3 month wait

[miccy5]

Does anyone know why they won't retest for b12 until 3 months have passed. My dad's waited and thought it was 3 months, so had teat at docs they sent to lab he called for results today and was told they refused to test it as it was 10 days to early! Is it the testing centre that decides these schedules?

[Lisahelen]

Yes i think so, my gp said they probably wouldnt do it - and they didnt until after a three month interlude. Not sure if anyone knows why. Perhaps its a cost factor.

[Gambit62 Administrator]

I think it is probably going to vary from area to area.

My mother's B12 was tested within a 3 month window but she was hospitalised with a lot of problems and her levels hadn't dropped below range but were definitely plummeted in the month or so between tests.

She'd been on metformin for over 35 years and cognitive decline was already pretty clear before I'd even become aware of B12 through my own absorption problems and although many of the problems could also have been down to diabetes ....

Sorry that your father seems to be hitting against the usual problem of medics who think it is the numbers in blood that count - really don't know how you can educate these people that the strategy they are using is useless and actually doing more harm than good. UKNEQAS have an alert out about treating on the basis of clinical presentation because of the risk of neurological damage because the ranges for B12 are not an accurate guide to what is going on for a particular individual and the BCSH guidelines are similar but a lot of people experience hostility when they try to point this out.

If you haven't come across the materials fbirder put together before then may be time to start looking through them and writing to your father's GP.

frankhollis.com/temp/Summar...