Injection

[Elleeee]

I am having my b12 injection today (3 month) how long should it take for me to start feeling better ?

[clivealive Forum Support]

Hi Elleeee It is not uncommon for some symptoms to appear to get worse before they get better as the B12 you are having injected 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.

I wish you well

[Gambit62 Administrator]

is this your first maintenance shot?

I didn't actually notice any effect from until my second/third maintenance shot - when noticed that moving was a lot easier almost immediately and I wasn't falling asleep by 3 pm.

How did you get on with your loading shots? unless you found that you felt washed out for 24 hours at a time then you could notice the effect of the shot almost immediately - but some people find that it takes a day or two of feeling totally washed out before they start to feel the benefit.

[NovicePA]

Everyone is different but it generally does take a while to notice a difference. For me the brain fog lifted quite quickly but energy levels took time. May be worth keeping a diary and write down any achievements. Over time you will hopefully see a positive trend!

[Fudgemanjim]

It varies for everyone and i suppose it depends on symptoms... unlike novice PA im still awaiting brain for to disappear (i think its been 3 months of regular treatment but been undertreated whole life) but after more regular and larger dose treatment i found the breathing difficulties and more sevre pains, walking difficulties shaking gradually went over the first 2 months maybe....(im not tooa ware of time and must geuss with fogyness and so on) ..my vision improved almost instantly /day or two

Alot of symptoms still return but there not nearly as bad and much rarer...well some days alot more tgan others... but definitley less painfull and bad even if regular... make sure your folate and other vits are good levels so when you do start to heal hleverything else doesnt drain... plus b12 needs folate and other stuff to function properly /well

I dont know how long itll take for you ir me to feel entirley better... everyone differs but i certainly hope you feel improvment soon

P.s oh and the fatigue kind of improved alot at first but id tire extremley quickly...like from opening a draw or ... well anything but it inly happened when i did stuff i think....now fatigue os only like... well i cant really ... its not great but nothing like before.... i mean i can open draws i can g9 places... its pretty awesome (couldmt really walk before mind you so i think all that and pain wears you out amd may have made me more fatigued than just the b12 fatiuge.. but im no doctor) its good and bad days but always improving in some way... hope same for you.. well for improvment :)... ooo and i agree with novicepa ... a diary really helps you see whats impr9ved and perks your spirits when you feel things arent getting better or have slowed as good to see how far youve come and reminds you of the worse times and how much better things are now, once youve "got used to" the improvments and forget the worse times

Sorry for my terrible.organisation of writing....i just write as i renember poi ts and often forget the original train of thought

[pvanderaa]

Start yourself a logbook and gauge the severity of any symptoms that arise from the injection.

Treat the jab as day zero each time and see which symptoms repeat over 3-4 days.

These symptoms, can appear to be counterintuitive, but are evidence that B12 is working. Headache, diarrhea, increased pain. They tend to follow in a sequence that, once you recognize the pattern, become a reassurance. This can also give you some control back and you can reduce worry and stress that just makes everything seem worse.

[pitney]

Everyone seems to be different personally I noticed very little difference after loading doses and after dragging through a further year or so managed to get my GP to up dose from 3 monthly to every 2mths but even then did not feel a great deal of change. After 5 years or so decided to self inject every month and have now been doing it for 7mths and feel much more like my old self, still not got a great deal of energy but a lot of the other symptoms have eased and .I do feel better.

Hope you notice an improvement quickly but if not keep returning to your GP and you may also find some of the over the counter B12 sprays etc may help, they dont seem to work for everyone but I find the Boost spray helps me a little

Good luck and best wishes

[Wowo23]

Hi Elleeee. It still amazes me when I hear how long ppl go between shots. Can I ask how come? I do know the b12 goes in your system right away. I know because sometimes I knock out a shot while at the docs. I needed bloodwork one day and told them we should do my shot after. The doc said no it shouldn't hit that fast. Lo and behold, my b12 was 1999. I was shocked at first then remembered it was 20 mins after shot. As for feeling better, I started with daily shots, then went weekly. Now I'm 2 a week. My main symptoms went away almost immediately, but some took a few months. But that's with regualr weekly jabs