Hi! I don't have PN, but I found your thread searching for B-12 deficiency. You people seem to know a lot about B-12 so I wanted to ask you my questions.

I'm a 50 year old woman. I have Hashimoto's. I have a chronic problem with lingering depression and recently a LOT of achiness in my body (not Fibro, just general arthritic-like achiness). I also get very tired sometimes for no apparent reason and have other symptoms, such as back and foot pain at times, vision getting more blurry (might just be "aging"), getting very stressed and sometimes very anxious. I've been on and off SSRIs and recently have been off them and don't want to get back on them. The depression has gotten a little better since taking high EPA fish oil supplements and also increasing my Vitamin D.

I was recently diagnosed with mild sleep apnea and thought that going on CPAP might help. So far, it hasn't.

Anyway, I got a new GP and she thought to test my B-12 level. It is 398. She said it should be at least 500. She suggested I take an additional B-12 supplement. I already take a very good B-complex that supposedly has a lot of B-12, so I was very surprised to hear that my B-12 was low. It had never been tested before (I'm peeved that my Endocrinologist never tested me for this).

I'm reading here on this thread that B-12 should be taken on an empty stomach first thing in the morning. Well, I already have to wait an hour after I take my Synthroid to eat. Now I have to wait another hour for the B-12? Can I take B-12 and Synthoid at the same time? I was going to get the sublingual variety -- the Methyl....not the Cyclo.... (don't remember the technical names of them).

What about my B-complex? Nobody ever told me to take that on an empty stomach. I've been taking it with breakfast!

I would appreciate some guidance on how to take these supplements properly and integrate them with my Synthroid.

I also take a birth control pill, but I take that before I go to sleep at night so it won't interfere with anything else. I will be off The Pill totally in a couple of years according to my GYN.

Other than that, I take a multi vitamin, the D, sometimes some Ester C, and the fish oil capsules at lunchtime with the meal.

Thank you for your guidance!