Benefits of foods high in B12

[Margaret-S]

Hi everyone, I need to eat a healthier diet and wondered if it was any ways beneficial to eat foods high in B12 although I have pernicious anaemia.

[CarrieD2018]

Hi Margaret, I’d be interested to hear peoples’ responses to this. I’ve read that the earliest treatment of B12 deficiency was feeding patients with high amounts of liver as it’s high in B12. Since getting this the gist of what I heard is that if you have PA then you have an absorption problem so it doesn’t matter if you eat B12 rich food or not. I know in my own case before recent treatment of b12 injections I increase my b12 from 87 to 164 and then 195 through diet. I ate a lot of dairy and meat. I did have very low b12 when it was first identified that I had PA. I got minimum medical treatment then but I did start taking a daily multivitamin. So my answer is I don’t know if it matters if people with PA should eat b12 rich food. But my own experience where I went from 87 to 164 and then 195 suggests I was absorbing some b12 be it from diet or supplements. Now I’m finishing off loading shots with huge B12 levels in my blood.

All the best CarrieD

[Margaret-S in reply to CarrieD2018]

Thankyou for your reply CarrieD2018. Absorption is a problem. What clivealive and Gambit62 have replied is very sound. I guess eating proper foods is better for us even if we don't get much B12 out of it. Where do you live Carrie? Here in the very furthest north of the north isles of Britain unfortunately the medics are not very helpful. The nurses who give us our injections are more informed and compassionate than the doctors but they can only go by what they are told to do and they find it very difficult seeing people suffer and not be able to help them. I told the nurse last month about the Vie patches and she was going to look into it and maybe be able to steer the patients in that direction. It's been good to hear from you Carrie and I wish you all the very best too Margaret ☺

[clivealive Forum Support]

Hi Margaret-S when I was diagnosed with P.A. 46 years ago my doctor gave me the option of having to eat raw liver three times a day or having cyanocobamalin injections for the rest of my life so it was possibly thought that despite the disease some of the B12 would "get through" passively but I don't honestly know whether there is any truth in it.

I chose to have the injections.

I'm sure there must be other benefits from eating meats, fish, eggs and dairy produce beside B12 and I include all of them in my diet.

Please ensure that you have a healthy Folate level as this and B12 helps your iron to produce red blood cells and to function properly.

So, meat and two veg is the way to go.

I am not a medically trained person.

I wish you well.

[Margaret-S in reply to clivealive]

Thankyou Clive. You always are helpful. For a long time now because of loneliness and depression I very rarely cook a meal but tend to live on microwave meals. Occasionally I do a big pot of mixed veg and that does a few days along with cooked ham and hard boiled eggs. I have a banana every morning and supper time. So my diet isn't the best. Unfortunately because of being on Amitriptyline my weight has gone up a good bit again and that upsets me too. Yesterday I was feeling a bit better and for the first time in 2 weeks went the 30 mile trip to town by bus. I quite enjoyed it but another 30 miles home and by the time I climbed the very steep road to my house I was done. After tea i fell asleep and felt really rotten again. So didn't get out to church today again. I put on a patch last night and another one this morning which has definitely helped but still quite rapid heartbeat. The deep sighs did stop though. I will ask about the Folate levels on Thursday when I get my injection. It was to have been Tuesday but my husband is back in the island and he is coming over for some things so I cancelled my appointment. Altogether it's being quite a stressful time. Would emotional and mental stress have an effect on B12 levels too?

[Gambit62 Administrator]

on average PA reduces the amount of B12 you absorb from your diet by a factor of 100 which is why you really need a source of B12 that by-passes the gut,or you need really high doses. as such, I'd suggest not factoring B12 in to the diet - concentrate on making sure that the diet has a good range and amount of other essential nutrients

[clivealive Forum Support]

Stress and worry can and does affect B12 levels. Please try to improve your eating habits and as Gambit62 says make sure your diet "has a good range and amount of other essential nutrients"

Goodnight.

[Margaret-S in reply to clivealive]

Thankyou again Clive. Goodnight to you too 😴

[wedgewood]

I tried every sort of B12 supplement before I had to resort to self -injection , which I didn’t want to do ( I was on the bog -standard 3 monthly jab (.which enabled symptoms to return after 2weeks ) I tried normal tablets , patches , nose spray , sub-lingual lozenges and faith-healing (no, I didn’t try the last one ) I know some people do have success with nose spray etc . but I didn’t . Extra injections(self) have saved me. I buy from versandapo.de in English . Search for Hydroxocobalamin, and a box will drop down . Click on Hydroxocobalamin acetat , and you will see the options . You need to register for a first purchase . I buy 100 ampoules of Rotexmedica B12 Hydroxocobalamin for €55 Plus €9 for courier , use- buy date nearly 3 years hence . Needles , syringes sharps box from Medisave U.K. or Amazon U.K. . Look at self-injection videos (utube ) some are not so good, so look at plenty . Best of luck

[Margaret-S in reply to wedgewood]

Thankyou Wedgwood. I am going to try one final push at the health centre on Tuesday. My problem is that being on the pension I probably can't afford to buy the self injecting kit. Will have to give it some thought. Wish you all the very best too.

[Ela1]

I'm do sorry to hear about your problems with depression. I myself have depression as well and know how destructive it can be. I have few autoimmune conditions PA, scleroderma and hashimoto, few years sgo went on antidepressants and they didn't help. Food plays a big role in fighting fatigue and depression. I went on paleo autoimmune diet and it helped me very much.

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[Margaret-S in reply to Ela1]

Hi Elaine 1. Thankyou for sharing and I am really sorry to hear of your problems. I will look into the autoimmune diet. Wishing you all the best. Take care ☺