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Vitamin B12 levels - where are you in the "normal" range?

LittleGreyCat

Well-Known Member
Retired Moderator
Messages
4,384
Location
Suffolk, UK
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Dislikes
Diet drinks - the artificial sweeteners taste vile.
Having to forswear foods I have loved all my life.
Trying to find low carb meals when eating out.
Or other range, if you are high or low?

Just checking my tests from last year, I see:

"Serum vitamin B12 level 290 pg/mL [197.0 - 771.0]"

This puts me in the "normal" range but towards the lower end.
Quick calculation suggest bottom 16% of the normal range.

I realise that there will be grey areas around the upper and lower limits, but wondered what results others were getting, and how low, for example, people are testing.
 
@LittleGreyCat are you on Metformin? And if so, how long for? And have you ever supplemented B12?

If I don't supplement consistently, my B12 levels drop well below the bottom of the normal range.
Its a malabsorption issue, and not related to taking metformin, which is well known for causing B12 deficiency over time, in some people.
As long as I remember the supplements I bounce around in the bottom third of 'normal'.
 
How did you know or the doctor suspect, you were deficient in B12 , Brunneria?

I wonder, because of my family history?
D.
 
lindisfel said:
How did you know or the doctor suspect, you were deficient in B12 , Brunneria?

I wonder, because of my family history?
D.
Click to expand...

I decided to run a suite of private blood tests via Thriva.

My father had just been identified as having high ferritin, and I was concerned about bronze diabetes.
Went to doc, who ran tests, but (of course) the one test I really wanted failed, and the surgery obstructed my every attempt to get it re-tested. In the end, I just went private.

The suite of tests I chose had ferritin, folate, b12, vit D, cholesterol, hba1c, inflammatory markers, and a couple of others.
Veerrryyyy informative.

I have high ferritin too. Not high enough to cause bronze diabetes through organ damage, but high enough that I want to keep an eye on it.

Thriva even do an analysis by a doc and advise you to see a doc as nec.
I ended up needing hefty supplements of B12. D3 (and K2) and folate.
Can't tell you how much better I feel on them.
Though I have learned to use sublingual B12 liquid supplements, since apparently my digestive tract doesn't absorb it properly, from food or tablets. Same with Magnesium. I use magnesium oil on the skin, because I don't absorb it from tablets.
 

As per my signature I am a long term Metformin user.

At the moment I don't supplement B12.

I was cheered that my surgery included B12 in my last set of tests, so I am now trying to estimate if I should take some B12 to bring my levels a bit further up the "normal" range.
 
My father had pernicious anemia in his thirties, the disease attacked his gut and caused cancer. Sadly there were not many treatments in those days.
Hope you get your dad and yourself sorted out, Brunneria.
I guess I must be ok getting to 81.
regards
D.
 
280 June 2020
249 Feb 2020
319 Jan 2019
278 may 2019
301 jan 2018
287 Oct 2016
325 Jun 2016
 

Apparently , our bodies don’t accumulate B12 when we take it as a supplement. Our body just keeps the necessary and the rest... so we don’t have watch for having too much B12
 
SMS1 said:
Apparently , our bodies don’t accumulate B12 when we take it as a supplement. Our body just keeps the necessary and the rest... so we don’t have watch for having too much B12
Click to expand...

@Brunneria , is it better to take folate or folic acid?
 
SMS1 said:
@Brunneria , is it better to take folate or folic acid?
Click to expand...

ooh, now you are asking...

To be honest, i can’t remember! I did all the research so long ago that I cannot remember the details.
However, I ended up buying from Amazon. It was this stuff:
Optimised Folate L-Methylfolate 1000mcg
I vaguely recall choosing it because it was better/more absorbable, but I would advise you to check that instead of making the mistake of thinking my memory is accurate!
 
I was at 159 when checked the first time part of a wide range of tests which got me diagnosed type 2 to boot. 160 was the lower end of range but the dr refused to treat me. So I got myself Sublingual mythacocolabin (sp!) And got up to about 800 in 3 months taking it most days. I felt much better bit also went keto and got blood sugars down from 55 to 44 in the same time. It rapidly fell back to the 300’s when I stopped supplements and then more slowly back i to the 200’s. The speed of fall was about treble what’s considered normal. No dr will pay any attention as it’s within range and they don’t care how fast it falls despite a diet very high in b12 rich food.

Ferretin for me has always been (Many years) at or below the bottom of normal in contrast to @Brunneria and resists all efforts to raise it beyond about 15 no matter how much heme iron I consume or iron supplements I manage to tolerate. I strongly suspect malabsorption of both as a result. But I’m not technically anaemic as hb levels hover a little above minimum.
 
I don't supplement, but my B12levels have been abnormally high in my last 2 blood tests!
842ng/L this time (normal 191-663) last time was just over at 671ng/L.
 
I stopped taking my B12 supplement my last serum B12 was 842ng/L ! I obviously get enough in my diet
 
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