vitamin b defiencies

I am 44 yr old female  in good health in sept had numbness in hands diagnosed carpal tunnel, had surgery in nov on right hand dec both feet were numb and tingling right up to the new. had mri and cat scan and showed no tumor or cancer of the brain and spine. had a cervical mri came back a lesion, had a mri with contrast showed lesion and demyelination. told me i have b defiencies that is causing this, i have been anemic for 20 years or so. b12 taking
500 twice a day feel a little better hemotologist told me not b12 def... but anemic yes. i told neurologist and she
thinks this is all vitamin deficient.. get another mri with and withou contrast in 6 weeks if the lesions are still there
i get a spinal tap.. i can barely function with walking and balance issues. she said there may be a underlying cause
like cancer but for now no ms.. i am really confused that a low b12 would cause such damage i am at 300 level now
any help???  ps also had a complete gastro workup endocope and colonoscopy all normal..

thanks

[arachnaphob]

I suggest you have your copper levels checked. Low copper can cause similar symptoms.

[francis123]

i had b12 deficience and got shots og b12 they work more fast and feel so better after the shots ,i was almost crazy whit the simptoms ,kind of neurological tinglin,cold,numbnes, i hope you feel better God bless you

[calinden44]

Hi, this may not even be relevant, but when I had my daughter they checked me and her for certain genetic disorders as she was born early and they found we both had a mutation in the MTHFR gene. Not a horrible thing, but if heterozygous can cause a problem with homocysteine levels b/c your body cannot absorb Vitamin B and Folic Acid. As they cannot really find an underlying cause for you, I would suggest researching this or asking them to do a simple blood test. Most people never know thay have it as about 50% of caucasians in the US have some variant of the mutation, few feel any symptoms of it, but this could be an underlying cause for you. Just an idea as it directly affects your body's ability to use Vitamin B.
Hope you find out and feel better!!

[jason80]

If you do have this disorder, are your Vit B and Folic Acid levels still in the normal range? If so, what can/do they do for it? Thanks.

[calinden44]

Hi, It is a very easy thing to control by taking proper doses of Vit B and Folic Acid, but your doc can only tell with blood tests how much you would, in fact, need to function well. If left untreated I do not believe it is life threatening, but it can wreak medical havoc on your system and a lot of other things wrong that are attributed to this simple thing controlled by, essentially, vitamins can be avoided and controlled. It basically makes your body create too much homocysteine which can cause, among other things, early hardening of the arteries, kidney problems (stones etc). As before SOOOO many people have this (abt 50% in the US among caucasians) that I am surprised they do not make it a mroe known phenomenon. My daughter had to be tested for genetic problems in the hospital, and this is the only one that came back as it is a genetic anomoly.
So, overall, very easy to control if diagnosed, and can make you feel A LOT better too!!

[jason80]

Thx for response, but I'm still trying to understand -- if you have this disorder, are your Vit B and Folic levels supposed to be outside the normal limits? Note:My Vit B and Folic levels are within the normal limits w/o supplement.

[Todd36]

i'd ask your dr to explore other conditions that may cause malabsorption of B12.  if you're eating properly, you should be getting plenty of it.

[kimpton]

My nervous system melted down at 300, which is actually normal for people our age.   My body is happy around 600.  B12 deficiency can cause demyelination and needs to be addressed.   I had to receive injections because my body doesn't absorb it correctly.  My dr. uses Methylcobalamin.  I would test your levels while injecting because too much can cause other problems.  Also, from what my neuro said there's a certain # of age related lesions that are normal.