Hey everyone.. my doctor has requested I go in tomorrow to have my bloods done as he wants to check over everything..
I am a bit wary as they don't know i self inject and I'm scared of what the results may be due to me self injecting.
Do you think with me self injecting(last I did was just over a week ago) it will effect my results massively?
Don't know what to do as they don't think I've had a b12 for 9 weeks.
If you had an injection nine weeks ago then your levels could certainly be above the top of the range anyway.
So they will most definitely be high then if I've had 4 at home since my last b12 at the doctors 9 weeks ago 🙈I'm scared incase I have my bloods done and if and when they come back high, he might say I no longer need b12 until my levels drop. But I know I couldn't cope not having them regularly.
I Understand your dilemma as I’m in the same boat. GP requests bloods for something else and takes B12 with them. Comments B12 high and I told her I had recently given SI . (I Have been allowed 3monthly SI re Covid but I’m also doing my own - I admitted to 2 monthly only) She said I should be aware of overdosing if I was doing more than 3 monthly. It’s a difficult situation - I would prefer to have a proper relationship with GP. But I’ve heard this story so many times on this forum! I’m also told that as I haven’t got ‘anaemia ’ Im probably Anxious rather than B12 deficient. I am of course concerned about self injecting and like you if ‘being found out’ but unfortunately we have no choice. It’s sad we are put in this position
I've had to change GP practice (because I moved 1.2 miles) and I have a medication review on Friday. I am fully expecting to have a row over the telephone about my B12 (which is prescribed for me to inject every two weeks).
I'm hoping she will accept the decision of my previous GP, who knew that 1000 mcg every two weeks cannot possibly harm me (and I've been doing it for four years). And it doesn't cost the NHS more than £5 a month.
Yes it's a dilemma . Why are they testing it when on injections??The problem I have is whenever I want folate levels done b12 is done by the labs automatically.
Good practice at the start but very irritating now as on regular injections and dont need it done. The worry is the high result ends up in the wrong gps hands.
I've not had folate done for a year so have decided to get if done.
Hopefully the high b12 level will be ignored again
Only once did my Gp say have you seen his high youf b12 is
I simply said it will be wont it.? Full stop.
Scientist, not medic's response.
Having done close on millions of B12 & folate tests, from the patient's point of view, unneccessary tests can be confusing, if not downright misleading, but to defend the lab's point of view, most of the requests are for B12 & folate, and it's simpler to do that for every request, although I fully appreciate the confusion it can engender. It's absolutely correct that it would save money on reagents, but we monitor the outstanding work on the lab systems, and it's a habit. The number of B12 and folate outstanding tests is assumed to match numerically, and if they don't we'd tend to wonder why not. So we'd spend rather more time trying to sort this out than simply making sure the number of requests match. It's not a perfect system! I will not get involved in how many tests requested are actually required, how many unneccessary repeats are requested, or how many of them actually make a difference, because life really is too short to enter into that.
I suspect that there are more than a few lab people on here who may have an opinion!
Yes I can understand that. It's just a worry as I want folate levels checked only. If i had the reassurance a doctor or every doctor will ignore high b12 levels it's fine.
Far too often it's used against tou wrongly to stop or reduce b12 injectio s.
It can cause alot of stress to the patient who the tests are for.
I understand entirely, and appreciate the issues it causes. I appreciate them even more now, in retirement!
I spent more and more time trying to educate other professionals on the significance of results. Sub-reference-range B12 results were always automatically tested for IFAb, unless previously found to be positive. This took a considerable amount of time, but we knew it 'added value' to the service. It added pressure, but it's what we were there for. It's what I would want for my relatives.
What about reminding them that there is no point in having your B12 levels done once you are on supplements. Hence it is a waste of money to do it and they should just do the other tests and save money for a struggling health service.
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