Chronic fatigue, memory problems - B12 blood level 239 pg/mL - Could it be the cause?
 

Hi all, seems like there have been some B12 related questions in this forum with good answers so I really hope to find here someone who had experienced it, or has some experience with it at least.

Im a 22 years old male. For about a year i have experienced weird visual problems, chronic fatigue and memory problems, with no doctor finding any reason for them. B12 deficiency runs in my family, in form of Hashimoto / pernicious anemia.
I got my B12 levels tested in march, with a result of 270 pg/mL. I got them tested in june again with a result of 239 pg/mL. Doc said this is the normal range and should not cause any problems.
Can he be wrong? There is any chance for B12 to be the cause? Have some of you experienced something similar?

Thanks everyone for reading!

Hard to say what is going on. You are pretty young and I'm pretty old. Back in the older days lab tests weren't even around too much I don't think.

Anyway, I have a good friend who deals with chronic fatigue for at least 15 yrs and her issues came on in her late 40's or so. I know she takes good dosing of Methyl B12 as do and I've been taking B12 for over 20 yrs given or take. My last lab had my level at 2000, doctor is ok with that. I don't know where a level needs to be for a 22 yr old person. Sorry I can't offer more. Maybe someone else here can offer info on this.

One post from the sticky threads
Vitamin B12 thread:
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/post520117-2.html

Yes, it is possible that your low B12...is giving you symptoms.

Dr Snow is on that link Jo gave you, his paper from 1999 explains how some people have neurological symptoms in the low ranges of B12 testing.

The new low is 400pg/ml. The lab ranges have not changed at all since a decade has passed that 400pg/ml has been suggested to doctors. And they still cling to their old therapeutic manuals and are resistant to change.

http://www.aafp.org/afp/2003/0301/p979.html

Also people with the DNA mutation..MTHFR cannot methylate B12 properly to activate it to actually work in the body. A test of MMA will show this ... a low value result is good showing B12 is metabolizing MMA properly. A high value shows poor methylation and poor B12 actions.

Many people have this mutation, so it is worth getting. That is why the recommendation to use oral methylcobalamin now instead of cyano (which is not active). If you have this, and/or pernicious anemia, you need to start oral methyl B12 now.
If you are vegetarian and not eating animal sourced foods... also this leads to low B12 levels. Oral is adequate treatment, if you take enough, as B12 is not absorbed well. 5mg methylB12
on an EMPTY stomach once a day will raise you to about 1000.
After you replenish with 5mg you can drop to 1mg a day, but many of us here keep the 5mg. MethylB12 is not expensive and easy to do. You may have to keep taking it for life.

You can come to our PN forum and start reading that B12 thread, and ask your questions there.

Thank you so much to everyone, i had almost losed hope. Now i finally have a clue about where this symptoms can come from.

Sorry to hear that about your friend. I had experienced continuous fatigue for a year and it has been really hard... can't imagine how is living with that for 15 years. My best wishes for her.

Really outstanding answer, and thanks Jo*mar too for the link. Can't comprehendend how my doc could had missed that, being or not this low levels the reason of my problems. He literally shaked my hand, said there wasn't anything physically wrong with me and said goodbye. He sended me to a psychiatrist, but I always knew this wasn't depression.

I'm not vegetarian, by the way. I eat a lot of meat/fish/eggs etc. It's normal for a young person like me to have low levels of B12 having a balanced diet, or I may have inherited my family deficiency?

I will try to find another doc speciallized in this area, and if he thinks that my b12 is normal too i will start to take oral b12 by myself as you suggested, and ill see how it goes.

Do you recommend some other blood tests to suggest the doc before starting treatment, or the MMA one is the only important one I should consider?

Again, thank you so much to everybody. You gave me such good news

Agreeing with others! Double check, but I don't think you can take too much B12 and doctors seem to be too conservative with the dosage/levels.

I have Lupus and other related disorders that often come with fatigue and most docs would write me off as someone who is suppose to have fatigue. But I have found proper eating and supplementing with vitamins to help my fatigue problems significantly.

One supplement that absolutely has helped is methyl. B 12 !!!

Others that I think that have helped include extra vitamin D3 and a good quality multi.

Someone posted this link regarding the ratings of multi vitamins. Mine is rated toward the top of the list, and honestly, I think it makes a difference

https://labdoor.com/rankings/multivitamins

I hope you feel better soon!

This info just came thru from another health group I'm a member of and I sent it on to my friend who is challenged with CFS/ME.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RV1...ature=youtu.be

Thank you, im happy to know that supplements are helping you with your fatigue too. Im finding that, paradoxically, doing exercise helps a lot... i usually end up more energetic when finishing than when starting :eek:


Thank you again caroline, very informative. Im taking cyanocobalamine now (The pharmacist had no clue about what methilcobalamine even was :D), but i already ordered methil online. I will read about the hydroxocobalamin mentioned in the video, i suffer from atopic dermatitis and that doc mentioned that when suffering from autoinmune disorders nitric oxide uses to be elevated and hydroxocobalamin is useful to bring its levels down, so it may help too!



My fatigue has improved (not cured tho, but its a good start), altough im only taking 1000 mcg of cyano daily (Well, since today the dosage gets extended to 1000 mcg weekly). The doc wants to redo a B12 test in a month to see if levels rise as expected, so im following his indications. After the test is done ill start to take 5000 mcg of methil daily and ill see how it goes.
My memory hadn't improved at all, but i suppose it will take some time. Hopes up!

Thanks again to everyone, you have helped me so much. My best wishes for you all.

Hi, you might really consider:

grapeseedextract.com

I've been taking it 20 yrs and it works on all circulation, head to toe. At 77 I do pretty good and good memory all in all. First thing that left my body when I got on it, allergies/sinus issues and over all the years more and more has unfolded. C

One should not take it if they are on a pharma blood thinner...that's the only restriction I know of after all these years.

Absolutely, it sounds like B12 is the problem. Either injections of Methylcobalamin or maybe even a sublingual Methylcobalamin might work but you need to be taking it ASAP.

So happy to read informed replies on B12 deficiency. I have only been treated for around 2 weeks. Have pretty severe polyneuropathy (missed by two docs because my serum level b12 is "normal"). Started with Cobalamin for first 10 days, but luckily was able to get methyl in syringes and am on my 3rd dose.

I want to do everything I can do minimize permanent nerve damage in my legs and feet (which are 100% numb!). Have had mild symptoms for over ten years caused by reflux med.

Question: I am taking Nuerontin (3x per day @300mg) to manage pain and muscle spasms (and, so that I can sleep at night). Would an anti-seizure med like this interfere with effectiveness of the b12 methyl injections?

So, three months later I remembered this thread, and i tought it would be nice to write a update about my problem progress.

The last doc i went to (before start taking B12 pills) diagnosed me with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and basically told me that i was going to be that ill my whole life, that there was no treatment for it. Then, he just said he couldn't do anything else for me, told me to have a nice day, handshaked me, and wished me luck. Thanks doc, very useful!

For a 22 years old young man like me (And for my parents, too), you can comprehend how heartbreaking this was. One year ago, i was full of energy and vitality, with dreams and plans for my future, full of hope. Now, just one year later, i was permanently exhausted, depressed, and spent most of my day bedridden. Seemed like i had aged 80 years in just one.

The only thing i didn't lost was hope. When you lost hope, its all over. When you are that ill, the only thing that pushes you forward, the only thing that keeps you alive is simply thinking that everything is going to be ok again. And being told that i was going to be that way for all my life, being told that basically my future was over (Who is going to hire a guy who gets tired just by sitting on a chair for an hour? How im going to travel around the world if i can't barely make it to my house door without feeling a urge to return to the bed again?) made me lost the little hope i had left. And in front of me, in my once bright perception of my future, there was only darkness.

And then i looked at my B12 levels, and i remembered some histories i readed on the internet long ago, about people with my same symptoms. My doc had long ago assured me that B12 wasnt my issue, but... could he be wrong? How could possibly a experienced professional, who had earned his position over years and years of hard work and studying about this subjects, whos speciality was diagnosing rare illnesses, one of the most reputated doctors of my city, how could he possibly be wrong? That was impossible.

But i had nothing to lose, so i found this forum and posted this thread. And your messages gave me hope again. Nobody i told believed it, but i sure did. I needed to.
So I started to take B12 orally daily, 1000mcg. Told my GP about it and he was basically like "whatever, is not toxic, do what you want". I started to take folate too, because i was in the low normal range also.

And, day after day, my tiredness went slowly down.

Three months later, I still have memory problems, yes. But im not tired anymore. I still have some visual problems, but im no longer depressed. I have hope again... and i will travel around the world some day. And my bed isn't going be there to stop me this time.

So, thank you very much for giving me hope when I needed it. And thank you so much for spending your time in a non profit forum, just to give hope to other people like me.

And, for everyone having a bad time now, remember that things get better, they always do. You can do it.

I wish you all a great 2016. Keep going!

wow, that is excellent news. It's really great that you came back to post an update. Take care there!

People helping people !!
 

Whether it is a post explaining the science behind our symptoms or sharing experiences or leading us to truly helpful and trusted information - all who participate on this site are just plain remarkable people.

It is so great that you shared your story and emphasized the importance of staying hopeful. In fact, I believe that hope is the one thing that only we can give to each other ... and I don't believe large doses can be toxic.

Thank you again!