Iron could help B12 levels

[MarvelDC]

Hi everyone, I’ve never post before… but I came across some useful information that could help you all.

In my own personal experience I developed a b12 deficiency for no particular reason, I’ve been tested for pernicious anemia and that came back negative, I put it down to a mixture of a restricted diet, stomach issues and reflux medications, these things probably didn’t help, but something I’ve noticed for at least the last year, my ferritin levels have been on the low side, I’ve recently started iron supplements to help my iron stores, but I’m now starting to wonder if my low iron levels have something to do with my low b12 levels.

please feel free to read:-

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/259...

[Hockey_player]

One problem is that the pernicious anemia test has a very high false negative rate around 50%. If it is positive, it is a good sign you have it. When it is negative, it does not mean you do not have it.

[deniseinmilden]

It is probably the same things causing your low iron as well as well as your low B12 - all the things you mentioned and possibly more besides. You may find you are short of other vitamin and minerals too. I hope you find a way to get all the nutrients you need.

[MarvelDC in reply to deniseinmilden]

Thanks for the reply, yes I assume so….. I’ve had quite alot of blood tests lately to check if theirs any other issues going on, I found that Vit D was low, ferritin levels were low and so was my b12, I used to take antacids regular and I also suffered with quite bad IBS which wouldn’t of helped nutritional absorption, I’ve managed to fix them problems now by starting probiotics, which has helped massively, I used to take 4 buscopan a day, now I take none 👍🏻 I’ve also improved my diet and started multivitamins, cod liver oil, b12 and iron supplements, I’m hoping all these things over time will help me improve…. B12 supplementation actually causes iron levels to drop, since b12 can’t make RBC without iron, which explains why I’ve been feeling so run down lately, it’s surprising what you learn when you start to look

[deniseinmilden in reply to MarvelDC]

All music to my ears - it's great to hear you are so well informed and have such a good attitude to it all.

You are giving yourself yourself the best chance possible - superbly well done!

And thank you for reminding me to take my probiotic!! 😃

Good luck with everything!

[MarvelDC in reply to deniseinmilden]

Hi, thank you…. It’s not easy at times, but I appreciate your comments ☺️

And yes definitely…. Probiotics are massively underestimated, alot of people who have auto immune diseases also have stomach problems, and it has been proven that when a person has bad gut health, alot of the time it’s cause by a build up of bad bacteria from our food, it causes leaky gut which triggers inflammation due to the immune system, this then causes the immune system to attack offer parts of the body which causes auto immune diseases, so if you fix the gut with a good diet and probiotics it can also improve other things…. Theres a guy called Mark Hyman on YouTube, he’s a functional doctor and I’ve learnt alot through him youtu.be/MM7ctcdDZyQ?si=sW6...(Not working as expected?)

[deniseinmilden in reply to MarvelDC]

Tell me about it!!

I have idiopathic chronic pancreatitis and severe EPI (Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency) and therefore am very prone to SIBO (Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth), so know "all about" (a tiny bit of knowledge from experience) gut malfunction and it's knock on effects. 🙄😔

Thankfully I am a qualified ruminant nutritionist so have some ideas on what best to do, but often I can do all the right things and it only partly helps.

Thank you for your help, I'll check out your link.

Best wishes!

[Narwhal10]

Hi MarvelDC,

Great name. Welcome here. Thanks for the information. Hope you are healing.

🐳

P.S. I have Marvel socks and an Iron Man costume. Today in a shop, picking up a pair of boots, the cobbler asked, Have you been anywhere nice ? I said, Yes, we have been on the Millennium Falcon. I couldn’t remember the words ferris wheel because of brain fog. Fortunately, it is well known I am a huge Star Wars fan. As I use the Force. 😂🤣

[MarvelDC in reply to Narwhal10]

Hi Narwhal, thanks for the reply….. and yes I’m healing slowly, it’s hard to know sometimes if you are healing or not, since things sometimes get worse before they get better, been suffering with prickling, pains and pins and needles in arm and leg, but from what I’ve researched, that’s a sign the nerves are healing cause they start to communicate with the brain again.

Haha 😂 good story….. I love Marvel and DC, superman has to be my favourite ☺️ and I’m sure if you had the chance you’d ride a Millennium Falcon 😅… maybe one day 👍🏻

[FancyPants54]

You listed a whole lot of classic symptoms for hypothyroidism. Poor stomach performance, low vitamins and minerals, tired, fed up/depressed, low B12, low ferritin.

If you thyroid has been checked, ask for a copy of the test results. I get mine emailed to me. See what exactly was tested and what the result was. Just being told "it's fine" or "everything's normal" is not acceptable. You want those results in your hands. Then go and retell this story, with your thyroid results, over on the Thyroid board and ask for thoughts.

[MarvelDC in reply to FancyPants54]

Hi, I should of mentioned in the original post I actually do have Hypothyroidism, I’ve had it for about 10 years, but it’s always been poorly controlled, I had endless blood test done at the doctors, but they would always say everything was ‘fine’, a year ago I’ve realised you could check your own results through the NHS app (which I was never told by the doctor 😒), since then I’ve learnt alot about my thyroid function…. how it works, never take it with food/drinks or other meds, and take it at a similar time everyday… I’ve now managed to stabilise my levels, the last 4 TSH levels I’ve had done were 2.89, 2.65, 2.05 and 2.39… so much more stable now, I just hope everytime else starts to improve now, plus I’m taking omega 3, selenium, zinc, iodine and b12 which are all essential for thyroid function

[FancyPants54 in reply to MarvelDC]

That's such good news, that you have taken control of things. But your TSH level is generally too high. Most people feel better with a TSH of 1 or below. Can you persuade your GP for a small dose increase? Perhaps an additional 25mcg every other day and retest in 8 weeks? You may need to do it again after that, but being low and slow is a good way to find your optimum dose.

If they won't it's worth exploring ways of buying your own T4 and increasing your dose that way. It's not an expensive medication to buy. Others on the Thyroid group page would be able to advise how to do that. I've never bought T4, but I have bought T3 and currently buy NDT because I'm not prepared to suffer unnecessarily by the NHS. But of course if you can get it through your doctor that is much better for you.

Go and tell them that you have a lot of symptoms still and would like to try an increase and lay it on a bit thick to get it.

[MarvelDC in reply to FancyPants54]

Hi, that’s really interesting what you’ve said… I’ve been suffering with fatigue, weakness, joint/muscle pains and stiffness, feeling unusually cold, down and dry itchy skin…. I’ve put all these things down to the b12 deficiency, since I was under the impression 2.0 - 3.0 was the best range 🫤 my doctors normal range is 0.49 - 5.23, and my last 4 results over the last 10 month have been 2.89, 2.65, 2.05 and 2.39, so what is the ideal range??…..

I’m currently taking 100 microgram, but I do have a full strip of 25 microgram so I could start them straight away

[thyr01d in reply to MarvelDC]

Hi MarvelDC, just a note of caution, watch out with the iodine, although much touted as being good for thyroid problems I believe that's only for the kind of goitre that used to be common in the north as a consequence of insufficient iodine. I greatly regret believing what I read and taking iodine.

[MarvelDC in reply to thyr01d]

Hi, thank you for the advice…. Yes I have heard this, I don’t take large amounts of iodine, I take a multivitamin which has 15ug of iodine in which is a very small amount, so hopefully this won’t cause any problems with my thyroid since I probably get around that amount through my food, but I’ll keep an eye on it

[deniseinmilden in reply to FancyPants54]

Health Unlocked Thyroid UK is an amazing forum with great people like here. I'm not a signed up member but follow some people on it.

I know B12d and thyroid problems are a bit of a curse, but they seem to make the best of the people they affect - it's sad that such nice people are affected, but good to be in the groups!