Do symptoms get worse before healing?

[Myemmy80]

Hello, i am on injections for about half a Year. My Feet pain (tingling and prickling) is gering worse. Is this part of the healing progress? Are there more people with Feet pain?

[clivealive Forum Support]

Hi Myemmy80

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.

I have problems with "burning" feet and legs especially at night.

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

.

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When I first started with B12 injections the tinnitus went, the tingling and prickling - as you so well describe it - went as well, mouth wasn't so dry feeling, taste sensations change back and so on; life took on a whole new meaning. Then gradually I found the symptoms were coming back before the next 12 week injection. When that became about 1 month I took it up with the GP. Now I am injecting every week, but the symptoms are getting so much better and I am hoping to stretch this period out gradually as things improve.

I might be wrong - I am just one of the sufferers, not a medic - but take the view that if the tingling etc goes away for a week with an injection then that is better than suffering burning feet, mouth sores and so on then I will carry on with it.

[aksundell]

My symptoms got worse after I started treatment until I started self injecting. I would improve for a few days after each shot and then my symptoms would start to worsen and become worse than they were when I was diagnosed. Now, 6 months after starting to self inject and 9 months after diagnosis and initiation of treatment I am just starting to feel better than I did at diagnosis. Actually lots of things are better some are unchanged and some are still worse. It’s a long process. I think if you are worse 6 months in, you and your doctors should consider if your treatment is adequate and also if something else is going on that is complicating your recovery.