Effect of multivitamin supplementation on B12 levels?
 

I'm curious if anyone has had any personal experience with elevated B12 readings from taking multivitamin supplementation (fortified with B12). I had some bloodwork results come back and my vitamin B12 readings were around 1500 (normal lab values: 200-1000). I had bloodwork done several months ago and my B12 readings were within range so I'm concerned that something is wrong. Liver/kidney function checks out fine. The only thing that has changed between the two tests is I started taking a multivitamin that has 135 mcg of VitB12. Is this enough of an amount of B12 to cause an elevated B12 reading to be that high?? Should I see a hematologist to rule out any other underlying diseases? I know there is nothing wrong with high B12 levels but everything I read about it shows that it is usually a symptom of an underlying disease (liver,leukemia,etc).

If you did not stop the vitamins abut 5 to 7 days
Before the test, then you could test falsely high.
The ranges were figured based on volunteers not
taking any vitamins at all.

I'd get retested to rule out lab error, and stop
The multivit before the test before getting
alarmed.

My B12 level is about 2000 and my doctor has no problem there. I doubt the multi low amount of B12 has any bearing. Your B12 may be adequate in general. I take 1000mcg methyl B12 daily. Most days I do not take a multi at this point as I take so many supps separately. Age could have something to do with declining B12 levels. I started dosing with B12 probably 15 yrs ago and I'm 77 now.

thanks for the response. I plan on getting retested next month. If excess vitamin B12 usually gets flushed out of the body, any idea if its not uncommon to see it remain in the system and cause elevated readings as in my case?

Also, I didn't know that about the reference range being a select sample of volunteers. I understood it to be a given distribution from a general population of healthy individuals. thanks for explaining that.

Elevated B12 readings
 

Hello, this is my first post and don't know if I'm replying in the right area. This is very new. I've also heard that elevated B12 could be something else, so get your doctor to check it out. I read a B12 book by Dr. David Brownstein and he said that the B12 that is floating around in the bloodstream can't really be tested and isn't important and can't be accurately measured either. The important thing is the B12 that is INSIDE THE CELL, IN THE MITOCHONDRIA, which does not show up on a blood test. I believe that is measured in a Urine test called Methylmalonic Acid (MMA) and the doctor said that his test is usually around 2,000.