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Methylcobalamin is better than cyano form, but you can use the cyano and see what happens. 10-30% of people cannot convert the cyano to active methyl in the body, so if the cyano does not work, you can get methyl form. Either online or some stores now locally do have methylcobalamin. Nature's Bounty at WalGreen's and Costco now carry it. There might be others now, that I am unaware of however. Read labels carefully.
The Costco one is a great deal... works out to 6 cents a day for 5000mcg. That is the one we use now here at home. I used to use Puritan's Pride one... and that one was good too. Long ago this product was hard to find... back then most of us used Jarrow brand at iherb.com . But those days have changed quite a bit.

Thanks once again, MrsD. I'm planning to wander out into the snow and sleet of Los Angeles today to pick up some methyl B! Would you recommend I do 5mgs a day at first, or should I stick with the 1 I'd started with yesterday?

Yes, I'd really do the 5mg methyl daily, on an empty stomach.
You have that Vegan history, which is very iffy for maintaining B12 levels. Not all of 5mg is absorbed you know, so it will just pass thru your digestive system and out into the toilet.

Only about 13mcg get absorbed orally from 1000mcg. That is not a whole lot. I suspect only about 20mcg from the 5mg.
RDA for adults is 2 to 4mcg daily.

MrsD: you're the best. Amazing that so little of the stuff is absorbed. Somebody's making a lot of money here...

But I digress. Sorry to keep asking questions, but I'm very new to all this. Does it make sense to space the 5 mgs out over the course of a day? There will always be hours between meals, maybe break the mgs up to 2-2-1?

Thanks again.

You can do whatever you choose. This intervention is about the cheapest you will find of any medical treatment anywhere!

I'd just take the 5mg each morning ... I did that for 3 months to test out Puritan's new methylcobalamin about 2 yrs ago. I tested at 1999. I just chew it up and swallow with a little water.

Works really well IMO.

And--
 

--it is possible that the hypothyroidism is contributing to your neuropathy.

Hypothyroid neuropathy is not that well known to most general practitioners (or even to a a lot of endocrinologists), but it is certainly documented, and often shows up in the hands/wrist/arms (it can present very much like carpal tunnel), in that low thyroid hormone status leads to mucin deposits in the tissues, which restricts room through which nerves but pass and often results in nerve compression--and this tends to happen more often in those places in which the nerves have to go through narrow spaces to begin with, like the wrist, elbow, and ankle. (Mrs. D has posted about this on these boards fairly often.)

See:

http://emedicine.medscape.com/articl...overview#a0104

http://www.neurology.org/content/67/5/786.abstract

http://neuromuscular.wustl.edu/msys/mend.htm#thyroid

Interestingly enough, many of the articles that delve into this most deeply come from France.

Glenn, thanks for that. I am hypothyroid and take 100 mcg of Synthroid every day. How that might figure into the PN I'm not sure. I've never seen an endocrinologist but will be seeing my rheumotologist next week and will ask him for his opinion. I'll also read those links you so kindly posted.

I'm also finding that my feet are beginning to tingle. Suppose this has been going on for some time, but since the hand sensations are so distracting I generally don't notice anything else. But last night lying awake in the middle of the night (per usual...) I could feel the tingling, with a shot up into the thigh at one point. Oh what fun it is to ride...

By the by, I'm finding that the B12 gives my stomach a bit of a churn when I take more than 1000 mg at a time. Hope that will quiet down!

To Balanchine and Mrs D.

Just a quick note on taking thyroid meds.

My mom was in her 70's before a dr EVER told her she needed to take her thyroid meds and hour before eating or drinking anything. They burned her thyroid up 51 years ago trying to 'fix' it on an Air Force base in CA. She was sooo out of wack 7 years ago and this info was like a miracle for her.

Something as simple as taking it and laying back down for an hour cured her spikes and lows with her thyroid. Weird that more people don't know that.

:)

I got lucky in that my general practioner dr said right away that my PN was from my thyroid, which is amazing.

Very little is talked about in person or on the internet about thyroid causing PN. Yes you can find info but not in mass quantities like things like diabetes, etc.

And some say if you fix thyroid PN gets better/goes away. I wonder if anyone here has ever had that happen?????

This happened for me. Took a year for my feet to wake up though. My hands are much better (not 100%) but better enough not to need surgery. This was many years ago.