B12 and anxiety

[gemmacampbell]

Just posted but forgot to add this.. Since loading doses still having headaches, the pins and needles have stopped but I feel weird I think it's anxiety my whole body feels like it's vibrating best I can describe. Is this normal for the loading doses to cause anxiety?

[Wwwdot]

Hi Gemmacampbell

Great description and yes it’s early days for you. It’s a horrible body sensation combined with mental feelings that are all unfamiliar and unsettling. Unfortunately replenishing B12 cannot be phased so that we only experience one reversing symptom at a time. It’s all or nothing. The great news is that your body is responding. So listen to it, let it rest, don’t try to fight it and take lots of notes. Treat yourself too if you feel like ice cream, or a prawn or whatever. You will get there.

🤗🤗🤗

[gemmacampbell in reply to Wwwdot]

I'm 5 days since last loading dose should I start taking a b12 tablet? Or just wait till my next b12 injection in 12 weeks

[Wwwdot in reply to gemmacampbell]

Hi Gemmacampbell

If your low B12 is not due to diet or a stomach operation then oral B12 is unlikely to help.

You may need to consider self injection like many of us here.

OR take the current NICE guidelines to your GP and ask for EOD - either by the surgery or self inject. As least that way it’s cheaper AMD you may have your GP on board?

🤗🤗🤗

[Narwhal10]

Hi gemmacampbell,

Welcome, sorry to read how you feel. Many people report ‘internal vibrations’ or ‘internal tremors’. They are rather discombobulating sensations. People’s Nervous System are waking up with treatment.

Now, lots of people do not understand how beautiful, intricate and complex our Nervous System is. We each have 7 trillion nerves which equates to 45 miles. They have so many functions from breathing, to our heart beat, to feeling a gentle breeze, being able to write, to where our bodies are in time and space, to keeping ourselves warm or cool.

Having a ferritin of 24 mg/L is unhelpful with PA/B12D. You need it over 50 mg/L. It is worth joining the PA Society for accurate information which can be passed to your GP. You can know more about the fancy medical words like paresthesia (pins and needles), formication (feeling like insects are crawling under the skin). So, when doctors talk and write jargon, you already know what on earth they are blathering on about.

🐳

[gemmacampbell in reply to Narwhal10]

Asked my doctor for iron and folic acid and her answer was your in normal range for both so no need for a prescription but I can buy lower doses over the counter if I wish 🙈 do you think I just get the folic acid or iron aswell? Unsure what folic acid is best I've looked and there's loads 🙈

[Narwhal10 in reply to gemmacampbell]

I know it is rather tricky when you have to make decisions and you feel flipping awful.

Plus, we have all given you lots of information. At the moment, I need to go through your old posts and see what others had said because the worst thing for you is to receive conflicting advice. Leaving you even more confused.

I do not know if you are U.K. based but as an example :- when my iron stores (ferritin) levels were low they were regarded as normal but if I had lived 20 miles away, they would have been flagged and reported as low. Iron was not prescribed until they had to reach rock bottom before something was done. This is known as The Postcode Lottery.

It is really important that you have hard copies of your blood results so you can see the numbers and the ranges. A symptoms diary too and like Sleepybunny has said testing for Coeliac Disease. Plus, knowing if any family members have had B12 injections or Gut problems. So, you know your Family History too. When you know, your own Medical History, including which doctor, you spoke to at what time and when, you do tend to be dealt with more efficiently.

I will read through information by Sunday and get back to you.

[Narwhal10 in reply to gemmacampbell]

Hi gemmacampbell,

Apologies, I have not time to look through the posts but will do by Tuesday.

Sori

[gemmacampbell in reply to Narwhal10]

Oh don't worry thankyou for your previous message above

[B12life]

try taking 240 mg benfomax daily along with 50 mg P5P form of b6 and 409 mg of magnesium glucinate

The anxiety is part of the process and will go away. I also found the bendomax version of b1 helped.

It should go away once you have done more healing.

[gemmacampbell]

Thankyou! Hoping this feeling goes away soon I don't mind the headaches etc but this constant feeling especially when I'm lay trying to sleep is awful 🙈

[Hockey_player]

A lot of us find that 12 weeks between shots is too long. If your tingles come back, consider getting injections more often. You may have to self-inject like many people here to get the dose you need. I hope your other symptoms settle down soon!

[Mixteca]

If you've low iron you really need to have a full iron panel done for a better clinical picture. You need good/optimal levels when having B12D treatment. Ditto with folate levels. I've you've neurological symptoms you should be injecting every other day until no further improvement.

[cuddlywuddly]

Hello there, you are describing exactly how I felt, my b12 was low in 2015, it was 205 but the symptoms I had has left me still with health anxiety as it scared the life out of me, I had vibrations through my legs & thighs, I had pains in all my limbs like I was being shot with a paintball! Before I knew my b12 was low.. I noticed after a trip to the gym (which was new to me) that I had fasciculations in both calves, which terrified me, I had unbearable sciatic pain in both legs and buttocks for months on end, I couldnt sit down for long or i was in agony, I had many blood tests.. the doctors said my b12 was fine at 205! I was sent for muscle tests on my body to rule out any awful diseases, I had MRI scans you name it I had but it turned out to be low b12, I asked for a print out of my blood test and demanded b12 injections, I was eventually given them, I still have the fasciculations in my calves 9 years on which I still get anxious, and the anxiousness about it makes it worse, as it is now! otherwise I am healthy, when I feel.calm and manage to forget the twitching I dont notice it, I have been diagnosed with benign muscle fasciculation.. im sure low b12 kick started it, I am 66 now and have my b12 jabs every 3 months, I have been told I am not anaemic, the vibrations you get are normal for many people with low b12, and that starts anxiety which keeps it going in circles, I had many weird sensations with it, so do not worry it will stop, when you going through this scared me so much I was never an anxious person before, anxiety and weird body sensations go together.. I hope you feel better soon

[gemmacampbell in reply to cuddlywuddly]

Glad you are feeling better! Did you have the 6 loading doses then every 3 months or did you have EOD?

[Narwhal10]

Hi gemmacampbell,

So, I have looked through your stuff so far. Here goes :-

Recent Blood Tests

B12 - 77 mg/L ( worth finding out the ranges)

Serum folate level was 4.9 mg/L ( worth finding out the ranges)

Serum ferritin 24 mg/L ( worth finding out the ranges)

Symptoms

Daily headaches

Tingly weak arms

Some pins and needles in my left arm and leg/foot now

Internal vibrations.

Treatment

1 mg/ml of Hydroxycobalamin commenced 3 weeks ago. Loading doses of Every Other Day.

[ GP suggested tablets & Vitamin B12D rechecked 31 May Friday - result came back ]

Medical History

Does not like a lot of foods, so tends to stick to the same diet*

Recently, started to drink milk and having eggs, mince, spinach.

Obstetric History.

3 children:-

One born 2013, aged 11

One born 2018 so aged 6 (you had Iron Deficiency Anaemia)

One in 2021, so aged 3 (and had Iron Deficiency Anaemia, again)

Now this stuck out like a Sore Thumb :-

Does not like a lot of foods, so tends to stick to the same diet.

Please talk to family members, if you are able, and ask about Gut Illnesses, Iron Deficiency and PA/B12D. So, you know your Family History.

Ask GP :-

1) To test for Coeliac Disease, H.pylori and other stool sample tests.

2) Referral to a Dietician

3) Consider taking an Over the Counter multivitamin/mineral. Just a basic, supermarket affordable one until you have an appointment with the Dietician. Do not get bogged down with the choices - grab one.

4) Please seriously consider joining the Pernicious Anaemia Society for accurate information. This is a massive learning curve and takes time.

Too Much Information when you feel unwell plus 3 children to look after is extremely difficult.

5) Ask friends, family, neighbours, partner for help. Please look after the children for an hour. Please cook a Shepherd’s Pie (or whatever) and bring it around. Whilst you lie down or rest.

6) Mixteca, in another post said about initial cost of sourcing own supplies.

Gemma, a healthy, happy Mummy is the glue that binds a family together.

😘

[gemmacampbell in reply to Narwhal10]

Aww thankyou so much I appreciate you reading back on my posts and for the advice you've given I've started taking an iron and folic acid supplement and will get back onto the doctors to see if they will do some more tests

[Narwhal10 in reply to gemmacampbell]

My pleasure,

Sorry, I was late. So, dietetics is biochemistry. It is worth keeping a Food Diary or just take a quick picture so it has time & date.

If you are not getting the nutrients in then you are going to feel unwell. This is by no means laying blame, our body naturally tells us what we do not like.

On a personal note, I used to silently cry being made to eat lamb as a child. I have Coeliac Disease (CD) and lots of other hypersensitivities. Someone recently was raving about this restaurant that I should go to because a family member has CD. I told them to stop because I wanted to throw up.

You are you, you know what foods agree with you and all of us are different and unique.

😘