As noticed from my last email my B12 was 342 (199-633) and thyroid panel normal mid range tsh 2.32. I am taking folate 5 mg daily and vit d 25mg.
So I bought 1000mcg solgar B12 and started two daily but cut back to one after a week. GP phoned. You are taking an injection dose if it is 1000mcg and he said stop and only take one a month. I thought I had had less frequency of tremor at night. So who is right, the people here or the GP and why? He basically thinks 1000 is well too much and you only need it once a MONTH not daily. He said any excess you will excrete out of urine anyway.
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Although the daily requirement of vitamin B12 is approximately 2 mcg, the initial oral replacement dosage consists of a single daily dose of 1,000 to 2,000 mcg (Table 4). This high dose is required because of the variable absorption of oral vitamin B12 in doses of 500 mcg or less.19 This regimen has been shown to be safe, cost-effective, and well tolerated by patients.19
my GP never said or took my homocysteine or methylmelanoic acid test like the graph shows for 200 to 400 pmol. Mine was 342 so he should have taken them according to this graph. Still I suppose 342 is not too far off 400 so I am probably just about ok. I will carry on taking 1000, once a week I think.
When my B12 level was about the same as yours, I had terrible symptoms. I was losing the use of my right arm. But, after a few months of B12 - which I still take - most of the symptoms went away.
You have to understand that doctors know nothing about nutrition or nutrients. They don't learn about them in med school. Quite why they think they're qualified to give advice on the subject, I don't know, but always double check anything a doctor tells you about nutrition.
Greygoose you said it so very well . Dr's know *Nothing* about nutrition or nutrients . They mostly say it does nothing. But I wonder the *No Believer Dr's* that don't believe in nutrition or nutrients how many of them are themselves on some nutrient supplements ???
I think they think that food just equals calories, which is why they're always banging on about calories in vs calories out, and other such rubbish! When my B12 was low, the doctor more or less said, so what, it's only a vitamin.
I'm a thyroid patient on T3 only and I have B12 injections from the doctors. It's not enough so I self inject B12 in-between.
What you've been told by the doctor is complete rubbish. He should read his own guidelines! B12 is not toxic and you can take as much as you like.
In the pandemic, lots of GP surgeries have tended to stop giving their patients their B12 injections. And telling them to take suppliments. If you're a vegan then the advice is 50 mcg a day. But, if you have a b12 deficiency then the advice is 1000mcg a day. You will see on the forums that people have tried this and the symptoms have come back. Suppliments do not work if you have a B12 deficiency. It will only elivate your blood B12 but does not show if it's in your cells and working.
Your B12 result I would say is low. But, if you have taken any b12 suppliments in the last 4 months it would have elevated it. The sympoms of B12 deficiency overlap a little with the underactive thyroid. Eg fatigue, brain fog, mental health problems. But there is also nerve damage - pins and needles, balance, numbness.
I would have a think about whether you leave taking B12 for 4 months and go back to the doctors for a blood retest. If you are around 200 then you need to be investigated for b12 deficiency / PA.
Here is a useful article on B12 deficiency from the thyroid patients perspective:
I would “politely “ ask which scientific paper the GP has based this decision on . Maybe they will then go and look up this properly and hopefully educate themself at the same time .
While I'd certainly agree that 5mg folic acid daily is too much in the long term and 400 mcg suits many, I think it's also important to point out that people who need frequent shots of cobalamin or high dose sublinguals may also need rather more folic acid or methylfolate daily than 400 mcgs.
I wish I could agree that the PAS forum is a good place to go for advice. The pinned information posts are very valuable, but now I advise people to steer clear of the discussion area if they need advice or support on B12 matters. Anyone who wishes to know my reasons, and other places to find help, may contact me via Chat.
The only reason I can think of that my GP called me to tell me to stop taking b12 1000mcg the day after our consultation about my symptoms and some test results is that he wanted to cover his own back that he had advised against "overdosing" on vitamin supplements or something. Someone here said GPs don't know anything about supplements. Well mine does. He is always going on about all my different vitamin levels and telling me they are either normal or low. Eg he told me vit D and folate were low a few months back and prescribed these for me at the time so I didn't have to buy them myself. either that or he was just trying to be smart and suggest that my symptoms can not be related to b12 deficiency in a roundabout way. LOL I think GPs are funny, have a nice easy life on the whole, but is a bit stressful I suppose having to see so many different patients each day.
Igennus Super B is good quality and cheap vitamin B complex. Contains folate. Full dose is two tablets per day. Many/most people may only need one tablet per day. Certainly only start on one per day (or even half tablet per day for first couple of weeks)
Or Thorne Basic B or jarrow B-right are other options that contain folate, but both are large capsules
Hypothyroid patients often have low thiamine (B1)
If you are taking vitamin B complex, or any supplements containing biotin, remember to stop these 7 days before any blood tests, as biotin can falsely affect test results
There is a high (approx 40%) prevalence of B12 deficiency in hypothyroid patients. Traditional symptoms are not a good guide to determining presence of B12 deficiency. Screening for vitamin B12 levels should be undertaken in all hypothyroid patients, irrespective of their thyroid antibody status. Replacement of B12 leads to improvement in symptoms,.
Sorry could you summarise what she is saying in this video as I can't quite get it. Also, CFS Fibro etc happened well before when she says these illnesses started to increase. There have been many ME epidemics going back as far as 1934.
I prefer telephone conversations now in the first instance rather than going to the surgery and waiting half an hour to see the doctor only to be asked the same questions LOL
I mean in a strictly logical sense, the GP probably tells a vegan to supplement B12, they likely supplement the same dose, and I don't see a huge number of vegans that do supplement flooding doctors surgeries due to overdosing on the stuff, so I think you're safe.
As others have said, we don't necessarily absorb everything from a supplement. Your blood levels may not reflect tissue levels either, so I don't see the harm in dosing once a day until you've finished your bottle. I find my levels can drop quickly too, so I supplement as a habit about 5 days a week (tablets sit on my desk, so I take them on work days)
Absolute rubbish. You are taking a maintenance dose for an adult with good levels. Sounds like GP might be mathematically challenged and has misread the decimal point as a B12 injection would be 1-3MG not MCG. Even so, it would probably just be a waste of money as you'd probably just pee out the excess. If I don't take 5000mcg a day I get deficiency symptoms. Ignore him.
Angel_of_the_North WHat symptoms do you get? 5000 is a lot. My GP would go mad if I told him that I took 5000. Incidentally since starting taking 2000 a week ago and cutting it to 1000 after about 5 days, I have not jerked awaked or felt the electric tremor at all except once time.
I seemed to have left out a sentence before. Should have said that only a small amount of oral B12 is absorbed (often as little as 10%) so no way would you be getting the full 1mg you'd get from an injection. Anyway, I get eye tics, numb feet and tingling hands, and I start to get very clumsy - walking into things and bumping into walls, esp when going up and down stairs. My Dad had PA - I tested negative for it, but I do wonder.
It means that the PA antibody test has been carried out and its come back negative, but you’re still deemed to have PA because of the symptoms and because the PA test is only accurate 40-60% of the time.
Ah. Sublinguals are not know for relieving the symptoms of B12 deficiency. They only raise B12 in blood tests. Only injections are good at treating B12 deficiency. Join the B12 wakeup group on FB. They have draft letters you can use to persuade your gp to give injections.
Yes B12 injections do raise B12 levels in the blood. But it doesn't have to go through the same steps as sublinguals / suppliments do to be most useful in the body. B12 absorption is a very complicated process involving a number of steps.
I find that high dose sublingual stops symptoms. If I reduce dose, symptoms start to come back, so I just watch out for walking into things and eye tic which is usually the first sign. I think I'm too much of a wimp to self inject.
I was a nervous wreck for the first fortnight, but the procedure for subcut shots is straightforward. PM me if ever you change your mind. A friend who relied on sublinguals for years remarked how much better she felt after a few months of self-injecting.
If you rely on your GP to tell you your results are Fine/Normal/OK - you may never find wellness.
It is not just the T4 result you need but also the T3. Is it possible your asthma could be improved with optimal T3 level ? Also OPTIMAL levels of B12 - Folate - Ferritin - VitD are needed.
Your GP will say they are fine when bumping along the bottom of the range. Do you know your levels ?
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Update on low B12 levels and anti-intrinsic factor results
A doctor with b12 interest.
Help with B12 levels and maintenance dose please.
Low Calcium and B12
