I'm new here and I want to ask if these symptoms are related to PA. I'm 30 y.o., stay-at-home mom and I gave birth to my DD in June 2016. According to the doctor, I lost 65% blood, so I got iron solution injected three times.
Almost every day I'm feeling extremely fatigued, clumsy, confused and I also have anxiety, balance problems, brittle nails, dry skin, dizziness, dehydration (checked to my Gyn and he only said I should drink more water), blurry vision, tingling sensation on my face, muscle spasm everywhere, sharp pain on my muscle which lasted for few seconds, brain fog. It was horrible and I'm still breastfeeding, which makes it worse.
.I took an iron supplement for a month and I stopped because I thought I have no iron deficiency anymore. Some days I feel okay but some days I feel worse.
And then, I started to have difficulty swallowing in October 2016, 4 months after delivery. I feel like I cannot push food and liquid to my throat. It feels like my swallowing muscle weakens and it feels horrible. The difficulty swallowing mostly happens from the afternoon until night time. I went to a GP, ENT, Gyn, Neurologist and have done an endoscopy, EMG, head MRI, allergy test, blood test and they couldn't find anything. Sometimes if I'm starving at night, I eat my baby's food. I'm really desperate.
I was sent to hospital twice in March and August 2017 because of difficulty breathing and got a blood test and ECG done and they were all good.
I also did home test kit to check my B12 levels but according to them, my B12 is still normal (67 pmol/l) (German standard). My neurologist said that he wants to check my B12 again next week.
I don't know what I should do now. I cannot take care of my DD properly. I cannot do what I want to do. I'm fed up
I'm sorry for the long post. I hope someone can help me figure out what it is.
Thank you so much!
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hermion3
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I don't know what 'normal' means because my neurologist didn't say anything about the result. All I know that every country has its different B12 level and here in Germany >50 pmol/L is considered normal. What is an 'active' B12 test?
I always get copies of my blood test results. I learnt to do this after being told all my results were normal and then finding results that weren't normal.
Thyroid Disease
Have you ever had Thyroid tests? Thyroid disease can cause fatigue and other symptoms.
Marz who posts on this forum knows about thyroid disease, may be worth searching for her posts. Might also be worth putting your Thyroid Results on Thyroid UK forum on HU.
Your VitD may be better around 50/60 ng/ml - I would take 5000 IU's daily and re-test at the end of winter. I would also take the co-factors VitK2 MK7 - as VitD improves the uptake of Calcium from foods and the K2 ensures it is directed away from the arterial system and soft tissue and into the bones and teeth where it is needed. Also take magnesium - there are many so choose carefully.
The link above takes you to the companies for Home Testing Kits - well used by Thyroid UK members. Blue Horizon Thyroid Profile 11 is popular as it contains all the Thyroid tests and vits and minerals.
I was feeling dizzy today so it's difficult to think what I should reply. Anyway, thank you for your advice! But can we take VitD supplement without doctor's advice?
I took magnesium supplement for three days and I had abdominal pain&nausea on the third day. I'm not sure whether the dose is too high (375g) or I have a sensitive stomach.
Unfortunately, I live in Germany, so I cannot buy the blue Horizon Thyroid home testing kits because they only ship nationwide (according to the website). And there's only TSH home kit (without T3 and T4).
Thank you for the links again!! It's really helpful!
Not sure about the swallowing - it can be a sign of B12 but I don't think it's as time specific as you report.
Your symptoms could be B12 related but they could also be due to a number of other things -including iron deficiency though that should have been corrected by now unless you have a problem absorbing iron.
67pmol/L is actually quite a good level or holo-T/active B12 making it unlikely that you are B12 deficient.
yes being iron deficient doesn't mean that you will be B12 deficient and being B12 deficient doesn't mean that you will be iron deficient. The types of anaemia caused by iron deficiency and those caused by B12 deficiency are quite different.
H pyloru will take your iron and cause lower levels of stomach acid, therefore the valve between the esphogus and stomach may not close properly. Due to this lack of closing, some acid can get into your esphogus which can cause inflamation, which can cause dysphagia, difficulty swallowing.
This acid getting into your esphogus may not cause pain, as some people dont know it is occurring until they see a dentist whom raises concern about the erosion of the enamel of their teeth.
can H pylori be detected through endoscopy? if yes, then I've been checked but my Gastroenterologist didn't find anything suspicious. I'm feeling weak today and noticed that my stomach acid is high, so I took PPI just now.
Sometimes my throat feels scratchy and feels like a hairball sensation in my throat. My ENT-specialist did check my throat and allergy test and it was okay and I have no allergy. Is it possible that stomach acid causes this?
I started using PPI since March 2017 and only take it when I notice that my stomach acid is high and cause breathing problem. However, my symptoms appear long before I took PPI.
The symptoms of high stomach acid and the symptoms of low stomach acid are very similar.
Some people on forum have been diagnosed with high stomach acid when actually they had low stomach acid. Both conditions can lead to gastro-oesophageal reflux, I think.
Has your doctor considered the possibility of low stomach acid?
Thanks for the useful links, no my Gastroenterologist didn't say anything about low stomach acid. I think I might have Hypothyroidism. Based on the link given, my symptoms are associated with Hypothyroidism, only weight gain doesn't count because I Iost weight.
I decided to pay privately for blood tests. The result will be in the next days. I will let you know once the result is out.
It's excellent advice from the experts on here and it is all relevant. When you get your latest blood results for all the things already mentioned the experts on here will help guide you. In a new post you can add the results.
The little probiotic drinks like Yakult helped a friend of mine with too much stomach acid.....
Who is in overall charge of your medical care. It seems to me that person should be addressing all of these issues and interpreting the very numerous test results. It is very stressful caring for a new born baby and must be very depressing for you as you feel so ill. In the UK a health visitor is involved in the care of new mothers and could help you sort out your problems.
I have the greatest respect for everyone on this excellent forum, but you really do need much more efficient holistic medical care to enable to cope with life and looking after your baby.
The answers provided here may assist you in discussing your problems with your main doctor and gaining the best treatment possible.
B12 deficiency can cause a wide spectrum of symptoms and effective treatment is both safe and cheap. It should be an adjunct to good medical care, but does not replace the need for a good doctor in someone with such a complex medical history.
Here in Germany, there is health visitor for new mothers but it's more for the babies and financial problems. In general, we need to go to a GP first. Then we will be addressed to a specialist. Making an appointment takes weeks and I feel like doctors don't take my symptoms seriously. I'm going to Neurologist tomorrow to have the blood test done. I'm going to insist him to check my thyroid level, folate, etc. Will keep you posted
It is very important to treat you properly for your own sake and for that of the baby. I feel very sorry that you can't enjoy having your new baby as much as you should because of your health issues. I hope someone will put all the symptoms and test results together quickly in order to diagnose and treat you properly.
It is possible to still have Coeliac disease even if tests for Coeliac antibodies (tissue transglutaminase antibodies) are negative. People with IgA (an immunogobulin) deficiency do not make Coelaic antibobodies and may need alternative tests for Coeliac disease.
Coeliac disease can lead to B12 deficiency because it can affect the gut.
Hi! Luckily I'm on my desktop I went to a functional medicine practitioner and she said I have leaky gut, high cortisol and she ordered a stool test. I also eliminated dairy and gluten which I found I'm sensitive. I'm taking B12, Omega 3, Vit. D, Calcium and Zinc and I feel much better now, no more dizziness. The difficulty swallowing comes and go, but I think it's because of the anxiety (caused by high cortisol). Sometimes I have some of the symptoms, but not like I was three years ago. I would suggest you to go to a functional medicine practitioner, if you find one. They help you to find the root cause of the issues.
Thank you.m so much for responding. I am/was so nervous about MS because I’ve been having issues on one side of my body mainly the issues kind of migrate around my body and then change but my Mri was clear so I’m just looking for people with similar experiences. I’ve never heard of functional medicine. Thank you!
You're very welcome! I'm really glad that I can share my health journey.
I also had the same experience and I thought I have MS. But I'm sure you don't have it. You can google Dr.Mark Hyman or watch his videos on YouTube. He's a MD and functional medicine practitioner. According to him, inflammation in our body happens because our gut bacteria is unhealthy. That's why we have these weird symptoms. My practitioner suggested me to take probiotic supplements and I must say 60% of the weird symptoms go away. Plus eliminate the inflammatory foods (gluten, dairy, refined sugar).
I have the same nervous feelings! Having more symptoms on one side of my body as well....and they seem to change too. I had a brain MRI in August and it was clear. Next I have an EMG.
Yes, tingling in hands and feet with some weakness (mainly on right side of body), and muscles spasms all over. Also have had blurred vision that comes and goes, and is worse in the right eye. What are your symptoms?
My B12 levels were 172 when I started injections. My symptoms haven't improved, but I've been following the US protocol which is 4 weeks of 1,000 mg injection once per week, and then once injection every month there after.
Our symptoms are similar. The tingling sensation, weakness and muscles spasm went away after I took vit. D oil with K2, vit B12 and probiotics. My B12 (active one) was 79, but I will order some blood tests again. What is your Vit.D level?
I mentioned above on the reply to Mes814 that I went to a functional medicine practitioner. They helped us to find a root cause of all the issues. So, I suggest you to go to a functional medicine practitioner if you can find one.
Thank you for your reply. Are you in the USA as well? I am looking for a good functional practicioner and intent to work with one. I'm glad to hear that helped you. I've had quite a lot of blood work and my vitamin D seems to be in the middle of the normal rage at 46. Can I ask what your dosage was with B12? An how long did it take for your symptoms to resolve?
No, I'm in Switzerland but this forum community helped me tremendously when I was really sick. I take 2000mg B12 oil every day. The symptoms went away around 1,5-2 months after taking supplements and eliminating inflammatory foods (gluten, dairy, refined sugar).
there are good functional practitioners in the USA, like Parsley health, Ultrawellness Center (Dr.Mark Hyman) . I'm really into it, I cannot stop watch his videos on Youtube lol.
Yes! I like all of these Doctors too! I have been thinkig to join Parsley, especially since they have a new online program that they just launched. Because of all of my medical tests, I've met my insurance deductible for the year, so I'm hoping to get started soon so that their testing will be covered. Another good one to follow is Dr. Kresser. Thank you for the article on the D. You've also inspired me to try another elimination diet as well
You're most welcome Dr. Kresser? I will look it up definitely. Thank you!
I'm glad I can share some information to others I would also go to Parsley if I live in the USA, they offer affordable plans and their reviews are excellent. I hope you can find the root of your issues asap and begin the treatment. Food is the best medicine
So nice of you to remember and ask. My b12 levels were 780. Just a little low on D is the only thing of note. I have no clue what to do because Now the doctor didn’t even bother to follow up. I guess he assumes I’m malingering
Hi! Good luck, we know how hard this is. Everyone here is pulling for you.
Swallowing problems can definitely be B12 related. I spent several years feeling like I had a potato chip stuck in my throat and had trouble swallowing pills and other things felt like they got stuck and would stay like that for hours if not days. The problem totally resolved after PA treatment. no idea if it was the B12 injections or if somehow the endoscopy tube cleared up something in my esophagus. I did read icky things about esophageal webbing being a PA symptom though.
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