B12 injection

[Louisehepper84]

Hi currently started my b12 injections friday and taking folic acid past 2 weeks with b12 with folic acid. Still feeling horrodeous. Shortness of breathe weak. No appetite . Can any one tell me how i can help with this shortness of breath . Im a busy mum of 4 and work and ive had enough now . Plz help with any tips please

[pvanderaa]

It will take a week or two for red blood cells to build back up before your oxygen levels come back from the anaemia. I’m not a doctor.

Stress consumes B12 so your level of activity will reduce the B12 in your blood stream. Things will generally take longer to get better.

There is another symptom in that as soon as you feel better from the injections, you will naturally try to do more. This will use up B12 faster and lead to feeling tired again before you next injection is due.

You will also feel like you are on a roller coaster ride of highs and lows between injections. It is hard to monitor progress in this condition.

Start a logbook of all your symptoms and food, drink and meds. Try to assess a daily severity score of each symptom. You may find new symptoms also show up.

In your logbook, treat the injection as day zero each cycle and this resetting of the clock allows you to compare day x in one cycle to the same day in previous cycles. This gives you a way to monitor progress. Progress will be very slow especially for neurological and psychological symptoms. It also helps with coping with short term memory loss.

Any food allergies? You may find issues with gluten and dairy show up, hence the need to record food and drink in the logbook. Symptoms from food don’t appear immediately and sometimes it takes a day before a brain fog shows up. Thr logbook allows you to look back to see what you ate three days ago in some cases.

Do you have low stomach acid? Or too alkaline? It’s the same heartburn symptoms as too much acidity. One way to test is to eat acidic food like salsa, tomato, apple cider vinegar, orange juice.

Any hunger type symptoms are either going to be smell or vagus nerve related.

Again, I’m not a doctor but these tools have helped me figure out my situation.

[Louisehepper84 in reply to pvanderaa]

Ok thank you ive been reading alot about it i have 2 or 3 good days then go to feeling awful again shortness of breath is getting to me the most . I have my second lot of injections tomoz i was also told friday im very low on vit d too

[Nackapan in reply to Louisehepper84]

When your vit D goes uo this will help enormously. Mine went down to 21. When back up in the 60s it helped. Depending on all your symptoms it takes months. Gkad you getting the right trestment

[Louisehepper84 in reply to Nackapan]

I had further bloods done friday as dont no why im like this so waiting on rest of bloods to come back . Im on 2 vit d tabs a week . Been on b12 and folac for nearlly 3 weeks now and still not seeing any improvement ive seem to of gone worse

[Nackapan]

If you have had a full iron count and ruled out any other defiencies it's a matter of trying to pace and get help when you csn. It will take time. You need rest for the healing. Eating little and often works with energy levels

[Gambit62 Administrator]

could actually take a couple of months for anaemia to be corrected if that is why you are breathless.

breathlessness isn't always down to anaemia though as B12 deficiency also has neurological impacts and can affect the autonomic system which tells you if your red blood cells are transporting enough B12 from your lungs to the cells that actually need it.

Basically you are very early in the process and some people do find that it can take months before they really notice any difference

[Louisehepper84]

Oh really when i wake up to about 12 im fine and then it comes on

[Louisehepper84]

Need to constantly yawn its become worse since tuesday

[Nackapan in reply to Louisehepper84]

My little energy comes in waves after 7 months . Everyone is different . Your body is working hard on repairs. Best way to up your vit D as well as your suppresents is to get the sun on your torso but obviously not long enough to burn. You are doing well by the sounds of it being a mum and paid work. Perhaps take some leave? Give yourself a break

[Louisehepper84]

Oh really 7 months. Im use to being so busy. Im off work this week but still got kids lol . Im on vit d only went on them friday tho . Wish the sun would stay out ..do you no what caused you to lack b12. Docs still trying to work out why i am

[Cb1963]

It's a nightmare this condition, and it causes so many problems, and it's not taken seriously enough, everyone reacts to the injections to feeling better, or end up not knowing how they should feel anymore, it's a 'creeping' condition and causes numerous problems, pins and needles, tiredness, breathing problems, stomach problems, headaches you name it and it'll probably be related to it, even how you feel mentally, tingling tongue or tinnitus, the list is endless, definitely keep an eye on for any symptoms and please don't fall into the bracket after your initial injections everything will be fine, I'm over a year into 'treatment' and ended up with reconized other b12 problems and my GPS aren't interested cause I'm stuck on the standard 3 monthly cycle of injections, which I feel is nowhere near long enough to keep me going until my next injection, so see how you get on, but everyone else has deferent absorbtion rates, in this case one size doesn't fit all, good luck.

[deniseinmilden in reply to Cb1963]

It certainly is. Do you take extra supplements to help? Sublingual sprays and tablets are useful. The only other option is self injecting like so many of us do.

[deniseinmilden]

I do feel for you!

It will probably take several injections (at least 6) to get you up and running and you may need them more frequently than the NHS will give them to you in the long term to keep you well.

Read through the replies on here for ways to get more help from your GP and consider self injecting if you need to. You can find these by double clicking on someone's name and looking under the heading "replies".

Shortness of breath can be caused by iron deficiency as well as B12 deficiency so it is important that you get checked for this too - hopefully your last tests covered this - and treated properly if you need it. I'm really sorry but I must get to work now but if you look through my past replies there is a bit more information on iron and other vitamins and minerals.

There are quite a lot of us who have more than one deficiency/absorption/metabolism problem and this makes it more difficult to cope with because we need to get the balance of everything right to feel well but don't despair - there is lots of good advice available here and with the right supplements and careful management you can be reasonably OK.

In the short term try to call on every bit of help available to you to ease the pressure on you until you feel a bit better to give your body a chance.

[Louisehepper84]

Thank you had my first injection friday second one today . I feel awful today like my throat is closing over. Im taking multi vits too . Folic acid. Ive ordered the spray . Just ad enough now and feel like crying . So fed up of feeling like this just dont see a light at the end of the tunnel been like it months now and only just started . Its just so frustrating

[Cherylclaire Forum Support]

The good thing is that you found this forum, where there are many people who know exactly how you feel because they have been you.... and got better. It is scarey at first, but it is manageable. It will take time though.

For that reason, it's sensible to record what is happening to you on a daily basis. Sometimes, progress is very slow, and it can help to look back and see the evidence for gradual improvement. It might also help your GP or consultants. Patterns might emerge that later help you to get exactly the amount of supplement your body needs. We are all different, react and respond differently.

GP gave me 3 month course of ferritin and folate, which improved levels and then dropped again to bottom of range. It is worth getting printouts of your blood test results because " normal- no action " advice is often the case when anything is within range- whether this is "normal" for you or not is difficult to tell, since no-one ever tests you when there's nothing wrong ! What I'm saying is, sometimes you can stop things getting worse by seeing which way results are going and can stop a deterioration before it drops further. My hair falls out and gums bleed when my folate is low, even though it is just within range. I was advised on here to keep levels of folate and ferritin in the top 1/3 of normal ranges, which seems to work. Folate in particular needed to help B12 do it's job.

Mood swings (especially irritability and impatience) and anxiety are fairly common too, which doesn't help with morale.

Any blood test results you aren't sure of: post them on here with unit of measurement used (eg: ng/L) and range because different labs use different units and ranges. There are a lot of people who will be able to advise you on what that means.

Keep going, keep posting. Don't be afraid: this is the worst bit and it will be over.

Best of luck, Louise

[Louisehepper84]

Thank you ..apparently my ferritin levels are 120 and said is normal .ive noticed my haor falling out but put it down to the time of year . Spoke to doc about breathless and gave me a blue in haler and said if doesnt work to call back .. my b12 is 147 asked today but she didn't have time to do a print off because she fitted me in for my injection x

[Sweetcheeks832]

Sweetie, it took years for you to feel the way you do. The injections are not a magic cure all. You are more than likely neurologically deficient. Those aches and pains, fatigue and all the other symptoms will not go away in a month, or even 6 months, and not even a year. I was 98 when diagnosed Feb 2017 and it took me 2 years to feel 90%. Your neuro symptoms will go away in the order you got them. But honestly, depending in how low you were/are, you may have some neuro symptoms that may never go away. All you can do is take it one day at a time. Eventually, as your levels increase and your cofactors are balanced, you will notice everyday getting easier. The doctors really should tell their patients this so they can better prepare. Each shot is building up your liver storage. So it's going to take time. Don't be discouraged. Think of it as one step closer to healing, not just another day of feeling lousy.

[Louisehepper84]

I no just fustrating always been fit and well. Just hard work have 4 kids and working . I haven't really been told a lot about this at all the doctor just said your lacking b12 and need an injection ive ad to do all tge research my self and reading up on here its all new to me . Doctors put me on steriods tonight for my breathing as a slight wheez and cant get my breath she told me it wasnt to do with b12 , but ive read different. I just need to get use to were i am now . I will soon learn i have to take each day as it comes . Thank you for helping me understand it a bit more .x