B12 may not be doing what you think it is

[seamyb]

Like many here, I have experienced a profound alleviation of fatigue and brain fog from B12. So, naturally I engulfed myself in the whole methylation angle.

If I stopped taking B12, my symptoms would worsen within a week. So, Greg's theory of functional B2 deficiency chimed a lot.

However, I've recently come to believe that B12 is not acting as a vitamin when it alleviated my symptoms. Recently, I began taking cumin and have found it can replace B12 to produce the same improvements. I've been off B12 for long enough now that the symptoms should have returned - the constipation and urinary tract pain is usually the first, alongside an increase in fatigue. But this has not happened.

My thread on cumin: https://forums.phoenixrising.me/thr...-my-poisoned-feeling-gone-pem-what-pem.84337/

It seems to work better than B12 (so far). B12 causes me air hunger, this is a lot milder with cumin. My days are more energetic, the effect on fatigue is greater. The only problem is that I need to dose cumin more frequently because the effects are very short-lived. However, this still works out cheaper than B12. Much cheaper.

I think it was B12's effect on cytokines which helped, which it has in common with cumin. I am now trying to investigate whether I have a chronic sinus infection from mold and fungal exposure years ago... this would make sense with some of my other symptoms.

So, for now I'm off the B12 (right after spending over a hundred quid on Greg's oils )

ETA: My heart rate is so much more under control now that I'm off the B12. I only started monitoring it when on B12, so I just presumed I had POTS. Now, my HR is so much better behaved and I may not even qualify for POTS any more.

 

[barabara]

Did you get blood tests done for B12 or other vitamins? It may cause side effects like air hunger by depleting another vitamin.

 

[Mary]

Did you get blood tests done for B12 or other vitamins? It may cause side effects like air hunger by depleting another vitamin.

The standard blood test for B12 is notoriously inaccurate because it only measures B12 in the blood but gives no indication what the intracellular level is. I've had very high serum B12 levels, but very little getting into my cells. I had to take quite high doses of B12 (two 5000 mcg. sublingual doses a day) to notice an effect. Many people taking a B12 supplement will have very high serum B12 levels, but this doesn't indicate what your body is actually able to use, so it's misleading. But many doctors go by this blood work and will mistakenly stop B12 supplementation.

The MMA B12 test is supposed to be more accurate than standard blood work: Methylmalonic Acid | Lab Tests Online

 

[hb8847]

Like many here, I have experienced a profound alleviation of fatigue and brain fog from B12. So, naturally I engulfed myself in the whole methylation angle.

If I stopped taking B12, my symptoms would worsen within a week. So, Greg's theory of functional B2 deficiency chimed a lot.

This is similar to my experience with B12. Helped for a bit, then worsened things.

My theory is that the body slows down methylation for a particular reason pertaining to health, and in doing so that contributes to CFS symptoms. And so when you start the B12, it immediately gives you that boost of methylation again, lots of body processes start firing up. But then you start feeling worse, because the body slowed down the methylation for a reason. So in order to feel good, you need to fix whatever the underlying problem is, and only then will you tolerate B12.