Why is B12 Curing My Muscle Pain? + Bad Side Effects, Dosage Questions
 

I'm a little confused about B12. I originally started taking Jarrow 5000mcg B12 every day for some symptoms in my feet - stinging in the big toes, burning, minor tingling, unusual sweating, and painless muscles twitches that later spread to my calves. I just checked my Amazon order history and I took 5000mcg of B12 for 180 days.

About 1.5-2 months after the problems with my feet started, I developed severe pain in my shoulder - mostly the right one, but also somewhat in the left. The pain is an intense, deep ache somewhere between sharp and dull. Reminds me of a toothache. It's sometimes felt along the upper backs of my shoulders kind of along the scapula, in the clavicle area (above and below the collarbone), and where the shoulder meets the arm. I also get intense stabbing pains at the base of my neck around where the inner end of the collarbone is. I've noticed that there's also some painless, quiet clicking noises when I move my (right) shoulder, and I seem to have a lot of crepitus in my neck, although it only "crunches" when I look upward.

The doctors have been unable to successfully diagnose and treat both the feet and shoulder issues. I've just been told that my shoulders are inflamed. One doctor said I had a shoulder impingement, another said bursitis, etc. I've tried oral steroids (made me extremely ill), a cortisone shot to the shoulder bursa (did nothing), physical therapy, chiropractors, ice packs, heating pads, Epsom salts, and painkillers. Stretching helps - sometimes if I try to shrug my shoulder and experience a ton of pain, I'll leave my desk at work to go do some stretches in the hallway. If I can force my way through the pain and do the stretches, it seems like things loosen up and the pain will lessen a little. But doing computer work at my desk seems to inevitably lead to things tightening up and getting painful again, even though I try to be mindful of my posture.

I've come to realize that when I take my B12 pill, my shoulder pain is basically gone. There may be a twinge here and there, but overall I feel great, and my range of motion returns to normal. When the pain is at its worst it's hard to lift my arm up, especially when it's out at my side, and shrugging is veeeery painful. However, as soon as I stop taking my B12 I'm back to square one within a few days.

The issues with my feet have mostly cleared up, but I still have painless muscle twitches in my lower legs mostly, occasionally in my feet. FYI, my B12 level was a little under 500 when I originally got it tested back in April 2013.

Why don't I just keep taking my B12 every day, you ask? Well, unfortunately it causes some side effects. I get VERY short of breath and my heart starts racing within a few days. I do have some of Jarrow's B-Right which has a much, much lower dose of B12 in it, but that low dose doesn't affect my pain much. My body just can't seem to handle 5000mcg daily. I mean, it works great for the pain, but the shortness of breath is just brutal. I may try cutting the dose in half or taking it every other day. Or maybe I'll buy some 1000mcg pills. I'm not sure what to do.

I don't understand why the megadose of B12 seems to perform even better than a prescription painkiller like Naproxen, and my research hasn't turned up much. Does B12 just have a big anti-inflammatory effect? Is a lack of B12 the cause of my pain in the first place? The reason why I'm so curious is that this might help me get to an actual diagnosis, which I'm desparate for. Shoulder pain can have SO many causes. But if a high dose of B12 can kick that pain in the butt, it seems to me that it's unlikely I have something like a herniated disc in my neck or a rotator cuff tear, you know?

Your shoulder/neck pains and desk work might be related..

You might explore our thoracic outlet syndrome forum (TOS) for short...
Many times TOS can be caused by the long time static forward head/neck/shoulders postures and repetitive movements..

TOS forum useful sticky thread - post #1 is a good starter course
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/thread84.html

Often mis dx'd or not even considered by many MDs..
expert PTs or DCs should be able to recognize it..
but you may have to bring the subject up for them to consider it.:confused:


Just wanted to mention TOS since what you described & desk work seemed to fit for that and the lack of dx....

While it's not a hight dose the 1mg (1,000) MethlyCobalamin B12 is not likely to have any or much side effects. You might want to give MethylCobalamin a try.


Gerry

It is difficult to say.... There is a study done by a doctor who measured blood levels in people taking various doses of oral B12.

This is the table from his paper:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...able/T1/#TF1-4

Notice the ceiling effect per dose. He stopped at 1mg oral, and notice there is not much difference from 500mcg. I suspect there is a similar ceiling continuing if he had gone to 5mg.

I assume you are taking methyl? Some people, rarely have problems with methylation in the body. This is a genetic thing and not predictable.

You could try using adenosyl form of B12... or hydroxocobalamin.
iherb has this:
http://www.iherb.com/Nutricology-B12...8&sr=null&ic=1

And you can search Google for other brands if you like.

Sometimes using another active form of B12 might help. The body converts them back and forth as needed. Bodybuilders favor adenosyl form as it is supposed to help with the muscles.

Hydroxocobalamin is another active form, less common in supplements and a bit more expensive than the other two...
http://www.iherb.com/Advanced-Orthom...7&sr=null&ic=1

I would try one of these two and see if your side effects lessen or stop.

My problem seems to be inflammation and pain, no tingling or numbness. The latter two symptoms seem to appear with TOS based on what I'm reading. I won't write it off completely, but it seems like what experiencing may be a little different.

Thanks for the B12 suggestions. I'll give those a try, see what happens. I tried taking just a small bite of the Methyl 5000mcg tablet last night and I'm having to gasp a little bit this morning. Heart is palpitating a tiny bit too. My shoulders are crazy tender. Just trying to use a washcloth on them this morning in the shower hurt .

Are you sure that it's muscle pain, as opposed to joints or tendons? I have calcific tenditinis in both my shoulders. It was acute in the right shoulder, which meant that it was at a level even doctors call "excruciating" and I couldn't use my right arm for a month (during which I was totally conked out on painkillers), but in the left shoulder it's chronic and grumbles from time to time. It shows up on x-ray.

Anyway, while there's not much I can do for my particular shoulder problem apart from keeping it mobile, but one thing that helps a bit is using the Miracle Ball Method for the surrounding muscle pain that inevitably builds up when something is iffy in or near your back. Read up on it on Amazon. It's cheap, very effective, also useful for relaxation, and very easy, as it basically involves lying on a grapefruit-sized vinyl ball and doing deep breathing.

I'm fairly certain it's muscle pain. I'm experiencing it below the clavicle (sometimes I get sharper jabs of pain above it), down into the chest a little occasionally, on the tops of my shoulders, in the back of my shoulders... Doesn't seem like joint pain. Everything is just extremely tender and there's this deep, intense ache. The pain below the collarbone comes in waves, whereas the other pain is a bit more constant.

I got my first therapeutic massage tonight, but don't feel much difference (yet at least). God I wish I could just take the B12... I still need to purchase one of the other recommended kinds. I took a tiny bite off one of my 5000mcg Jarrow pills. I keep telling myself not to, because when these things make me out of breath, they REALLY make me out of breath. And it feels awful, but so does this pain...

Are you also taking folic acid?

No, no folic acid. I've read that it should be taken with B12, though. Maybe I'll buy some. I just don't get this... The massage therapist thinks the problem is related to posture, computer work, etc, but no matter how much I stretch the pain persists. And it's been 1.5 years now! But when I megadosed on B12 every day, the pain was GONE. Didn't matter if I slumped in my chair or had a ramrod-straight back. It was gone.

It makes no sense.

has anyone mentioned the words "adhesive capsulitis" to you? (also known as frozen shoulder).

I had frozen shoulder the last few months. It wasn't until I went to a orthopedic doctor that specializes in shoulder injuries that he diagnosed it as frozen shoulder. He also treated it for me. Three injections of cortisone directly into the joint in one shoulder, two in the other. (actually not as bad as it sounds. Totally worth it after the pain of the FS!) Had a little PT on the shoulder after that. It's been two months since the last injection. No problems since.

Have you gone to a specialist for the shoulder pain?