Please not that I am not a doctor or medical expert , I did however suffer permanent brain damage due to a deficiency of B12 that was not picked up by my doctor or pharmacist (not to mention a serious loss in quality of life) and would like to bring this information to the attention of the general public before some of them suffer the same fate as I did.
Do you suffer from some of the next symptoms ?
Chronic fatigue,off balance, memory impairment, irritability, depression , light-headedness , foggy feeling in the mind ( Ignore this symptom for three months and you will have it for life), rapid heartbeat and breathing , short of breath , sore tongue, bleeding gums, often going from diarrhea to constipation ? (many other symptoms are also indicative , please look it up.
These are just some of the symptoms of vitamin b12 deficiency (hypocobalaminemia)
Vitamin b12 is a very important building block in the production of red blood cells and construction of DNA
And a deficiency over several months will lead to permanent nerve damage , could lead to brain shrinkage and will eventually result in brain damage , you can live with b12 deficiency for many years
It can however become fatal.
Vitamin B12 is found mostly in meat , it is absorbed by the stomach by means of intrinsic factor a glycoprotein , binding with b12 and then absorbed into your system , often diseases like stomach ulcers (caused by a bacteria called helicobacter pylori ) can lead to your body not producing enough intrinsic factor , rendering you incapable of absorbing B12 into your system efficiently.
Due to above mentioned scenario and others that can be similar but too numerous to mention here .
It is best to take B12 injections rather than orally.
Now this is where it gets tricky , you get more than one form of B12 .
Cyanocobalamin , Methylcobalamin and Hydroxocobalamin
The best B12 to take would be Methylcobalamin and not the more popular Cyanocobalamin normally given by doctors because of it’s lower cost.
Hydroxocobalamin is also an option ranking above Cyanocabalimin but below Methylcobalamin .
I am not going to go into detail here , you can get tons of information on the internet about this subject.
There are numerous theories by numerous medical experts about how to go about rectifying a B12 deficiency
From taking 1 ml of b12 daily for a week , to taking 2 ml weekly for a month , some just believe in a 2ml shot monthly.
I believe you should look into the many theories yourself and decide which would be the best course of action
Please note that an overdose of B12 is very difficult to achieve but you should note that there are people who get allergic reactions to the injections , especially the Cyanocobalamin variety , it usually starts with sneezing within 15 minutes of the shot and it could cause breathing problems , so keep this in mind.
Recent studies by a Finnish group indicated that regular b12 shots with the standard treatment against depression
Can give much better results for those suffering of depression .
Doctors often misdiagnose the symptoms of hypocobalaminemia for other sicknesses.
And because many of it’s symptoms are similar to other diseases it is very easy to overlook.
Doctors in the USA were recently advised to keep hypocobalaminemia in mind and on the top of their checklist due to the high cost involved with misdiagnosis leading medical aids to pay for expensive treatments of other diseases when a cheap B12 shot could have remedied the situation .
A study in the United States found that up to 39% of a study group of 3000 had a low b12 count.
So it is not as uncommon as one might think.
Luckily b12 injections are cheap , readily available at pharmacies and can you can inject yourself if you feel competent , most pharmacies administer injections at a very affordable charge (my local pharmacy charges R30 per injection , you can buy a bottle (5 shots and syringes for les than R50)
So why suffer ? get yourself tested for hypocobalaminemia and deal with it , then get back to enjoying your life .
Good Luck
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