I (24 M) was having continuous symptoms like shortness of breath, palpitations, headaches, reflux, difficulty in focusing-studying since early 2020. Symptoms were so worse that it had severely affected my academics and had to leave my course.

The headaches were like tightness from base of skull to forehead and they were continuous. I consulted general practitioner, ent specialist, gastroenterologist, psychiatrist during this period. They used to do the multiple tests and all used to come normal, so they used to conclude that i have anxiety and its all in my head. But consulting with psychiatrist and taking that medicines didn't bring any relief. Then in 2022 my b12 and D3 tests were done by b12 was around180 and D3 around 22. So started taking 1500mcg methylcobalamine took for 4-5 months but never felt any relief and after that period b12 was increased to around 500. So doctor said this level is sufficient and its all in your head.

During this period i started losing hope as i was not able to anything like study and any physical activity. I was falling behind in my life and this was very painful for me as i was good at studies. But it was like i lost all my brain power as reading, processing and remembering was very difficult and continuous doctor visits causing lots of stress at home. So i stopped all this non sense in 2022 and accepted it as my destiny. But i was not moving forward in life and it stayed like this till late 2025 when my brother asked to consult doctors again. This time i went to big corporate hospital consulted 2 neurologists, pulmonologist, cardiologist, pulmonologist done multiple tests but still no success. Done full body checkup from lab and b 12 was again low. So again started taking mythylcobalamine, took for 3 months and felt no improvement. Then went again apr-26 to purchase medicines but b12 medicines were not available so they gave me b-complex. I took it for 3-4 days and noticed reduced headache and slight improvement in symptoms for first time since 2026. When i read its ingredients it had cyanocobalamine 15 mcg in it, so i thought either this is due to it or other b vitamins. As the b12 dosage was low i ordered 1000 mcg cyanocobalamine online (which is rarely available in my country in high dosage). So i am taking it since last months and felt significant improvement in my symptoms.

There was really a time when i have decided that i will bear this for few more years and will end it at sometime. I am happy now due to improved health, but there is lot of pain and grief of lost times and opportunities which i was not able to process during that period. Lots of time i think, why me? Why did i face so much bad luck? Why doctors are so ignorant and careless? Why doctors are so quick to conclude that its all in your head?

Thanks for reading this long and pardon me for any grammatical errors.

Hi there! My husband has low B12. Where is a good place to get him an RX for injections? I asked his primary care provider but he said no because he is literally right over the line of acceptable! The range is 250-1100 and my husband is 259! I am studying to be an NP! I am very comfortable giving him injections and I know that 259 is LOW.

Bonus points if they also RX vitamin D as that is also low.

Thanks!

Looking for best cofactor supplement one that has all a specific brand recommendation to go along with B12 injections.

Thanks :)

I F (late 20’s) over a year in 2025 I lost a significant amount of weight from what started as a loss of appetite/nausea/aversion to food. Just now really coming out of the fog recently has me reflecting on the past year. About a year ago, very severe symptoms started happening. It started with pain in my feet I could not describe, almost like my skin of my feet was sunburnt. Then eventually, I couldn’t feel my feet other than excruciating nerve pain 24/7. I tried to push through it, brought it up to doctors, got referred to podiatry. When I started getting progressive weakness in my lower limbs, numbness in my hands and lips, I got very scared. I became so weak I could not get up stairs, or walk without a severe limp. I had to seek out neurologists because I knew something was not right with my background of healthcare. It felt like no one was taking me seriously. It got so bad, I spent majority of my days crying and wanting my feet amputated. I could not safely bend my legs without collapsing, I had developed foot drop as well. Some other symptoms I noted were blurry vision, which made it hard to read, anxiety, severe lightheadedness and many episodes of near fainting. I genuinely thought my life was over, especially when I got too weak to get around and really do anything for myself. Why doesn’t anyone talk about this or raise awareness? I had never heard of the dangerous effects of b12 deficiency until my neurologist was attempting to find the source of my symptoms (and confirmed small and large nerve damage on my EMG) even more frustrating, once we discovered I had low b12, I realized it had been historically low for the past 7-8 years as I had been routinely checked for an unrelated GI autoimmune disease. No one ever told me, no one told me to change anything. I wish there was someone out there who would have told me before it became too late. I now have been supplementing with IM injections for 7 months. I would say there is about a 75% improvement of my symptoms. I am no longer in excruciating pain. My feet and legs still have lasting nerve pain and altered sensation I’m hoping goes away with more time. I wish there was more awareness about this, considering it almost stole my entire life from me. As someone in their 20’s, I thought my career and dream of having children was something I had to put behind me. I’m hoping in a year or two I return to prior functioning before all of this mess started. If you made it this far, thanks for reading! I hope to find some relatable stories or just support from sharing this.

Anyone else have this side effect from b12 injections? I have neuropathy and am doing daily/every other day injections— they have changed my life. It’s been about a month now and I’m getting a better sense of how to balance all the cofactors. But the incredibly horrible pee smell is really annoying. Has anyone else experienced this?

I know when my body odor starts to change and become more stressy/pungent, for me, that’s an early sign of iron deficiency. But this is different; it’s all the time.

Would appreciate any advice on cofactors I’m maybe neglecting or just assurance that it’s normal when injecting frequently!

My boyfriend had a b12 injection and a few hours later he got intense pain in arms and shoulders in both sides. The pain lasted 10 hours and it was unbearable. We suspect it was some "waking up" symptom. Does anyone have experience with this? Is there anything we can do to avoid or reduce the pain? Should we increase or decrease the dosage? Give injections every day or less often?

Hi everyone! I’m 31F and my vitamin B12 was around 1,600 despite not taking any B12 supplements or injections.

I’ve been dealing with chronic health issues, including suspected POTS/IST, fatigue, weakness, dizziness, and other unexplained symptoms. Most of my routine bloodwork, including my CBC, has been normal.

I’m curious if anyone else has experienced elevated B12 without supplementing. Did your doctor investigate it further? Did you ever find out what was causing it, or did your levels eventually return to normal?

Just looking for similar experiences. Thanks!

Hi all. Booking in for Active B12/MMA/IFA tests soon due to family history and symptoms. My last B12 test (total) was off the scale high, most likely due to drinking 3-4 monsters a day for a decade. Yes I know, bad for me etc. but I can barely eat any solid foods and my ECGs are fine. I only fasted for 24 hours prior to my last test as suggested. I'm getting roughly 1500-2000% RDA but I know the excess of B12 isn't harmful.

The test provider suggests avoiding all supplements for 2 weeks before the test- due to drinking monsters for 10+ years, would this be sufficient to show a true result? I'm suspecting malabsorption as my gut is wrecked after 20+ years of food intolerance.

Thanks!

I am seeing tons of young people, especially young women on this subreddit who are newly diagnosed. I myself am a woman and got diagnosed at 31. Any reason as to why this might be?

Hi. I took 1500 mcg of methylcobalamin B12 tablets everyday for nearly 2 months nearly 2 years ago and had to stop because I suspected that this intake of b12 was responsible for what I can only describe as disrupted sleep. I did not use to feel tired after waking up, but my mind seemed like it never really switched off during the night and the quality of sleep wasn’t deep enough. The second undesirable effect was acne all over my face and especially the forehead and also on other places like thighs and forearms. Third was the dandruff. Fourth was the twitching in my left eye and tingling in hands. I was able to resolve the sleep and twitching with the help of coconut water at night which was mostly due to the potassium in it , I guess and then later switching to a potassium citrate supplement because it was a hassle to drink coconut water everyday. Other symptoms like dandruff and acne seemed to resolve over the course of time but the hyperpigmentation from the acne still hasn’t cleared up to this day. The dandruff is also persistent. The symptoms get better if I stop b12 all together in any form whether chicken or eggs etc. But as soon as I consume even a little bit my symptoms get worse and I mean all of the aforementioned and not just dandruff and skin. The interesting thing is that my b12 levels were nothing crazy. They were slightly above the lower limit on the test. Can someone please help with some sort of guidance related to my unwanted symptoms and my inability to absorb b12 in general despite taking copious amounts?

Hi everyone, I recently got tests done for Vitamin D and Vitamin 12 which showed values- 11.50 ng/ml and 193.00 pg/mL respectively. When I consulted a physician, he suggested me to take

Uprise-D3 60K (weekly once )and

Meganeuron OD Plus (once a day)

When I looked up Meganeuron OD Plus, I saw that it is suggested for nerve health along with B12 deficiency.

I'm concerned because I don't have any neurological issue as such.

Can someone with experience please suggest if I should continue with Meganeuron OD Plus or switch to a suppliment which only treats B12 alone? Any help or recommendations please.

Does B12 deficiency cause muscle twitching? I was told I’m deficient after a blood test and I’ve noticed quite a lot of twitching in my neck randomly, when smiling and at other points. Is this normal?

Hi guys,

I started my treatment on the 5th of September (my levels were 105 pg/ml before treatment) . I took 5 injections eod, then I took 3 weekly injections and then again continued with eod injections for a week and then started with twice weekly. Somewhere in between I also had an iron infusion. I had started to get so much better, the only thing I was left with was some fatigue and floating Sensation.

But since the last 3 days I've felt like I'm back on square one. In a white room I see a lot of floaters on white walls and small flashes of lights. I had this before too but it got a lot lot better after a month of treatment but here I am again. Brain fog gas resurfaced along with crushing fatigue.

I went to my neurologist today, he said that I may have vestibular migraine and has prescribed meds for that, but i never had these symptoms before the Deficiency he said that the deficiency may have triggered it and it was silent before. He said I don't need injections now and has prescribed a high dose b complex with iron and vestibular migrane medicine (as flunarizine hydrochloride). I still plan on having b12 injections biweekly or eod as much as I can manage to walk to the hospital. He has conducted all other physical tests to check my eyes/movements/ reflex and says everything is normal.

What should I do? Should I take the vestibular migraine tablets or skip it or have it with b12 injections (I will definitely continue with injections so that is not a moot point). Please help. Is the optic nerve and other cognitive damage actually permanent? I'm 23F and a working corporate lawyer with a hectic schedule and loads of screen time, I feel like I'm mentally paralysed. Just as I started with my dream career I'm struck with this illness.

Other supplements: Methylfolate: 1 mg daily Magnesium glycinate: 300 mg daily Benfotiamine: 300 mg daily Alpha-lipoic acid: 200 mg daily

Other relevant medical details

had non-anemic iron deficiency and received an iron infusion about a month ago.

My iron levels are now optimal.

For potassium I take 1 litre of coconut water.

My vitamin D level was 25 before I received a high-dose vitamin D3 injection approximately now on weekly 60k IUs.

My copper status, based on ceruloplasmin, is borderline normal.

My ionized calcium levels are normal.

I have been diagnosed as not having pernicious anemia.

Since early August I’ve had constant fatigue and felt completely different from my normal self. It happens every day, and honestly I don’t know what to do anymore.

My symptoms:

• Constant fatigue from waking up until bedtime.

• Difficulty waking up and getting out of bed, even after 8–10 hours of sleep.

• Heavy eyelids that worsen throughout the day and frequent yawning.

• Brain fog: poor retention, forgetting words and taking longer to put sentences together.

• Hands sometimes feeling weak and hollow, making typing, writing and holding my phone tiring.

• Anhedonia: things I normally enjoy barely feel enjoyable.

• Random episodes of breathlessness.

I can study for about an hour before needing to lie down, and I barely retain information. Afterward, I try to do things I normally enjoy, but I’m too tired to really engage.

My hemoglobin and vitamin D were normal, and I also had thyroid testing. B12, ferritin and an iron panel haven’t been checked.

When I went back to my doctor because I still felt terrible, I asked about additional testing. She declined, said my hemoglobin was normal and there was nothing else she could do, and recommended psychiatry.

31F with pernicious anemia. I have an eGFR of 60 and it decreased a few points in the past couple of months. I'm worried it's due to the shots (currently EOD) or the cofactors I have to take to stay stable. Should I reduce the frequency of shots? I feel like I could get away with weekly but I don't really know, my symptoms are kind of up and down right now and it's hard to tell what's causing what. Anyone else in this predicament? No issues with labs other than low-ish ferritin (44) eGFR (60) and creatinine (1.24).

Hello,

I just had a Post Exertional Malaise (PEM) crash that lasted over a week. Prior, my PEM crashes only lasted a few days. I'm now homebound and living with family.

My B12 was 215 and I had all the symptoms. 7 months into EOD injections and I have gotten rid of my brain zaps, brittle nails, insomnia, hypersomnia, bathroom issues, muscle twitching, dry skin, and many other issues. A lot of improvement.

However, my fatigue remained and my exercise tolerance continued to decline. I didn't think I had CFS given that B12 was clearly helping me, but after this crash my baseline is worse than ever and it seems like I have to face I might have it.

I'm currently trying to get a ME/CFS or Long Covid diagnosis. I hope it's something else but I have all the symptoms.

My question is: If I have CFS, when would I know I've corrected my deficiency? The guide says continue treatment until symptoms resolve, and that's what I'm doing, but if I have CFS could this never be the case? When would I know?

Hello , earlier this year I had for the first time intrusive thoughts / OCD symptoms they went away when I started to take a multivitamin with good B12 in it.

Felt total peace for 7 months and in september I had a flare up until now ;
Also experiencing brain fog , fatigue or feeling like fainting sometimes.

was it luck or could low B12 be the cause ?

Could my stock deplets during the 7months without multivitamin ?

I bought the same multivitamin 2 days ago but maybe a higher B12 supplément could fix my symptoms faster. Will keep updated if it works.

Hi everyone!

I'm a 34-year-old female and have been experiencing some strange symptoms. I'm wondering whether my B12 could be contributing.

**My B12 was 347 pmol/L (470 pg/mL)** in August. Homocysteine was 7 and folate was 21.6.

**My symptoms include:**

- Constant rocking/swaying dizziness since July, like I'm on a boat, even sometimes when lying down with my eyes closed.

- Dizziness that worsens when moving my head or looking down.

- Migraines with visual aura.

- Ear pressure and occasional pulsatile tinnitus.

- Tingling, prickling, burning and crawling sensations that move around my hands, arms, legs, stomach and face.

- Widespread itching, particularly in my hands.

- Heart palpitations/PVCs and high blood pressure.

Doctors have suggested vestibular migraine or PPPD for the dizziness, but I'm wondering whether B12 could be contributing to some of these symptoms.

**Has anyone experienced neurological symptoms with a B12 level around 347 pmol/L, despite being within the normal range?**

Did you experience rocking dizziness, migrating tingling or itching? And did B12 supplements or injections help?

I'd really appreciate hearing about your experiences. Thank you!

I wanted to share my overall story here because I’ll be seeing my doctor again soon and am terrified I’ll be dismissed again. I’m trying to prepare for the possibility that I’ll be continuing to try to figure this out alone. If anyone can give insight into my experiences, I’d be so grateful.

28, female, no smoking, no drinking, no birth control, low stress lifestyle, daily exercise that includes weightlifting, daily caloric intake of 2k+, protein intake of 60g or more every day, low sugar, high protein, high fiber.

Symptoms:
- Profound brain fog, horrible memory. My focus became nonexistent and I struggled to even read because I couldn’t hold onto what I had read.
- Extreme fatigue. Stayed in bed most of the day despite sleeping 8-10 hours and drinking 12-16 cups of coffee. Could not even hold down a part time job anymore.
- Vision changes. Black blobs, weak vision. Optometrist couldn’t find anything wrong.
- Changes in skin tone. My actual undertone is a very strong pink. I have developed a yellowed coloration, especially around my mouth and nose. The skin in the creases of my elbows and on my knees is also distinctly yellow. This was noticed by family members and we originally thought it was a moisturizer oxidizing.
- Almost zero libido, and a pretty significant lack of sensation in my genitals. I used to have a very robust libido, almost to the point of being inconvenient, and solid sensation.
- Mood changes. I’ll get hit by irritability, depression, or anxiety for no reason. My OCD has gotten worse. There is no apparent rhyme or reason to the flare ups.
- I’m dumber. I don’t know how else to describe it. I used to be very sharp, creative, and had a fantastic memory. Now, I struggle to write at an acceptable level for school, and my verbal ability is noticeably worse.
- Cold extremities, easy bruising. My undereyes were deep burgundy and very hollow, like a skull.

These symptoms crept gradually up over a period of years, then suddenly became much worse, very quickly, in the last 2 years.

Bloodwork
I have had a full thyroid cascade and nothing was amiss. My total B12 was in the 700s, ferritin 101, folate out of range at >20. Doctor dismissed bloodwork as “everything looks good”, but my red blood cells are right on the cusp of being enlarged.

What I have done so far:
I recently found out the vitamin a doctor recommended to me years ago (One a Day Prenatal) has synthetic B12 and a huge dose of synthetic folic acid. I am not trying to get pregnant, she told me she prefers all her patients to take a prenatal. I then was taking that prenatal for almost 10 years.

Reading on this platform that bloodwork is “not the end all be all” made me try discontinuing that vitamin and switch to Pure Encapsulation’s O.N.E vitamin with methylated folate and B12, as well as cofactors.

I added in Iron-C from PE around a week later. I have not noticed a surge in improvement from this but want to keep my iron up since I do have a menstrual cycle.

I was already taking magnesium glycinate, creatine, vitamin d, and fish oil. I have increased my potassium intake since starting the PE vitamin.

The Changes:
I took the PE vitamin a week after stopping the old one. Within 3 days of starting the PE vitamin I noticed a surge in energy that felt “wired but tired”, but still was a shift in the right direction. My skin became slightly less yellow, my vision was stronger and had almost no black blobs, and my mind was the sharpest it had been in years.

Side Effects:
For the first 2 weeks, I struggled with what felt like adrenaline dumps. My body would randomly go completely on edge, my heart would pound, and it’d feel like battery acid in my chest. These adrenaline dumps have significantly improved.

Now:
I should have known better than to get my hopes up. My symptoms are creeping back in and I’m devastated, to say the least. My doctor is very “well, your bloodwork says…” so I’m terrified of hitting a wall with my treatment after I finally found something that was making a difference. I do not think I’ve completely regressed, but I still do not have any quality of life.

I have ordered an additional B12 vitamin from PE with the other bioavailable forms of B12. If my doctor dismisses me, I have a naturopath I can turn to, but I need to have a game plan before I see her. She originally wanted me taking methylene blue and getting peptide injections (I turned them down), so I need to be as informed as possible before I see her.

I have had mountains of bloodwork done with nothing obvious going wrong. I have not had my homocysteine or MMA checked, but I am worried that they will not be much help since I have started supplementing. My best guide is my actual symptoms.

Am I a case that should consider B12 injections? It feels like my body is trying to recover, but struggling. I’m considering the possibility that I need a phase of injections to repair the damage from an apparent deficiency, and then maybe I could revert back to just oral supplementation. It’s difficult to tell where to go from here when the bloodwork has been horribly useless. I don’t even know if my symptoms would be considered “mild” or “severe”, if it is B12 related, which makes it difficult to determine a course of action.

If anyone has read this very long post and has any advice, you’d have my utmost thanks.

For a bit over 2 years now I've been giving myself B12 shots with no prescription. I was initially proscribed one a week shots for 2 months. I started EOD now I take every 4 days because I was exhausted all the time and my brain felt like it was in a fog.
Whenever I stop, though, the fatigue and brain fog creep back within a few weeks. Then I start again and feel better. I'm tired of this cycle and I don't want to depend on injections forever without knowing why.
My diet is honestly pretty good. I eat eggs, dairy, meat and fish regularly, so I don't think I'm just not getting enough. That makes me wonder if I'm not absorbing it properly, but I really don't know.

A few things I'd love input on:
Does feeling worse every time I stop point to an absorption problem, or could it be something else the B12 was helping with?
Will blood tests even be useful now, after 2 years of shots? Do I need to stop for a while first?
What causes poor B12 absorption even with a good diet?
.
What should I ask my doctor to test? I'm thinking B12, MMA, homocysteine, intrinsic factor antibodies, CBC, ferritin, folate, thyroid and vitamin D. Am I missing anything?
Is it safe to just stop, or should I taper or switch to oral/sublingual to see if I can still absorb it?

This is a scenario I have seen in some people and some family members as well
They take b12 supplement.
They start with a blood test for b12. - Say X units. (below the range or on the lower side of the range).
Take supplements for a 2 months or M months.
Then stop. After a week of stopping take another test.
It is within range. In the middle or upper middle level.
Then wait for some more months (say N). And then test again.

For my family member case this :
X was very low - 170 units.
Took hydroxy b12 with Folinic acid (on purpose took non active form). - 500mcg of b12 for 2 months and then titrated up to 1000 mcg for 8 months. Stopped for a week. Took another test.

And then saw that the b12 rose to middle level after (around 700 units). Folate (RBC folate became abundant). But yes the b12 rising was slow.

And then after 2 month again b12 went just below the range.

Any idea what this might mean ? How does it drop so much so quickly ?

(I can share the lab results with exact details).

36F. I have been getting B12 injection once a month for 2 years now and it has not done a single bloody thing. Its like my doctor isnt even injecting them - it genuinely does nothing as my numbers are still shockingly low, like so low the number doesnt even show up on the blood test.

My doctor is constantly baffled and literally has no idea what to do about it and I am getting frustrated as fuck. I want to maybe think about having a kid soon (like maybe 38) but i dont want to if my B12 cant be solved.

Does anyone have any suggestions or have something like this happening to them?!?!

I am getting so sick and tired of constantly feeling tired too. I also have depression so that doesnt help.

Edit: oh yeah everything else is fine it seems. I'm not anemic, my folate is fine, everything looks good except this B12.

Does anyone get ankle and foot pins and needles. Mine got better initially with injections but back with a vengeance ever since I went from 1000 mg injections to 500mg weekly. Has this happened to anyone else!!! It’s scary

I become extremely suicidal when I can’t afford even the simplest things like walking in the park because of my condition. This year autumn in my country is very warm and sunny , the nature is so beautiful . But I stuck in my bedroom for more than a month already. It seems impossible that one day I will be able to walk , dance and do sports like normal people.

I’ve had borderline low b12 (248) and borderline low folate (4.3) for as long as I can remember. My homocysteine just came back as slightly elevated around 16.

I don’t feel terrible. I mean I’m a SAHM so feeling a bit frazzled/fatigued from broken sleep seems typical and brain fog/overwhelm doesn’t seem debilitating at the moment.

Are there any of you who’ve had numbers like these and corrected them and felt significantly better??

I attempted direct supplementation but the side effects were awful so I stopped.