What to do if doctor won't test B12?

[Ashbe]

I have suffered from tiredness for years and doctor puts it down to " just me".

I switched to seeing other doctor who to,d me that in fact I have fluctuating thyroid function which has shown up in blood tests over many years. I began taking kelp and this helped considerably.

Recently however I started getting pins and needles in feet and hands,muscle fatigue etc. gone from averaging12,000 steps a day to about 2,000. Very lethargic and very down.

Doctor diagnosed peripheral neuropathy no arranged blood test. He said that as I take esomeprazole for stomach disorder I am not able to absorb B12 from diet.

Anyway he retired before results came back so I had to see original guy.

He said they didn't test for B12 as it was ok a year ago,which was prior to my beginning on stomach medication.

He accepts diagnoses of PN and has referred me to see a neurologist.

I received a call from hospital appoint,ent service and they say it will be a minimum of 14 weeks before I see a neurologist as they only have one doctor at the moment.

So I tried coming off stomach meds to take oral vit B but that didn't work. Severe gut ache.

So is there anyway I can get vitamin B 12 in an injection without going through doc?

[Ashbe]

Thanks for replying.

I agree that the neurologist will want blood test results which makes it so frustrating that own doctor refuses to do them.

Heard from a friend that that doc is due to go back n holiday mid July so I'll try the locum doctor then.

[Gambit62 Administrator]

B12 is stored in significant quantities in the liver. However the mechanism for releasing this is through the ileum so if you are taking a PPI (as you are) this may mean that the recycling from the liver is affected and yur stores can be depleted much quicker. Just because your levels were okay a year ago doesn't mean they will be okay now.

coming off PPIs can be very difficult and should be done with support of GP. Long termuse of PPIs isn't recommended -think that that means anything more than 4 months.

What exactly were the stomach problems?

Symptoms of low stomach acidity are more or less the same as those of high stomach acidity - so if you were prescribed PPIs for high stomach acidity when you actually had low stomach acidity (something which also lowers your ability to absorb B12 ... and can be caused by PA) then it may have lead to problems with B12 absorption being accelerated.