I am a newbie... I have been SI every other day for 6 weeks. I had increased anxiety and a panic attack after my last couple of injections so have not injected for the past 2 weeks, but my anxiety/panic and trouble sleeping have continued. My doctor said he has never seen this in any of this other patients and does not think it is the B12. I have been addressing my co-factors throughout, so I do not think it is to do with one of them. (I have just been for a blood test to check ferritin, folate, D3 and will get the results mid-week) It is possible that this is hormonal as I am peri-menopausal and on HRT. Does anyone have any knowledge/ insight regarding prolonged anxiety/panic after B12 injections? Is it possible that I had too much?
Thank you any help!
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Krysagnes
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It sounds like it might be what they call ‘reversing out’ symptoms. I am only at two and a half weeks of starting B12 injections, but am fully expecting expecting my symptoms to worsen before they start to get better, I have been told to persevere with the injections EOD, and keep taking cofactors and it will get better. I’m sure someone who has been through this will give you some hope and support.
Thank you for your reply Chickens44. Yes, I thought it could be that, but have also read online many people reporting the same thing and claiming it is due to over stimulus from B12 - this has worried me...
I found that Epsom salt baths everyday for no more than 20-25 minutes helped me through this. Panic and anxiety were a huge issue for me and couldn’t take magnesium but the baths did me wonders. Mine got worse before it got better. I’m 6 months I felt like a different person. Keep going!
Thank you so much - I will definitely try this. Can I ask how long your anxiety/panic got worse before better? I am too scared to SI again because of this...
What type of b12 are you supplementing with? Some people do better with one over the other. I started with cyano because that’s what we use in Canada but I had methyl made up for me at a compounding pharmacy as I read a lot of people raving about it. I injected it once and swore I’d never touch it again. I felt absolutely horrible. I went back to the cyano and have been on it since. It’s been 6 years now.
It was weeks that it got worse. I’d say a good month. Then all of a sudden it was so much better and I could actually sleep at night. It was so bad that I wouldn’t want to be left alone. I would be terrified that something was going to happen. Which was the complete opposite of who I really am. I absolutely love my alone time! I go on vacation alone so it was an absolutely crazy time. I noticed an improvement in energy levels immediately but the anxiety took the longest to go away. I also got on a maintenance dose (low dose) of folate and iron. I stopped those years ago.
Thanks again for taking the time to reply, I really appreciate it! I've been injecting Hydroxo. Were you injecting EOD? Initially Dr. Klein recommended twice a week, but as I have neurological symptoms I wanted to try EOD as I felt the anxiety coming in over the 3 day break. The B12 initially took this away and I did see some improvements. It was only on week 6 when I had done around 20 injections in total that the anxiety, panic and insomnia started building out of control. This really scared me and that's why I feared I had over done things. (As I said though... I am also going through the peri-menopause and it is possible these symptoms are hormonal..)
Last night I took a GABA supplement before bed and this helped. I have just been out and bought the epsom salts that you recommended and will try later.
I did everyday for a week then 3x every eeek with weekends off. I did that for the majority of time. It has only been about 2 years that I’ve been lazy with it. I am also going through the hormone issue as I had a hysterectomy 2 years ago. However I did find that my iron got pretty low with staring supplementation. Low iron can definitely cause some serious anxiety. It’s important to keep it at a decent level.
I am not keen on taking a bath, I prefer showers. Easier as well at my age. It works for me. I also use this gel especially when I suffer leg, ankle and feet cramp.
Thank you Nackapan. Yes, I have experienced these symptoms before, but not to this degree and without a break. If I have overdone B12, does anyone know how long it will take for my levels to drop a bit?
Thanks for your reply Sleepybunny. Yes, I was drinking lots of coconut water, eating bananas etc... throughout the time I was injecting. I have joined PAS and have read the books you suggested - thanks for all the other info which I will look into. My main worry was that I had overloaded myself and caused myself harm...
You can't "overload" yourself Most of it is excreted in about 48 hours. They use really massive doses for people who have been poisoned without overdoses.
B12 will deplete ferritin and iron stores. Since I had ferritin treatment and now heme iron my anxiety level has dropped almost entirely. And, yes, I agree about reversing out exacerbating existing symptoms. When I began injecting EOD 18 months ago I experienced a tumult of effects. It is a powerful thing to do after probably years of deficiency. It takes a long time to find a new equilibrium.
Thank you Orchard33. Yes, I had an infusion from Dr. Klein at the same time that he started me on B12 injections as my iron has been low for many years. I will find out the results of my blood tests today, so that may reveal something.
What I've learnt is that some PA people need a higher level of ferritin, 80-100, some say 50. As I have absorption problems I also take heme iron because I can't process fumarate or any other chemical form of iron.
During my early days of B12 injections I had a lot of trouble being able to sleep. It was so frustrating. Through trial and error I found that I needed to inject in the morning, not the evening. I also found that taking iron, calcium, and magnesium supplements seemed to help with sleep. I've been injecting for years and now have no trouble sleeping.
I posted something here, but it was meant for another post. I recognized this pretty quickly and so deleted it. Sorry for the mistake in case you read it first.
I didn't feel this in the beginning, years ago. But then again maybe I didn't even notice as was so happy to have found the b12 deficiency & have rapid changes. But I do have a fidgety, wired feeling, wouldn't call it anxiety but I do notice it. And dislike it.
For me, and everyone is different, it is the feeling of having to exercise it off a bit. And I do most times, and I don't feel that wired feeling as much afterwards.
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