Dr wanting to treat Menopause not PA

[magz73]

I haven't posted anything for some time as I thought things were on the up, I was mistaken. I was diagnosed in 2014 with hereditary PA and put on 3 monthly IM injections, this was changed to 2 monthly and now monthly as my B12 levels along with my symptoms were crying out for more frequent jabs. I was relieved my GP was co-operating although as my levels have began to drop again I asked to be referred to a specialist for some further investigations and treatment. I had seen a locum who unfortunately referred to wrong Dept (Haematology) and when I visited my own GP he is not referring and now seems adament my sypmtoms are down to my early Menopause and is trying to force HRT onto me. I definetly do not want to start HRT and I am wondering has anyone else been given the same advice, is this a common practice or is my GP being awkward. Thanks for any response.

[Lisahelen]

Hi, i suppose it depends on what your symptoms are at the moment.

As you have family history of pa surely your gp should be arranging further tests and investigations. Have you had IF test, mma or homocystene by any chance. Trouble is there are numerous other medical problems which throw up the same symptoms as you have already found ie fibro.

I looked at your previous posts - would suggest your brother gets blood done for b12 just to be on the safe side, even a private by post one is possible. If he presents with symptoms other than excess tiredness he could already be on the slippery slope that you are already on yourself.

[magz73 in reply to Lisahelen]

hi Lisahelen,

I have never had any of the tests you mentioned, my doctor diagnosed PA due to my terrible symptoms, B12 being 85 at the time and Gran having had PA he said tests were not necessary at that point. The only thing I feel has improved with B12 inj is my fatigue is slightly better but other than that everything else is the same shaking/ tremor, joint/ muscle pain, memory loss, breathlessness, insomnia, bladder issues, tingling in hands and feet, ringing in ears, weight loss, lack of periods (only last 2 months night sweats and hot flushes), lack of concentration etc etc. GP has asked for Lupus test as well as Thyroid and anti-inflammatory markers to be checked so hopefully on the strength of those results I might be able to get a Rheumatology referral. Thanks for your reply

[humanbean in reply to magz73]

Make sure you ask for copies of the blood test results including the reference ranges. For the thyroid tests you would get a lot of help from the Thyroid UK forum here on HealthUnlocked, so it would be worth joining.

healthunlocked.com/thyroiduk

There is a lot of overlap in symptoms between B12 deficiency and thyroid dysfunction.

It would be worth your while as well to get tested for folate, vitamin D, and ferritin (iron stores). These are common deficiencies in people with thyroid problems. B12 deficiency is common too, but you've already got that one covered.

Once you have some results post on the Thyroid UK forum and see what feedback you get. Doctors are quite happy to declare a TSH result of 5.5 with a reference range of 0.5 - 5.5 as normal or a Free T4 result of 11.9 (12 - 22) as normal. It really, really isn't!

[Gambit62 Administrator]

GP being 'awkward' is very common.

A false Early menopause can actually be a symptom of B12 deficiency

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/113...

I'd be with you on not going for HRT - artificial progresterone totally mucks up my B12 levels and it is quite well documented that it can cause B12 problems ... but everyone is so focused on oestrogen and risks that they often are totally unaware of that.

[magz73]

Hi Gambit62,

I have read that early Menopause is a symptom but trying to get that across to GP is so difficult. I can only visit again and keep trying to get him to listen to me.

Many thanks

[sweetnessandlight]

I'm sure it won't be any consolation but I have been diagnosed with b12d for over 5 years and have been on HRT for an awful lot longer. In other words I think the HRT wouldn't make a difference to a lot of your symptoms so don't accept it if you don't want it. I, on the other hand, wouldn't be without it.

[fbirder]

my B12 levels along with my symptoms were crying out for more frequent jabs.

Are you saying that you've been retested for serum B12 and the levels are still low despite monthly jabs? If so, that's quite unusual and I can see no reason at all why the GP doesn't want to treat the numbers, especially as that's what they always do when the numbers are high.