Hello, I'm new around these parts and just wanted to take a moment and say hello.
But also ask: Has anyone here had their appendixes removed? I suffered from acute appendicitis in 2014, which resulted in an appendectomy. Three years later (Approximate time for your liver to run through stores!) I was diagnosed deficient in b12 through routine lab work after I experienced had pins and needles in my feet and hands. Seems like a strong coincidence, and reading medical literature seems to suggest a causal correlation between the two. To my knowledge, I am the only person to ever had this condition in my family history. It doesn't strike me as far-fetched to think an acute infection and intense round of antibiotics induced an autoimmune response, as it does for other diseases of this nature.
Curious if anyone here has also had an appendectomy and then, thinking back on it, presented PA symptoms a short time later? Thank you.
And I'm an American. Seems I'm one of the few, but it's good to be here.
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The appendix is located quite close to the ileum. The ileum - terminal ileum - is the bit of the gut that is specialised to absorb dietary B12 so I guess it would be possible for this to have been damaged in the surgery that removed the appendix.Personally - I wouldn't get hung up too much on the three years - it is very much an average with a lot of individual variation.
My current thinking, and this dovetail's with Dr. Chandry's clinical observation that PA is often the end result of overlong deficiency, is thus: imbalanced flora causing massive infection > resulting removal of appendix > lack of appendix to replenish supply of healthy flora > further nutrient absorption problems (chiefly D and b12, both critical for immune system function) resulting in cyclical deficiency and, functionally if not clinically, pernicious anemia.
Offhand observation is that the vast majority of those I've spoken to with b12 deficiency also have a vD deficiency; a hormone closely tied to autoimmune expression. So not so much damage to the ileum as the removal of an organ vital to the digestive and immune systems' healthy function, resulting in a rapid spiral of nutritional inadequacy.
But who really knows. I would love to get to the bottom of it but have to recognize I may never!
Hi, (I hope you like my Americanism😁) I had my appendix removed back in 1996, I have thought that they may have removed some of my ileum during the operation, probably due to infection extending further than the appendix. As symptoms of PA got much worse in the following years. Though I have had gut problems most of my life, but not known what I could do to resolve them until 2017 when I found out about B12 deficiency. Since then I have injected B12 myself and got mostly a much better life back. I have also stopped eating gluten too, which I believe brought on the damage and appendicitis. Have a good day 😁
My current thinking, and this dovetail's with Dr. Chandry's clinical observation that PA is often the end result of overlong deficiency, is thus:
imbalanced flora causing massive infection (in your case, gluten) > resulting removal of appendix > lack of appendix to replenish supply of healthy flora > further nutrient absorption problems (chiefly D and b12, both critical for immune system function) resulting in cyclical deficiency and, functionally if not clinically, pernicious anemia.
Offhand observation is that the vast majority of those I've spoken to with b12 deficiency also have a vD deficiency; a hormone closely tied to autoimmune expression.
Hi, reading your question struck a chord with me. I did have an emergency appendectomy in my early thirties and yes two or three years later problems and enlarged red blood platelets and had to begin 3 monthly B12 injections. Thirty four years later am now on 8 weekly injections. So found your letter very interesting, but both my son and daughter have had to start B12 injections after very low B12 shown on blood tests in their late thirties, and neither have had their appendix removed. This would seem to indicate that the problem is genetic, but strange coincidence in my case.
Thanks Christine. I assume they are also low on vitamin D as well? They appear interlinked and vital for immune system and microbiome function. Curious to know.
Well no one here (North Wales) tests for anything. But I have to take Calcium with vitD for Osteoporosis. My daughter is on Thyroxine since she was 12 for Hashimotos, she also has severe De Peuytrens on her hands and is about to undergo a big de bridling op to try and help with this. I also have arthritis and my son has asthma and many allergies . So you are correct these auto immune conditions seem to go hand in hand. We are all pretty healthy though and so far these conditions don t stop us leading a completely normal life.
I am a scientist, not a medic. I had my appendix removed many years ago, and I'm still [hopefully] absorbing B12 in my terminal ileum. As a pure amateur, there's a good deal of ileum available for doing the job, and the removal of the appendix shouldn't cause problems in B12 absorption, but it's always worth considering. The lack of Intrinsic Factor from the stomach is the usual cause of difficulty in absorption. This can sometimes be overcome by 'megadosing' with oral B12 but it doesn't work for everyone. Try not to multiply entities. The appendix has no obvious function, other than to kill you if it festers and is ignored! [No, folks, I'm joking. I know it's a bit of the immune system and potentially has a range of purposes, but many of us manage well without one. I was glad to see the back end of mine.]
My current thinking, and this dovetail's with Dr. Chandry's clinical observation that PA is often the end result of overlong deficiency, is thus: imbalanced flora causing massive infection > resulting removal of appendix > lack of appendix to replenish supply of healthy flora > further nutrient absorption problems (chiefly D and b12, both critical for immune system function) resulting in cyclical deficiency and, functionally if not clinically, pernicious anemia. Offhand observation is that the vast majority of those I've spoken to with b12 deficiency also have a vD deficiency; a hormone closely tied to autoimmune expression.
Hi. thanks for your rapid response. I had my Vit D sample taken on Thursday. We're probably all borderline or worse. So much so that some labs stopped doing them when there was a blood tube shortage recently.'True' PA is an auto-immune condition, but sever B12 deficiency by any other cause is just as unpleasant. The appendix as a reservoir of healthy gut flora is something that we're finally realising. A good dose of 'eye of the needle' [if you're familiar with the terminology!] seems to be quicker to resolve for those with an appendix. You have a good doctor to advise you.
Hi, yes I had my gangrenous appendix removed in 2007. It had poisoned my whole insides and I also got septicaemia. I think my PA was diagnosed around 2013 or 2014. I’d had symptoms for about 8 years. Interesting you mention this possible connection, I’ve secretly blamed antidepressants for gut damage but never seen any evidence to support this, just my own experience of developing all sorts of tummy troubles whilst taking them 1997-2001, and the tummy troubles continued after I stopped the antidepressants. Another complication is that I took Metformin for approximately a year before I was diagnosed with PA, I think that exacerbated symptoms but that I had PA long before diagnosis. Diabetes too.
Good morning, I'm another Yank (from the east coast.) I haven't had my appendix removed but I did have my gallbladder removed a year or two before my symptoms started to appear. After my gallbladder was removed I started having digestive issues, i.e., food not being digested thoroughly. I did some googling and found that there does seem to be a correlation between the two issues pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/742... It makes sense that removal of an appendix could cause a similar problem. Neither my doctor not my surgeon mentioned that vitamin absorption might be a problem.
Yes, quite tragic that we're in the habit of removing these organs from our body instead of treatment with antibiotics or something similar, which, in the case of appendicitis, is actually a viable treatment. I would hope, or least assume, your issue could not be corrected any other way and the alternative would have left you worse off than if it were removed entirely.
For me, the correlation between my appendicitis (and ensuing digestive issues) and then my eventual deficiency seems too strong to ignore considering the lack of any genetic predisposition to PA.
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