Doctor in the house: Did anyone see... - Pernicious Anaemi...

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Doctor in the house

jillc39 profile image
17 Replies

Did anyone see this tv programme last night. Medical investigations into why this man felt so poorly all the time.....I kept shouting at the TV test for B12 deficiency.... in the end they did bloods and wow what a change in him when he was given b12 'got my life back' etc eetc hope my gp (and yours) was watching.

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jillc39
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17 Replies
bethmoggie profile image
bethmoggie

Hi, I saw the programme, very interesting. I have no intrinsic factor so I have jabs but maybe I will try the other B vit.

Gambit62 profile image
Gambit62Administrator

see also replies on this post

healthunlocked.com/pasoc/po...

the bloods done weren't around B12 deficiency but another marker - homocysteine - which can be raised by factors other than B12 (including folate).

The problem wasn't absorbing B12 from diet but being able to use it at the cell level due to genetics ... and if it was MTHFR then probable it was the folate that made the difference rather than the B12 though was interesting to hear the snippet of discussions with experts where they thought it was probably B12. Difficult to say though as the genetics weren't discussed in any detail.

MariLiz profile image
MariLiz

I thought it was very interesting, but awful that he'd felt so ill for 20 years! What were the other doctors he'd seen doing?

donnabrain profile image
donnabrain

I have been ill for 13 years and am just looking into b12 now

I started to watch but fell asleep,and have just tried to find it in catch up,bit it's not there.

does anyone know if it gets repeated?

ellj profile image
ellj

Can you tell me which TV station ran the programme pls ?

Annnon58 profile image
Annnon58

It was on BBC one , Doctor in the house .

JMN2017 profile image
JMN2017

Here's a link to Doctor in the House on iPlayer - bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b...

If the link doesn't work for you, search for BBC iPlayer, then click A-Z along the top, then click 'D' for Doctor and it's in the list there

I've just watched it (Tuesday night) as it was shown again but rather late, ie 11.40pm. Very good, I have to say. I think the Dr speaks a lot of sense and really takes a lot of trouble to find the route of the problems. Hopefully, this is a new series :)

donnabrain profile image
donnabrain

it is

I have now watched the episode being discussed,which was episode two

Frodo profile image
Frodo

I wonder who the homocysteine/B12 specialists were? I thought there weren't any in the country. Also, what was the supplement he was given, and why didn't they give him injections? Good programme, fantastic doctor, but frustrating, especially when you see how much input and research is needed to get to the bottom of these common problems and hear that the man in particular had previously been fobbed off for 20 years (like so many people in this group), and when you know available testing and time with a GP is currently being cut even further in the NHS and will continue to be. Additionally, how would this work in real life when frequently people can't see the same GP - it was having the same doctor through every stage of research and treatment that made the difference here as well, imo.

Marz profile image
Marz in reply to Frodo

I do think that there is a great deal of *editing* - information that may upset the establishment and be too informative for the unsuspecting public.

Frodo profile image
Frodo in reply to Marz

Agreed!

mislauren profile image
mislauren

I did not see the episode but it sounds all too familiar! I feel like I'm about to throw a curve ball into all of the questioning on whether it's b12, folate or something on the genetic level

When I was first diagnosed with MA (I still get megaloblastic and pernicious confused) I had so much blood work I didn't think I had any blood left. This was at the end of last summer when I finally found a new Dr who didn't shrug off that I simply didn't feel good and couldn't explain it.

I was so deficient in b12 and folate and many other vitamins. I tested homozygous for MTHFR and my homocysteine was very high at 29. At the time I also tested positive for a current mono infection.

I have been under treatment since with weekly jabs of b12 and daily Deplin of 15 mg which is a medical food , methylfolate but is an antidepressant drug made for schizophrenics.

I felt better and better everyday but it took about 5 months for my homocycsteine to finally go down to a normal level of 8. Just yesterday my b12 level came back at 1400 and we can go to 2x per month now.

b12, folate AND genetics could all be responsible for high homosycteine for me...or a combination of any of them. Would be interesting to know.

humanbean profile image
humanbean

Frodo You asked "what was the supplement he was given"

According to an ME/CFS forum I read it was this one :

nutri-link.co.uk/shop/nt-fa...

humanbean profile image
humanbean in reply to humanbean

Just wanted to add that I don't believe the man had Pernicious Anaemia. My understanding was that he had low B12 and/or low folate as a result of an MTHFR/methylation problem, although we did have to read between the lines quite a lot.

Fleecie profile image
Fleecie in reply to humanbean

Hi. Can I ask on which forum you saw this being discussed? Thanks.

humanbean profile image
humanbean in reply to Fleecie

This is a four year old post, and I have no idea.

The only ME/CFS forums I've ever read are these :

phoenixrising.me/

healthrising.org/

s4me.info/

All of them have a forum, which is probably where I read about the Doctor In The House program.

Fleecie profile image
Fleecie in reply to humanbean

Thank you.

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