Just thought that I'd update on the experiment with adenosyl B12 which I've now been using for a month or so.
I have a bit more feeling in my left foot and the range of movement in my left ankle has improved noticeably.
My mother is now on B12 - got her using a nasal spray for 1mg x2 per day - and seems to be much more energetic.
One of my aunts started using a nasal spray that I had given her and reported that she finds she doesn't need to have a snooze in the afternoon and has noticed that strange balance problems that she'd mentioned to her GP months ago have gone.
My brother uses a spray periodically - and find that it helps. His wife also uses B12 - not sure what effect it has for her but got a big hug last time I saw her and passed on a spray as requested.
So, in terms of diagnosis, I have a diagnosis, my mother does but brother and aunt don't.
I know that the wisdom is to get a diagnosis first but the amount of suffering that is caused by GPs being hung up on test results in the face of so much evidence that these are only contextual guidance that I do find myself wondering if this is really the way to go.
Okay so the lack of formal diagnosis is a bit of a pain and the dependence on having resources to be able to afford to treat yourself is galling in the face of what is supposed to be a national health service aiming to ensure adequate health care for all. It may distort the stats on the incidence of B12D but I sometimes wonder how many deaths have B12 involved in them but that is missed in the identification of the immediate cause of death.