Abnormally high B12 - very worried

[Evie899]

I recently had a blood test. I am feeling anxious after logging into my NHS account and reading the doctor’s comments.

Since 2022, my B12 reading has been abnormally high. Over 1500. At first I attributed it to a series of B12 injections I had when I was with my old GP. This was in 2017. But now, 7 years on, it’s still very high and I thought it would have reduced by then.

The doctor has written ‘liver disease? myeloproliferative disorder?’ I have googled both of these things and they sound very bad. I called the surgery tonight and the receptionist said it was recommended I speak to a doctor but it wasn’t urgent. I have a telephone appointment in 2 weeks.

Has anyone had very high B12 where it turned out to be nothing sinister? Do you think it could be the effect of the injections after such a long time. I take no other supplements.

Any advice would be appreciated because I’m freaking out a bit.

Anyone? This has been on my mind. To add, my B12 was very low in 2006-2016 (199) and went up to 1500 in 2017 after the injections. It stayed there ever since but shouldn’t it have gone down by now? Not sure why the GP wrote those things on my app.

I have no idea, but can you send some my way as my B12 is low.

Bumping for you

You can actually have high B12 yet paradoxically be deficient. So what you would have is inactive B12 floating about, not the active form. Possibly your cells aren't taking up the B12, and this can be cause you are deficient in vitamin B2, which is needed to cycle B12.

I'm not a doctor so can't say definitively it's not something else, but honestly the explanation could be something far simpler and something that can be fixed with nutrition (something doctors aren't very educated in).

If it were me I'd want to test my homocysteine level, this could indicate whether I did have a B12 deficiency, if it's elevated. You could also look into taking a B2 (riboflavin) supplement daily.

Get yourself tested for the MTHFR gene (may have to go provate). This can affect b12 levels as it means you don't process b vitamins properly. It is very common in the population

I have a form of it and found out when I had early miscarriage testing. I can't have folic acid as its too synthetic, have to have methylfolate instead during pregnancy