B12 and iron issues

[Plucky1976]

Hi all!

I had my 6 week check up with my internal medicine doc and my concern this week was that my iron was borderline (12, range is 11-34). I take 28mg bisglycinate as maintenance but I have had shortness of breath and numbness return with slight anxiety. I am still having 3 injections every week and take 400 of folate daily so he suggested I double my dose of iron as I'm borderline. It has been 5 days and I'm just wondering how long before I should see the iron start to make a difference? Now I'm wondering if I have always had an iron issue and just didn't know.

Just when I think I finally have this b12 thing under control....grrrr. I actually felt so poor that I gave myself an injection today on my day off. It did help. 8 hrs later I'm feeling the numbness again though....sigh.

My question is...is 50 mg ferrous bisglycinate (elemental iron) enough to increase my level? I've asked pharmacists and they won't give me a straight answer as they all tell me it's up to my doc. He didnt seem to think my level was a problem but I prefer to not be borderline😳

[Marz]

Taking VitC can help iron absorption I have read 😊

[Plucky1976 in reply to Marz]

I drink a glass of orange juice with my iron and some with my meals that aren't high in heme iron.

[Gambit62 Administrator]

taking B12 and folate won't affect iron levels. folate and B12 deficiency can cause a type of anaemia in which your red blood cells are rounder and larger than normal - which makes them less efficient at picking up oxygen in your lungs and transferring them to the cells that need them.

iron deficiency will lead to a different type of anaemia in which your red bllod cells are smaller than normal which means they can't carry as much oxygen.

There are a number of measures for iron deficiency - going by one can lead to the wrong conclusion.

[Plucky1976 in reply to Gambit62]

Hi Gambit!

My ferritin was less than midway in range as well. It was 139 about a month and a half ago and now is 72. My doctor said that ferritin isn't as accurate as checking the actual iron level as it can show inflammation. My iron saturation is also on the lower side. So now I don't know if because I have the b12 I need to make normal blood cells, is it possible that I do t have enough oxygen because my iron is on the lower side. I wish I had an iron level to compare it to as I do y remember EVER having iron checked. I just always assumed being tired was a part of life. Stress was always a contributing factor...or so I assumed that's what it was.

[Gambit62 Administrator in reply to Plucky1976]

Your B12 is low because you have a problem absorbing B12 in your gut. The same problem can also affect your ability to absorb other minerals and vitamins - notably folate and iron.

A full blood count would need careful interpretation if you have both B12 and iron deficiencies going on as would seem to be the case.

Whilst you can't overdose on B12 you can overdose on iron and I'm not clear if you are supplementing on advice from your GP or not but would strongly urge that you consult your GP or a pharmacist if you aren't acting on advice from your GP.

[Plucky1976 in reply to Gambit62]

Yes my internal med doc said it was fine to take the low dose iron as it is more of a maintenance dose but since taking it, it is still only borderline (serum iron) so he said to double that dose. I hate that nothingon n this journey has been clear for me as I knew nothing about b12 when they started me on it. No testing has ever been done as I can't seem to go more than 3 days without injections and high dose sublinguals don't help with my symptoms. If my saturation is low then what is happening to the iron that i am ingesting? You have given me more info in the last 3 months than any doc thus far. Thank you for that!

[Gambit62 Administrator in reply to Plucky1976]

if you are having injections then needing shots every 3 days is likely to be something going on with the process that allows the B12 to go from your blood to your cells which is totally independent of the absorption problem that caused you to become deficient in the first place.

The symptoms of B12 deficeincy aren't necessarily caused by anaemia - most of them will come because your cells aren't able to run key processes properly without B12.

[Plucky1976 in reply to Gambit62]

Ugh...so confusing. I thought I had it under control. The return of these symptoms had me worried. So I have 2 different things going on basically. I'm just so tired of being the only one that is worried about any of my levels. They just love fluffing it off meanwhile I'm the one that feels like hell in the end. Thanks gambit

[Ilala in reply to Plucky1976]

I also have low iron and low B12 and folate. Low iron makes cells smaller , low B12 makes them bigger so I wonder if they read as normal because they are cancelling each other out so to speak. I am also really struggling to get a hold on this. I think results need careful reading when we have both low iron and B12 but who would be expert enough to do this ?

[SusanLMckinney]

Do not overdose on iron. Lack of enough B12 has a lot of symptoms, but I will name two big effects. #1 you loose the protective coating on your nerves, therefore your whole nervous system is in jeopardy of damage. Think about that for a minute. #2 Your red blood cells do not mature. Your red cells are what carry oxygen, therefore you will feel out of breath and it also leads to weakness along with the nerve damage. Also, the red cells carry Iron throughout the body. So even though you may be getting enough iron, your blood cannot make use of it properly. Healing is a slow process. Take care of yourself and keep up your B12 forever. If you have developed nerve damage and you are not a vegan or using acid blockers, you probably have a problem with intrinsic factor in the stomach and cannot absorb B12 properly.

[Plucky1976 in reply to SusanLMckinney]

Totally agree! I will definitely keep up with the b12 injections. Going to have the iron tested again to see if it is improving at all. I do believe it is an absorption problem as I have had IBS since my early teens. I'm 41 now. Sadly I was started on b12 before any testing was done and when I said I wanted to know whether I was deficient or if I had PAS they told me it didn't really matter as the treatment was the same for both😳 Well it matters to me! My son is 18 and come to find out his was low as well. Not sure if that means it is one or the other. Now this iron issue to worry about.

[Plucky1976 in reply to Plucky1976]

I'm tying to understand why if I'm taking the b12 continuously, the shortness of breath came back. I was almost at 90% improvement and now I feel like I'm going backwards slightly.