What are the symptoms of vitamin B12 deficiency?

Totto said:

Current complaints:
Tiredness, memory problems, inertia, funny feet, unstable and tend to fall to the right (and I actually am a bit of a leftie), tinnitus without any known cause, butterfingered, ridged nails, thinning hair of bad quality, suddenly increased amount of grey hair - oh well, not really premature I guess - sore tongue, numb patches on thighs, arrhythmia and my hands have started to feel funny too recently. And I often have difficulties remembering peoples names.

What of the above might be B12 deficiency, thyroid or diabetes?

Spoke with DSN today and she is convinced possible neuropathy has nothing to do with diabetes, she actually isn't sure I have diabetes at all as my HbA1c is normal. Stupid woman. She went on to explaining to me that my B12 was perfect and ruled out deficiency. I got the impression she didn't believe vitamin B12 deficiency really existed.

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I think was on the same trend as your DSN when I was banging on about the "morton neuroma" thing .However I do believe you have some link to B12 deficiency.
Can't you get rechecked for B12 deficiency.
Maybe you have a touch of both.
Whatever it is I hope you get it sorted pretty quickly.

You self medicate for the thyroid, if I remember correctly, or is it now on prescription, as a lot of those symptoms are also associated with an over active thyroid. Maybe the dose needs reviewing?

Totto said:

Of course not, I am happy you want to help me.

I had Ferritin tested about a year ago, don't remember exactly but think it was around 80, not less than that anyway. Hb always at top of the range, always.

I had B12 tested late September and it came back at 304. At the same time vitamin D was 146, very happy with that! FBC normal, as usual.

I have an appointment next week to discuss my funny feet and the tumbling-to-the right.

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Hi @Totto , I really think you need to hand that list of symptoms over to,your gp ...something really does not sound right ...
Trouble is b12 and low iron can cause similar problems .....and both levels high and low can make you feel unwell very quickly as the levels change ..

douglas99 said:

You self medicate for the thyroid, if I remember correctly, or is it now on prescription, as a lot of those symptoms are also associated with an over active thyroid. Maybe the dose needs reviewing?

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it is very important to,get the right dosage of medication precribed by a gp for a thyroid problem or otherwise a lot of harm can be caused ...

hi @Totto let us know how you get on ....x

Totto said:

Current complaints:
Tiredness, memory problems, inertia, funny feet, unstable and tend to fall to the right (and I actually am a bit of a leftie), tinnitus without any known cause, butterfingered, ridged nails, thinning hair of bad quality, suddenly increased amount of grey hair - oh well, not really premature I guess - sore tongue, numb patches on thighs, arrhythmia and my hands have started to feel funny too recently. And I often have difficulties remembering peoples names.

What of the above might be B12 deficiency, thyroid or diabetes?

Spoke with DSN today and she is convinced possible neuropathy has nothing to do with diabetes, she actually isn't sure I have diabetes at all as my HbA1c is normal. Stupid woman. She went on to explaining to me that my B12 was perfect and ruled out deficiency. I got the impression she didn't believe vitamin B12 deficiency really existed.

Click to expand...

Sore tounge and memory ....

Totto said:

Current complaints:
Tiredness, memory problems, inertia, funny feet, unstable and tend to fall to the right (and I actually am a bit of a leftie), tinnitus without any known cause, butterfingered, ridged nails, thinning hair of bad quality, suddenly increased amount of grey hair - oh well, not really premature I guess - sore tongue, numb patches on thighs, arrhythmia and my hands have started to feel funny too recently. And I often have difficulties remembering peoples names.

What of the above might be B12 deficiency, thyroid or diabetes?

Spoke with DSN today and she is convinced possible neuropathy has nothing to do with diabetes, she actually isn't sure I have diabetes at all as my HbA1c is normal. Stupid woman. She went on to explaining to me that my B12 was perfect and ruled out deficiency. I got the impression she didn't believe vitamin B12 deficiency really existed.

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No idea about thyroid but most could be diabetes or B12. I don't think your B12 level is low enough for it to be that though.

Kat100 said:

Sore tounge and memory ....

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My tongue is a bit down on feeling, but I do have the sore memory.

Totto said:

I have these strange and rather painful sensations in my toes and they don't seem to go away. My control is good and no HPC seems interested in looking into the reason I have these sensations. I have booked an appointment in the week after next with a locum, nothing else to be had.

I noticed that on the test I had in September my B12 had dropped to the lowest ever while, still well within range and MCV had gone up, still within range too but higher than it has ever been before. Hb at the top of the range as always.

My questions are, those of you who need to supplement with vitamin B12, do you recognise the funny feet feelings?

What other symptoms did/do you have?

What treatment has worked for you?

How long did it take before you noticed any improvement?

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Hi.
It’s possible that you may have more than one condition interacting, rather than a single problem that a silver bullet would fix. It would really be worth getting a referral to a specialist endocrinologist and/or neurologist, to see what strikes them. If you can’t get a referral then think of going private, just for a diagnostic consultation (they aren’t very expensive when you consider the broader picture – obviously a course of private treatment is extortionately expensive, but it is the diagnosis that is the key thing, and you will usually get more time and attention out of a private meeting and certainly have the meeting more quickly).
As regards B12, some of your symptoms would fit B12 deficiency, but of course they also fit many other conditions, and as others have said your B12 numbers look pretty good. In answer to your question, B12 deficiency affects people very differently. My reading was ridiculously low – 72 – but the only symptom I was aware of was a non-peripheral patch of my body that had been permanently numb for years (as it wasn’t peripheral the diabetes doctors weren’t interested – usual problem that specialists only focus on one thing). The telling evidence was the NCV (nerve conduction velocity) test, which showed my nerve conduction was very weak indeed.
Of course, with B12 shots my B12 is back to normal, but the issue is always how much damage was done before treatment (in my case, nerve damage is assumed to have been significant). Similarly, this is one of those issues that doesn’t get discussed enough with diabetics, I think: we may have good control and good hba1c NOW, which is always a good thing, but we will vary enormously in how much damage has been done before diagnosis, and that will affect our long-term health and our response to treatment.
I would urge you to try to talk to more than one specialist – so often these issues are interrelated. It has taken years for me to finally have a specialist (in this case a heart surgeon) say that my condition needs to be approached holistically, and that cardiologist, endocrinologist and neurologist actually need to meet together to sort out what is going on, and how far autonomic neuropathy from the B12 deficiency has messed up how my other organs are behaving (and who knows, maybe even work out why my body stopped absorbing B12, which they still can’t fathom). My diabetes doctor isn’t keen, though, so this may mean another private meeting. Good luck!

Hi I was also tested for B12 deficiency,I was actually very low on serum folate so was given folic acid my feet did improve and then a few months later was diagnosed as type 2.
I did have to eat lots of green veg.
Keep Well Andrea.