… I have just had my latest Folate/B12 bloods done as above and these are the results. These were taken after a few months now on folic acid and just before my last loading dose of b12 injections.
My previous Folate (November) reading was 2.7 ug/l and B12 61 pmol.
This week I finished my first lot of B12 loading doses so unsure what the readings now mean (my bloods were taken just before my last b12 loading dose).
Can anyone advise where I am with this now? Still feeling quite rough after last injection on Monday .
Hope this post makes sense?
Written by
Fruitcake61
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The B12 results show that your levels are above the range that the active B12 test can measure with any degree of accuracy so your active B12 levels are good.
To be honest this is what would be expected and doesn't really mean a lot in terms of relating to how you might actually feel. There isn't much point testing serum B12 levels during loading doses or once you are on injections because it just doesn't correlate clinical presentation (symptoms) at all.
What doesn't make much sense is why, directly after the loading dose set, your B12 was retested. The result is a measurement of what has just been injected. It is not an indicator of what your body is doing /able to do with the injected B12, not either an indicator that your symptoms have improved/ completely gone.
If the first B12 test was measuring total B12 (and not just the active B12), then the focus should really be on why your B12 was this low initially - assuming that your diet has plenty of B12-containing foods included.
If your GP found your B12 and your folate to be very low, boosting them back up may become a cyclical "treatment" - because it is failing to identify and address the cause.
Have your ferritin, thyroid and vitamin D tested as well if this has not yet been done. Any or all may be also struggling.
What happens next ?
If it becomes apparent that this loading set has alleviated your symptoms, and that the maintenance frequency offered is able to prevent their return, then perhaps the GP will be satisfied with a positive result - and not see a need to chase after a cause. Maybe you will too !
If not - then I'd suggest keeping a daily diary or chart, listing when you had your injection, what your symptoms are, and when these symptoms occur. Over time, a pattern might emerge - one that shows how effective the B12 injections are and for how long, which is entirely the point.
If you have not been offered any maintenance injections or any reason for low B12, then a daily diary of symptoms (or even just a list of them) might be even more useful. I'm guessing that these were what first concerned you enough to make an appointment, not your B12 or folate level.
An IFab test can determine whether you have PA with a 95% certainty where positive - but what this test can't do is prove you don't have it, as only 40-60% of those with PA will get a positive test result. Still, this is the test most often used, so a GP needs to be aware that a single negative result cannot rule out PA as a possible cause.
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Advice on blood results please
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