So for 8 years now my b12/folate has come back low ( e.g - b12 183 and folate 2.2 was my last one last September and it has been them sort of levels for quite a few years.
I’ve had another blood test recently and my levels have gone up folate 6.5 and b12 217 (which I know is still low but I just can’t believe it as I have not been supplementing). So does this mean I don’t have a b12 deficiency after all these years and I don’t have problems absorbing? I had a episode a few years ago (2016) where my b12 level was 198 and folate 2.91 and my MCV was high so I was put on injections straight away but was taken off them a year later because “my levels were up” but have declined over the years until now
Would iron tabs affect the result?? as I am on them right now as my iron serum come back low which is due to my heavy periods. I was so convinced as I had all the symptoms like last time.
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Emmy1991
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"In the presence of discordance between the test result and strong clinical features of deficiency, treatment should not be delayed to avoid neurological impairment"
The quote above might be a good one to put into a letter to GP.
If you have the symptoms, please talk to the GP and fight to get treatment. I had many typical symptoms but all but one of my serum B12 results were normal range. I developed spinal symptoms and dementia symptoms and poor mental health before I was forty.
I had one result serum B12 result that was well below the range but GPs refused to treat me despite over 50 typical B12 deficiency symptoms, including many neurological problems.
I fought hard to get treatment from NHS but was refused on several occasions. In the end I was forced to treat myself.
If I hadn't treated myself, I suspect that by now 20 years later I would be sitting in a care home with permanent dementia and permanent spinal damage.
It's vital to get adequate treatment.
Inadequate treatment increases the risk of permanent neuro damage. In severe cases the spinal cord may be damaged.
PAS article about SACD, sub acute combined degeneration of the spinal cord
Links to forum threads where I left detailed replies with lots of B12 deficiency info eg causes and symptoms, more UK B12 documents, B12 books, B12 websites and B12 articles and a few hints on dealing with unhelpful GPs.
Some links may have details that could be upsetting.
Serum B12is only accurate to20% - that means that if you repeated the test several times on the same sample then the results would vary by 20%. The two recent results you quote are within 20%of each other. As they were a year apart that suggest that your levles are actually constant and would indicate that you don't have an absorption problem, just that the point in range that is right for you seems to be around 200 ...
However, life gets a bit more complicated if you have had an injection in the past - theory would be that the effect of the injection on serum levels clears in a few months on average but there is a lot of variation from individual to individual.
The big question though is are you symptomatic? as the difficulties interpreting serum B12 results mean that evaluating symptoms is extremely important.
Folate is much more responsive to dietary in take.
supplementing iron should affect the results of serum B12 and folate.
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