Can B12 mimic Myasthenia Gravis

[montague53]

Hi, my neurologist has said he thinks its Myasthenia Gravis and might not be B12. Anyone else know anything about this. Its because my neck muscles are weak, but I have central nervous system damage.

Thanks x

[Statesideheather]

I worried that's what I had before diagnosed. I had trouble walking and talking. Swallowing was difficult. I did not have the strength to chew food.

I'm not a dr. But i ve read many stories of people being misdiagnosed when b12 was the issue. I suppose the way to really find out is if B12 improves greatly your symptoms. Not sure what kind of testing you've had. But if your b12 was low, of course you could have various symptoms.

I no longer have that weakness In my jaw and throat like I had. I don't stumble or lose balance. I don't stutter or forget how to talk. it went away with b12_treatment. I've also had muscles throughout my body bulk up since treating.

[Auntyp62 in reply to Statesideheather]

I had a similar experience and was tested with needles in my arm and around my eye. For me it turned out my homocysteine was sky high due to b12 deficiency but not pa. I had progressive upper body weakness and slept a lot. Took about 6 months on injections every couple of months from gp but I now take high dosage of b12 daily and find that is better.

[Statesideheather in reply to Auntyp62]

It is kind of ridiculous that a little vitamin can solve so much...or wreak such havoc if there isn't enough!

Glad you got to feeling better. ❤

[montague53 in reply to Auntyp62]

Hi Auntyp62, that gives me hope that over time, I might be able to recover from some of my neurological symptoms if I keep going with the B12 injections 3x per week. Its my lower half that is worse, my little dead legs with no reflexes left and numb toes. Thankyou

[montague53 in reply to Statesideheather]

Thank you for replying, I have never been diagnosed properly because I had taken some B12 oral supplements, tablets and spray before I was tested. My B12 showed 382 and so nobody listened to me, despite having every symptom of B12 deficiency. My sister has been getting B12 injections for 13 years and 2 of my cousins and 3 of my Aunties and a Granny that all had pernicious anemia. There is definitely a gene in our family. Because the Hematologist and the Dr would not do any other tests I began to get very ill and so started to inject myself with B12 and was getting a lot better. The G.P. said she would refer me to hematology again to have my MMA test, so I came off the B12 for 8 weeks while awaiting my appointment. In that time I started to go down hill very fast and started to have more serious neurological symptoms. The hematologist refused to do the MMA at the appointment because he said that the DR had said it was anxiety, as I had so many symptoms. I have been treated really badly and no-one took me seriously until I had pneumonia and cellulitis because my immune system crashed. I am back on the B12 injections and improving but don't know how much neurological damage I will be left with. I have white matter and lesions in the brain and demyelination in the spinal cord. It makes me so angry that no one listens to the patient and just labels us with anxiety, just because they can't find what wrong.

[palmier]

This NHS web page lists muscle weakness as one possible symptom of peripheral neuropathy.

nhs.uk/conditions/periphera...

B12 deficiency can cause peripheral neuropathy, so it seems likely that it could also cause muscle weakness, if motor neurons are affected.

Subacute combined degeneration of spinal cord can also cause muscle weakness. This is from wikipedia:

"The onset is gradual and uniform. The pathological findings of subacute combined degeneration consist of patchy losses of myelin in the dorsal and lateral columns. Patients present with weakness of legs, arms, trunk, tingling and numbness that progressively worsens. "

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sub...