Just got my second shot

[Lakme_]

Hey, I posted my first thread a couple weeks ago when I got my 1st shot and just wanted to say I got my 2nd. I immediately felt better but that went away after a few hours. I've been taking folate but I still feel extremely tired so I started to eat a lot of oranges just in case it has something to do with my potassium. My doctor said it should be fine to take 1000mg b12 supplements but I'm not entirely sure. She said that I should feel better if I start eating kale and other things instead of taking the supplements but if that's the case I'm not quite sure she knows where b12 comes from, or if she even believes I have PA. I messed up my sleep cycle a couple nights after I got my first shot. I developed insomnia and found it extremely difficult to fall asleep, and now I've been sleeping in the daytime. Any advice?

[clivealive Forum Support]

Hi Lakme_ it is not uncommon for symptoms to appear to get worse before they get better once B12 injections have started and it starts repairing the damage done to your nervous system. Hopefully things will settle down again given time but it's not an overnight cure and a lot will depend on how long you were deficient before diagnosis

I don't understand why your "doctor said it should be fine to take 1000mg b12 supplements" - what? In addition to the injections?

It's good that you are taking Folate. Folate is essential to process the B12 you are having injected and I can only assume that when she suggests you "should feel better if (you) start eating kale" is because it is full of essential vitamins and minerals including B9.

Have you actually been tested for P.A.?

[Lakme_ in reply to clivealive]

She wanted to do a blood test for PA but she ended up just giving me an injection instead. I had a blood test 2 months ago, not for PA mind you but my RBC was kind of low. The laboratory noted a couple of minor abnormalities, like my chloride level was 1 or 2 points below, and my VLDL cholesterol risk factor (?) was extremely low as well. The doctor just thought I was a vegetarian (which I wasn't) and thought nothing else of it. A month later my symptoms kept getting worse until I found out what PA was and started taking multivitamins. My stomach was very swollen until I started taking the multivitamins, and after I got my shot for the first time I felt I could stomach a full meal. My aunt also noticed that my voice sounded fairly different after I started taking the vitamins which I assume has something to do with my thyroid, which is strange because I had a TSH test and the lab found nothing wrong either.

[Gambit62 Administrator]

The doctors reference to Kale is probably about folate rather than B12 - particularly as they recommended additional oral supplementation. Using the tablets may help as you may just absorb enough for it to keep your levels where they now need to be for you. Even if you are no longer able to absorb B12 in the ileum then there is still some passive absorption outside the ileum - estimated at 1% - which would mean you would get about 10mcg from each tablet which is about 4x RDA.

Wasn't aware that oranges were a good source of potassium.