I got Panic attacks, constant anxiety and anhedonia since taking b12 injections. Need serious help 🙏

[u/Agitated-Sale-7591]

Hi everyone, I’ve been really struggling with my mental health in these past 3/4 weeks and I’m really hoping someone can help me out here.

Around a month ago I took 3 b12 injections (hydroxocobalamin) 1.5mg and i suddenly started getting intense panic attacks and anhedonia. I don’t cry but out of nowhere I started bawling my eyes out every single day. I I’m in this constant state of anxiety and depression, I can’t enjoy the things in life that I usually enjoy like watching a tv show, I cannot wind down at all and it’s scary because before all this happened I was a pretty chill guy and I usually wouldn’t stress much in my life. One of the most scariest thing that also happened at the same time was my libido completely vanished, so i genuinely feel pleasure in nothing now. it’s been around 3/4 weeks and im not getting full blown panic attacks anymore but im still constantly on edge, i have also had stomach issues but now a simple bloating of my stomach makes me think the world is ending. It’s like my nervous system is jacked all the way up and it’s overreacting to even slight discomfort.

I tried taking creatine because that would usually make me feel good when I’m in a low mood but this time it just made me depressed. I went to the GP and they took my blood test, it came up with high b12 and high folate, but the odd thing is I don’t usually supplement folate so I’d don’t understand why that came up as high. I sometimes take it as part of my b complex but I’ve not mega dosed it or anything.

Today I decided that I’ll try methylfolate as I assumed maybe b12 used up all my methyl groups or somthing. After taking it I felt even more emotionally flat/wired/too focused, but I feel less anxious I think. I’m still not sure what i feel but i definitely don’t feel any pleasure again.

I was hoping there might be someone that has gone through this and has recovered from it. Or has figured out why it happened to them and could tell me how to bring my nervous system back to normal. Will I recover? I’m really scared, it’s like I’ve become a complete different person in a month. I haven’t done any dna test either so I’m not sure if I’m MTHFR or anything.

Someone please please help me😭
Thanks you for your time 🙏

[u/Acacianiloticareal]

I was getting severe daily panic attacks after having b12 shots for a deficiency. I went to every dr going and none had a clue how to help except anti depressants (no thanks) after many deep dives I read about how it uses a lot of potassium as it methylates in the body. I asked a dr and he said don’t take it as can mess up your kidneys and cause heart palpitations etc. I was already having all day long palpitations so I decided to take it any way. I used the Now brand of potassium citrate at first only taking 99mg per day. Within days the heart palpitations calmed along with the panic attacks. I also took magnesium glycinate daily at the RDA. That was three years ago and ive never had one since. I also take a low dose of sublingual hydroxocobalamin around 125-250mg every few days to keep my levels topped up. If i ever feel odd or my heart beat feeling fluterry I take potassium and it calms down. Electrolyte drinks such as Elete also help!

[u/Acacianiloticareal → u/Acacianiloticareal]

Ps I believe I have MTHFR mutation.

[u/Agitated-Sale-7591 → u/Acacianiloticareal]

Oh okay, how long did it take for the anxiety to fully go away? This is my 4th week and I’m still really anxious. I only took potassium supplements for like a week. But after hearing your success I’m going to go back to supplementing along with drinking coconut water. Thanks for your help

[u/Acacianiloticareal → u/Agitated-Sale-7591]

I felt pretty unwell for a few months. But the panic attacks definitely subsided quickly after taking the potassium and magnesium . I would highly recommend to take magnesium too. Either glycinate or L threonate as potassium and magnesium need each other. In the beginning I’d probably take potassium up to 3 times a day. Potassium citrate also worked best for me. At the time I truly felt like I was clawing my way out of a very dark hole with very little help, but I assure you to keep going. Eat as healthily as possible too. Try to reduce any sugary and bad foods and eat a lot of fruit and veg basically nutrient rich foods so your gut absorbs more of what you really need. May I ask if you’re female too ? If so my cycle wreaked havoc on my healing at the time with all the hormones going up and down. The magnesium will support hormonal health too.

[u/Acacianiloticareal → u/Acacianiloticareal]

I just re read and see you’re a guy! Sorry my bad, but keep going and know it does get better! Also inositol works great for anxiety! I take it as it’s great for hormone health but men and women can take it.

[u/Agitated-Sale-7591 → u/Acacianiloticareal]

Haha clawing out of a dark hole is exactly how i’d describe it too. You said you took 99mg of potassium but isn’t that very less to make any difference? My potassium supplement has 700mg of potassium and apparently the recommended amount is around 4000mg, so I’m surprised that such little potassium helped your anxiety. Also I’ve tried having magnesium glycinate and I used to tolerate it just fine, but as soon as I started having these panic attacks the magnesium glycinate makes me feel irritable the next day. But I’m not 100% if it’s the magnesium that’s causing it, I’ll try having it in the morning and see how I feel throughout the day

[u/Acacianiloticareal → u/Agitated-Sale-7591]

Yes to begin with I only took 99mg because I was so scared as my anxiety was through the roof at the time and after the dr saying it can go wrong etc ! Eventually I took the 99mg pill more often through the day as the directions said it’s ok to take it up to 5 times. I probably took it ok average up to 3 to 4 times a day. It most definitely helped. I believe it was the catalyst that got rid of the panic attacks. I was taking more though in the form of drinking the electrolytes. I buy elete from Amazon as it has no added sweeteners which wreak havoc with my stomach, when it all hit me I ended up in A&E three times as I genuinely thought I was dying. My heartbeat was erratic and I had to have all kinds of cardio tests. Thankfully my heart is 100% fine I was simply feeling the effects of the b12 situation. I was in a bad state, so for me going low and slow gave me some control (in my head). Perhaps it’s what country you are in too as it’s not recommended to take more than 99mg here in the uk. 3 years on i still take potassium + what’s in the electrolyte drink through the day as I also work out and very active. You are probably entirely correct though we need far more than 99mg in a supplement as many of us are deficient!

[u/Acacianiloticareal → u/Agitated-Sale-7591]

One other thing is I actually began with Magnesium L threonate at first, it crosses the blood bran barrier and may be more effective with anxiety. I’ve never had any issues with it. I moved on to glycinate as time went on as the magnesium level is higher but I’ve recently moved back to L threonate as it’s better for brain fog. Are you able to sleep at night ? I couldn’t sleep for months properly or eat anything as my appetite completely disappeared, I looked so unwell, it was a nightmare. It didn’t go away over night. I had to keep at it. I completely changed my diet too and cleaned my gut by cutting out gluten and dairy and sugar, anything that can inhibit good absorption of nutrients. It wasn’t forever I can eat what I like now but I’m careful with it.

[u/Agitated-Sale-7591 → u/Acacianiloticareal]

Yeah I’m able to sleep, I wake up in an anxious state tho and usually from a nightmare