New. Wondering about ongoing blood tests.

[Julz5]

Hi all. I'm new here but not new to PA. I'm in Australia. Diagnosed about 6 years ago with low B12 via blood test (under 200) and positive Parietal cell antibodies. I self inject monthly. Energy is still up and down. I never seem to get on top of it. I seem particularly exhausted in the last month or so. My question is whether I should have. a blood test again or not. Is there any value in regular testing? I take vitamin D and a multi B as well. Last year (and now again) I also have aching finger joints, and feet. No results for rheumatologist tests. Should I be seeing blood results for other factors like folate etc? Just so so tired all the time.

[clivealive Forum Support]

Hi Julz5 as you are self injecting it's generally reckoned to be a waste of time testing your serum B12, however it would be a good idea to have your Folate level tested.

Folic acid works closely with vitamin B12 in making red blood cells and helps iron function properly in the body.

I am not a medically trained person but there are others on here who will be able to give you good advice.

[Julz5 in reply to clivealive]

Thanks!

[Hidden]

Good morning SuzJ, sorry to hear you are still experiencing fatigue. I am fairly new to PA and have only been SI for about 3 months so my expectations are that I will experience worsening symptoms for a while yet. However, I came across the following the link the other day about testing folate and ferritin at the same time as B12 to avoid the possibility of a co-existing anemia which I thought was quite interesting and may be of some use to you.

Someone more experienced will comment on whether you should be testing serum B12 on a regular basis.

Best wishes

Cassie

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

forgot the link - sorry

b12deficiency.info/assets/p...

[Julz5 in reply to Hidden]

Thanks Cassie. I'll look into that.

[Gambit62 Administrator]

may be worth getting serum B12 looked at but it will only be meaningful if it comes back low - normal range doesn't really apply after you are on injections - a number of environmental factors can kick in that mean that on average people need very much higher levels after injections.

Other tests you could look at are MMA and homocysteine (as well as full blood count) as these give some indication of whether there is enough B12 available in your cells for all the processes that they are using it for. Folate levels are worth looking at as well.

Generally regular testing is unlikely to be an effective use of resources - symptoms are a much more important guide after treatment.

Unfortunately symptoms of B12 deficiency overlap with a number of other conditions - many of which are auto-immune and the probability of having more than one auto-immune conditions is quite high so the way you are feeling may be nothing to do with B12 at all.

Have you kept a diary of symptoms and how they change in the periods between injections?

[Julz5 in reply to Gambit62]

A diary sounds usefuL. Thanks for the other points too. I will try and follow us with my doctor.