Like many on here, my injections have been stopped and I have been prescribed b12 tablets - cyanominn (sic).
I have had a slight return of parathesia but it was short lived. The only other new symptom is akin to IBS according to the NHS website - bloating soon after eating especially just below my rib cage on the right side, constipation and flatulence (the NHS site calls it by a more vulgar name!) , indigestion and on and off lightheadedness especially when active.
Any link between these symptoms and b12 deficiency?
Written by
Alfabeta
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I have PA and have experienced all the symptoms that you describe. However, I feel that these symptoms were caused by the reason for my B12d rather than by the B12d itself.
My stomach (gastric parietal cells) was attacked by my immune system resulting in low, or indeed no, stomach acid. This meant that proteins were only partially digested and this caused an overgrowth of bad bacteria lower down in my gut, at the expense of the good bacteria.
I’ve been able to reduce the symptoms by firstly taking something acidic with protein foods. I use betaine hcl & pepsin tablets but others on this forum use lime juice or apple cider vinegar.
Secondly, I had a 3 month course of a good quality (but expensive) probiotic called Symprove. Within days of taking the first dose I experienced some relief.
My digestion isn’t perfect now but I think it’s as good as it’s going to be.
648mg of betaine hcl with 150mg of pepsin in each tablet. I usually just take one half way through the meal but with a bigger heavy protein based meal I might take a second one just before I finish.
I also have half strength tablets which I’ll take one of with a lighter meal, say a breakfast of fruit/yoghurt/granola or porridge/milk/banana.
No I’m using them to better absorb and digest and to get rid of pathogenic bacteria. I did have SIBO which I suspect has come back. I did try 12 weeks of Symprove and not convinced it worked. It is quite low strength do have started in high strength 60 billion CFU probiotics do will see if that works. Thanks for your help. Much appreciated
I would read the fast tract diet by Norman Robillard. I highly recommend it and there is also an app I use to track symptoms. You reduce carbs, lactose, fructose and fibre which reduces fermentation in the small intestine and reduces ibs symptoms. Also relevant for heartburn, bloating, sibo, indigestion.
Thanks for your advice. I thought my IBS might be caused by low stomach acid and I took the bicarbonate of soda test - I was belching within 2 minutes hence I have assumed that I have enough stomach acid - am I wrong?
I don’t know I’m sorry. I’ve not taken that test as a few years ago I had a severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) to eating a peach. The allergy specialist explained that I have a true allergy to birch tree pollen but that peaches have almost identical protein. He thought that I must have reacted to the peach because of low/no stomach acid and did a gastric parietal cell antibody test which was positive (which led to my GP testing my IFAb and B12 levels and my subsequent diagnosis of PA).
So I’ve not felt the need to look into tests for low stomach acid as it seemed clear mine was. If you have PA though I thought it was a given that you’d have low or no stomach acid.
Low stomach acid is a cause of b12d but I think PA is caused by the inability for b12 to interact with intrinsic factor. Low stomach acid will cause problems extracting b12 from ones food but b12 in tablet form will not be affected by this.
PA is caused by the stomach (gastric parietal cells) having been attacked by the immune system. This leads to low/no stomach acid which as you say leads to problems extracting B12 from food. As a double whammy and just to make sure there’s no chance of the PA sufferer digesting B12, the body also produces IF antibodies with PA. These antibodies mean that B12 in tablet form is unavailable to those with PA (other than possibly the passive absorption of 1%, but that’s a while other area of discussion as seen recently on this forum).
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