Vit B12

[5goFlotilla]

Good morning , so following on from my ESR. CRP and Cortisol tests with GP this week they are all in normal range … which is great and gives me some help in whether I stick at 5 mg or back up to 5.5mg .

Interestingly my VitB 12 is now 197ng/l which is just under the 200ng/l bottom line and Folate is normal , in November it was 250 . So perhaps how I am feeling at the moment may be aggravated by my low Vit D12. ?

I have been taking Lansoprazole 15mg for a year which can inhibit the absorption of Vit B12.

Flippin lots of detective work involved in this malarkey 🙂

Anybody had a similar issue or any comments ? Going to email Rhuematolgist on Monday .

Thanks sorry for long post

[piglette]

You could always try Marmite on toast, I love it. Great for B12.

[diana1998 in reply to piglette]

I eat it every day and brought my boys up on it from babies. Packed it in hand luggage when going to Spain but they confiscated it as classed as a liquid! I couldn't believe it 😡 😜

[piglette in reply to diana1998]

Apparently their are complaints about Marmite at the moment that it has become too thick to spread!! My mother used to make fingers with Marmite for us. I mix it with honey on crumpets.

[diana1998 in reply to piglette]

What rubbish!! I've not noticed that. Marmite fingers yummy, cheese and marmite scones... . Endless possibilities for the fans. Excuse me, must just have some on an oatcake!

[piglette in reply to diana1998]

Marmite and cheese is lovely too.

[diana1998 in reply to piglette]

😋😜

[tempusfugi in reply to piglette]

Marmite and honey, now that DOES sound different. Will pass on to my frere!😁

[piglette in reply to tempusfugi]

I think it is the sweet and sour. Apparently the Romans were very in to sweet and sour.

[diana1998 in reply to tempusfugi]

Like abroad when they mix marmalade and cheese on toast for breakfast. 😋

[piglette in reply to diana1998]

This was a letter in today’s Telegraph. I am not convinced. “At boarding school in the 1950s we enjoyed marmalade and Marmite – or “marmalite”, as John H Lowe calls it (Letters, June 10) – on fried bread. Truly wicked, but sublime.”

[diana1998 in reply to piglette]

👍🤣

[tempusfugi in reply to piglette]

Marmite always reminds me of my brother, who has loved it all his life! I once had to take it with me to Canada to somebody in the British High Commission, as he couldn't get it there...strange people these Marmite aficionados🤭

[Suffererc in reply to piglette]

must buy some of that now. I used to like it 🤣😂🤣😂

[BarachoisBay in reply to piglette]

🇨🇦 Canadian here. Could you give me an idea what Marmite tastes like? We have a store where I live that is owned by an ex-pat from GB and it is possible that it might be available there.

[piglette in reply to BarachoisBay]

If you roast beef and then have the fat leftover, there is the fatty bit and underneath there is a sort of dark jelly bit. Marmite is like a more concentrated dark jelly bit. Others may think I am talking rubbish!

[BarachoisBay in reply to piglette]

Thanks. So it is beef flavored? I guess one would have to try it to decide if one likes it!

[piglette in reply to BarachoisBay]

It is sort of very strong roasted beef juice flavour. As Dorsetlady says it is a bi-product of the beer industry, it is actually vegetarian. I suppose yeasty, salty, soy sauce-esque flavor with the consistency of old engine oil, is a possible description but I think it is more like the juice gel of beef! I disagree with the soy bit, but it really is difficult to describe the taste as it is unique. You either love it or hate it!

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to piglette]

see reply below ….beer not beef 😊

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to BarachoisBay]

Found this online -

What is Marmite?

Marmite is a thick, sticky paste made from concentrated yeast extract, a byproduct from brewing beer.

German scientist Justus Liebig accidentally invented the concoction in 1902.

Marmite has a very distinctive flavor. The taste is so unique as to defy description, but think of a yeasty, salty, soy sauce-esque flavor with the consistency of old engine oil.

Some people really like eating it, and some people don’t like eating it at all.

Marmite actually based a marketing slogan off this divisiveness: “Love it or hate it.”

It has infiltrated British culture and language to the point where a certain type of person might even be described as being “like Marmite”.

Have to say, I’m not a fan! 🤔

[BarachoisBay in reply to DorsetLady]

Thanks! That description really puts one off even trying it. I surmise it is an acquired taste. 😊 Knowing me, I will probably try to track it down and try it. 🕵️‍♀️

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to BarachoisBay]

It certainly is - my first taste was when I was about 5 or 6 and had gone with a friend to take a picnic lunch to her brother & father who were haymaking. One of them offered me a marmite sandwich - I thought it was horrendous. Never tried it since! 😳

[Mayadill in reply to DorsetLady]

umm, comes over all shy - I don't think I've ever had it. this is probably because I grew up in a Bovril home, hot Bovril on a cold night. Bovril on buttered toast.

[tempusfugi in reply to Mayadill]

Lets hear it for Bovril!!🤣

[tempusfugi in reply to DorsetLady]

You should give it another go, DorsetLady. You might find your taste has matured since then😏

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to tempusfugi]

It has matured for sure - but to more exotic things I hope….. in my mind once bitten, twice shy..😊

[tempusfugi in reply to DorsetLady]

Well, with all this talk about Marmite, guess what I am having on toast this evening🤗

[DorsetLady PMRGCAuk volunteer in reply to tempusfugi]

😉

[tempusfugi in reply to DorsetLady]

I think it may be forbidden in Canada and the States🤫 Not sure! It's sorta similar to Bovril (she says, awaiting the onslaught of Marmite lovers)!!

[tempusfugi in reply to DorsetLady]

I cannot believe I'm spending my Sunday afternoon thinking about Marmite🤣

[KCRoyals in reply to piglette]

Marmite, yuuuucccchhhh!!!!!!!!

[piglette in reply to KCRoyals]

Marmite , yummmmmmm !!!

[Harbel]

Hi. I got PMR and in the search for answers found very low B12. Used to think they were somehow related. Anyway off pred for about 3 years and all good, but on b12 injections. I am not complaining, mind you!

[pata63]

In Dec 2009 I was tested and found to be "borderline" in B12 and fine for Folate

B12: 144 pmol/L (reference range 170 - 600)

Folate: 20.0 nmol/L (reference range > 10.0)

This was a decade before I had any PMR or other autoimmune issues. Further tests for intrinsic factor antibodies showed that the problem didn't lie there. I ate plenty of the sorts of foods which one could usually get B12 from. Those foods did not include Marmite or Vegemite (New Zealand version) as I don't like them at all. Yeech. 😱 The reason I wasn't absorbing enough B12 from my diet lay elsewhere. I've been on B12 injections since.

If your low B12 is due to low absorption in your gut then you might need something other than just a change of diet or pills or Marmite.

When I was first diagnosed I was experiencing several neurological abnormalities which cleared rapidly after my B12 was brought up again. I was told I would know when to come in for another injection. I asked how, and they said "you'll know". I did. Some of the neurological symptoms reappear, and I start sleeping longer hours and needing naps during the day.

I was trained to inject myself and have been doing that successfully for years. This turned out to be helpful during Covid times when getting a face to face with medical people got really hard. It also came in handy in the past few weeks when I've been on 3mg Pred. I reached a point where deathly fatigue came in (presumed adrenal insufficiency) and I was able to rule out B12 by giving myself an injection. GPs are still hard to see face to face, and I have an appointment in a week to review where I'm at. I made it for 3 weeks on 3mg with no apparent issues before the deathly fatigue came on. Still no other PMR symptoms. This was after a DSNS taper from 3.5mg to 3mg without incident. So yes, I agree: "Flippin lots of detective work involved in this malarkey." Fortunately we have great detectives on this site.

Good luck with your appointment and getting answers.

[alliebc in reply to pata63]

I’m at that same point alternating between 3.5 and 3 with the deathly fatigue setting in. I asked my GP about B12 testing as I don’t eat much meat, just to rule out adrenal fatigue. Sure enough it is quite low, so am on the 1200mcg sublingual supplement tablets daily now and a recheck in two months time. My CRP score is back to normal so I suppose I just keep reducing the Pred and keep my fingers crossed that it is the lack of B12 making me tired.

However I do vote for NZ Sanitarium brand Marmite on freshly buttered Vogel bread toast! Even better with avocado slices and way superior to the UK Marmite IMHO

[5goFlotilla]

thank you I hope you stay well 🙂