New Member with questions
 

Well I am a 23 year old male and I have been having real bad muscle spasms, cramps in my legs sometimes arms. The spasms feel like they are fluttering; like when you hold a ballon at the end and let air out a little at a time. I also notice when I am writing my forearm and hand get tired and cramp up at times and my hand will shake. If I cross my leg or have my hand extended for a short time it hurts and get fatigued.
I am also real tired a lot lately, especially when I walk;my thighs, calves and knees feel as if they wanna give out, sometimes its painful not sharp pain but a dull pain.
I have also realized that my muscles seem to be shrinking; but my strength as far as I can tell has not been affected that much. However, when I do something that needs strength It hurts/stings. I have lost about 22 pounds; without changing diet.
I went in for an EEG and wont get the results until Monay the 19th
I had a blood test done a few weeks ago and got the results the tests are
Vitamin b12 306
folate 15.6
TSH 1.29
Renin 0.6
serum aldosterone 4.9

Worrying and any advice would be appreciated

Thanks in advance

Hi Magnus~

This is a low B12 level. While it may not fall outside of low end range, you will find plenty of data to suggest it is too low, and might very well be reason for some of your symptoms. Reference ranges vary by lab, but 306 is on the low side of typical ranges. Two follow up tests would be methylmalonic acid and homocysteine, and an elevation in either of those would clinch a B12 deficiency diagnosis. Anything under 400 is considered questionable, so I would not hesitate to take supplemental B12 (1000mcg daily preferably the methylcobalamin form) aiming for a B12 level near or over the top of range. And keep taking it to keep the level in upper range.

I personally had several years of neurologic and other symptoms before my low B12 level of 296 was finally discovered. My symptoms resolved with correcting the deficiency.

Here is some more info... with references about testing, dosages, etc. The AAFP and eMedicine articles are both very good. Vitamin B12 Deficiency

I am not as familiar with folate ranges, and I'm not sure where you fall without seeing the reference range.

I hope you will read about Celiac Disease. It is just one of many possible underlying causes of B12 deficiency, but the unexplained weight leaps out here. It is one of the more typical symptoms of CD. Celiac Disease is an autoimmune disease caused by an abnormal immune response to dietary gluten (wheat, barley, rye) that can result in a myriad of symptoms. More on that in The Gluten File linked in my signature.

Detecting Celiac Disease in Your Patients by Harold T. Pruessner, MD

Gluten-Sensitive Enteropathy (Celiac Disease): More Common Than You Think by David A. Nelson, JR, MD, MS (AAFP)

Gluten sensitivity as a neurological illness, M Hadjivassiliou, et al.


I can't comment on your other tests, but here is one of my favorite links that might help:
http://www.labtestsonline.org/

Hope this helps.

Cara

Hi,

Cara's information is an excellent place to start.

I hope you will cover the B12 possibility while looking at others. If I had known about B12 when my symptoms became alarming, I wouldn't have incurred such serious damage.

rose

Thanks fo rthe info. I have been taking the b12 1000 at bed time for two days now, I heard somewhere that the best time to take vitamins is at bed time...
Anyway, my main concern was ALS as some of my symptoms resemble it. The muscle cramps and spasms are just making my life misreable.
Thanks again for the info

:)

When vitamins and minerals should be taken differs.

Regarding B12, it doesn't matter for many, but some like to take it early in the day. The important thing is not to take it with anything else, because many things can make it even harder to absorb.

I would take at least 2000 mcg. And methylcobalamin type would be especially good.

Best wishes,

rose

I also noticed really big dents in my forearms about an inch below the wrist, when I make a fist; never had them before....
Need to stop worrying so much. If its something bad I cant do anything about it. Im just praying to God that nothing serious is wrong.
I bought someMethylcobalamin vitamins 1 mg and placing it under my tongue until it is absorbed