Hi John,
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It was low, but in the normal range, so I had to go for shots once a month. They made no difference in how I feel, and the symptoms didn't go away. My level now is normal according to the blood tests, and I have to go for another blood test next week to confirm this.
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I'm glad to hear that you were getting shots!!! I hope you still are for several reasons:
1) Low normal B12 can cause neurological symptoms. For example, my level was a low normal of 294(150-1100) when my B12 deficiency was diagnosed, after three years of progressive symptoms (although most cascading in that last six months).
My symptoms have all resolved (mostly...some minor memory and concentration problems still). A lot of improvement happened over the first three months, but improvements continued into the first and second year. The literatures says anything under 400 should be of concern in someone with neurological symptoms. You will find some great references
here.
2) Bringing the blood level up can be done in a matter of months, but repairs can take months to years, and a steady supply of incoming B12 is necessary for those repairs to be made. While most people will show improvement within the first months, it can take longer depending on severity and duration of the deficiency and how much damage must be reversed. SO... if you aren't already... keep taking in B12. Oral B12 in the active form of methylcobalamin, in dosages of 1000-2000mcg, are generally recommended to treat B12 deficiency. I sure do hope that will be the recommendation you receive!!! Oral B12, in high doses, works just as well shots in most people, but close monitoring will assure it. Keep reading up on the subject of B12 deficiency! The symptoms can be much more severe than most people, and even most doctors, realize. I don't know how many months its been that you've been getting shots, but I'd give it at least a year before deciding it hasn't helped any.
3) Be sure you are taking supporting supplements, especially B-complex, magnesium, and a multivitamin. They all work together, and need each other. You could also be low in something else that may be preventing you from showing much improvement~ For example, I know B12, B1, B6, E, CoQ10 deficiencies can also result in neurologic symptoms.
eMedicine link on vitamin B12 associated neurological diseases:
eMedicine on Nutritional Neuropathy
4) When you ask your doctor about gluten sensitivity/celiac disease, be sure to request that he include the antigliadin IgA and IgG tests. To save cost, and because another test is more specific to the actual intestinal damage of celiac disease, they usually only recommend anti-tTG and total IgA for celiac screening. You need to be concerned about any degree of gluten sensitivity, and the antigliadin antibody tests are better indicators of that.
Dr. Marios Hadjivassiliou, the authority on gluten ataxia and other gluten related neurological disease says this:
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Hadjivassiliou says, in "Gluten sensitivity as a neurological illness":
"IgG anti-gliadin antibodies have been the best diagnostic marker in the neurological population we have studied. IgG anti-gliadin antibodies have a very high sensitivity for CD but they are said to lack specificity. In the context of a range of mucosal abnormalities and the concept of potential CD, they may be the only available immunological marker for the whole range of gluten sensitivity of which CD is only a part. "
Hadjivassiliou and Grunewald From:
The Neurology of Gluten Sensitivity: Science vs. Conviction
"Neurologic manifestations of gluten sensitivity are a scientific fact, not a theological issue. Whilst the debate continues, we owe it to our patients to screen them effectively for gluten sensitivity with the simple widely available antigliadin antibody test so that we do not in the meantime deprive them of a harmless but potentially effective treatment in the form of a gluten-free diet."
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I think it is worth exploring these things~
Cara