I would like to hear the experiences of others with PA regarding lingering cognitive issues and also share some of the links and reports I found during my research on this topic.
Just before I was diagnosed with PA I had most all the associated neurological symptoms, lack of balance, could hardly walk, slurred speech, and the peripheral neuropathy (whole body right side numbness and pain. After a year of B12 injections (Methylcobalamin) most all of those symptoms resolved with the exception of some brain fog (I think that’s what it is anyway). I started noticing things about a year ago after I was already on B12 injections. Little things like I cannot do simple math in my head any longer. The old multiplication tables like 9 x 6 = ??? I cannot come up with the answer and that equation is just foreign to me. That was so embarrassing for me because I own an engineering company and that being such a huge part of my life, I find myself, all of a sudden with this handicap. Thank God for Cell phone calculators!! : ) At least my atrophy is stopped now that Hcy and B12 are normalized. I am told by my neurologist that the atrophied part of brain will never come back but that the brain will compensate and start using other unused parts. So just requires me to relearn a few things like what the heck is 9 x 6 ! Lol.
Anyway, I had come across a few reports in my recent research regarding brain atrophy and high level of Homocysteine which of course can be translated to low B12 and Folate.
Here is a very recent report from New England Journal of Medicine that I found interesting regarding how they may be redefining brain health in neurological and psychiatric illnesses.
Sounds very similar. Sorry to hear you or anybody has to go through that. However, I'm a simple guy so my brain can't be too complex!!! Lol. Seems maybe some duct tape and super glue should fix it!
I’m sorry to read your story. The most important thing is how you deal with those moments of brain fog.
Thanks for the links, I had a quick scan and noted the mention of glutathione. I take this wonderful antioxidant. There was also mention of omega 3. I also take alpha linolenic acid - omega based. I have coeliac disease and haven’t responded to a gluten free diet - not a happy gut.
The brain has neural plasticity. Bit hard to explain but when growing and developing as children, when gaining skills like fine motor movement- writing for example we are wiring our brains over and over again to form Neural circuits. So, lots of things, we do are under conscious control and automatic. Certain alternative supplements may also be of benefit. So, counteracting that atrophy by making different pathways. Lion’s mane.
Now due to PA, B12 deficiency our brains have had an ‘insult’ medical jargon for an adverse event. Now, I strongly believe that IF PA/vitamin B12 deficiency got the proper recognition it deserved, many of us who had neurological involvement would have proper Physiotherapy and cognitive support. (I do my own because of my background).
My dominant hand is right but I’m left footed (known from sport). So, in order to reprocess, I use my left hand more. I have meditated for decades but undertake EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitisation Reprogramming) I use for nerve pain & fatigue and listen to binaural beats. You are connecting the left and right hemisphere (sorry, anatomy is needed here & too complex to explain). But creating certain brain waves.
My background and temperament has got me this far. I’m not the sort to get phased by things, like brain fog - it doesn’t make me a bad person type of attitude, I just laugh. Then me being me, did a part time neurology course, then biochemistry diploma, working on diplomas for microbiology and the gut Brain Connection.
But it’s taken all day for me to shower due to fatigue. 😃
Narwhal10, Thank you so much for your thoughtful response. Is very interesting this brain thing they've stuffed into our heads! I am glad you pointed out the supplements mentioned in these reports as I had overlooked them and will now go back and keep an eye out for them. I may start taking that Alpha Linolenic Acid as I hadn't heard of that one. I have been taking Alpha Lipoic Acid which is also an antioxidant and helps with neuropathy. I too have had to rely on my left hand more now as my right still has some numbness but improving. At one point I could not even hold a toothbrush. I challenge anybody to try and brush their teeth with the opposite hand they are use to!!! when I started it was nearly impossible and I am sure quite comical to watch! Lol
I may have misspelt the ALA supplement, having a fog moment and we may be taking the same thing. Oops so please let me check.
It’s pretty amazing what we do to compensate. Trying to brush teeth with other hand is quite a feat and definitely character building.
I had poor hand eye coordination and vertigo so safest place was bed. My best friend would find me covered in popcorn because I kept missing my mouth. I’d joke, I’m saving it for later.
I checked on Alpha Linolenic Acid and seems like it may a helpful neuroprotectant. It may be helpful although I'm not sure at all the similarities between a stroke and what I experienced with B12...other than similar symptoms. So, if you meant Alpha Lipoic Acid and said Alpha Linolenic Acid by mistake then quite possibly that's a sign I should be taking both!!! Not that's science at work!
btw I love your sense of humor...except you British do spell it incorrectly! : )
Gosh, thank you for this. I had to quit work largely because of the cognitive loss. So grateful I was able to claim disability. I was a “Senior Communication Strategist” for a major military command & I started struggling to even remember the names of my office mates. I started to lose it running meetings, forgetting names & losing the plot mid-sentence. Couldn’t make it through my emails or review briefings (I kept reading the same slides over & over), and had to give up doing the department budget ( I didn’t want to go to jail!). I basically lost all my professional skills & even got lost driving familiar routes. It was a living nightmare. I didn’t know what was happening. One colleague kept telling me I just needed to do yoga. He was lucky I was too freaking exhausted to strangle him right there in the office. 🤨 Now over a year later, I’ve become terribly reclusive - I don’t feel I can carry on a coherent conversation. It gives me hope hearing that other parts of my brain might be able to pick up for the lost parts.
I think a lot of us have become some what reclusive.I certainly have! Trouble today everything is rush rush rush, were we have to take it at almost snail pace to survive. The general public are oblivious to our condition because we look normal .... perhaps we should have a tattoo on our forehead
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