18 year old was diagnosed with B12 deficiency a year ago - was just offer a 100 blood test reading. Also folate,ferritin and vit d deficiency . After much wrangling on injections every 8 weeks - not enough still. Always tired ,has headaches and very painful joints . Rheumatology not got to the bottom of it yet. Prednisolone really helped though . Platelets high.
Anyone got any ideas?
How is the low Ferritin - Folate and VitD Deficiency being treated in addition to the B12 ?
B12 needs the support of Folate in the body as they work together ....
Joint pain can be linked to LOW VitD - what was the result and how much is being prescribed ? Docs often do not prescribe enough ....
Vit d was incredibly low, currently only just under low/normal .
Folate had gone down to 2.2.Now, back on 5mg a day.
Ferritin 27.
Are the D and Ferritin levels being treated ?
Just started on supplements. Just feels ill all the time.
The steroids won't help with the absorption of vitamins, maybe your doctor doesn't realise this. I suppose it's difficult to know what to do best, but because steroids affect the vitamins you'd think the doctor would and should prescribed more vitamin B12!
I might pester him then!
Don't forget you need adequate vit k2 to compliment the d3. D3 helps to absorbed the minerals but the k2 gets it to the right place rather than floating around and being deposited in tissues.
Hi Jujon. Just a thought...has your son been prescribed calcium supplements (usually with vitamin D added) along with the steroids (i.e. Adcal-D3).
Steroids are know cause vitamin deficiencies and calcium vitamin D combined are usually prescribed simultaneously with steroid treatment (new onset of cramp - especially in the calfs - can be an indicator of calcium deficiency.
Low ferritin - has your GP done a full iron panel (serum iron, saturation, transferrin etc). Ferritin alone will not give a true iron status and there could well be other anaemias going on too.
Also just wondering about how far you are on with the rheumatologist - assume they have done thorough antibody screening for the full range of autoimmune disorders and tested for inflammatory markers? Has your son had positive ANA results.
Even if a full antibody screen is 'normal', it's still possible to have an anutoimmune condition (do an Internet search for undifferentiated connective tissue disease - worth seeing if your son fits this profile - especially if he has previously had positive ANA results).
Autoimmune conditions (if he has one) can be quite tricky to diagnose and it often takes quite a while to identify (and then treat) autoimmune conditions. (its taken me two years of assorted 'ologies' to finally get an autoimmune condition diagnosed).
Has your son been tested for PA (also an autoimmune disorder and one of the potential causes of B12 deficency).
Do you know the platelet level and the reference range? High platelets can have a number of causes - rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, iron deficiency (ormother types of) anaemia, autoimmune conditions (I.e. Lupus) etc...or could be caused by infection...your GP should want to repeat the test to check current status...and investigate potential causes if still raised.
And as others say, it can take vitamin deficiencies to resolve one supplements have started (I.e. Approximately four months for iron deficiency anaemia). But that doesn't mean other investigations should cease.
One last thought...does your son have (or did he have) neurological symtpoms with his B12 deficency. If so, he should have had much more frequent injections from the start (post again if you thonk that's the case and you want more information). And, whilst there is no need to check serum B12 levels once treatment has commenced, it is advisable to check that levels are going up appropriately if symtpoms are still present after injections have started (some people excrete B12 more quickly than others and need more frequent injections). It's usual to have high or very high levels of B12 once treatment has commenced (1000 or above - mine are always over 2000 - is not unusual when on injections - high levels should not be used as a reason to stop or reduce B12 injections. Lower levels mean more B12 is needed. Still having symtpoms mean more B12 is needed!
Check,out the PAS pinned posts to the right of this,page when you log on (if you haven't already done so)...they'll give you lots of information about B12 deficiency which may help you to deal with your GP - and debunk some of the ridiculous notions that GP's often have about the treatment of B12 deficency.
Sounds like your son has a lot going on and there is likely to be quite a few cross-over symptoms between different things...making it more difficult to sort out what's actually going on. So be tenacious and keep at it.
My feeling is that rheumatology may be the place to get some answers - if they're doing the right things for you. But obviously, the various deficiencies will play a part - and need treating too.
Please post again if you need any more help or advice...and if you want to get copies of your son's blood results and post them here (together with the reference ranges), folks will be able to help with interpretation (medics often say things are normal when they're not).
Good luck to you both 👍
Wow! Thank you for such, thorough and helpful advice. Will post in reply tomorrow .
Hi
My 17 year old was suffering with constant headaches, migraines, fatigue and visual disturbances. Diagnosed with B12 (haemotologist recons PA as well though came back negative). His life was miserable but I am pleased to say 6 months later with 2 injections a week his life has changed for the better. I listened to the guys on here. They are amazing, gp was crap.
Keep going is my advice. It takes time to see progress but stick with it.
Best of luck to you.
SpecialK
Thank you . Fantastic to hear such positive comments . Best wishes to your son .
Advice please 
At the end of my tether
seeing neurologist, advice on b12 injections welcomed…
