b12 loading injections & dizziness

[rr1993]

Has anyone else experienced dizziness since getting the loading dose? I keep feeling like i’m going to fall over!

[rockinHippy]

Are you also taking the cofactor vitamins & minerals to help your B12 work properly??

I felt unwell after my first loading dose as I wasn’t taking enough folate/folic acid & B complex & my iron wasn’t in the top of range so I needed more iron too. Taking these made a big difference

[rr1993 in reply to rockinHippy]

Hiya! I have been prescribed Iron which I take twice a day and Folic acid too. If it carries on i’ll speak to my doctor I just hope it goes away soon I am on my fourth loading dose now and definitely feeling a bit better it’s just the dizzy spells that are bothering me now! Thanks for response

[rockinHippy in reply to rr1993]

What about potassium? Are you eating/drinking plenty of potassium rich foods. B12 uses up potassium too.

If not that, have you tried switching to folate instead of folic acid? Some of us have gene mutations that hinder converting folic acid into the usable folate form. My daughter & I have this & folic acid doesn’t work for us, so we buy folate instead, which works much better for us

[rr1993 in reply to rockinHippy]

Can I get potassium in a supplement? Not having enough of it I suppose! Maybe that’ll help Thank you will switch to folate hopefully it’ll work

[rockinHippy in reply to rr1993]

You can, but it’s important to know your levels & discus it with your GP as you can overdose on potassium. They might give you a supplement, mine did. The B12 groups I’ve been on advocate getting potassium from food if your not sure. Coconut water is a great source of easy to get potassium, but there’s lots of other options too

[Cherylclaire Forum Support]

For some reason, a lot of people seem to get stronger B12 deficiency symptoms once injections start, before getting improvements, and this certainly sounds like that.

Even now, when I am tired, I feel dizzy if I turn my head up/down/sideways too fast. Because it has been a nuisance lately- sometimes feel like I'm veering left ! - I had my eyes checked: fine and my blood pressure: also fine. So I'm putting it down to BPPV (Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo to you!) which also explains my "eye-shiver" adjustment, and calling it a B12 deficiency indicator. The "benign" bit puts my mind at ease.

Unless it gets any worse, and then I'll see a GP.

Unless episodes last longer than an adjustment period of a few minutes, or instead of mild nausea, you are actually sick, I think this is what you have. But I'm not you or a GP !

[KBird01]

I have had daily spells of dizziness since commencing im loading doses. Exactly as Cherylclaire describes. Mainly when I'm in bed, but other times also. I had labrinthitis some time ago and did the Epley Manoeuvre to cure this. (Check out videos on YouTube how to do this). Tried this again last week, but didn't help at all, so I don't think it's labrinthitis again and I've just put it down to a side effect of the b12. I'm dealing with it ok at the mo and to be honest, it's a reasonable trade off seeing as how much better I'm feeling in general! That said, I'd be even happy if no dizziness too!

Sorry I don't have any more scientific evidence to impart, but thought it might help to know it's not just you! 😊

[rr1993]

Thanks for reply! I have been having the dizzy spells when i’m in bed or sitting they make me jump sometimes. I hope it gets better for us both

[KBird01 in reply to rr1993]

Fingers crossed! 😊

[KBird01]

Hi rr1993 . Just thought I'd post a quick update to say that my dizziness has disappeared! I only noticed it a couple of days ago, when I bent down to tie my laces and didn't nearly fall over!

I'm not sure what reason there is for this, other than I continued with IM injection every 2 days, but really upped my potassium and also had an extra multivit with folate in on the day I took the injection. So perhaps it's that, or just that it was B12 symptoms that have now resolved, or I've got used to the dosage now.

Whichever way, I'm obviously happy and just wanted to post to see how you were getting on. Hopefully things are improving for you, but if not, hopefully it'll resolve like mine has soon.

[rr1993 in reply to KBird01]

Hiya! Thanks for updating me i’m so glad your feeling better I had my last loading dose today and haven’t had any dizziness in a few days (thank god)

[KBird01 in reply to rr1993]

Yaay! So maybe it is just something that wears off! Onwards and upwards for us! 😊