Today, September 23, 2022 is B12 Awareness Day.
What better time for me to continue my B12 Journey?
But first, I am attaching a flyer from B12Awarenes.org, one of the MANY fine organizations in the world that are spreading the word about this insidious disease.
And here’s a list of others that I am aware of doing the same thing. Most are on Twitter. Some have websites. Some have other social media set up as well. If you have questions, find them wherever they are and they will educate you.
1. http://www.b12.com/ (the inventor of the uMMA test).
2. https://b12awareness.org/ (Authors of “Could it be B12” and “Could it be B12, Pediatric Edition”.
3. Madam Butterfly. @michellecheatle ( #VitaminsB4Pharmaceuticals #B12Advocates)
4. b12deficiency @B12info (https://www.b12deficiency.info/ )
5. Caroline Rees (b12) @cazzarooba
6. Bean Davidson *advanced B12 and cofactors please* @bean_b12
7. Henk de Jong @B12Henk
8. B12 Challenge @B12Challenge
9. Stichting B12 Tekort @stichtingb12
10. B12 Institute @B12instituteNL
11. B12 informatieboek @B12tekort
12. Dr Joe Chandy and Hugo Minney @Vit_B12d
13. B12DinPEI @B12DinPEI
14. PediatricB12Awareness @AwarenessB12
If I’ve missed any, please let me know and I’ll add them.
So, to continue my B12 journey, please read this 2-part article that appeared in 2016 on SPACEDOC.COM, as it not only shares my story up to that point, but also provides a succinct, accurate description of the disease, the diagnosis, and the treatments for B12 Deficiency.
https://spacedoc.com/articles/b12-not-just-a-simple-vitamin
https://spacedoc.com/articles/b12-not-just-a-simple-vitamin-part-2
At the time I wrote this, I was operating a business called B12 PROJECT, LLC. I no longer operate the business, but I am still committed to educating people wherever I can.
The article shared my B12 Journey up to the time the article was published. But what’s happened since? Here’s the update:
I didn’t mention in the article, but I tried (and succeeded) changing from B12 Injections to Sublingual B12 Tablets. This will not work for everyone, especially if you have a chronic condition like pernicious anemia, but it did for me. I took daily 1,000mcg of sublingual Methylcobalamin. After the change, my symptoms did not return to their previous level, I tested normal, and frankly, I forgot about this issue, and just kept taking the B12 sublingual tablets.
Since my 2016 article, I also learned that I was (and always had been) VERY sensitive to MfG’s (Manufactured free Glutamates). They are common food chemicals that are literally a neurotoxic POISON to me. Think MSG. Once I learned to avoid them, I stopped having Migraines, too. (Future article alert!)
Fast forward to 2020. I started having symptoms again, but more intense, and different in other ways. Long story short (for now 😊), I was NOT B12 Deficient again, but WAS diagnosed with Hyperparathyroidism, and had a successful parathyroidectomy.
One of the things that I determined thru the last several years, is that it’s in my best interest to put as few chemicals, drugs, and supplements in my body as possible. It is, quite literally, a part of my religion now.
And it dawned on me that, while I was, indeed, clinically B12 Deficient at the beginning of my B12 Journey, no one had determined if it was Acute (i.e., caused only by my Nitrous Oxide Exposure at the dentist), or Chronic (caused by an uncontrollable factor such as pernicious anemia). Also, both Hyperparathyroidism and MSG consumption can cause digestive issues, which, in turn, can lead to B12 Deficiency.
So I decided to find out if I was acutely B12 Deficient, or chronically B12 Deficient. Unfortunately, there’s not really any way to test for this after one has already been supplementing, except to try it. So, I stopped taking my B12 medication!
***Alert! I am not recommending that anyone else try this!!***
Because a healthy body stores about 2 years’ worth of B12 in the liver, it could take a while for me to find out. I plan on testing with the uMMA test every 6 months for another year to see what my B12 status is at the cellular level and monitor any new symptoms that could be B12 related.
In July of 2021, I tested at 1.5 on a uMMA test. I stopped B12 Supplementation in May of 2022, 6 months after my parathyroidectomy. I am still asymptomatic, and just received my new uMMA results of 1.8. If I become symptomatic, I will test again. Even if I have no symptoms, I will test again every 6 months for the next year.
There is no literature that I could find on removing the causative factor and returning to natural B12 homeostasis. I am the only experiment that I know of.
I’ll keep you posted on how it goes.
In the meantime, B12 Deficiency, whether it is acute or chronic, is an insidious disease that affects between 30% and 40% of the adult US population based on data I extrapolated from the NHANES study in 2016. So:
1. Educate yourself from the many fine sources of B12 knowledge I mentioned earlier in this article.
2. Read my article on SPACEDOC.COM.
3. And work with a doctor that is truly knowledgeable about B12 Deficiency
.