick of the immune response.
I sometimes feel that i respond better to my nasal spray than I do to the injections - may be because the spike isn't so high.
If lowering the dose doesn't work I'd suggest trying the other extreme and going for really high doses.
Don't have the book mark on this machine but will post link to an abstract on what is the only piece I've been able to find on sensibly treating people who have the immune problem - basically says constant high doses.
I think it's due to the fact that you are too low and it takes that initial period of a couple days or so for you to feel better after your shot.
I also had the extreme anxiety and depression 2-3 days after my 1000mg dose of cyano. It was extrememly difficult to deal with. With experience, I realized that I get fatigue the week before I'm due for my shot (b12 low) I get my shot but the depression and anxiety kick in (B12 too low at this point) because it takes a while for my shot to begin it's action and benefits.
I also thought it was because of my shots but in my case, it turns out I was too low before my shot. These 48 hours of severe anxiety and depression were due to the fact that my body needs those 48 hours to raise the B12 back up.
Now, the week before my shot, to avoid these 48 hours of hell (literally), I take sublingual methyl tabs 1000mg every day and I have relief of this debilitating anxiety and depression after my shots.
Interesting how much variation there is with startup symptoms..I am sorry for your suffering and hope it resolves in time! Hopefully the anxiety will continue to be transitory and the benefits will outweigh it!
I'm not qualified to answer your question, but could offer my experiences. It is difficult to say what was going on with me since I was started abruptly on 1000 mcg methylfolate and 5000 mcg methylcobalamin sublingual...and had many side effects. One of the first was a harrowing, dark anxiety. Soon I was visualizing monsters everywhere, similar to the jumpiness you get after watching a scary movie! I really just blamed stress and my longterm depression, but it was in fact the supplements.
I was on daily megadoses so I did not get relief from the anxiety. It was quite a time. I ended up stopping everything for several months, which was also not the best idea.
Now I am on 10 day interval shots. I have barely any side effects, but also only small and relapsing improvement. I don't think the shots caused me anxiety, but they did allow my depression/B12 deficiency anxiety to return (6 of one, half a dozen of the other..) I did take some 1000 mcg oral for a time and that seemed to lift the depression between shots somewhat, but I stopped due to physical side effects.
prouisab's suggestion is an interesting one.
Are you keeping an eye out for hypokalemia? That was an issue for me at first, and it's pretty distressing. You wouldn't happen to have any issues with blood sugar? I have prediabetes and that seemed to get much worse for me at first, and is also connected with mood somehow.
I know this is a really old thread but it came up in a Google search. I'm in a mess with severe anxiety and crying so often. And it came on when I upped my b12 back to every other day or every two days. I had been doing every other day for a year but due to my mums I'll health and hospital stay I ended up going once a week and maybe a fortnight ( she wasndying, over 4 months, so I let myself go as you can imagine). But started back on my b12 fully again in august, but these last few weeks in particular I just feel ready to collapse of anxiety and fear and years and just so I'm edge. I remembered reading on here ages ago an hour a possible reaction to b12 stimulating you, so I googked, and found the ancientbthread. Just hoping someone's magicallybtell me it's ok to stay in my b12 even twice a week and the anxiety will.go.away on that dose - cos the stress and heightened edge is lkilling me. But I started on the b12 last year due to severe neuromsymptoms that I don't want to drop.back to, mountain fully great. This is prob full of auto corrections sorry, it's my tablet typing and I have numbing fingers so sometimes it's anyone's guess what I type
Oh wow so many typos and auto correct you prob can't tell what half the sentences should mean as it's changed the words and therefore the meaning half the time. Sorry!
No I stopped after 20 because what I felt were side effects of the injections (all anxiety) were too much. I didn’t even feel too bad before the injections!
It's hard to follow when an old thread pops up with a new comment inside it. It can be hard to find the comment.
You would be better to start a new thread of your own, with your questions and situations and let people respond to that. You can copy your story for the new thread.
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