I can't imagine a doctor telling a person that their B-12 level is too high. That doctor knows absolutely NOTHING about neuropathy and B-12.

I take 5000 of the Methyl B-12 every single morning sub lingually. I've been doing this for about 2 years now (ever since I was diagnosed with diabetic neuropathy). I had the burning, the pins and the buzzing. Drove me crazy. I immediately went on the methy 12. I went from 1000 to 5000 after 1 week. I knew I needed it.

To say it has changed me is putting it mildly. It has rejuvenated me. My last testing level was 2000. My doctor didn't even blink because he knows me and what I am on.

He's a body builder and knows all about vitamins. I ran every thing by him. He's also my husband's doctor. He knows I grow my own sprouts, and I make home-made yogurt and he's completely supportive.

He is also very supportive of the vitamins and supplements that I take. I wanted him to know first hand what I take because I have spoken to other doctors, who, when I told them about B-12, looked at me like I was a lunatic and said the following words (I'll never forget them).

"You take B-12???, WHY I WOULD NEVER PRESCRIBE B-12 FOR ANYONE WHO WASN'T ANEMIC".

I will never forget that doctor if I live to be 100.

I told his partner what he said. His partner said "yeah, he's from the old school".

This guy is NOT my primary care physican.

My primary care physician is the best. He listens and he respects us. We can ask him any question about ANYTHING.

And he even hugged me when I went there to pick up samples of Alan's meds.

I am always surprised at how different physicians can be. It's amazing.

Melody

Mel....your PCP is a physician, his partner is only a doctor

The level in the 600's is above the cut off that is used in other countries for B12 supplements. It is considered higher in US, but then we are very behind in this subject. Many doctors will still tell people in the 200's that they are "fine" or "normal".

If rose were here, this is what she'd say: (I have read her for about 10 yrs, and have seen this question often).

"One person's 600 is not the same as another's."

There is no way to know if the number is going up or coming down, unless you have testing done every 3 to 6 months.
One person may have no symptoms at 600... another may have many symptoms at 600.

When people show up HERE, with puzzling symptoms that defy logic, we have to assume that that person is unique in some way and responding this way. So perhaps the person coming here has a genetic need for higher blood levels of the substance being measured. Dr. Bruce Ames believes that people all vary in their genetic use of the B-complex family. And that eventually genetic testing will be accurate enough to illuminate their specific needs.

So while a number in the 600 range looks good, it is only telling us that it is not extremely low. It doesn't tell us what range YOU need to feel better.

Pabb:

Just to clarify. The guy who said the stuff about the B-12, is not connected in any way to my primary care guy.

This was another office with two guys working. Let's say this was a urologist office with 2 doctors. One of them said the stuff about the b-12. The OTHER GUY was the one who said "he's old school".

Nice guys, nice docs, but two completely different opinions about b-12.

One of the docs would ask you as you came in the door "would you like a complimentary B-12 shot". So I always said "sure, why not".

When I went to a visit and THE OTHER GUY WAS THERE, I simply said "where's my complimentary b-12 shot?" and that's when he replied:

"B-12, I would NEVER give anyone B-12 unless they are severely anemic", Oh, I forgot to mention that he also said:

"B-12 is absolutely not necessary and you don't need it".

Good Lord.

Just wanted to straighten out who was who.

My (and Alan's) PCP is Dr. Fred. We adore him.

Melody

Mine is 260. Supposed to be ok, but when my sfn stays idiopathic, I want to ask my neuro for trying B12-shots for a few months. Just to be sure that it has nothing to do with it.

260 is definitely too low-- that is if your lab scales are the same as the rest of the world.

I know the discussion about B12. Unfortunately in my hospital there is a minimum level of 150 and I am 'lots' above that. I already thought by myself, when they don't find a cause for my sfn, I will ask/beg for a B12 treatment. Here the problem is, that your doctor has to agree with you for getting the injections, you cannot buy them by yourself. Or you have to be rich and I am not

you don't need injections. You can do oral by yourself.

Many non-American people visit these boards and self medicate.

iherb.com ships to Netherlands. You may have an import quota,
because of Codex. That you would have to research a bit.

http://www.iherb.com/info/shipping/International.aspx

Oral daily has been shown as effective as injectable in medical studies.

I hate to say this, but a cut off of 150 in your country is archaic.
http://www.aafp.org/afp/20030301/979.html
Given that B12 is benign and has little or NO potential for causing harm, hesitating to use it
when frank neurological symptoms are present, is a poor decision, IMO.

Yours is 260??? and mine is 2000!!!!

And my PN doesn't bother me since I've been taking it???

My dear, get thee to a place that sells Methyl B-12 and start taking some.

You will be very glad you did.

You might not get the same results I got, but at least it will raise that 260 to something much better.

And your cells will love it. You'll have more energy also.

Melody

I came across this thread and thought I'd add my two cents. This post is a repeat from another thread. It seemed appropriate here also. I hope my experience can help someone. Please feel free to question or respond.
You are not alone. You are not crazy. If you have B12 deficiency and are just starting injections, be patient! IT TAKES TIME! I know you wanted to feel better yesterday or last year. I know you want to eat a regular meal and not suffer. I know you want to wake up and feel strong and alert. I know you want to be pain free. I know you want your eyes to work properly. I know you want to stop feeling like you want to jump out of your skin, or lash out at someone. I know you want to be able to walk without feeling vertigo or stumbling
against the wall. I know you want the depression to go away.
If your B12 level is under 300 and your doctor is not giving you injections, get another doctor! If your doctor wont check your level, get one that will!
A good level is 500 or higher. 300 or lower causes neurophyciatric symptoms! Brain symptoms! If this sounds like you call your doctor tomorrow! Again, you are not alone!
This is what happened to me:
Oct 2003 start Now I know everyone is different,so you may have some or all of these symptoms. Get ready, there are a lot of them. First off was a bloated, full feeling after dinner. Only dinner. That lasted for a while then progressed to every meal along with gastritis. It worsened slowly then added chest pain with it. I then started to get weaker and tired more. I knew this was not normal for me. I am a hard working, fit, 50 year old female. I usually run circles around my teenagers. This slowly progressed until one night in May 2004. I was getting scared about the chest pain and dizziness I was feeling. I went to the ER. I was put on heart monitors and evaluated. I went home with a script for carafate(stomach coater) and blood work. I followed up with regular doctor whose 1st response was "why so many tests?" I explained how I'd been feeling and he gave me a script for antibiotics(UTI), and an acid reducer(Prevacid). I said "what about my chest pain?" He said "The antibiotics should take care of that". WOW! I might be blonde and female, but I'm not stupid! I was back in the ER the next month (June 2004) with the same symptoms, but worse. Doctors thought chest pain was costalcondritis. Still had UTI. No recheck. This round of antibiotics worked on UTI only. Had stress test, results negative.
In March of 2005 still getting worse. Doctor ordered Upper endescope and GI. Results were excessive stomach acid, mild acid reflux and hiatal hernia (small). We did more blood work. Nothing! Still on acid reducers. Gradually other symptoms started to appear. I called doctor more often and made no headway with him. All he did was prescribe muscle relaxers and antidepressents! Ever try amitryptalene? Put me out a couple of days. Doctor usless never heard me when I said I dont want anything thats going to make me feel groggier! Only tried those meds once. Threw the rest out. The only other test Dr. Usless tried was a gallbladder scan. Negative
I was losing weight. Tried to eat something from the 4 food groups to keep strength up. This was my diet for over a year. Boiled chicken, potatoes, carrots, toast and a can of ensure. Anything that digested easily. Earlier I was eating pudding, milkshakes, icecream, soft food. Doctor usless never told me dairy was out with stomach acid problems! I also lost hunger pang feeling. That took a year to come back.
More symptoms: Weakness: all over (especially in arms, legs and hands. Arms felt like wet noodles and hands had slight tremor all the time. Walking: stumbled frequently (no I dont drink) walls are my friend and I still have that problem. If I took a walk (tried twice a day) afterwards my legs would have spasms the whole length. Palpatations under the skin, especially in calf area.
Muscle spasms: in arms and restless legs ( still have restless legs)
Eyes: Stys, not focusing correctly, light sensitive, right pupil enlarged(freaky) and I saw blue flash out of the corner of my eye. Nobody ever explained that one! Checked and no diseases
Light headed: vertigo, just not alert, felt high everyday.
Nauseated: everyday, strong odors like bus, smoke or gasoline made me worse
Cold all the time, not chills, just cold
Bladder: frequency and incontinent also UTI
Weight loss: Went from 5'6 130 lbs to 115lbs, way too skinny
Short term memory: terrible and doctors blow it off
Speaking: hard to get words out and make sense
Skin: sensative, hurt when itching self
Shock feeling: back of neck (scary) felt like cattle prod might feel
Heart: palpatations always at night in bed
Pain: in places I never felt it before. back and neck, burning, stabbing pain Doctor says, your not getting any younger you know. I say its not normal, I know my body!
Muscles: soreness..shoulders, neck and back
Depression: set in slowly..very irratable to family members. Jumpy, edgy and nervous. All totally not me. Have never been prone to depression.
I ended off work on disability. Dr. Usless did nothing more to help me. I kept calling and he finally said when are you going back to work? I said I'm not better! He gave me one week. I had to go because of disability. I lasted one week and was back in ER. They gave me some stomach concoction and another stress test (neg). Dr. Usless said I had him stumped. NO referral NO NOTHING.
OK then. I'm home, very ill, know this doc is a quack, so I need a new course of action. I feel alone, scared and frustrated. I have a job I can't do, a family and house to take care of and all of us are worried. First stop is a stomach specialist. A woman! Dr. Mary listened and tried a few meds. Some masked, but didn't take care of the problem (severe gastritis). My stomach hurt with whatever I ate. It didn't matter if I ate boiled chicken or a hot chicken wing! Same results. I researched and thought I had H-Pylori (stomach bacterial inf.) We tried prev-pac (2 antibiotics and prevacid combo) WOW it worked! Guess what? A month later it was back. Tried it again. It worked for a while and came back again. I think it just helped calm the inflamation going on in there. 3rd try of prev-pac did not work. Dr. Mary would take my chart home and ponder.(at least she was trying) I also tried rhumatologist and endacronologist. All testing neg. I have an aunt on dads side with rhum arth. I decided to try a doc here who I knew did stomach surgery, like gast. bypass. I thought he might have an idea about my problem. He ordered a gallbladder scan. Came back positive. I cried because I thought this was finally the answer. The boiled food diet I was on I was putting through the blender by then. Yuk! I entered surgery with thoughts of pizza, breyers vanilla with peach schnapps drizzled on top and lobster. Within a week of surgery I was way worse. Could not believe it. Dr. Mary suggested I get an MRI on my brain. Called new regular doctor (also a woman) Dr. Michele and she ordered one. My tests came back and showed unspecified areas. She referred me to Dr. Peter a neurologist. OK now i was really scared! Dr Michele was kind of leaning to MS. I have an aunt on dads side with MS. I tried not to freak out until I talked to Dr. Peter. I wanted to be told something. Put a name to all this! I just did not want a death sentance. I have a sweet and caring husband, and 4 kids. My youngest 14. What would happen to all of them without me? Many times I thought the worst. Please God no MS.
My appointment with Dr. Peter was long and exhausting. He tested me and we talked. He assured me that the leisions were not MS (HUGE SIGH OF RELIEF) He also told me he would not abandon me. He would figure this out! He ordered bloodwork. I cried because it was a relief to find a doc that was sincerely concerned. My second visit he ordered a lumbar puncture. I agreed. In the meantime, I'm reading a column in the paper. A doctor question and answer column. It's called Dr. Gott. Someone asked about B12. He gave a few symptoms(research only gives a few also). I showed my husband and he said to call the doc. Dr. Michele ordered it and it came back low. I started injections in 2006. I asked Dr. Peter if we could put off the lumbar puncture. He said yes, but wanted to monitor me along with the shots. This took a lot of patience. I had shots for 6 months before I felt anything! It took almost 2 years to heal along with physcial therapy to get my body going again. I was a mess!
Its a slow comeback, but it is a comeback! I still have stomach upset once in a while. My eyes will never be the same. The pain is my biggest beef. Im back to work and do too much, like the old me. I'm OK with that, and I deal with the pain by keeping busy. No meds, Do not want any. Stomach can not tolerate them anyway.
If I did not see Dr. Gotts article I'd probably be dead. I'm happy I'm alive, and pretty much well. If this is as good as I get, I can deal. I found out after the fact that my Dads Dad had pernicious anemia. Inherited?
My regular Dr. now screens all patients at their physcial for B12 because of me.
I highly recommend the book "Could it be B12" to anyone suffering with this problem. The woman who inspired it lives in my neighborhood.
A few months after starting injections, I tried sublingual B12. My level jumped right up. Try it. I still do both and feel good when my level is 600 or higher.
I have been looking at a few different sites on Pernicious Anemia/B12 deficiency and think I need to change to MethylB12. I've been on cyanoB12 all along. Did'nt know there was an alternative. Sounds like I could benefit from the change as I still have lingering neuro symptoms that could be helped by the change. Good luck to all