Trial of b12 injections due but how long is reasonable?

[Damseltree]

I have all the symptoms including neurological which indicate b12d but non of the tests are in the range. A trial of injections is proposed. How long should a trial be for a fair assessment?

[fbirder]

If it were me I would want three weeks of IM hydroxocobalamin, 1000 mcg every other day.

If there is no change in symptoms over that time scale then I'd start looking at another cause.

[pvanderaa]

Agree with fbirder for some symptoms but for neurological symptoms you may see worse symptoms initially so I think 3 weeks is too short. I’d ask for 6 months. You will need to supplement with folic acid and a daily multivitamin. Keep a logbook of symptoms and assess daily. If absolutely nothing happens in three weeks then it probably is something else.

[Ghound]

Hi, I know everyone is different, but in my case improvements after a few weeks of loading doses were almost imperceptible.

It took a few weeks longer than that to resolve fatigue, breathlessness etc, and as for neurological symptoms eg, no touch sensation from fingertips to mid arm, loss of balance, etc - it was up to 6 months before I felt anything like normal.

I was "lucky" that I received the loading regime for so long, but I really had to be VERY assertive with medical staff in order to get this, writing letters , showing them printouts with the info as advised on this forum, etc.

Sometimes I wondered if I had enough strength to fight for it, and sometimes I wondered if I 'd made the wrong call and I maybe had another illness.

Of course you have to be open to the possibility of other medical conditions, but my experience was that improvements in my health took several months of loading injections.

Hope you're feeling better soon !

[buster_uk]

It's been a few weeks since my initial self administrated doses. I have seen some improvements ie. Nerve pain is not as bad, it's still there though. My blood pressure seems to have evened its self out. Not so many palpations. Still quite tired most of the day though. But my levels I guss were in the lower double didgets and I seem to have suffered with low b12 for maybe 20 years. Still along way to go.

[Damseltree]

Thank you for all the advice. Unfortunately I have no confidence in the geriatrician who is leading the quest for a diagnosis. He said "what do you want cured first, the physical symptoms or the memory loss ones?" So he didn't know that PA could have an effect similar to dementia. I will push for as long as possible on the trial as I have been tested for so many other things without resolve.