First B12 injection ... Side effects or normal to feel bad??

[Alesia]

Hi

Had my 1st B12 injection on Tuesday all seemed well but yesterday started feeling a bit weird, having horrible hot flushes and sweating (been having those anyway but they've intensified 10 fold) today my whole body feels kind of numb and tingly, spaced out, dizzy, strange twitching nerves in my legs and generally feeling pretty rotten

Does anyone know if this is normal after injections?? Are these side effects of the B12 or does it mean it's not right for me or it's too much etc??

Any insight very much appreciated during this scary time!

Best wishes

Alesia x

[Av42]

My sweating intensified along with heart palpitations for about ten days then stopped. I was extremely dizzy after first one but that stopped too . Good luck.

[Alesia in reply to Av42]

Ah thank you Av42 that's reassuring

[clivealive Forum Support]

Hi Alesia if you are really worried have a word with your nurse or doctor if the feelings don't "settle down" in a day or two. It may be you are allergic to one or other of the "ingredients" which make up the injection.

Personally I sometimes have slight palpitations after an injection and I've been having them every month for 46 years.

It is not uncommon for some symptoms to appear to get worse before they get better as the B12 starts repairing the damage done to your nervous system and your brain starts getting multiple messages from part of the body it had "forgotten about" or lost contact with.

I sometimes liken it to a badly tuned radio on which you have turned the volume up high trying to catch the programme you want when all of a sudden the signal comes in loud and clear and the blast nearly deafens you.

A lot will depend on the severity and longevity of your B12 deficiency as to how long before there is no further improvement or recovery. Some symptoms will "disappear" quite quickly whereas others may take months or even years. There is no set timescale as we are all different.

If you can get to see a doctor please also ask him/her to check your Folate level as this and B12 help your iron to make red blood cells and to function properly.

I hope you get to feel better soon.

[Alesia in reply to clivealive]

Thank you clive I've read that there can be some side effects but also that things can feel worse before they feel better but it's hard to know what is what when you are feeling so many things all at once!

My folate is 10.3

Ferritin 86.7

Are those good levels?

[clivealive Forum Support in reply to Alesia]

Ferritin level for women, 20 to 200 nanograms per milliliter

Folate level for Adults: 2-20 ng/mL, or 4.5-45.3 nmol/L.

So both are within range if those are the measurements used for you results.

It is also important that your Folate level is monitored as this is essential to process the B12 you are having injected.

There is a complex interaction between folic acid, vitamin B12 and iron. A deficiency of one may be "masked" by excess of another so the three must always be in balance.

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

What frequency of B12 injections are you having?

[Alesia in reply to clivealive]

Thanks clive i'll be keeping a close eye on those I'm having alternate days for 2 weeks then it'll be 3 monthly

[Hidden]

Do you take any prescription medications?

[Alesia in reply to Hidden]

Not normally no but I was taking the last of a course of Amoxicillin liquid the same day as the injection.

[Sozza]

I felt dreadful after my first injection.... I read that there are great demands on potassium as you process the injection so I now make sure I have a very high potassium diet on those days (bananas, coconut water etc). I think you have to be careful not to have too much potassium and therefore it's best to get it from your diet rather than supplement.

It has helped for me, but equally maybe my body was more used to subsequent injections and less shocked by them 🤔