Question about B12 deficiency

[maiken77]

I read everywhere on the internet that a B12 deficiency can cause heart palpitations. My Doctor says, that's not possible - unless there also is low blood count present.
I have a b12 deficiency (140) but my hemoglobin looks fine, so he does not think my heart issues is caused by low B12
What is your experience?

 

[Chocolove]

Have you started taking B12? And in what form(s)?
If so, I have read in threads here that B12 can lower potassium. A low level of potassium might cause some heart issues. Have your Doc check your potassium (K) levels.

 

[alicec]

I think you doctor is referring to pernicious anaemia, which is caused by B12 deficiency, rather than iron deficiency anaemia.

As far as I am aware, symptoms like heart palpitations can be experienced with B12 deficiency well before frank anaemia becomes obvious.

 

[Idie]

Heart palpitations can definitely happen as a part of a b12 deficiency problem. I am proof of that. I had constant heart palpitations that went away when I got my b12 levels up. Have not had them since and that was 7 years ago. The vast majority of physicians do not understand the wide range of symptomolgy from b-12 problems.

 

[Timaca]

The only way to find out is to get your B12 to a normal level and see if your symptoms improve. Do you know why your B12 is low? At least you have something you know you can improve! Glad you found that out!

Best,

 

[u&iraok]

Heart palpitations can also be caused by the electrolytes--sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium being out of balance or too high or too low.

 

[Evolved2]

Taken from http://b12.energy. Low levels of vitamin B12 can manifest for example as; anxiety, chronic fatigue, loss of reflexes, personality changes, apathy, clinical depression, mania, psychosis, irritability, tremors, seizures, symptoms of dementia, digestive problems, sore tongue, bright red tongue, tingling and numbness of extremities, pins and needles, feeling of falling asleep on limbs, memory loss, shortness of breath, chest pain, pallor, loss of sense of touch, and anemia.

Really, the whole body is affected since B12 and Folate are essential for the proper function of the brain and nervous system. So there are as many variations of symptoms as there are patients.

 

[erin]

I was rushed to A & E 3 a.m. 2 years ago with severe vertigo and palpitations. Doctors thought a possible food poisoning. They did blood tests for it and a routine blood count too. Borderline RBC and nothing else. I was sent home and asked to come back to the lab for more specific tests next day. I did and tests show B12 was a low as 102 and folate was very low.
Cut the long story short, B12 defficiency caused my palpitations and vertigo .

 

[Timaca]

I ran labs on Saturday and my B12 is now 612, up from 317. Even small doses of B12 (50 mcg) cause acne in me, so now that I know that my levels are rising, I am going to cut back to 10-20 mcg per day and see what my face does (and also check the B12 after a few months to make sure it is staying at a good level).

My folate is very good (16.1 ng/mL)...where the reference range is >4.8. I eat tons of vegies though so I wasn't surprised by that result.

Glad you figured out the reason for your palpitations and vertigo erin!!!

I do still have that wired feeling (comes and goes)....so I wonder if it is from the supplement. As I reduce the dose, it will be interesting to see if it goes away or not....

Best,

 

[erin]

I definitely feel better with supplementing with B12 But I don't think it is as simple as this. There is a definitely hormone deficiency or hormonal problem, Thyroid and other liver hormones. I also suspect cortisol levels are problematic probably. When I was prescribed cortisone injections I felt great with them. This hormonal imbalance might be due to ME destroying my organs; it is proven now my thyroid gland is shrunk and has a very strange texture. It is definitely damaged by T cells attacking it. I hope this kind of damage is not the case with my liver and other organs.

 

[KappaMaki]

I had a trip to the E. R. after about two weeks of palpitations that then worsened into tachycardia and extreme shortness of breath. Standard blood work, and all the tests at the E. R. showed nothing wrong. They could only tell me I wasn't having a heart attack. One stellar physician told me I was probably "just anxious".

A follow-up appointment with the cardiologist gave me the term "paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia". After researching and seeing tachycardia as yet another one of my (panoply of) symptoms showing up on B12 deficiency symptoms lists, I called my doctor and asked if B12 deficiency was a possible cause for my tachycardia. He said no. I asked to have a serum B12 test, and unfortunately he said no.

I decided to just start treating myself for a possible deficiency. Less than 24 hours after starting MeCbl, the tachycardia was gone, and hasn't returned in 2.5 months.