Vitamin B12 Deficiency symptoms

[MSyborg]

Is it really common for people with vitamin b12 deficiencies to have the troubling symptoms? From what I've read, most don't have any symptoms.

[NHE]

Is it really common for people with vitamin b12 deficiencies to have the troubling symptoms? From what I've read, most don't have any symptoms.

Yes, symptoms are common. Those without symptoms are likely early on in their deficiency status. For more info, you can read "Could It Be B12? An epidemic of misdiagnoses" by Sally Pacholok and Jeffrey Stuart.

https://www.amazon.com/Could-Be-B12-Epi ... 884995691/

The main problem with with B12 deficiency symptoms is that they can mimic so many other conditions that doctors often don't bother testing B12, folate and homocysteine levels. Five years ago I had every cardiovascular symptom in the book for high homocysteine, but a cardiologist didn't even bother to run any blood tests and prescribed a beta blocker instead which would have done nothing for my low folate, low B12 and high homocysteine. Apparently, checking for something as simple as a B12 deficiency has fallen out of fashion as some doctors seem to think that B12 shots were a "fad." The reality is that B12 deficiency can cause severe disability if left untreated and complete recovery is only possible if the deficiency is corrected early.

Here's a good video to watch...

"Everything You Want Your Doctor to Know about Vitamin B12"

[MSyborg]

Long how does it usually take for B12 deficiency to disable someone? Like how long would you have?

[jimmylegs]

the whole time i was vegan i was aware of the b12 issue and went years without the symptoms making themselves felt. i was slowly getting worse and worse off re b12, plus other nutrients i would have no idea about until well after i was diagnosed. when i stopped buying meat and dairy substitutes like soymilk and veggie dogs, it was not long before the symptoms were more noticeable. i had lost the bits of b12 supplementation provided by the packaged foods. at this point i would have numbness in my feet, which was reversible if i took b12. i had read that b12 deficiency could cause neurological damage but i didn't understand that the damage could be to my spinal cord, plus peripheral nerves supporting my sense of touch damaged beyond repair. my feet would be numb, my arms and hands would be so weak i needed two hands to get shampoo out of the bottle, and i would not take b12 until my legs started giving out. then one day, b12 stopped working. and then i had an accident and everything spiralled downhill from there. from the time i stopped eating b12 supplemented foods to the day i was diagnosed was about 2 years. after about 13 years of getting away with being vegan prior. as a vegan my iron had always been low as well. i learned much later how bad my diet had also been for zinc, vit E and more.

[NHE]

from the time i stopped eating b12 supplemented foods to the day i was diagnosed was about 2 years.

The liver stores B12 in the form of adenosylcobalamin. This timeline is about right for using up the body's stores. However, it doesn't seem to address the question being asked. As I understand it, the question is how long does it take for symptoms to develop once one is deficient, not how long it takes to empty the liver's stores of B12.

[jimmylegs]

being thoroughly aware the liver stores b12 and that the timeline is right for using up liver stores, i will be interested to see any study of patients with known b12 deficiency that has patients sit there and time the appearance of symptoms. could well be one somewhere, but i'm not the only person who can search google scholar

while i do have the dates of my first guaranteed b12 deficient blood work (which says nothing about how long i had been deficient previously and messing with my results via not washing out), and the first time my symptoms became irreversible with b12 supplementation, i don't know if that would satisfy given the small sample size - either way no time to dig into my files at present unfortunately.

[NHE]

being thoroughly aware the liver stores b12 and that the timeline is right for using up liver stores, i will be interested to see any study of patients with known b12 deficiency that has patients sit there and time the appearance of symptoms. could well be one somewhere...

Such a study would be unethical considering the harm that could be done, i.e., permanent neurological damage.

[jimmylegs]

lol!! where's that facetious font when one needs it