HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

B12 (Methylcobalamin)- helping symptoms or treating underlying cause?

Support Forums
>
Lyme Disease
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 1/18/2012 7:36 PM (GMT 0)
I started B12 shots and they seem to be helping a lot with fatigue and brain fog. I am just doing them subcutaneously so they are pretty easy too.

Is the fact that they are helping a sign that a lot of my fatigue and brain fog is caused by a B12 deficiency and NOT Lyme disease?

This time around, one of my worse symptoms was fatigue, and it was as bad (or worse) than it was when I was at my sickest the first time around. But the B12 shot brings it in line with the rest of my symptoms. Is the B12 just treating/masking Lyme symptoms, or is it treating the actual CAUSE of my fatigue?

Will I be able to stop taking B12 eventually without a drop in energy/brain function?

Thanks!
Posted 1/18/2012 7:52 PM (GMT 0)
I am taking Methylcobalamin also and I cant answer why but it definitely helps.. The other day I forgot to take it and by the end of the day I was having some of the worst symptoms I've had in a long time.. I am a little concerned as you are what will happen when I stop taking it..
Posted 1/18/2012 9:16 PM (GMT 0)
Well, Lyme often causes the B12 deficiency in the first place. You can go around and around trying to figure out what causes what symptoms!
Posted 1/18/2012 9:17 PM (GMT 0)
Zeusy,

I am so glad you posted this about the B12.

I think the answer is the frequency you can back down on but if you
are not a big meat eater you have to take B12.

But also in our case maybe we need it forever.
If you ever notice the spaceyness of some vegans it is because they
need B12.

For me trying to be vegatarian without B12 has been a major cause also of
all the fatigue , brain fog and depression.

Now that I have put a steady stream of grass fed beef and good old BACON AND EGGS in my diet I am watching my body and brain come back to life.

I also was blaming all my Dad's crazyness on lyme while my family blamed it on to much beer but the truth was everything changed like night and day when he started getting those shots.

I am going to ask to get these shots for myself now too.

Thank you for posting this . I think it is way overlooked by many out there.
Posted 1/18/2012 10:24 PM (GMT 0)
But, because I've been on the anti-candida diet for the last 2.5 years, I eat a TON of eggs...seriously, I actually work hard to reduce my egg consumption, because I could eat eggs for breakfast everyday... And I am not vegetarian either.

I'd like to think I will not need B12 for the rest of my life, mostly because I don't want to pay for/do the injections that long, but also because no one in my family (including my identical twin) has this.

While I am stuck about whether my fatigue etc. is caused by Lyme or caused by B12 deficiency, I'd like to think that either Lyme or digestive issues would be causing the B12 issue, and that it will eventually resolve...!

I got through treatment the first time around, and my fatigue improved 75% without B12

I was kind of hoping someone would pop up and be like "B12 was awesome and helped me a lot, but I was able to stop taking it as my treatment progressed"... Anyone?
Posted 1/19/2012 6:29 PM (GMT 0)
I really would like to try out the B12 shots. How much do they cost roughly? And do you have to have a doc prescribe them...etc?
Posted 1/19/2012 6:37 PM (GMT 0)
Well, mine isn't a complete success story...yet.

I can tell you that at one time I had zero energy. I tried all kinds of B-12 and none helped until I started getting the Methylcobalamin shots from my doc. I had only had about 5 of them when there was a disruption in the supply for my doc, and I just never got started back on them. Fast forward to now - 5 months further into my treatment - and I'm holding my own. I'm by far no where near the energy levels I probably should have for my age, but compared to where I was just 1 year ago? There's no denying that I'm doing sooo much better. Even hubby is amazed with my energy levels now!

My sleep is becoming refreshing again- I actually feel kind of rested after a night of good sleep, and the exhaustion is lifting. It's been kind of slow going, but little by little it's happening.

So I would venture to say that many don't need to supplement with Methylcobalamin forever. Of course that won't hold true if for some reason your body can't/won't produce enough on it's own, or for some other medical reason. As one gets closer and closer to health again, these, like many symptoms, fade into the background, to be eventually lost in the "why remember that?" section of our brains.
Posted 1/19/2012 7:41 PM (GMT 0)
Well, Zeusy,

I do believe that the ABX treatment will take care of your problems eventually.

I keep relapsing with horrible CNS symptoms every few years or so.  All of them are pretty consistant with neuroborreliosis.

After the worst one (4 years ago) the only thing that my doctor found wrong with my blood tests was slightly low B12.  She prescribed B12 shots, but they were only helping me for a few days, then I would again become extremely foggy.  After a few months she told me to stop the B12 shots, since my B12 blood test was high.  Yet I still could function mentally, emotionaly and physically only with b12.

So I ended up using sublingual b12 microlozenges (Nature's Bounty, 2500 mcg).  I was taking 2 of them a day for a few years in a row and every time I tried to stop my brain fog would get worse.

Then, this summer I developed a typical Lyme rash and was diagnosed with fresh case of Lyme.  The LLMD told me that my previous symptoms sound awfully a lot like chronic Lyme.

I have been on Abx since last August and I can tell you that my brain fog and fatigue is definately getting much lighter and not as dependant on B12.  First I was able to cut it down to 1 pill a day, now I am taking B12 only every other or every 3 day.

So here it is - Yes, you will be able to stop it!   cool

Zeusy said:

I was kind of hoping someone would pop up and be like "B12 was awesome and helped me a lot, but I was able to stop taking it as my treatment progressed"... Anyone?

Posted 1/20/2012 9:17 PM (GMT 0)
Oh yeah...one other thing. My ND says that the B12 causes some people to break out across their forehead. As of today, I am officially one of those people.

I'd take acne over that horrendous fatigue any day, but some days I really feel like my body is just out to kick me when I'm down. I'm already having some other hormonal problems that cause acne around my mouth...Combined with the fact that some days my fatigue is still bad enough that I go 1 day longer without washing my hair than I should, and I look like a greasy hormonal teenager again!
Posted 1/21/2012 3:51 PM (GMT 0)
Zeusy~ You are not alone!! My episodes of this come and go now - fortunately -and I'm far from being a teenager at 47!! LOL!!

Please be sure you are detoxing regularly and that you are doing the dry skin brushing, as those things really seem to help my skin health.
Posted 1/21/2012 5:21 PM (GMT 0)
I tried b complex , it raise my blood pressure. It depends it is good for some .
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply