My story is a long one, so I fully understand if no one wants to read it. Here it goes, though...

Basically, I am 24 years old and began experiencing all kinds of weird health symptoms starting when I was 14 years old, possibly younger, but 14 was when I really knew something was wrong. It started out with me having trouble speaking. It wasn't so bad that I couldn't talk at all, but it was harder for me to pronounce words with an "s" sound, and I started stuttering occasionally, something I never did in the past. It basically felt like my tongue was too big for my mouth and sometimes like it was numb. No one ever seemed to notice since I just hardly ever talked. People asked me to repeat myself a lot, but I guess they just thought they weren't able to hear what I said, I dunno. Because of this, I basically spent my entire high school career in isolation; I didn't want to hang out with people because it was embarrassing to talk. I didn't date. I had extreme anxiety whenever I had to talk in front of a class for an assignment because I knew I was going to have to struggle to enunciate. It just wasn't a very fun time. But anyway, enough of my sob story.

Shortly after this started, I lost my sense of taste. I literally just sat down to lunch at school one day and realized the food tasted like nothing to me. I thought maybe the food was just unusually bland that day, so I went home and shoved a ton of candy in my mouth only to find that I couldn't taste the candy either. I told my parents I was scared I had tongue cancer, and they just laughed at me. They offered to take me to a doctor when I brought it up again later, but I was too afraid of finding out there was something seriously wrong with me, so I said I didn't want to go.

A few years later, I started having random dizzy spells, sensitivity to bright lighting, and blurred vision. At some point, I also started having really bad pain behind my knees whenever I would stand still or walk for too long. I tried to go on 3-mile walks a few times and would have to stop to sit down several times because the pain behind my knees was excruciating.

Then a few weeks after starting college, I developed a non-stop headache on the right side of my head and started having trouble with my balance. Throughout my college years, symptoms continued to appear to the point that I basically begged my dad to let me drop out several times (I lived with him, so I kind of had to do whatever he wanted me to do). Parts of my body would randomly go numb like the bridge of my nose or my thigh would feel numb for a few days. Sometimes my skin just felt really rubbery. The non-stop headaches would not stop no matter what I did. My memory began failing me. I started having trouble recognizing faces and remembering words (this made writing papers as an English major a nightmare. I would have to sit there with a thesaurus searching for basic words that I couldn't remember). I would randomly start smelling something burning. Driving would make me feel dizzy and nauseated. I even had hallucination-like episodes...I would just kind of start envisioning people saying the most random things, but I knew that what I was hearing wasn't real. I'd have really bad muscle pain randomly...it would last for a few days and then just disappear. I was running to the bathroom to pee literally every 15 minutes, and I peed my pants on numerous occasions because I couldn't leave class or whatever (I had to begin wearing feminine pads to class). I had really bad ringing in my right ear. My hands were always shaking. If I looked in the mirror, my tongue was always shaking or fascultating too. I'm sure there are symptoms I'm forgetting, but you get the idea.

By the time I went to a doctor, I had been having symptoms for around 8 years. I was convinced I had a brain tumor and too terrified to go. Stupid, I know. The first neurologist I saw said that my B12 level was "really low for my age." It was 344. He told me to take supplements and come back to him in 5 months if I still felt I had a problem. I sought out a ton of other doctors because I didn't feel like he was doing anything for me and figured that the deficiency might be part of the problem but there was no way it was the only problem.

I went to two more neurologists, a cardiologist, two acupuncturists, a psychologist, a neuropsychologist, a psychiatrist, two OBGYNs, a urologist, an internist, an ENT, some random urgent care doctor (to get tested for Lyme disease since no other doctor would do it for me), two GPs, and three chiropractors. They all told me a whole lot of nothing at all. Several of them told me that it was all in my head in one way or the other...some said it was depression, some said anxiety, some said depression and anxiety, one said somatoform. It got to the point where I stopped believing in and trusting myself because so many doctors told me I was making stuff up, so I just kind of started believing I was crazy. It led to some sort of weird depersonalization where I'd be experiencing a symptom and just think to myself, "This isn't real. It's not really happening."

I asked my GP to re-test my B12 level, and it's now 891, so a lot higher than what it was.

Over the about year and a half that I've been taking the supplements, I have noticed that a lot of my symptoms have disappeared or eased up, but I still just don't feel "right." The biggest problems that remain are the cognitive problems. I still have a ton of trouble remembering words and recognizing faces, and I can't concentrate on freaking anything. I've pretty much given up on watching movies and reading books...I can't remember what happened in the story 15 minutes ago and can't focus anyway. I still have to pee a lot too, but I no longer have trouble holding it until I can make it to the bathroom. The headaches persist but aren't as bad as they used to be. The dizziness, balance problems, hand shakiness, leg pain, ringing in my ear, and olfactory and auditory hallucinations are pretty much gone, though.

I'm sorry this was so long. It's hard for me to be concise. My question is: Could my problem have been just a B12 deficiency all along? And if so, does this basically mean that any problems I have left are the result of irreversible nerve damage that I'm just going to have to learn to deal with for the rest of my life?

I wish I could try out B12 shots to see if they help more than the supplements, but my doctors won't give me them since my level went up with the supplements.

yes, it is possible to be a B12 def. Give it another few months, and get the value over 1000. Try to get a doc to pursue WHY you are def.. and try to get a complete nutritional work up. Also try to get them to test for celiac disease. good luck

Hi there, first of all, just want to say I'm very glad you're feeling better, and hope it continues. I would continue with what medical treatment I could and I would also seek our current and creditable research, and of course, reach out for support as you've done, and use your own best judgement. I know that the mental, physical, emotional "we" is all interwoven. I'm afraid I don't have much in the way of answers here except to say that I had a B12 deficiency at one time when I was quite a bit younger, and it did in fact, on it's own, I believe-cause a lot of issues. I think I remedied it though and have been stable with respect to B12, since. However, there are and have been other things going on, and may also be in your case. I am not qualified to say. But if it were me, I would stay proactive with respect to health issues, and take good care of oneself. I do wish you all the best!

I don't think anyone could answer either of those questions definitively.

Some medical conditions/disorders are the result of vitamin deficiencies, and some vitamin deficiencies are the result of medical conditions/disorders.

If you believe your remaining symptoms are deficiency related, I would talk to your doctor about screening for other possible deficiencies, and begin treating them—one at a time—to avoid confusion.

Doc