Do I need Vit B12? If so what and how?

[LBM1953]

HI All. Just had my blood test results and all pretty good except Doc said my Vit B12 was a bit low at 213 pg/mL (normal range 160 – 950), and suggested that I may want to take a daily supplement. Question is what? I can buy a Super Complex B for about £21 for 500 tabs from Costco which contains: Vit C – 200 mg; Vit B1 – 100 mg; Vit B2 – 20 mg; Niacin – 25 mg NE; Vit B6 – 3 mg; Folic acid 400 ug; Vit B12 – 100 ug; D Biotin- 300 ug; Pantothenic acid – 5.5 mg. I’m afraid its all gobbledygook to me but can anyone advise please? Thanks in advance. LBM1953

[HeronNS]

Your doctor needs to advise you more completely about your B12 supplement. If you do not have a deficiency then probably a balanced B supplement is fine. I take one every second day. especially since I don't each as much grains as I used to, and also am a vegetarian. But people who need a therapeutic dose of B12 should follow doctor's guidance. My husband has a B12 deficiency and takes an exponentially larger dose than I find in my supplement. It is also important to check that the oral dose actually helps because some people end up needing an injection.

[SheffieldJane]

I wonder if you could push for a prescription as the low levels were diagnosed by your doctor? I continue to get vit D on prescription as I was found to be deficient 5 years ago. Alternatively a shop like Holland and Barrett trains it’s staff and they maybe better placed to advise than us. I just take a recommended daily dose of vit B 12. Mainly because it helps with stabilising moods like anxiety and depression, no doctors involved.

[piglette]

Holland and Barrett do vitamin B12 by itself. I am never too keen on the multi type as I always feel you don’t get enough of what you want or too much of things you don’t need. However if your doctor suggested it, I should go with his recommendation.

[piglette]

I feel having vitamins in one’s diet is preferable if you can do it that way. I am not in to pills. I know how much the supplement companies make out of us buying supplements we don’t need. They get away with it, with virtually no regulation.

[jinasc]

When you say you buy your tablets from Costco - which country are they made in please?

[LBM1953 in reply to jinasc]

Dunno where they are made but purchased in the UK

[LBM1953]

So, I read the site viz Peripheral Neuropathy (PI) – thank you Dad2Cue. I had tingling palms some time ago which disappeared when I increased my Pred. However, I am now tapering and the tingling has returned in both hands in the last 2-3 weeks (and I always blamed the Pred for them). I also stopped my Proton Pump Inhibitor (PPI) for a while because the Doc thought it may have caused the hugely itchy rash (which it didn’t) and I have been taking them again for the last two weeks (since 15th Sept). Now having read the website it seems that my tingling palms could be a symptom of PI and furthermore PI can be caused/made worse by taking a PPI. It further states that one should not take B12 whilst taking a PPI. To conclude I think I may be suffering from PI maybe caused/made worse by the PPI. If correct then I think the solution would be to stop taking the PPI and take the Vit B12 (in a form to be decided – with the doctor - I take PPI with a yoghurt drink anyway)?? Anyone got any thoughts? LBM1953

[HeronNS in reply to LBM1953]

You do know that you should phase out the PPI over a period of time, I don't know how long, whether it's a few days or a few weeks, to avoid rebound acid production?

[jinasc]

Country of manufacturer is normally on the label.

[Noosat]

I take a multivitamin pill each day and also a B12 every second day

[pata63]

I am one of those people where a B12 deficiency affected the proper functioning of my brain. I switched my GP practice in December 2009. When I switched the new GP did a thorough symptom review, and he sent me for blood tests. My B12 was 144. I was called in to have a B12 injection the next day. I wasn't able to absorb enough B12 in my gut although a shortage of Intrinsic Factor was ruled out. I had other tests which didn't find a specific cause. To this day I still have monthly injections of B12, although I've been left to self administer those. If your problem is not absorbing enough B12 in your gut then pills may not help. Thus it is worth keeping track of your B12 once you are taking some sort of pills.

I can still pass as normal 😜 but I've never regained the level of cognitive function I used to have. I started mixing up Left and Right. I showed an inability to read maps and visualize the turns to get to destinations which I had been driving to for years . My cognitive ability to deal with spatial reasoning was diminished. This was noticeable for me because I didn't have those sorts of problems before. And all of this was a decade before PMR.

[Floridafan]

My doctor never bothers if my vitamin levels are low, if the readings come back within the normal range nothing is said. My B12 levels have between 144 and 205 for the last 3 years. I asked for my vitamin D to be checked last September and it was 50.7 which I think is just above the lower level required so I now take extra vitamin D tablets which I buy myself. I’m assuming if I’m not showing any symptoms the doctors aren’t bothered 😱