Hi! Everyone,
Just saw neuro, rheumy and primary all within 2 weeks and had a pulmonary consult, too. Such fun! My B12 was found to be 130 and the neuro said that was very seriously low, better @500, and that it is vital to your nervous system. He explained I did not have pernicious anemia as my cbc was ok, and explained that I am probably making autoantibodies against the intrinsic factor because of my autoimmune disease. Said primary should follow up and that I would most likely need a shot, and then even a repeat injection in two weeks.... rheumy called, they don't have b12 to give, he said I would get a shot from primary asap, primary said... take 1000mcgs orally every day for a month and repeat the blood test. Rheumy said why are you taking the pills instead of a shot??? I said because MY PRIMARY SAID TO!.. so then I looked for some studies comparing oral to injected... found two recent, (2009 and 2008) that suggested after a controlled study, that high doses of oral b12 demonstrated similar good effect to IM injections, at less cost and greater pt. satisfaction. So...... since I was flaring so badly, I took 2500 mcgs under my tongue for a week, ( I bought them because they were cherry flavored and then dropped down to 1000 mcgs untill I get my level rechecked. I looked it up in a drug book, and on the Mayo clinic help site, and was reassured that high doses of B12 aren't really toxic. I just wish I could find vit/min tablets smaller than horse pills....
hugs, suetoo