Normal B12 level!?
 

Hi everybody,

I'm really pleasd to be here, I hope I am in the right place to ask this:
In Aug 2011 my B12 blood test level was considered ok at 477 pg/mol (range in this country is 191-663 - should I convert that for the US, I can't recall). So even though I have been vegan (and not supplementing) since 2007, I didn't question it. Now with what I've read here, it seems that number, while not v. low, is low enough to produce neurological symptoms? Can conventional medicine have got it so wrong?
If so, is a dose of 1000mg per day (mornings on an empty stomach) enough to raise it? Next blood test scheduled for mid-August (doctors here are all on holiday :(

Many thanks for reading this!
Lakeland

Welcome to NeuroTalk:

I am a bit confused by your B12 concentration report.

there is pg/ml, ng/L or pmol/L

Some other countries are using pg/ml and ng/L interchangably.
pmol/L has to be converted.

This is the conversion chart.
http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/sc...ical_data.html

477pg/ml is borderline just over the cut off for normal. It is a bit low. So 1mg a day of methylcobalamin on an empty stomach will
raise you. Taking a bit more may do so faster however. B12 is not toxic so you can decide what dose to use.

Since blood work is only a snapshot in time, you could be falling from a higher number, and that would create symptoms. People vary in expressing neurological symptoms, when B12 levels become low. The higher the serum level, the better the movement of the B12 into the cerebral spinal fluid, and hence transport into the brain, where it is needed.