My b1 and b12 story

[Herbert123]

Aged 43 male. Below are blood results:

Vitamin B12 898 pg/mL >211 pg/mL

Folate 17.5 ng/mL >2.8 ng/mL

Thyroid-Stimulating Hormone (TSH), Ultrasensitive 2.300 uIU/mL 0.350 - 5.500 uIU/mL

Sodium 139 mmol/L 134 - 146 mmol/L

Potassium 3.7 mmol/L 3.5 - 5.2 mmol/L

Chloride 102 mmol/L 98 - 110 mmol/L

CO2 30 mmol/L 21 - 32 mmol/L

Anion Gap (SBC / SYC Lab) 7 mmol/L 5 - 15 mmol/L

Blood Urea Nitrogen (BUN) 15 mg/dL 8 - 26 mg/dL

Creatinine 0.99 mg/dL 0.60 - 1.40 mg/dL

eGFR >60 mL/min/1.73m2 >60 mL/min/1.73m2

For African Americans, multiply by 1.212

BUN/Creatinine Ratio 15.2 7.0 - 28.0

Calcium 10.0 mg/dL 8.4 - 10.3 mg/dL

Total Protein 7.6 g/dL 6.3 - 8.5 g/dL

Albumin 4.7 g/dL 3.7 - 5.0 g/dL

Globulin 2.9 g/dL 2.0 - 4.1 g/dL

Albumin/Globulin Ratio 1.6 1.1 - 2.1

Total Bilirubin 0.8 mg/dL <1.4 mg/dL

AST (SGOT) 22 U/L <50 U/L

ALT (SGPT) 39 U/L <50 U/L

Alkaline Phosphatase 64 U/L <135 U/L

Glucose, Fasting 89 mg/dL 75 - 99 mg/dL

WBC 5.4 10*3/uL 4.0 - 10.0 10*3/uL

RBC 5.72 10*6/uL 4.10 - 5.70 10*6/uL

Hemoglobin 17.1 g/dL 13.0 - 17.0 g/dL

Hematocrit 50.3 % 39.0 - 51.0 %

MCV 88.0 fL 80.0 - 100.0 fL

MCH 29.9 pg 26.0 - 34.0 pg

MCHC 34.0 g/dL 30.0 - 36.0 g/dL

Platelet Count 150 - 450 10*3/uL

Unable to report platelet count due to clumping.

MPV 7.0 - 11.0 fL

Unable to report due to platelet clumping.

RDW 12.9 % 12.0 - 16.0 %

Neutrophils Relative 59 %

Lymphocytes Relative 28 %

Monocytes Relative 10 %

Eosinophils Relative 2 %

Basophils Relative 1 %

Neutrophils Absolute 3.2 10*3/uL 1.7 - 6.4 10*3/uL

Lymphocytes Absolute 1.5 10*3/uL 1.0 - 3.5 10*3/uL

Monocytes Absolute 0.6 10*3/uL 0.1 - 0.8 10*3/uL

Eosinophils Absolute 0.1 10*3/uL 0.0 - 0.4 10*3/uL

Basophils Absolute 0.0 10*3/uL 0.0 - 0.2 10*3/uL

Nucleated RBC'S 0.6 /100 WBCs <1.0 /100 WBCs

My nutritarian phylosophy consisted of bingeing on beer coffee white carbohydrates pasta pizza cannabis for 3 decades. Guessing Malabsorption megoblastic b1 , b12 deficiency from coffee beer candida-pasta peeing 25 times everyday anti-diuretic hormone causing urinary incontinence. I have significant stress! The presenting symptom was lhermittes sign. Then two months later after bingeing cocktails at a bbq and taking some codeine, the next morning my left side went numb. Lower left Chest pains in front of spleen slowly going away months later. After that day in October i drank less for three months but symptoms progresssed to right side of body. Pins and needles finger tips surface of palms, ulnar nerve pinky effected mostly nuerapathy hands, couldn't write with pen, couldn't grip football to throw my B 12 levels were at 500 first time, then rose to 900 two months later. Two different doctors and hospital thought i was fine on b 12 and b1. MRI shows lesions on spine. Pins and needles progressing to feet symmetrical until third doctor who studies neuropathy gave me b 12 (80% methylcobalamin 20% adenosylcobalamin). After a month of b 12 and gluten free diet symtoms regressed away from my legs Achillies tendon toes and feet. Two months of no alcohol , gluten free with b 12 symptoms in hands regressed my sloppy hand writing ability came back and just feel pruney. My hands and feet at worst didnt like feel of wool clothing but now all fabric is ok. My feet are ok. The surface of hands seem to be getting better and are just pruny.

I couldn't believe a little pill like the b 12 could give me energy after decade of major fatigue. I started to pay attention to my diet. Ive started Mitochondrial NRG supplementation and the 50 mg of b1 seems to help the pinky to be less pins and needles and surface of skin approaching normal. Just minor discomfort now. The burning sensations at night have improved dramatically. They say Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome or Beriberi is a brain disorder caused by thiamine deficiency. Wernicke-Korsakoff is actually two disorders. Wernicke disease involves damage to nerves in the central and peripheral nervous systems. It is often caused by malnutrition due to alcoholism. I have two questions:

1. Why are hospitals so quick to dismiss b1 and b12 deficiency when blood test show normal, even though i told them of the 3 to 4 drinks per night?

2. Does anyone have this experience with alcohol-b-vitamin numb hands staying or improving time period?

[Gambit62 Administrator]

Do you mean B9 rather than B1?

Most medics aren't aware of B12 and many are totally confused about the relationship between B12 deficiency and anaemia and think it is all about anaemia when it isn't.

Liver damage can cause the the liver to dump B12 - leading to higher levels in serum. Ironically high serum levels can lead to a B12 deficiency in your cells - some people react to high levels in serum by making the mechanism that allows the B12 to pass from blood to cells less efficient.

If you have liver damage then your liver may not be able to store B12 anymore

[Herbert123 in reply to Gambit62]

I dont think ive tried taking b9 or folate. I'll try that now. Ive definitely had those symptoms for years.