B12 and anxiety

[PippyRose]

I had a blood test for B12 deficiency last week. My Mum and Dad have it and have regular b12 injections. Apart from feeling tired a lot, I always seem to be cold so I thought I'd better get mine checked and I got the results today and it's low. I have to have another test on Friday just to confirm it's consistently low, not just a one off before the Dr will consider treatment.
I suffer from anxiety and panic attacks and I was wondering if anyone else saw their anxiety levels improve after vitamin B12 injections? Maybe I'm just clutching at straws but I've read that there are links between deficiency and anxiety.

Yep. It's mad indeed.. From what I've read online there are plenty of people who know something's not right but the numbers on paper aren't low enough so they wish they were worse so they can be made better :/

I've read that some people are campaigning for the UK to be more like other countries where they treat anyone who's symptomatic with a B12 level of less than 500. Mind you, where does that leave people with a level of 501 ?

Strange as it sounds Neroscope, I hope you are worse before your next check x

Can you pay for private b12 injections?

Yes canwejust, quite a few clinics and spas offer them. They’re popular amongst certain celebs as they are meant to give you an energy boost - well they do if you are already deficient! If you google private B12 injections you should find if there are any near you. It’s a lot cheaper to do it yourself though!

Thanks. I'll look into it. I've got horrendous anxiety and tinnitus. Both started a year ago. I'm wondering if both are caused by b12 but may be clutching at straws.

www.b12d.org/b12d/submit/document?id=13

I found this really useful and took it to my doctor.
I had tinnitus really badly but it’s gone now.

Thank you. Your tinnitus went due to an increase in your b12? I've not discussed the causes of it at all. Gp was not interested as my levels are normal. Just got sent straight to a consultant who said I'd have it for the rest of my life, then sent for an mri!

I don’t have pernicious anaemia but I don’t absorb b12 well from foo, my GP cheerfully told me I have the levels of a 80 y.o. Woman. I was 45 at the time.

I had a course of injections over three months which were transformative, the next time I started to fall asleep under my desk instead of injections the GP suggested sublingual B12, the sublingual is important as that gets it directly into the bloodstream (my science may be a bit off there). Also suggested mussels and oysters as a source of b12 that can be absorbed more easily...

Also if you are in 40s and anxiety is getting bad think about peri menopause too, classic symptom of falling oestrogen levels.

I'm 40. Have lots of perimenopause symptoms but my periods are regular. I think I need my bloods doing again!

CrabApple do you know why you don’t absorb it well? Have you had any investigations? There are a few common reasons and knowing which it is should be helpful to you, eg coeliac disease, long-term use of antacid medication like omeprazole, low stomach acid in general.
If you don’t have any of those, I’d suspect you actually do have PA. The tests for it are not particularly accurate.

I second the Boost spray. Works well for me.

Anyone tried the patches?

Can I ask what your low levels were? I have just had a full blood count done and my MHC count is abnormal - I have looked back at all my previous blood tests and they are all the same - every single one shows this as abnormal but because it is always abnormal the gp has marked the results as acceptable?!
OMG, I've just come across this. I had to check that it wasn't me who'd written this in my sleep!

I've had all symptoms of VitB12 deficiency for some time now, but getting much worse in the last 4 months. After a very bad turn, I asked my GP for a blood test and result came back that B12 serum was normal (400 so right in the middle of the range) but my MHC was very high (34.8). My GP dismissed it as all my other results were fine and like yours, it came back as acceptable.

Unfortunately, I continued to deteriorate and my anxiety was off the roof which of course led to all my symptoms being put down to this. I felt so helpless, I started to do my own research and ended up on the Penicious Anemia website and learned that the Serum B12 test was a very unreliable test anyway and in desperation, I decide to order some intravenous B12 online via the company suggested on their forum.

I started the injections myself as per NICE guidance. The first two saw my symptoms getting worse which led me to the GP again, a different one who did take me more seriously, but again wouldn't consider B12 deficiency because of the serum level, but ordered further tests (to check proteins, thankfully, these all came back fine). However, I started to really feel the difference after my 5th injection and suddenly, it's as if the fog was lifted and for the first time in many months, I got a hint a how I used to feel. You get so used to feeling dreadful, you forget what it's like to be half normal.

My 6th and last injection was on Monday and I felt my best ever on Tuesday and Wednesday and then the symptoms started to come back on Thursday, were full on again yesterday and woke up this morning back to how I felt before, drained, weak, horrible tinnitus, head fog, bad sleeping and yes, anxiety which had completely disappeared.

I've decided to give myself another injection this morning and will do so again every other day for the rest of the week. If I start to feel better again, then there will be no doubt in my mind, and I will be back to the GP asking to be referred.

Both the GPs I saw said that I couldn't be deficient because of the serum results. Neither knew much about VitB12 deficiency, let alone that the test is not reliable in many cases.

Thank you Maxine for these guidelines, they are very helpful and confirmed that with my presentation of symptoms, my GP should have started me on the injections.

Like you, tinnitus is one of my main symptoms, and like you, it almost disappeared after my 5th injection and has now returned with a vengeance.

Sounds horrendous Swingogthings. I really hope the injections work for you and you can use this to argue your point to the GP.

My 2nd blood test came back at 119 (first was 110), but as has been said, these are apparently not reliable as they don't always reflect the symptoms. I am due another blood test in two weeks because the Dr said he wants to find out why my levels are low before starting injections. For the last week I have been using a B12 spray (BetterYou) from Holland and Barrett and a high dose sublingual. I must admit, I already feel a lot better. I feel much calmer and am not waking up at the crack of dawn with a racing heart beat. I am also not waking up with the strange visual hallucinations I have had for months (squiggles/letters/geometric moving patterns on the walls). It seems too much to be a coincidence.

Could you also give these a try? It's worth a go even if if in the short term. Keep us posted on what happens next and good luck.

Thanks to those who recommended the spray by the way and the sublinguals! If they continue to make me feel better (and blood levels go up), I think I will stick with them instead of the injections.

Thanks PippyRose. I've given myself another three injections (continuing on an every other day basis) and I'm starting to feel much better. I am still struggling with symptoms of anemia, especially after exertion but I accept that it will most likely take some time for normal red blood cells to be produced again. I am happy with injecting myself, even though I do find it painful.

It is so nice to start feeling a bit more normal after feeling so out of control isn't it? My sleep is also getting much better. Like you, I got used to waking up at night with my heart beating like mad and very strange feelings.

Will you tell your GP that you've take the spray? I've read that once you start any form of therapy, there is no point in doing more testing as the results will be false and feeling better after treatment is enough of a diagnosis.

Doing more research, I came across something that could explain why I would be deficient. It was an article from an american medical school that gave a list of medicines known to deplete VitB12 and it includes a steroid spray, the one that my GP prescribed 4 years ago which I've been taking 3 times a week since. It would explain why my symptoms have come on gradually for over 2 years now.

I hope the therapy works for you too and the anxiety reduced. Mine certainly has and it is such a relief. You do start to wonder if you're going mad and makes you feel so out of control.

Yes it's good to feel 'normal' again and good to find a reason why you felt abnormal in the first place. I'm still tired a lot but I'm hoping that will change after a while of being on these supplements.

It sounds like there are lots of things that can deplete B12 levels. I was reading that the contraceptive pill can affect absorption (I've been on it for twenty years!)

I'm going to keep on with these supplements for the time being and hope I can avoid the injections. Also need to do a bit more reading about potassium, magnesium and folate because B12 issues can affect those too. What a minefield!

Just an update - not sure if anyone will see this as it's an older thread.

I started taking the B12 supplements - Jarrow B12 (5000 mcg) instead of having the injections. My Dr agreed to this.

I just had my blood levels checked and they've shot up from 110 to 1062.

This was just from the supplements!!

Just wanted to let you know that they work!