Supplementing with Ferrous Sulphate and B12.

[Shona64]

Hi folks been supplementing with the above for past year. Ferritin now at 350 (top of range) and b12 well over 1900 (150-900). Do I keep taking supplements or not ?. Was taking 3x ferrous sulphate and 1000mcg sub-lingual B12 daily. Thanks, Shona x

[helvella Administrator]

Taking too much iron is as bad as having too little. Has your GP advised? Whilst it is easy to see the ferritin as your target, it is best if someone who understands has a look at the other tests related to iron. Even if you need some, you quite likely should be cutting back.

B12 is a much more difficult - while supplementing you are likely to have a misleadingly high reading. But hopefully others will answer more completely.

[Shona64 in reply to helvella]

Thanks Rod. My ferritin initially was 12 and dropped quickly if I stopped it. pharmacist told me the importance of keeping iron levels up to help thyroid function as long as I was tolerating. Just think I should cut back to maintainance dose as don't want it to drop again.

[helvella Administrator in reply to Shona64]

I have no experience of iron issues myself so am not a good person to answer.

But certainly keeping the levels up is good - just not too much!

[nostoneunturned]

Be very careful about iron,as Rod says, you can have too much and doctor should be involved in monitoring all irons.

I supplement B12, monitor B12 and folate by private tests - myrios.co.uk only £29.

Never supplement folate levels in isolation as this can mask damage caused by B12 deficiency.

I keep B12 levels around 1000pmol/L (=1355ng/L, conversion factor 0.738) as B12 is non-toxic. Experienced B12 deficiency for years, never going there again, all research shows B12 non-toxic, perfectly safe to have levels higher than NHS ranges.

Your B12 at 1900 is harmless, I have been higher, still alive.

It is methylcobalamin? Cyanocobalamin is not as good as methylcobalamin which is already methylised and so ready to benefit body. Sorry for questioning like this, but I like to warn people off cyanocobalamin as despite taking it at first it did not prevent neurological damage, as it is not good for such prevention. High supplementation with methylcobalamin cured it.

[Shona64 in reply to nostoneunturned]

I use methyllcobalamin just wondered if I can maintain without taking everyday ?. I will speak with Doc re:- iron. Thanks xx

[nostoneunturned in reply to Shona64]

Well, re maintenance: my last supplementation was taken April 2012, since then rely on food for B12 plus have one Solgar Betaine Hydrochloride with Pepsin daily with main meal, plus regular monitoring with above lab, post above has January 2013 levels, monitoring in case levels drop. All methylcobalamin supplementation was sublingual and at a high rate 25,000 - 30,000mcg per day as I was below the NHS range 167 (180-900) with 28 symptoms, but GP ignored me. These figures are mostly from Martyn Hooper's "Pernicious Anaemia: the forgotten disease", there are food value tables online. Guess I had B12 deficiency, not PA, will revert to supplementation if levels drop.

B12 foods. Per 100gm

mcg mcg mg

B12 DV Folate DV Iron DV

Chicken liver 16.6 276% 588 147% 9 50%

Herring 10 5 1

Trout 7 15 2

Sardines 14 24 2

Lamb's kidney 54

Fish, dairy, offal are the best sources. Meat and eggs are not quite so good.

Shellfish are high. Microwaving destroys B12 and enzymes.

[nostoneunturned in reply to Shona64]

Mashby has a useful post entitled "SHARING GOOD NEWS 111.

Trouble is the IFab test can result in those with PA not having IFabs detected. Ditto for Parietal Cell antibodies, so some do fall down the cracks, yet have PA.

[Flutegal]

Do you mind me asking how long it took you to get your ferritin from 12 to 350 on 600mcgs of Ferrous Sulphate per day?

I took that for the last 18 months and get my ferritin from 6 to 55.

Please let me know.

Thanks

Flutegal

[Shona64 in reply to Flutegal]

Hi I started 3 x daily in October 2011 so did take a while :-). Now don't know what to do as don't want it dropping again x