Vit B12 deficiency

[weakestlink]

I am currently 18 weeks and GP has diagnosed Vit B12 deficiancy (level was 117) she said since I neither a vegan or vegetarian we can assume I have the type where your body does not absorb it??

She said I would need injections but as pregnant wanted to double check.
She said she would write a letter to the haematologist to confirm course of action.

I am now panicking after googling it and seeing it greatly increases the chances of birth defects :(

Presumably could take ages for hospital to get back to her? She asked me to come back in 2/3 weeks to see how I feel? (I feel awful - breathless, extremely tired, lethargic etc).

Anyone have any experience of this?

[weakestlink]

Bump

[glossyflower]

Sorry I can't really help, but what is your diet like normally? Could you increase your dairy intake to get more B12? Meat and fish like cod and salmon too.

[Fluffeh]

I'm b12 deficient but because I follow a vegetarian diet and I'm pretty restrictive in what I do eat.
I was diagnosed with iron and b12 anaemia around 18 months - 2 years ago.
I'm tired most of the day and have sores either side of my mouth and a really sore tongue (that stings like mad when I use toothpaste/mouthwash etc). I've had the b12 injections, I buy veggie friendly b12 supplements from holland and Barrett which are around £4 I think and I try to eat a decent amount of fortified cereal for breakfast each day.
If you can increase your b12 intake it should rise pretty quickly and the tiredness and lethargy should calm down a bit.
I can't comment on whether the injections are safe in pregnancy as mine had stopped just before I started ttc, but I can't see any obvious reason why they would be ruled out.
I'm the mean time you could try the h&b supplements? I think the non veggie version are even cheaper and each tablet claims to have 20,000% of your rda of b12 in it :).

[Runandbecome]

I'm veggie and had very low B12 levels a few years ago so had to have daily injections in my upper arm muscles by a nurse at GP for a week. I felt radically better as a result and now just take B12 tablets from superdrug - so I can recommend the benefits of a boost through injections. Sounds like you have 'pernicious anaemia' where you just don't absorb it well so not sure what a long term solution would be - or if there is any risk in having the injections during pregnancy, sorry.

[kitty555]

I have a pernicious anaemia and am on 3monthly injections which I am doing myself. Right after starting the injections I felt loads better and wasn't constantly tired anymore. Not sure about the injections and pregnancy though, sorry.

[weakestlink]

Thanks everyone...

The doctor did say I would need the injections for the rest of my life. Didn't mention tablets as an option?

Any idea how low 101 is? He said normal is 200-600 so 100 sounds low. I do feel awful :(

Have read lots of things via google about greatly increased risks to my baby :( what is done is done though I guess as least I'm on to it now...

[kitty555]

It says on the NHS website that if its efficiently treated complications are very rare so you should be fine once your doctor found out how often you need the injections...

[50shadesofmeh]

Hi I've developed b12 deficiency too I'm getting weekly b12 injections , the same happened in my last pregnancy and I was referred to haematology, the difference in how I feel once I get the injections is amazing .

[memphis83]

I have pernicious anemia my levels never go above 80 my body just rejects it, I have weekly injections and top up with tablets daily. Most people just have an injection every 3 months.
I had them throughout my pregnancy and didn't get told it was a problem.

[SuckingDiesel]

I have pernicious anaemia. It was diagnosed nearly 6 years ago but the 3 monthly injections keep my levels steady.

I had a baby 8 months ago. Had my injections as normal during pregnancy and all was fine.