How long does it take to recover from a B12 deficiancy?

@nicolez123 Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect! I’m glad you found us. I included the link to Mayo information
On vitamin deficiency anemia. It says that vit-B-12 deficiency is the main cause. Did you doctor find this because of your symptoms? The main causes of the deficiency are poor diet and poor absorption in the gut.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/vitamin-deficiency-anemia/symptoms-causes/syc-20355025
You are probable scheduled with a GI specialist in order to find out if you have poor absorption.
I would also encourage you to talk with your doctor about the liquid vit B-12. There are many different brands with differing amounts of vit B12 in them.
Let’s wait for other members with your same health condition to respond to you.
Did your doctor talk about what the anemia means for you?

I’m so sorry I know this feeling so well. I’m not sure why you are not feeling better but I would continue with the form of B12 you also were doing on your own. It’s ok to do both. B12 is water soluble so you cannot take too much . You will Pee out what your body don’t use. And yes you may have other things going on. How bout a full iron panel? Not just a hemoglobin blood test. Also your ferritin and folate level. Also you should be taking folic acid when taking B12 because they work together. And if you haven’t done so yet get a complete thyroid panel done.

Thank you for getting back with me - I appreciate it. I'm hoping the GI sheds more light on this. I did go to the ER today and they did a CT scan of my abdomen and nothing of significance was found. They chalked it up to a "weird virus". This isn't helping me much, but at least this is ruling out some issues. The bloodwork at the hospital pointed to anemia due to lack of Vitamin B so that was a bit surprising since I've been getting the injections. I have a suspicion this was all building up. I will look into the type of Vitamin B for sure.

I do know that each week, there is about a 10% improvement compared to the prior week but it's still difficult to function.

Thank you so much for the response. They have checked my thyroid as well as folate levels, and those seemed ok. I will be visiting a holistic institute next week and it sounds like they may be able to advise on some of the different vitamins, and even food allergies. I'm thinking it's related to poor absorption. I used to take Vitamin B in the past and then stopped a couple years ago, not really understanding what it was it was for. I then noticed a lot of neurological symptoms over the last few months and thankfully, those seem to be improved. So there must be a connection.

Is the folic acid something that comes as an individual supplement?

@nicolez123

Was your vitamin d level also checked?

Seems it takes 90 days for B12 to work completely, since that is the lifespan of a red blood cell. A 10% improvement shows it’s working, so don’t give up!

I looked at my blood work and it doesn’t appear they tested me for vitamin D but maybe they will when I go to the holistic institute.

@nicolez123

Low vitamin d .. vitamin d is actually a hormone .. can cause some of your symptoms. It also helps you absorb your nutrients.

They could be referring to your iron levels . Did they check your iron levels? What was your Hemoglobin level? Also as I mentioned there are other iron tests that can be done. I would ask the Doctor what they were referring to. In addition to that my advice in to continue with the B12 injections . They wanted to cut mine back but luckily I have a good hematologist and he honered my wish to continue with weekly injections. Keep us posted! I hope you are feeling better!!

I guess it depends on WHY you have a low B-12 deficiency. For instance, I have Pernicious Anemia, which means that the intrinsic factor in my gut that changes food into B-12, isn’t there. I could eat 40 steaks and it wouldn’t matter. Same for eating or drinking B-12, I don’t have the factor needed to get it into my symptoms. Btw, as a red head, I know that medication affects me differently, depending upon what it is. So instead of taking my shots every month, I take it every three weeks. It just doesn’t last long enough for me. If you’re comfortable sharing more, I’d love to hear more!