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magic of b12 (plus.....shingles)

So I was on an upswing for a while. Famous last words.

I was getting ready to attempt a Risky Midwinter Travel scheme to visit my family.
Shuttle+ airport+ plane= 5 hrs each way. What a great idea! My dad's 72nd birthday, I did have hopes.

When suddenly.... Shingles!! :eek:

I thought that was what Old People got. Well Happy 50th apparently Here I am. Shinglesville.

At first I thought I could go anyway, then I realized that merely packing had worn me out completely. Cancelled trip at last minute. :grumpy:

GRATITUDE PRACTICE:
I have family even if I can't visit them in person right now
I only got 4 baby shingles and the pain was not intense like some people get
I'm able to take an antiviral
After about a week I feel a lot less exhausted than I did at first

I know, I said B-12 and instead it's been Shingles.?

Here's the B-12 part.

I had been feeling so much better that, La De Da, I'd kind of skipped the 2x/week B-12 shots. Because really Who Wants to (2 years into it.) Can we please be done already?

It was fine for awhile and then I noticed I was going kind of crazy. Weird symptoms.

Restless legs/ insomnia despite being super wiped out tired at night.
Waking up every 2 hours on the dot.
Dry eyes and lips despite drinking enough
Prickly nerves
Brain= doesn't--- work
Can't sleep can't do anything but lie in a heap under blankets

Finally I remembered B-12... Had a shot last night and

SLEPT FOR 5 HOURS STRAIGHT!!! :balloons:

Everything else seems to have straightened out. I'm hoping I'm back to my regular baseline of feeling only Generally crummy and exhausted instead of Majorly.

I have no idea why my body isn't absorbing enough B12 from food or from the methyl B12 supplements.
But gotta stick to the Stick In the Butt plan for a while more.

In other health notes I'm trying to get to qi gong class more frequently. I signed up last fall and only made it to about half of the weekly sessions. I do think the practice is super helpful and more importantly, something I can do.
I"m also trying to get to weekly Gentle Yoga.

Is winter ever long.

BOOK RECOMMENDATION
Hillary Mantel "Giving Up the Ghost"

Memoir. Wicked good writing about this business of Having A Body.

Comments

CedarHome - have you tried taking liquid methylcobalamin sublingually? I did B12 shots (by prescription)- self-administered - they're not hard to do) a couple of times a week for a couple of years and noticed no difference. My B12 levels stayed in the toilet. I tried the sublingual tablets daily, with no apparent results. Then I tried liquid methlcobalamin and after taking two doses 5000 mcg each, a day, one am. and one p;m.,, I finally noticed a difference in how I felt, finally had a bit more energy.

I put the dose under my tongue and try to absorb it that way.

As to why we don't absorb B12 like we need to, I think that's part of the mystery of ME/CFS. I have to take a lot of supplements to feel halfway normal and I did not have to take all of this pre-ME/CFS. I think nutrients have trouble getting into the cells, or perhaps properly utilized once they're in the cells.

In any event, you might just try the liquid methylcobalamin - I do have to take it daily and I take 2 x a day, but hey -it works! I've used all 3 of these products and they all seem to work - and actually you may need less than me, because my 2x weekly B12 shots didn't seem to do anything for me. Here are products I've used which I think are good:
Why Not Natural Methylcobalamin B12
Bluebonnet Liquid Cellular Active Methylcobalamin 5000 mcg.
KAL Methylcobalamin

Note the dose for the KAL product is 2500 mcg. so I just doubled the dose to get 5000 mcg. a dose.

I'm assuming I'm only absorbing some fraction of what I need but taking such a high dose seems to get me what I do need.

I'm really sorry you had to miss your dad's 72nd birthday! This illness robs us of a lot, but good on you for your gratitude practice - though sometimes it's hard to do!
 
Huh, okay... Well I have some Quicksilver Liposomal Methyl B complex and haven't really noticed that it makes any difference. (Expensive pee anyone?)

But now that I READ THE LABEL it says to "hold under tongue for 30 seconds" which I have not been doing because morning because asleep because brain fog because Teeny tiny little print :sleep:

Supposedly 500 mg per 2 pumps. I'll try holding it longer and see if that helps.

And if not maybe try 2x a day.

thanks!!
 
Supposedly 500 mg per 2 pumps.
actually it's 500 Micrograms, not milligrams, per 2 pumps. Your 2 pumps is 1/20 of the dose I take. I take 5000 mcg., or 5 mg., 2 x a day, for a total of 10,000 mcg. (10 mg.) per day, compared to 1000 mcg. (2 x 500 mcg.), or 1 mg., per day that you have. And, not holding it under your tongue doesn't help either!

So it's not a very large dose you're taking at all. Look at your injection and see what that dose is. I bet it's not less than 1000 mcg. (1 mg.) and may be 5000 mcg. But you'll have to check and then compare it to your liquid product.
 
I am sorry you have shingles, and missed your Dad's birthday :(

Well, shingles isn't an old person's thing. I got it TWICE in my 40s when I was basically very fit, and could run 100meters in about 18 seconds (okay -nowhere near the world record but still pretty good for a 40-something)
I just must have come into contact with the chicken pox virus....so having had chicken pox as a kid, -and it never leaves you -exposure to the virus can often bring on shingles.
It is often connected with a lowered immune system (perhaps after recovering from a cold, etc) or sometimes stress.
The first time I got it my husband had died only months before, and I had nursed him through most of his terminal cancer.
The second time (only months later)was just after my Dad died, and I had to sort out all his affairs for my mother.

I got a lot of help from a herbal mixture I made, which I used as a lotion on the rash, and also drank 3 times a day. The doctor told me the shingles might last me 3 weeks, but I believe using those herbs shortened it to only 8-9 days. Also I got no post-herpetic pain.
I made a tea from Golden Seal, Echinacea angustifolia, Myrrh, and chickweed, and used it both as a lotion and a tea to drink. I also took a high dose vitamin B complex. That all helped me, but might not be helpful for anyone else.

I remember at the time feeling really bad with it at first. I described it as like getting "double flu".

I hope yours goes away as soon as possible :hug:
 
Last edited:
Enjoyed your humour! :) Can you share the strenght of your Methyl B 12 supplement? Just curious because I am restarting a family member on B 12 after a 3 month break.
 
Enjoyed your humour! :) Can you share the strenght of your Methyl B 12 supplement? Just curious because I am restarting a family member on B 12 after a 3 month break.

Again this is Liposomal Quicksilver Methyl B complex https://www.quicksilverscientific.com/all-products/methyl-b-complex/

2 pumps= 500 mcg methylcobalmin (plus other b stuff)

Play around with the dose as Mary suggests above.... maybe I could get by without the shots if I dramatically increase the liquid dose?

I do find that I can't take it at night, too energizing/ agitating.
good luck!
 
CedarHome - have you tried taking liquid methylcobalamin sublingually? I did B12 shots (by prescription)- self-administered - they're not hard to do) a couple of times a week for a couple of years and noticed no difference. My B12 levels stayed in the toilet. I tried the sublingual tablets daily, with no apparent results. Then I tried liquid methlcobalamin and after taking two doses 5000 mcg each, a day, one am. and one p;m.,, I finally noticed a difference in how I felt, finally had a bit more energy.

I put the dose under my tongue and try to absorb it that way.

As to why we don't absorb B12 like we need to, I think that's part of the mystery of ME/CFS. I have to take a lot of supplements to feel halfway normal and I did not have to take all of this pre-ME/CFS. I think nutrients have trouble getting into the cells, or perhaps properly utilized once they're in the cells.

In any event, you might just try the liquid methylcobalamin - I do have to take it daily and I take 2 x a day, but hey -it works! I've used all 3 of these products and they all seem to work - and actually you may need less than me, because my 2x weekly B12 shots didn't seem to do anything for me. Here are products I've used which I think are good:
Why Not Natural Methylcobalamin B12
Bluebonnet Liquid Cellular Active Methylcobalamin 5000 mcg.
KAL Methylcobalamin

Note the dose for the KAL product is 2500 mcg. so I just doubled the dose to get 5000 mcg. a dose.

/QUOTE]

Wow that's a very concentrated dose! Maybe I could quit the shots. I might try that once I run through the current batch. Thanks again!!
 

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CedarHome
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