Loading dose jab make me feel very sleepy the next day.

[Damseltree]

Yesterday was my 4th out of 6 loading dose IM b12. Today I feel so tired I can hardly lift myself from the chair. This happened on the day after my very first injection. Could this be a side effect of the treatment? Is this to be expected? Beginning to wonder if I have b12 d after all. Can someone advise. Thank you from the UK.

[fbirder]

It's not at all uncommon. It does get better after a while.

If you didn't have a B12 deficiency then the injections would do absolutely nothing.

[Damseltree in reply to fbirder]

Thank you for replying - that is reassuring.

[pvanderaa]

Start a logbook and assess a severity score for all your symptoms. Treat the jab as day zero and reset the counter each cycle.

I cannot say which symptoms will occur but you will find a pattern of symptoms that repeat over several days after the jab.

The confusing part is that these symptoms, call them the “good” ones, from nerve repair, energy production, etc. are very similar to the ones you get from your deficiency. The ones from the deficiency, call them the “bad” ones, show up when you are due your next jab. Write these down in a list and hand it to your GP at each visit.

You’ll need this list to ask/argue for more frequent jabs. Any further blood tests should come back >1500 pg/ml (ng/L) and be off the top of the scale. Your GP will be tempted to say, it’s too high and stop your jabs. You can’t get too much B12 as the body filters it out and you pee the excess away. It turns your urine a lovely golden colour.

Use the logbook and discuss it with your GP. You will be treated as a total nutter and hypochondriac but best get past this point sooner rather than later and get your GP educated on “treating by symptoms “ rather than further blood testing. Your GP will be tempted to treat your “anxiety” with antidepressants. Don’t go there and get your GP past this trip point.

You should also be taking a folic acid and a daily multivitamin supplement as metabolism uses up these minerals and metals when it finally gets B12 and the cells kick into high gear. For folic acid, no more than 5 mg per day. Start slow with 800 mcg and, as you add more, spread it out throughout the day. Take what you can tolerate while monitoring for symptoms. I get thumping in my ears if B12 is low and folic acid is high.

Your sleepiness symptom is not uncommon. I get this the day after I get gluten or dairy. It lasts until I have a large poo. For you, It may be from all the metabolic byproducts and the liver and kidneys need time to filter them out so it takes a while to do that.

The severity or intensity of the “good” symptoms, I find are directly proportional to how deficient you were before the jab. Too many processes were backed up from lack of B12, these then flood your blood stream with byproducts (mostly water and CO2) when they finally get B12.

The logbook allows you to monitor progress over months and years if you compare day 1 to the previous day 1, day 2 to day 2, etc. you are on a roller coaster ride an comparing day 2 to day 3 is pretty much counterintuitive and confusing.

Symptoms will come and go as various things in your life change and you start to do more and more to get back to normal. You will also find your marker symptom that you can be used as it only arises from the deficiency and will help convince your GP to get you to the level of B12 you need to be or at least feel “normal” again.

Some “good” symptoms are temporary increased pain as the nerve damage is repaired and the brain gets stronger signals and needs to recalibrate. Worry and stress about this illusion of pain make it seem worse and last longer. Acknowledging that it is “good” and just an illusion from the nerve repair and doing gentle range of motion exercises or just getting on with the job allows the brain to figure things out faster and the pain magically disappears.

The getting started is the hardest part. Convincing yourself that the pain is good and just an illusion is the next hardest.

I get aggression and anger psychological symptoms after B12 occasionally so track everything including your level of anxiety. You’ll find they’re all connected.

You may also develop intolerance to some food items so initially record all your food and drink and medication in your logbook. There is a 3 to 48 hour delay from food to symptom just to confuse things more. Things like soya, gluten, casein (protein in dairy) have been found to be the triggers. All three in my case.

Some people also developed photosensitivity after starting on B12 injections, which is an allergic reaction to UV-B light in sunlight and the skin breaks out in hives which turns into eczema. Using an SPF 100 sunscreen prevents this but applying to eczema after the fact can be painful. I get sleepiness and brain fog symptoms about 24 hours after exposure to about 20 minutes of sunlight if I don’t have on my sunscreen. The sleepiness last until and is followed by a large poo. Then the sleepiness disappears.

I can also get sleepiness after a mid morning snack like a packet of ready salted crisps. Why? Haven’t isolated it yet, salt, blood pressure change or carbohydrates? It doesn’t happen after each packet of crisps. Why mid-morning when I’m drinking black coffee with no sugar.

Welcome to the roller coaster ride. It smooths out when you get the right levels of B12, folic acid, multivitamin, D3 etc. use your logbook to help figure out what your body is doing and reacting to as well as what works for medications and supplements and any new food issues.

[Damseltree in reply to pvanderaa]

Thank you so much for your detailed reply. Lots of it echos what I am experiencing. I am keeping a diary but will make sure it's kept up to date. Thank you.

[buster_uk in reply to pvanderaa]

I'm still in this mode now after starting 16th June. Tiredness it the worse of the lot. It makes everything else ten times as bad.

I inject every other day. I'm shattered.

[Nackapan in reply to pvanderaa]

I didn't realise b12 injections can give you light sensitivity. I have it badly. I'm doing the system you recommend injection day 1 and record daily symptoms. Like you say no rhyme or reason sometimes

[pvanderaa in reply to Nackapan]

Try SPF 100 or at least 50 sunscreen

[Nackapan in reply to pvanderaa]

Oh it's to artificial light

[Nackapan]

Just go with it. Your body needs to rest as the repair work done. My mum reacted the same. Had no pin or headaches. Just very sleepy

[pvanderaa in reply to Nackapan]

I disagree. Gentle exercises stimulates nerve repair. The repair only occurs if you use them. Sitting around just lets nerve damage continue and he muscle mass decreases. You become feeble.

Same thing goes for mental exercises. Suduko puzzles, mahjong games, short term memory tests, crosswords. Just attempting to do them helps repair the nerve damage in the brain.

[Ghound]

Yes, loading injections left me completely wiped out !

Now after my regular injection, bizarrely, I am either exhausted or high as a kite !

I always have my injection in the morning in case it makes me too wired to sleep at night, but it's not so handy if I end up feeling tired during the day.

Can't predict how I'll feel, just go with the flow as I don't let it worry me any more 😊

Best wishes !