Normal Progress?

[MALP]

I began loading shots of B12 in mid November, 3 shots a week for 3 weeks, some of my symptoms began to improve, muscle spasms in legs, pins and needles, feeling like I was walking on jelly. Cut down to one a week over Christmas for 2 weeks and then relapsed! Went back up to two shots a week since and have made same improvements again. However my hamstrings that sufffered the worse spasms have not regained their full flexibility ('m a yoga teacher and was previously very flexible), a groin strain that I had just before diagnosis is very slow to repair, and both my deltoids are complaining a lot, left side being worse as I also had a minor injury to it. Is it possible that the injections in to the deltoids are causing trauma that is slow to repair - do others have experience of this? I'm also still getting a lot of trembling when doing anything strenuous with any of my muscles, and they are all slow to recover from exercise. It may be that this is normal, but I'm starting to wonder if something else is going on as well. Can anyone reassure me?

[Gambit62 Administrator]

It is well established that exercise uses more B12 so the more exercise you are doing the faster you are going to be using the B12 that you have ... and possibly diverting it from healing. Either you need to up your B12 in take or you need to cut down on your exercise. As you can't overdose on B12 ...

Keep an eye on your folate levels as well.

[MALP in reply to Gambit62]

Thanks, that's useful to know, no one told me about this!

[Yalaha]

I would agree with Gambit62 that you really must take your return to exercise at a slower pace as well as consider additional forms of B12 supplementation. Your body is still trying to repair itself and your mind wants to get back to normal. We also have the paradox of the discomfort and pain becoming worse for periods of time while our bodies are healing themselves. Listen to what your muscles are telling you, they still need time to heal (and possibly more B12) so don't rush yourself. Pushing yourself will only make it worse, deplete your B12 levels faster and will slow your progress.

One thing that physicians don't always understand or tell us is that too much exercise too early, stress and alcohol deplete our already fragile B12 levels very quickly when we are trying to heal. B12 is systemic and affects virtually every system and cell in our bodies at multiple levels which accounts for our wide range of systems and varying responses to treatment. Let the vitamin do it's job and enjoy what you can do while waiting for equilibrium to return!

[MALP in reply to Yalaha]

Thanks Yalaha, I had no idea that doing too much exercise could make it all worse, no one has given me guidelines with regard to this, so I have been muddling along and at time pushing myself quite hard thinking this is what was needed. I will also take sub lingual 5000 every day again, I did this in the early weeks and then stopped imagining it would have been enough along with the injections. Is anyone out thre able to tell me how long a full recovery is likely to take?

[Yalaha in reply to MALP]

The recovery time varies from person to person and the range and depth of symptoms. Some of us never recover fully and deal with lifelong concerns. Others have symptoms reappear each time we are low on B12 or something causes us to use it or flush it out very quickly. For me high stress levels or too much alcohol will bring my neurological problems back very quickly. Quickly being in a matter of a day or two and the recovery time with added B12 also varies in peaks and valleys. Once you have yourself balanced out more or less you can identify the triggers and be aware of the little signs before they escalate. It's a bit of walking a wellness tightrope!

[Sallybones in reply to Yalaha]

I'm really pleased / relieved to hear that information as I went swimming and did 15 minutes in gym for the first time in ages, really to help Osteoporosis diagnosis. I just did a few minutes in pool, sauna, back in pool etc and went round a few times, perhaps 45 minutes in all but after I was shaking like a leaf, couldn't concentrate on friend's conversation and just felt completely out of it. So next time I will up the sublingual spray beforehand and after. I scared myself.

[Yalaha in reply to Sallybones]

It's something that the medical community neither understands nor communicates. Be sure to go more slowly and try smaller bits. I swim for 20 minutes at a time and take a break. With time you will get your strength back and also learn what triggers to look for as to enough B12. Definitely "load up" before and after anticipated exercise as it certainly won't hurt. It may take several months to learn what you can do based upon how you feel or to be well enough to do the amount of exercise you wish.

I've notice that when the weather is hot enough to make me perspire profusely (I live in Florida in the US so that is nine months out of twelve!) it also lowers my levels. I can be sitting in the sun and sweating and my "lower level" symptoms pop up rather quickly. The same as if I had been exercising or exerting myself too much.

Best wishes for continued improvement!

Yalaha

[Gambit62 Administrator]

Suspect your GP isn't that up on the links between B12 and sporting performance - good quality coaches and trainers tend to be a lot more knowledgeable about B12

B12 tends to be a very individual thing - so not really possible to tell you how long recovery will take - but lots of people seem to find that it takes about 6 months before they really feel and notice the difference - that's not saying that you shouldn't be noticing symptoms disappearing- it depends on what the nature and the extent of the symptoms are.

I found that some things got worse - aches and pains I hadn't had for years came back as I went back through repairing the damage - before they improved.

Personally I continued to experience worsening situation after I was on the normal treatment regime but I think that was probably genetic factors. Once I started treating myself with the levels of B12 that I needed then things started improving quite rapidly - went from struggling to walk my balance was so dodgy to being quite happy at the top of a ladder pruning a grape vine in the space of 3 weeks ... and at about 3 months I realised that the anxiety and depression that had dogged me for 40 years and been particularly bad in the last 10 had gone.

It isn't really a question of doing nothing - its a question of learning to listen to your body and responding accordingly. I find that I can get really bad cramps in my ankles at time ... taking some more B12 eases it so for me that is one signal that I need to top up my levels.

[MALP in reply to Gambit62]

Thanks Gambit - are you supplementing yourself with injections or sub-linguals?

[Gambit62 Administrator in reply to MALP]

mainly use nasal spray - have some adenosyl sub-linguals (haven't managed to find a nasal spray) - also use some injections - subQ if going to have a very physical day or going to have a lot of stress.

[deniseinmilden]

Hi!

I'm a self employed farm consultant and livestock contractor who is fully independent so have to work to survive and keep a roof over my head. I need to take a lot of B12 to keep my body and mind well enough to cope with my jobs that are quite demanding. I also take a good, broad-spectrum multivitamin and mineral supplement plus extra folate (as folic acid) and potassium. I find the extra potassium is essential to prevent cramps and it helps with my mental stability too.

Once you know you have enough B12 (you get no further immediate and obvious improvement from increasing levels) then add in folate until you get no further improvement from this. (It is important to do it this way round as folate supplementation can mask B12 deficiency and B12 is essential so your needs for this must be covered first.

Try to get your potassium from foods as too much can cause problems. If you still get deficiency symptoms it is possible to use a little LoSalt in your diet to boost your levels. Once your symptoms disappear, reduce the amount to see if you can manage on a minimum level - you can always add a bit more if the symptoms return.

I hope you find the right balance soon.

I had my loading doses at Easter last year and self injecting daily since the middle of July. I also take sublingual B12. I am still improving and some people have reported improvements years on, especially to peripheral nerves and brain function and I hope to get quite a bit better as time goes on too!

[MALP in reply to deniseinmilden]

Thanks so m uch for this Denise, maybe I need to consider self injecting, though I am still getting improvements in my legs with just two shots a week, my arms are not so good though, worse if anything. I have recently started having bananas and avocados daily for the potassium and do take other supplements including folic Acid, but from what you say perhaps I should be cutting that out again for now. I really do appreciate your input!

[MALP in reply to deniseinmilden]

By the way, where do you source your B12 injections from?

[deniseinmilden in reply to MALP]

I'm not sure quite what to advise re the folate as you are likely to need some of that too but just make sure that the B12 isn't the limiting factor, ie you are getting plenty.

I get my ampoules from versandapo.de. but there are other options. If you look up some of my past posts and replies there are lots of other details too.

Hope you feel better soon.