illnesses

[Becca2023]

if you have pernicious anemia can it take longer for you to get over an illness

[wedgewood]

If your P.A. is untreated or under treated, then you will be more vulnerable to an infection or illness . With correct treatment , you are no more vulnerable than anyone else

[Clare184]

I read up on this a bit in the past because in the early days I used to have one illness or another pretty much back to back and there is a link between b12 deficiency and your immune systems ability to function properly. There is lots of information about it if you are interested and want to read up more but I found this abstract summarises the key point quite nicely. I just found it reassuring to know that once my b12 was at a good level I would be ill less often - definitely noticed a big difference in how often I'm ill. link.springer.com/chapter/1...

[Orchard33]

The immune system is impaired by B12D. In my case it resulted in tooth abscesses. Had none since taking adequate B12.

[Cherylclaire Forum Support]

Yes absolutely - you can be prone to infections and will find any illnesses difficult to shake off.

Like Orchard33 , I also suffered from absesses and twice, scaringly, a whole row of very loose teeth ! I did lose a couple of teeth through absesses, gum infections and bone infections in jaw - but managed to save the row. In the end, the absesses would flare up and then go, teeth would tighten back up and I could heal better. Now not a problem.

This is a B12 deficiency thing - one that quite a few dentists are aware of - but when I had bleeding gums, my GP thought more likely low ferritin. This is better if over 60 ug/L, so low but within range can still cause you additional problems. Can be quite difficult to raise and stabilise ferritin at this level - but possible. The bleeding did not return once I managed this.

Check that low ferritin and/or folate are not causing you more grief than you need. Other areas that can commonly be affected if B12 deficient are vitamin D and thyroid problems. Good if you can get all four monitored on a regular basis. Mine were checked about once a year.

I do tend to need a more frequent B12 injection regime post-illnesses - especially noticeable when I had Covid (new year, 2021)- but health much improved generally.

[Becca2023 in reply to Cherylclaire]

Thankyou I’ve got an upper respiratory infection and it’s taking a while to budge so this could be why then

[Cherylclaire Forum Support in reply to Becca2023]

I have also found, when at my worst, that some antibiotics provoked quite strong reactions: constant "hangover" headache with strong vertigo. I believe that this was the antibiotics depleting the B12 from injections.

Metronidazole and Doxycycline particularly.

Worth being aware of this as a possibility.

[Orchard33 in reply to Cherylclaire]

I so sympathise with your dental story.

[Cherylclaire Forum Support in reply to Orchard33]

Clinging on to what I've got ! How about you ?

[Orchard33 in reply to Cherylclaire]

Had no abscesses since taking adequate B12. Miracle. And science.