Good afternoon, these are my latest Folate and Vitamin B12 test results. Although they fall within the normal range, I would very much like to hear all your opinions on these results. Thanks in advance
Serum vitamin B12
298 pmol/L
145 - 569 Range
Serum folate
9.5 nmol/L
8.8 - 60.8 Range
Written by
Pinkisland
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Optimal for serum B12 is 500++ so your result is quite a way short of that.
Folate is almost deficient. Aim for 60% of range.
Do you eat red meat?
B12 - do you have symptoms of B12 deficiency? The reference range for B12 is very wide and cut off point too low. theb12society.com/signs-and...
If you do then you should discuss this with your doctor for further tests for Pernicious Anaemia.
If not, then start with a methyl B12 sublingual spray or lozenge for a week, then add a good B complex. Once you run out of the separate B12 just continue with the B complex.
thank you so much for all your information. Can you please explain why I should be doing the B12 spray for a week before I start the b complex. Since receiving the results I have started taking Thorne basic complex again which I had stopped for a while. Do you think that the B complex is enough to increase the folate as well? My ferritin is good but I haven’t had a vitamin D test recently. I do take a daily vitamin D tablet.
The moment you stop any supplement then your levels are just going to be dropping back to where they are at the moment. Hypo people need to continuously supplement to keep their levels optimal.
For some people there can be issues when starting folate if B12 is low. Taking folate can mask B12 symptoms.
Vitamin B12 is considered safe and nontoxic, however taking any one of the B vitamins for a long period of time can result in an imbalance of other important B vitamins. For this reason, you may want to take a B complex vitamin that includes all B vitamins. Taking folic acid at high doses can hide a vitamin B12 deficiency. So these vitamins are often taken together.
you will need separate B12 as well as vitamin B complex until B12 improves to over 500
Then you may be able to maintain good B12 on just vitamin B complex daily
IMPORTANT......If you are taking vitamin B complex, or any supplements containing biotin, remember to stop these 3-5 days before ALL BLOOD TESTS , as biotin can falsely affect test results
In days before blood test, when you stop vitamin B complex, you might want to consider taking a separate folate supplement (eg Jarrow methyl folate 400mcg) and continue separate B12 if last test result serum B12 was below 500 or active B12 (private test) under 70
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