Afraid of bad reaction to B12 shot

[Sasical]

Hi

Since I wasn't getting anywhere with my GP I went to a private doctor this morning. She gave me a prescription for b12 shots. I've just been to buy it for the doctor to inject it, here in Spain you just buy it from the chemist. The problem now is that I have read the side effects and I'm petrified. I'm paralized by fear.

Do any of you here know if I had a bad reaction to it if there is anything to take away the bad reaction, if you know what I mean, like an antidote?

I'm so scared that I'm even considering just staying on the spray and hoping that will help, would it? Only that it would take longer?

Thanks in advance for any help x

[Funkyfaerie]

Hi Sassical,

It would have been OK to have just waited and taken the tablets and had the blood test, you would be ok....

However, you have now bought some B12 to inject, and I cannot help you with that as I have never injected myself. I would suppose if you injected and did have a bad reaction (which I doubt) you would just have to take yourself to hospital.

Without seeming harsh and I respect you suffer with anxiety, as do I and many others. But may be this B12 issue for you is getting out of hand. Are you able to speak to a doctor again, pharmacist even?

Even if you wait for for the blood test, nothing bad will happen to you, it takes a long, long time for that to happen.

I hope someone else writes to reassure you too.

[Sasical in reply to Funkyfaerie]

Yes, you are right. My anxiety and ocd does this to me, I get to the point where I feel completely stuck between a rock and a hard place and then I get paralized. I told my doctor how afraid I am and she said don't worry it's just a vitamin it can't do any harm but unfortunately I have other information.

I'm sorry, I don't mean to keep disturbing with (probably silly) questions but I just am so fearful after I had a terrible reaction to a medication.

[Funkyfaerie in reply to Sasical]

Yes Sassical,

Unfortunately not a lot of doctors know the true effects of B12 deficiency, but it's not going to get real bad real soon.

I understand that now you have the I jection you are scared of that. Because I don't take any drugs for my anxiety apart from the odd 2mg diazepam but only when I need it. I have been prescribed countless pills, some of them I've even got from the pharmacy, but never taken a single one.

Go back to your doctor or a different one and explain your fears, to be a honest a pharmacist might be more sympathetic than a doctor and they certainly understand drugs more.

Remember its not going to hurt you if you do the injection, more than likely give you a burst of energy. And it's also not going to hurt you if you only take the tablets and wait for a blood test. If I were you I'd do the latter, there is no panic.

No worries, you are not bothering me.

Relax....... ❤️

[Sasical in reply to Funkyfaerie]

Thank you Funkifaerie x

[Heidiv in reply to Sasical]

Hi Sasical, I have bad OCD and anxiety too, but I have to say if you need the injections then the effects from not treating the deficiency are far worse. (I don't know what your levels are - mine was within range 270 but I was suffering from a host of debilitatinv symptoms so a haematologist dediced to treat me on the basis of that. The thing that I found very hard was to start, I had 1 injection/week and in the first few weeks it felt like things were worse instead of better. My anxiety didn't help. But thanks to the advice of the lovely people in this group J pushed through it, even started self injecting. You don't feel the progress on a day to day basis until suddenly (in my case after 3 months) I was able to travel alone to China (very scary since noone speaks one word of english) and walk on the Great Wall but of course taking it very slow. I only recently realised that the debilitating exhaustion got so much better, the brainfog too. I'm convinced that my mental health issues stemmed from decades long B12 deficiency. I know it's not easy to go through all of this with anxiety but thankfully there is always someone in this group who will reach out to you. Take care!

[Sasical in reply to Heidiv]

Thank you very much, that is very kind and helpful

[fbirder]

A bad reaction (anaphylaxis) to B12 injections are very rare. As long as your first injection is done by a healthcare professional there should be no problem as they will have the knowledge and the equipment to handle any possible problem if you are the one in million. If the first injection is OK then the rest should be risk-free.

Apart from the rare allergic reaction there aren't really any side-effects (apart from a possible short-term acne). The patient information leaflet may sound scary, but it's a lot less scary than some - These are the side effects listed for sodium chloride (salt)

Abdominal cramps; acidosis hyperchloraemic; diarrhoea; generalised oedema; hypertension; hypotension; irritability; muscle complaints; nausea; vomiting

And these are for Aspirin.

Dyspepsia; haemorrhage, Dyspnoea; rhinitis; severe cutaneous adverse reactions (SCARs); skin reactions, Aplastic anaemia; erythema nodosum; gastrointestinal haemorrhage (severe); granulocytosis; haemorrhagic vasculitis; intracranial haemorrhage; menorrhagia; nausea; thrombocytopenia; vomiting, Fluid retention; gastrointestinal disorders; headache; hearing loss; hepatic failure; hyperuricaemia; iron deficiency anaemia; renal impairment; sodium retention; tinnitus; vertigo

[Sasical in reply to fbirder]

Thank you! I guess everything and anything in life comes with its risks.

[Sasical]

Thank you!