Need for cause specific B12 deficienc... - Pernicious Anaemi...

Pernicious Anaemia Society

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Need for cause specific B12 deficiency threads for better guidance, comparison of treatments, recovery issues etc.

5 years ago•2 Replies

There are various reasons for being B12 deficient, to name a few,

Pernicious Anemia

Atrophic gastritis, in which your stomach lining has thinned Conditions that affect your small intestine, such as Crohn's disease, celiac disease, bacterial growth, or a parasite

Immune system disorders taking certain medications that interfere with the absorption of B12. This includes some heartburn medicines including proton pump inhibitors (PPIs)

if you follow a vegan diet or you are a vegetarian who doesn't eat enough eggs or dairy products to meet your vitamin B12 needs.

Now, my B12 deficiency is due to my vegan diet ( I made a mistake of not taking B12 supplement for the last 7 years)

My level is 99 pg/ ml and I have started loading shots of hydroxycobalamine every other day. Soon I will taper it down to once a week for at least 6 to 8 weeks.

A while ago, you would have caught me curled up with a nice detective novel but now, I am so shaken up, most of the time on this forum getting as much info as possible.

But is it a good idea to read posts of someone with PA or Atrophic gastritis etc? Comparing apples with oranges? I wish it was possible to create cause specific B12d threads, that will help us better.

With my brain fog and age ( 65) I have no idea how to do that. I don't know how to effectively use search tool, if I type vegan I don't get any useful info.

Any suggestions?

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nkindia

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2 Replies

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Gambit62Administrator5 years ago

nkindia, please note that this forum is sponsored by the PAS and as such it is really about a specific B12 absorption problem.

It is quite difficult to distinguish B12 absoption problems and there isn't a good test for PA so I think it is valid for people who don't have a formal diagnosis of PA to discuss problems.

Dietary deficiencies are really a different kettle of fish and don't really fit in with the remit of the forum. The treatment in the case of dietary deficiency is to make sure that there is enough replacement B12 in the diet. Doses required are much lower. Treating severe deficiency in the case of dietary deficiency is a bit complicated (eg if neurological problems). The need to raise B12 levels quickly may necessitate the use of injections which introduces a new factor as significant numbers of people need much higher levels of serum B12 to function post injections ... and could mean that oral replacement isn't an effective treatment for some cases of dietary deficiency that have been initially treated with injections.

Gambit62Administrator5 years ago

nkindia,

as dietary deficiency is actually off topic for the forum admin have agreed to close this post to further replies