I was recently diagnosed with low B12 and was subsequently put on a loading dose of 6 injections over 2 weeks, followed by a further one injection every 12 weeks. I started this but became incredibly poorly after the first injection. After consulting with a GP, the nurse gave me my 2nd and 3rd injections that week as planned and went ok, mildly unwell after the 2nd one but nothing too troubling, the 3rd one however completely wiped me out and even now over 2 weeks on that hasn’t improved to the point where I’m concerned it’s not actually a side effect of the injection but something else… the nurse, understandably, was concerned and spoke to the duty GP again who stopped the loading doses, so I only had 3 instead of 6, and said to go straight on to the one every 12 months now.
Just curious to know if anyone else has had this happen? And how successful was it only having half the loading doses? I have an appointment to discuss it all with my named GP tomorrow, so I know we’ll figure it out together, but I just wanted to hear others experiences and to have an idea in mind of anything I need to raise or push for?
When starting B12 jabs, it is very common to feel unwell. You've probably been without B12 for a long time, and the body has to adjust to suddenly having enough. It also has lots of healing to do. It is often the case that you feel worse before starting to feel better.
I remember thinking that I was dying after my first jab and was very upset about it, as it felt like the very thing that was supposed to keep me alive was killing me.
Hopefully more people will come along and say the same, which will put your mind at rest.
A significant worsening of symptoms during loading doses is a good indication that a severe B12 deficiency was present and is being treated. It sometimes referred to as early treatment decline or "reversing out" and is well know among B12 deficiency treatment experts (and the inhabitants of this forum!). You can scroll through hundreds of reports from people saying similar things. There is a lot of damage to repair but ironically more B12 means you will feel that damage more intensely as nerves get repaired. This is NOT the time to hold up the B12 supply. Tissue B12 repletion must occur which can also take some time.
To use an analogy, when you are severely B12 deficient, the body ends up building things in your body with whatever is to hand and does a poor job at it because of inadequate materials. Some things like nerves, don't get the proper protective sheathing completed which they normally would. Red Blood Cells may not grow normally. There are issues with DNA production. A lot more goes wrong to describe here but these are some of the biggest issues.
When enough B12 arrives, it is like the architect arriving on a site where the engineers were impatient and got started without him and everything is built really poorly. The architect has to ask them to take down all the poorly built stuff so it can be replaced with the proper materials, put together in the right way, which is an unpleasant but necessary process.
This can include misshapen red blood cells in the case of megaloblastic anemia, and poorly protected nerves or even damage to the nerves themselves which is very slow to repair (any idiot that tells you that getting B12 levels in range should immediately eliminate the neurological symptoms of a B12 deficiency has not the first clue and should be ignored).
Support the repair process with good nutrition, rest and supplementation as required, paying particular attention to adequate folate, potassium, iron and the B-Complex. Most importantly, don't panic, even if the process feels intolerable, it will improve with time and adequate treatment. It's hard to put a number on the time to emerge from early treatment decline as it depends on the deficiency, it could be a matter of weeks but in very severe cases it can be months.
That , Technoid , was the most fantastic and well -expressed answer possible to Hidden’s dilemma . Admirable . I will try to remember those analogies that you used . Your answer will provide huge help to Hidden and anyone else with the same experience .
It is a situation that we often hear about on the forum . Thank you very much .
Someone once described the increased neuro symptoms to me as the nerves waking up after being starved of B12 deficiency.
I don't think I experienced such a severe increase in symptoms after treatment started as you.
I felt that the increase in symptoms was positive as I knew it was doing something.
I had been left untreated for many years and had many neurological symptoms. It took many weeks of regular injections to start seeing improvements so don't be disheartened if you don't see really quick improvements.
Once treatment started I improved for at least 8 years running.
I need far more B12 than NHS will allow.
Might be helpful to keep a symptoms diary if you have the time and energy.
Dear Hidden, it's such a horrible dilemma. As you can see, so many of us feel unwell during the loading dose process. After dose 5 I told my husband to be ready to call 999 during the night as I really felt so terrible I thought I was going to die. Still here though! I postponed dose 6 for a week, during which time the internal buzzing and nerve tingles came back. That showed me the injections were doing something positive, and at the same time I found this forum which reassured me it was a 'normal' reaction. Thankfullly, I never felt as ill again.
Most nurses and doctors of course know nothing about the 'reversing out' phenomenon and their only response is that we should stop, instead of guiding us to rest, check co-factors, and be very patient...
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