Sedation and B12

Just for information... whilst undergoing recent colonoscopy, my consultant said I am safe for sedation only as I am having treatment for low B12 otherwise low B12 patients can have neurological damage from sedation!

[Nackapan]

I suppose it's what is used to sedate

[briarhillcat]

Gosh I have never heard that. I have had countless sedations and anaesthetics.

[fbirder]

Using nitrous oxide for sedation will lower B12 levels quite drastically. This shouldn't be a problem unless your levels are already low.

However, if it were me, I would ask if there was a possible alternative to gas and air.

Otherwise, make sure you have an injection the day after the colonoscopy to replace any B12 that is inactivated by the nitrous.

[Sleepybunny]

Hi,

Link about nitrous oxide

gov.uk/drug-safety-update/n...

[Martin_12]

I think nitrous oxide (N2O) is best avoided altogether.

I recently had minor surgery followed by a separate procedure under sedation. I insisted on no N2O and wrote that in big black letters on all the consent forms I signed. I also informed the anaesthetist verbally (I don't think they read the forms I signed).

N2O can cause severe neuropathy even when the initial B12 deficiency it causes is corrected:

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/252...

The mechanism may be related to the conversion of B12 to biologically inactive B12 analogues by N2O.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/649...

Some B12 analogues can interfere with normal B12 metabolism and are harmful.

[Hidden]

Thanks for the tip. Will bear it in mind if I ever need sedation.