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Metformin & Vitamin B12 deficiency

Indy51

Indy51

Expert
Messages
5,540
Location
Perth, Western Oz
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
Luckily diabetics in the UK at least get regular blood tests which will show if we have a B12 deficiency as those suffering this will have a low red blood cell count which is caused by this deficiency.

I recently asked my GP about it as I was getting small bruises on my arms which google told me could be a b12 deficiency caused by taking metformin, my doctor took one look at my last blood test on his PC and told me, no you have a better red blood cell count than I do. He then explained about the diminished red blood cells being a good indication of b12 deficiency.

The bruising was nothing serious thankfully, just a reaction to the bu-trans patches I have been wearing brought about by the hot weather we had, remember those couple of weeks? lol

B12 deficiency is something we should be aware of but it really is not that common and as long as you have regular blood tests there should be nothing to worry about at all :D
 
Vitamin B complex tablets are cheap and easily available, so I take one each day "just in case".

Note that B12 on it's own is not a good idea, it can affect the levels of other B vitamins, hence the B complex suggestion.

H
 
Sid Bonkers said:
Luckily diabetics in the UK at least get regular blood tests which will show if we have a B12 deficiency as those suffering this will have a low red blood cell count which is caused by this deficiency.

I recently asked my GP about it as I was getting small bruises on my arms which google told me could be a b12 deficiency caused by taking metformin, my doctor took one look at my last blood test on his PC and told me, no you have a better red blood cell count than I do. He then explained about the diminished red blood cells being a good indication of b12 deficiency.

The bruising was nothing serious thankfully, just a reaction to the bu-trans patches I have been wearing brought about by the hot weather we had, remember those couple of weeks? lol

B12 deficiency is something we should be aware of but it really is not that common and as long as you have regular blood tests there should be nothing to worry about at all :D
Click to expand...

Sid, I can see where you’re coming from, and you’re exactly right to try to stop diabetics worrying unnecessarily about this (given there’s so much else to worry about), and to reassure them in general terms about metformin, which seems to be by a long streak the safest diabetes medication out there. But B12 deficiency is really not that uncommon, especially in people over 50, and it’s not a dead cert that the diabetes clinic will spot it (FBC tests are not 100% reliable on this). I had more than 2 years of six-monthly tests in a very diligent clinic which has been very happy to run lots of tests (luckily for me), including GAD, c-peptide and many others, but they never thought to check B12 levels, and when they finally did mine were virtually off the scale. I’m not anaemic, so they missed that hint. The frustrating thing about B12 deficiency is that it is so easy to treat, but if it’s missed the damage is not so easily reversible – because no one thought to check I now have significant nerve tissue damage and non-diabetic neuropathy. B12 deficiency can generate a very wide range of symptoms that are easily mistaken for other things (see Could it be B12?: An Epidemic of Misdiagnoses by Sally M. Pacholok and Jeffrey J. Stuart), and especially for those whose diabetes is partly linked to autoimmune problems it is always worth reminding GPs and clinics to check and ask them to give you the reading. Once you read up on B12 deficiency you rapidly find that many HCPs are as ignorant about it (in the sense of not being primed to look out for and interpret results) as they often are about diabetes, so they may sometimes need a helping hand.
 
I think it's the same with Vitamin D - best to ask for it to be checked - if you don't ask, you don't necessarily get.
 
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