Iron stores while taking b12.

[Plucky1976]

Curious to know how many take iron with b12. I had major symptoms before any anemia showed up. However, my ferritin level was low end normal. My folate seems to stay at a decent level but thinking I might start taking a low dose daily. Sometimes it seems like my injections don't do much of anything. Wondering if that could be because my iron is low. My actual iron level was never checked😳 I'm so tired of being the one to question doctors. Not one has ever said to me that they have to be balanced nor have they even checked my iron level. So frustrating!! Find it odd that I took a 35 mg iron supplement and am already feeling something. Any input would be appreciated!

[clivealive Forum Support]

Hi Plucky1976 personally I have taken 1 – Folic Acid 400μg

tablet and 1 – Iron Ferrous Fumarate 210mg tablet every day for more years than I can remember and I have injections of cyanocobamalin 1mg every three weeks for P.A.

It is important that your Folate level is monitored as this is essential to process the B12.

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.

Symptoms of a folate deficiency can include:

symptoms related to anaemia

reduced sense of taste

diarrhoea

numbness and tingling in the feet and hands

muscle weakness

depression

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 I've had P.A. (a form of B12 deficiency) for more than 45 years and I'm still "clivealive" and over 75 having had two thirds of my stomach removed at the age of 17.

I wish you well

[Plucky1976 in reply to clivealive]

Thank you! Were you found to be only b12 deficient originally?

[clivealive Forum Support in reply to Plucky1976]

No and it took 13 years from surgery in 1959 to the eventual diagnosis of P.A. in 1972.

Ironically I had a "Schilling's" test for P.A done in 1968 which involved being injected with a massive dose of B12 as well as drinking a glass of radioactive B12. The result was "inconclusive" for P.A. but I reckon that the B12 given to me then enabled me to "struggle on" another four years to 1972 when a second Schilling's test proved positive and I was started on injections every four weeks for life.

Instead of the injections I was given the choice to eat raw liver three times a day which only a few decades before had been the only option. Much as I love baked liver, onions and gravy I've "stuck" with the injections...