Caesarean section

[networker]

Hi all

Has there ever been a link with women who have had an emergency Caesarean section and going on to develop (undiagnosed B12 deficiency) this as been going on for 7years since the birth of first child ,we tried going to GPs with no success diagnosed anxiety/ depression . So we went down the road of Self treatment initially trying B12 tablets with no success then discovered sub lingual tablets these have worked with some success for over 5 years .

My daughter in law then changed her GP to try and get a diagnosis to her ongoing problem the first thing the GP did was to take her off the B12 supplements and put her on sertraline to treat her for anxiety. Since this happened (3 months ago) she has had 5 attacks each one getting worse going back to how it was 7 years ago.When she had a serum B12 tested it gave a reading of 680 so GP dismissed B12 when we told GP that this test is flawed and asked for a MMA Test she had never heard of it but she has requested a appointment with a haematologist just waiting for appointment to come through

Thanks for any help on this subject

[Gambit62 Administrator]

Quite possible that the haemo may be a chocolate tea-pot so be prepared to be disappointed.

Are your daughter's folate levels being monitored - serataline is an SSRI and can cause problems with folate levels - which would exacerbate problems processing B12.

Does seem to be a lot of speculation on links between c-section and B12 but haven't come across any scientific studies. However B12 needs go up during pregnancy and if nitrous oxide has then been used as an anaesthetic that will have oxidised remaining B12 leaving it unavailable to cells. If your daughter had an undiagnosed absorption problem before hand that could be more than enough to flip a minor absorption problem into a full blown deficiency.

However, also need to remember that there are a lot of other things that could be going on - though the fact that she improved whilst on B12 does imply that there is an underlying B12 problem.

[CarpaBob]

I have read there are links between nitrous oxide and b12 deficiency, and am also aware that labour ward midwives are at risk of infertility from being in contact with nitrous oxide and as b12 is linked with infertility there may well be a connection. Was your daughter in law put under general anesthetic for the emergency section, or did she have an epidural in place? It's certainly worth doing a bit more research on it? Did she have the b12 test with the new gp before he took her off it? Was she taking supplements at the time of the test. Does she have any other symptoms?

[networker in reply to CarpaBob]

Hi yes she did have general anaesthetic during the section ,and no her B12 wasn't tested prior to coming off the B12 supplements but since coming off the supplements she has had more episodes in the last 3months than in the last 5 years so we restarted the supplements but she still is taking sertraline. She has most of the recognised symptoms and has just started getting tingling / pins & needles in her hands. None of the DRs she has seen as never considered that there might be a B12 problem one even saying that vitamin deficiency do not exist in this day & age it's been 7 years of brick wall after brick wall. Thanks for your help

[CarpaBob in reply to networker]

Well that doctor is quite wrong as vitamin deficiencies are actually on the increase these days! I am due to see a haematologist too as I am having difficulty getting treated and to help get my points across I am keeping a symptom diary which I suggest she does. Also noting the reappearance of symptoms when taken off the b12 and the improvements when back on. As gambit mentions she could do with knowing what's going on with the folate too.

[123harry]

hi there l would like to reply because l relate so much to what you have been through 15 years ago l had my second son and it was a horrendous birth l had 8 hrs labour and the an emergency c section, l lost 4 pints of blood internally before anyone realised and my husband was told to prepare for the worst l had another emergency op through the same wound and lm obviously still here! l was also diagnosed post natal depression 6 months later l was never offered a blood test at the time, l have been in and out of the docs since with depression anxiety heavy legs weakness bone pain fatigue brain fog etc etc, two years ago l went back with breathlessness palpitations difficulty swallowing my ferritin levels were at 6and twice since and am now on iron all the time vit d also def l asked to check b12 it was 140 they said normal and would not treat, l have just done a hair strand test vit c fibre and molybdenum def they only list def of 85% or more, have you had vit d and ferritin checked? you will unfortunately know that most of us have to self treat and self test and self diagnose as there are very few doctors who will spend time and effort on investigating us, l also did the active b12 test with medichecks all this costs money but its my health, fingers crossed but l feel so much better afet self treating with b12 l take jarrows lozenges daily and use spray keep going and yes through experience l do believe that a c section caused all my problems good luck for the future x

[networker in reply to 123harry]

Thanks for taking the time to reply sounds so similar to our battles with the medical profession ....

[LMF1]

It is so interesting to hear some people relate the start of the B12 deficiency to caesarian section, as I had developed this as one of my theories as to how I developed a B12 shortfall. I have always related the potential link between B12 deficiency and C section to the oral wide spectrum antibiotics I was given after the C section. These could easily have affected the gut flora which are sometimes thought to contribute to B12 transportation. This is only my own little theory and I have not seen anything in the medical literature to agree with it but I thought someone may be interested in the idea as a cause.

[networker]

There Seems to be a quite a few links to the connection between B12 and C section could do with someone in the medical profession looking in to this !!!!!

[Hidden]

After my first faciaLHectomy last year; I experienced , on recovery, urine stoppage, wandering to my right and weak days which led me to ask the Anaestetist to modify my GA for my second op which he agreed (he was not aware that METFORMIN depleted B12 ; the second faciaRHectomy was a breeze with no abnormal after-effects. He did NOT say they used NO in the GA but I did have strong antibiotics in both ops. I also had B12 deficiency after the first op but suspect my Diabetes and B12 deficiency may have been as far back as 1993, at least. I got rid of Diabetes II in 2014. IT MAY WELL BE THE ANTIBIOTICS ?