pain in pins and needles

[sparklefairy]

Hi everyone,

so i recently found out my b12, folate and ferritin are low so have been supplementing with slow iron, b vitamins, methafolate and iv just started b12 injections (four so far)

I was wondering if i am experiencing nerve damage due to b12 being deficient and was wondering if anyone has found the pins and needs in fingers move to a dull pain in the palms and forearms??

i had continuous pain and pins and needles in my fingers for a week or two before my first injections and am only at the end of week one, could this be a sign that the b12 is starting to take effect? am i possibly reversing the nerve damage?

or has the pain simply moved to new nerves in my body (moving from fingers to arms??)

[Highland49]

That's really good that you've supplemented with folate and iron as it sounds like this has really helped your body to process the b12 and start healing. How long have you had the neurological symptoms and do you know your b12 level before treatment (and before supplements)?

As you have neurological symptoms, the NICE/BNF guidelines are alternate day injections until no further improvement. If you've had symptoms for months, maybe years, this may take time to fully improve. Neurological symptoms are a later stage of b12 deficiency, so chances are you've been deficient for some time.

[sparklefairy in reply to Highland49]

Hi!

Thankyou so much for your detailed response, you’ve made me feel at ease that you think perhaps my symptoms are improving the pins and needles / pain scares me as iv never had anything like it. I got s blood test at the beginning of october so it’s only been 4 weeks since i upped my t4 as my tsh needs to be around 0.5 for me to start feeling well and iv only had the pain in my hands for the last two weeks. I did notice in the summer when i woke up if i lay still for too long i would get pins and needles but thought that was perhaps playing on my

phone lying down for too long and didn’t think any more of it , perhaps iv only has the symptoms for a few months, the fact it’s gone from my fingers to my palms does scare me because i wasn’t sure if the nerve damage was moving to different areas ..

iv only been on b12 for this week, iv had an injection : tuesday, friday and monday.

i’m going to have another one friday and again monday and keep going with it until the pains disappearing as you advise

thankyou for groups like this xx

il attach my levels for you to see think it’ was 348

[Highland49 in reply to sparklefairy]

You're welcome. There's lots more information on here if you search with particular words. It must have been scary as you say to have the pins and needles but good that you're having frequent injections.

With blood tests, it's against guidelines to retest once treatment has started but can be reassuring that you're absorbing, even though it's difficult to say how much is reaching the cells.

So you have a double whammy like me, b12 and thyroid problems! My level was about the same as yours so I wasn't taken seriously by my GP so it's so good to have forums like these for support and information.

Take care 😊 xx