My new PCP just called and said i have low B12 now. this is a new development as it was just tested a few months ago to be normal.
Just wondering if thats "typical" in lyme disease and what causes it and if taking a supplement will help or is recommended.
( I also have low vit. D and iron)
Thanks Posted by losferwrds (Member # 19741) on :
The problem with B12 is orally its very ineffective, I have yet to find one that actually get absorded and to the brain ,you need to get shots from every thing I have read. I would love to find a way to boost it orally, I tried sublingual methylcobalamin and it does nada for me. Hopefully someone will be better informed than me on this thread.
Posted by Pinelady (Member # 18524) on :
That is what I understand too. Lyme patients don't
absorb well so they give shots. It makes me feel
so much better. For a little while.
Posted by kimwg (Member # 19094) on :
Mina,
I had the same pattern prior to diagnosis and treatment. For me, the low iron developed in just a couple of months. Low vitamin D levels are very common in the US -- especially for someone living in Buffalo at the end of winter, when you haven't had much sunshine!
Kim
Posted by jam338 (Member # 14002) on :
For me, hydroxy B12 has helped lessen some of my cognitive problems. I noticed it right away. For right now we are doing my shots twice daily morning and afternoon.
If I miss a shot my symptoms worsen. Have also noticed if I miss the afternoon B12 shot that I need more sleep medication that night.
With 2 shots daily I usually only need 1 sleep med. If I miss a shot, I will wake up about 2 am and can't get back to sleep without taking another sleep med.
I have learned to protect sleep at all cost, so the B12 seems to be a huge factor in doing that for me.
My LLMD said we could do a trial with increased amts and see if that makes any further improvements. Hopefully eliminate sleep meds altogether.
B12 shots also do some protection work with the adverse impact in the nitrous oxide cycle thing, something do with pyruvates (sp?) or something like that. It is in Professor Marty Pall's work.
I don't yet understand Dr. Pall's theory well enough to explain, but instinct tells me there is something I need to learn in this area. I think it could be key in some symptom management for some of us.
I think Dr. Pall's work/theory has been focused mostly on Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, but seems to me it might applicable to any chronic illness, including lyme disease.
Dr. Pall (PhD) and Dr. Cheney (M.D.)believe, at least in part, that B12 helps protect the brain from damage. I think it protects against the damage to nerves in the brain caused by over-firing neurons. Not sure that I have this right so I encourage anyone interested in it to google Marty Pall PhD and nitrous oxide cycle read up on it.
Hopefully, someone who understands B12 protection of the brain can contribute and explain more for us.
Posted by foggyfroggy (Member # 14707) on :
I also take the Hydroxy as injections, and I think they do help with cognitive as well as energy.
Posted by randibear (Member # 11290) on :
i wish i could do shots but, dang, every time i have one something happens. i mean every single time...
last time, i flinched and she jerked the needle and i had a big scratch and it hit the muscle, time before, the needle broke in my arm, time before that....
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