It has been 7 weeks now since my loading doses of b12 and was just wondering how others experienced nerves healing?
I was diagnosed with carpal tunnel in both hands but am not convinced of this. I think this is nerve damage. I have experienced numbness in my hand and arm with an ache at top of arm. Then pins and needles in my finger tips and now a burning. At times though my arm feels weak which concerns me a lot. I am not sure whether this is a good sign or whether the damage is worsening.
Also has anyone had twitching in their muscles, is this a sign of nerve damage or healing or can it be both.
Would love to hear how others experienced their nerves healing.
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EJG79
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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 am not a medically trained person but I've had P.A. (a form of B12 deficiency) for more than 45 years.
Thank you this is what I was wondering. My tinnitus is getting better but my body is so sore all over my muscles hurt and a terrific pain shooting up my leg from my heel. But then I wondered maybe I've been stompong around without feeling things. I've bene wearing very slim soled shoes and people said does it not hurt and I said no nkt a bit. But maybe I wasn't feeling it. My teeth also hurt and my bones feel so sore. I was wondering should I stop but I think this may be a sign I should keep going. Thanks so much for posting this. Its very afe anyway isn't it? I mean if I don't need it and I'm taking it I'll just pee it out right? So it can only do good and not harm me? I just don't want to mess myself up any more than I already have lol!
Good for you! It didnt feel good so I've stopped and feel a lot better already. I had the smart reaction to other b vitmins and I'm taking a complex so it might be one of the other b vits making me feel bad. Either way I'm going to get what I need from food instead. I couldn't take the pains but its fading now.
Ive been on B12 injections for approximately 10 years and i think my hip nerves are better than they were when i started.
The strange thing about nerve repair is that it takes the brain about three days to recalibrate to a stronger signal. Until it recalibrates, the stronger signal is interpreted as pain, hunger or headache. It all depends on the nerve.
Keep a log book of all your symptoms and food, meds and drink. Because the gut is involved there is a 3 - 48 hour delay in thr onset of a symptom from its cause. It takes a lot of tracking over a few months to recognize each symptom and its cause.
The symptoms that arise from injections mimic the other symptoms but occur in thr first three days and repeat after each injection. If you get pain during this period, and recognize it as a healing symptom, it goes away faster if you tell yourself that it is good and work throught it.
Gentle movement exercises stimulate the nerves to move the muscles. The healing of the nerve occurs during this movement/stimulation.
The symptoms will be cyclical surroundings the injection until you get sufficient B12, i.e. more frequent injections, to stabilize your levels.
Stress and worry consume B12 faster so the logbook helps you get back some control and when you know how your body reacts you can anticipate a symptom and relax about its cause.
Conditions like carpal tunnel require complete rest to heal the damage and then physio therapy to restore function. This is opposite what nerve repair needs. Hopefully the logbook will help you sort out your symptoms and monitor your progress as nerve repair in very slow.
It is thought that replacement of the myelin sheath is possible but, once the axon is damaged, the nerve is gone.
Hi am feeling aweful right now. Just pains all over a shooting pain my heel ...maybe UT's my nerves waking up. It feels dreadful. But excersise and slow movement is good? I feel like my hands aren't responding normally. They aren't going what I want and out walking I felt like ..just weird...like I didn't know how to walk. It is more upsetting than anything else. But if I keeo taking the b12 and do some tai chi and yoga type slow movement things...my favourite kind kf excersise...it should sort itself out? I'm going to plop myself in a bathtub and have a cry for myself for a bit first but I'll do some gentle movement then. Thanks. I'm crying because I'm relieved that the pain might be a good thing.
When you exercise, while recovering from a B12 deficiency, keep a steady pace, and get your mind off the pain from the healing nerves. (Some say work through the pain). The idea is to get the brain to realize that the pain is an illusion and to recalibrate. This is my experience and not some absolute truth. Stress and worry prevent the brain from recalibrating to the stronger signals on the nerves.
Now, if the pain doesn’t disappear within a day or two of getting a B12 injection and continues then seek medical help.
I'm not on injection just a b complex and a spray. Some have said different types may be worse side effects so I am thinking I might be better off just eating liver and kidneys in small amounts twice a day. Or getting a bovine supplement capsule. I am no stranger to pain and working through it I've a pretty high tolerance but the lack of balance is just ...I can't hack it like. The inability to maneuver a spoon normally. I've got to be using power tools in the next few months a and up and down ladders I can't do that without a sense of balance and coordination..and pain generally isn't a problem but the shooting pain ...I could have a shooting pain suddenly and fall lff a ladder with a drill in my hand. Thats just not something I can work through or push past.
Thanks yes I saw that post last night and I did a leg massage and did the toe squeezing thing as well...it did help my calf muscles a lot thanks. And released a few endorphins but beyond that I was still just feeling like I was lying on a bed of sting rays or electric eels all night.
Who diagnosed carpal tunnel syndrome? Why do you think they were wrong?
If in doubt ask to see a neurologist.
Peripheral neuropathy caused by a B12 deficiency tends to start in the toes and feet. Absence of any symptoms there would definitely point to an alternative cause.
A private doctor diagnosed me with carpal tunnel 5 weeks after my injections as I started getting pins and needles in the tips of my fingers on both hands. I don’t think that I do anything repetitive that would give me carpal tunnel. I might be wrong but just not convinced that’s what it is.
I do have pins and needles/ numbness in my toes and in the centre of my feet. I have had an unsteady feeling since August now and assume this is why?
Seeing a neurologist on Thursday. Thanks for your response fbirder.
carpal tunnel isn't necessarily the result of repetitive actions - they can aggravate it though.
The carpal tunnel is a narrow space between the bones etc in your wrist that the nerves run through. If this becomes restricted then the nerve signals don't get through properly and you do get all sorts of sensations that will run the whole length of the arm.
Keeping the wrist straight will minimise the restriction.
For me water retention is a key factor in how much the carpal tunnel gets restricted. As time goes on, if the restriction isn't managed it will also cause damage to the nerves.
I had a diagnosis of carpel tunnel in my mid 30s when I was waking up in the morning and the only way I could open my fists was to prise them open with my other hand. I managed to train myself to sleep in a position that kept the wrist straight so this stopped being a problem but I do still get twinges. About 6 months after loading shots (and before I had sorted out a regime that was right for me) I did notice that I'd started to experience nerve sensations associated with the wrist problem that I actually hadn't experienced for a number of years and realised that some of the sensations going away hadn't actually been because things had improved - they then quietened down when I really started to get my B12 levels to where I need them. So, i you think back - did you have similar issues way back in the mists of time that then seemed to improve.
As evergreen1 says below there is a specific nerve function test for carpal tunnel.
There is a similar 'syndrome' called tarsal tunnel that relates to the feet - there the space used by the nerves that run into your feet isn't quite as well defined. It is frequently associated with fallen arches as these change the shape of the foot and hence the shape of the gap ... and as B12 deficiency can lead to muscle weakening which can then lead to fallen arches it means that there are two affects of B12 that can bring this effect into play - damage to lining around nerve cells and muscle weakness.
Do not have carpal tunnel op. Get your GP to send you for a nerve function test. They said my husband had carpal tunnel. Nerve function test proved he did NOT have it.
Often b12 def and Hypothyroidism are intertwined. Carpal Tunnel is often a symptom of underactive thyroid too as well as the foot pain also spoken of by some.
Feels like my eye sockets can breathe. Oxygen from them, and my head. Brain isn't cramped up. Face is more loose? Bottom half. Feel alive? Coming alive that is. Good q, was wondering the same myself. Wish u and all the best. Ox
Also, was feeling more tired? Maybe depressed? Started squeezing my toes and felt better immediately? Might sound dumb , but it helped. Massaged hands too, pressure points. Think stomach and intestines are in middle of hand. Go ! ox ..
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