MMA Test

[sbadd]

Can someone please tell me if a mma test will tell me if my b12 is okay, my initial b12 levels were low but active was normal, tested negative to if test, had no symptoms of low b12 apart from tiredness, doct gave me 6 loading doses in jan which totally floored me, now April and continue to have weakness in legs and arms that comes and goes, did not have this prior to injections, my doct has now tested me for several muscle related diseases such as lupus, arthritis etc, all come back negative, would a mma test confirm whether i have enough b12 in cells? ?? Desperate as all other bloods coming back normal, doc is at a loss at too what is wrong with me??

[clivealive Forum Support]

Hi sbadd It is not uncommon for some symptoms to appear to get worse before they get better as the B12 you are had injected started 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.

When you had the six loading doses back in January had your symptoms "stopped improving" by the end of them?

An MMA test would determine whether the B12 level in your blood cells is OK.

It is also important that your Folate level is monitored as this is essential to process the B12.

There is a complex interaction between folic acid, vitamin B12 and iron. A deficiency of one may be "masked" by excess of another so the three must always be in balance.

Symptoms of a folate deficiency can include:

symptoms related to anaemia

reduced sense of taste

diarrhoea

numbness and tingling in the feet and hands

muscle weakness

depression

Folic acid works closely with vitamin B12 in making red blood cells and helps iron function properly in the body.

I am not a medically trained person but I've had Pernicious Anaemia (one of many causes of B12 deficiency) for more than 46 years.

I wish you well.

[sbadd in reply to clivealive]

I didn't have any symptons of deficiency prior to injections just tired, after injections i had head pressure, balance issues, pins n needles, numbness over body, and the heaviness started after second injection, most of this has all gone now apart from the heaviness, mainly when i wake and throughout day, then can come good but once i wake again its back, folate was normal around 6 weeks back and b12 was now 1476 prior injections 148