Posted in the past. Why I'm interested in B12 is my mother died through doctor telling her that she no longer needed B12 injections as her 'bloods were fine'. Both my sister and I thought that was good (no internet then) but that decision caused my mother's early death with a slow deterioration in overall health. GPs have no idea, I believe, in the danger of not ensuring B12 and Vit D have to be optimal.
B12 deficiency is a common defiency with severe symptoms. Even children can suffer with it.
Thank you Shaws for showing how this B12 deficiency can shrink the brain giving rise to mental and physical health problems. It is scary when there is a failure to do blood tests. I know pernicious anaemia is another cause of B12 deficiency. At least you are increasing awareness which has been enforced by the loss of your mum. My heart aches for you as there was insufficient diagnosis and treatment of this condition. An informative video.
Sad to hear this Shaws💔 I keep meaning to write an update re this as my GP stopped mine & made an appointment again for Gastro... Boy was I ready for that when it arrived- armed with everything (It the lawyer in me lol) Only to face the loveliest of consultants who’s letter to the GP was stinging 🤣 I’ll write an update with full details, but never not fight for this jab...
I am sorry to hear this shaws my own mother died because her GP missed that her cancer had returned and gave her antidepressants for her advanced lung cancer. This is one of the reasons I always question Doctors because they are not infallible.
Totally outragous.So sorry to read that.That must have been devestating ,These kind of situations happen too much too often.
I had a close friend who had advanced lung cancer put down to fibromyalgia ,They upped her antidepressents and other chemicals and told her she was fine.I was with her the day she was told she actually had cancer and only two months to live.We really have to be our own doctors.x
Wow! Who knew that antidepressants were a treatment for cancer!!!! And here I am weaning myself slowly off the strong antidepressant I have been taking for the past 20 years. Maybe when I get down to 0 mg/day that will cause my cancer to come back!
Exactly ...I swear somewhere in the hypocratic oath that they sign it says "do no harm" .Yet on this one thread alone the picture seems to tell a very different story.
Good luck with weening off i hope its going smoothly for you 
Thank you. So far so good. I went from once a day 300 mg. Doctor then Rx 100 mg twice a day. For the previous two weeks I went to every other day for the 2nd dose. On Sunday I dropped the 2nd dose altogether. So now I am down to one-third the dose I was on for years.
And then you will be free
I believe that if doctors think a patient is 'depressed' that an FT4 and FT3 should be tested as it could be due to the patient not having sufficient of these in their blood. The addition of some T3 might work wonders. This is an extract from the following:-
"T3 is the most broadly used thyroid hormone for treatment of depression, in contrast to in endocrine patients where T4 is routinely used for thyroid replacement therapy17 In early studies, T3 was used as monotherapy for the treatment of depressed patients.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...
The only reason I even considered going off the antidepressant was the fact that my GP had begun prescribing T3 based on my list of lingering hypo symptoms. My last test (on 17.5 mcg of Cytomel - December 11, 2019) was 3.1 (2.0-4.4 pg/mL). At that point I said I wanted to increase dosage to 22.5 (1/2 of a 25 mcg tablet plus increasing to 2 5 mcg tablets) to try to get my Free T3 over 50% through range. Did not wait for permission. Went ahead with the increase.
She has been more focused on my TSH which is now 0.07 ( 0.300-4.200 MIU/ML ). But if she gets really insistent on lowering dosage, maybe your link about T3 for depression will help to convince her to hold off.
*Darn* I just remembered that I intended to go to the lab this morning for another blood test and it is already too late (and I took meds and ate breakfast). Will try for it tomorrow.
I did recently send her links to Diogenes's latest articles regarding TSH not being the best way to adjust dosage. Fingers crossed.
That's another horrible experience which we shouldn't have to go through. We expect the medical professionals to be professional and heal the patient unless the disease is too far advanced.
So sorry to hear of your poor Mum Shaws. X
I bumped into an old school friend, I asked her how she was doing ? She said her seizures had come back again. (I remember her having these as a child) I asked her if she had her vitamin B12 bloods checked ?
She said that’s odd you asked, because I used to have the B12 injections and the Doctor a while ago stopped them saying she no longer needed them.
I told her to go back and get her B12 bloods rechecked.
I'm glad you did that. I think doctors must be trained these days on learning nothing at all.
A young relative of mine with depression and feeling suicidal, can’t eat, without being physically sick, despite wanting to, loosing weight fast, muscle weakness, feeling tired, pins and needles, brain fogged, use to be a gymnast, dancer and 5 days a week at the gym now can’t walk far, went to their Doctors with a letter from myself with a long list of their presenting ills and a list of bloods to be checked. B12, vit D, Thyroid, Iron, ferritin, folate, etc.,
Dr said can’t have some bloods done as you had them done two years ago. ??? They did challenge the Doctor.
Doctor just wanted to know why they had stopped taking the depression pills?
(they had never actually taken them. 😀)
Thankfully my relative is on some good vitamins and minerals now and already feeling more energy and ‘lifted’.
How can your Doctor say you are ‘Normal’ when you come away from their practise with so many ‘presenting’ medical symptoms.???
They will get these other important bloods done privately if not done by NHS. Their neutrophils done two years ago were borderline low and Total white bloods very low in range
So fresh bloods are definitely needed.
Easy to see why many patients are kept ill if they are not switched on enough to push themselves forward.
Shocking, unnecessary and such a waste of life.
B12 molecules have to travel a long way from the stomach to the area of theTerminal Ileum where it is metabolised and returned to the liver for re-cycling. We need good stomach acid so the B12 molecules in food can be extracted and bound in Intrinsic Factor for the onward journey.
Just think of all those people suffering with gut issues - IBS - Colitis - Diverticulitis - Crohns - Coeliacs and others who will have impaired absorption in the Terminal Ileum. I am one of those having had extensive gut surgery for TB back in 1973. I live with the consequences as no-one mentioned my need for B12 supplementation. Taking a B Complex kept me in range but not enough to prevent nerve damage. I now self-inject which helps - self prescribed.
B12 is needed at a good level as it is involved in the maintenance of the myelin sheath - a protection for every nerve in the body. Do hope all the new Vegans are supplementing well otherwise it will be a big problem in the future.
Marz, I agree about problems stacking up for the future, especially as it can take years for a B12 deficiency to manifest and even when it does it is often not recognised. Over-reliance on blood tests and ranges, once again.
I thought it manifests fairly swiftly, though degenerative long term.
I have seen this video before. It is spine chilling, has lost none of its impact.
Thank you shaws. Could you remind us what the optimal active B12 is deemed to be in pmol/L
Many thanks
I am sorry for the delay in reply. I thik you'd get a more accurate response from the P.A forum.
My mother too. She was very angry at the end that the doctors were always thumping her lungs as she had Asthma from a child, and told her her lungs were fine and not congested with the steroid inhalers. She went to see a consultant who took an xray and held it up and my mother could see straight away one lung was completely cancer. Such a shock for her. She died 8 wks later very angry with them. My father died of lung cancer the year before too! Neither smoked x
Thats unbelievably horrible and must have been a massively difficult time for you.x
That's absolutely awful for the whole family, especially for your poor mother. I don't think the family will ever get over that experience and to lose our mothers due to neglect of those who we rely upon to know more than us, fail the whole family.
GP’s are antidepressant pushers!
Ive just made a complaint that all my referals say I’m on Sertraline though I NEVER have been and have no diagnosis of depression.
My GP phoned me a few days ago to apologise as they have been through my records and confirmed it is a mistake, a computer glitch! he said.
However, he apologised verbally, so no record and all my referrals have this on and I know there is prejudice towards mental health x
Thanks so much for this link. My husband and I have found it very helpful. It is also a useful reminder to do our own homework on vitamin levels, not rely on doctors’ shaky knowledge.
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