Vitamin B12 Deficiency: Treatment, Diet and Home Remedies

Table of Content

• How can I prevent vitamin B12 deficiency?
• How is vitamin B12–deficiency anemia diagnosed?
• Hydroxocobalamin injections
• Diet

This test is typically ordered by a healthcare professional and requires a venous blood sample. The treatment for vitamin B12 or folate deficiency anaemia depends on what's causing the condition. Most people can be easily treated with injections or tablets to replace the missing vitamins. In the case of malabsorption, treatment often involves a doctor administering an injection of B12.

Fortunately, excessive amounts of vitamin B12 supplements have not been found toxic, but one should still restrain themselves from overdosing. Certain medication such as metformin taken to control diabetes type 2 interferes with the absorption of cobalamin by the body. Smokers are also at high risk of developing vitamin B12 deficiency as nicotine blocks absorption. Here's some information to help you get ready for your appointment and what to expect from your doctor.

How can I prevent vitamin B12 deficiency?

This includes a complete blood count, which will pick up any abnormalities in RBCs and amount of hemoglobin, as well as a person’s serum vitamin B12 levels. Vitamin B12 medicine can be prescribed by your provider for you to take by mouth or as a nose spray or a shot. These supplements can help increase the levels of vitamin B12 in your body. For serious vitamin B12–deficiency anemia, your doctor may recommend vitamin B12 shots until your levels are healthy.

If you have pernicious anemia and lack the ability to create intrinsic factor, you’ll need B12 injections for life. In pernicious anemia, your body is simply unable to absorb B12 through the stomach. If you can’t get your doctor to prescribe B12 shots , you can get them here prescription-free, and inject at home.

How is vitamin B12–deficiency anemia diagnosed?

It is also important to establish the cause of your deficiency so that the most appropriate treatment can be administered ensuring the best possible outcome and recovery. Another blood test may also be carried out after approximately 8 weeks to confirm your treatment has been successful. A blood test is often carried out around 10 to 14 days after starting treatment to assess whether treatment is working. If a vitamin B12 deficiency is not detected and treated, it could affect your nervous system. At first, you'll have these injections every other day for 2 weeks or until your symptoms have started improving.

Following are some of the fish and their vitamin B12 contents per 100 grams of serving. In mild cases deficiency of vitamin B12 may not cause any symptoms, but if it remains untreated then some or more of the following symptoms may appear. One is that you are not consuming foods that provide enough vitamin B12.

Hydroxocobalamin injections

You can develop vitamin B12–deficiency anemia if you do not eat enough food with vitamin B12, such as if you follow a strict vegetarian or vegan diet. In the United States, vitamin B12–deficiency anemia is most often due to other risk factors. Without enough vitamin B12, blood cells do not form properly inside your bone marrow, the sponge-like tissue within your bones.

Buoy only shows providers on our website when their services are clinically relevant in helping the user address their symptoms or conditions. But listing the providers does not constitute a referral or endorsement. Change of diet easily correct diet-related lack of vitamin B12, and vegetarians can eat vitamin B12 fortified plant food.

Vitamin B12 And Health

If your vitamin B12 levels are above normal, consider changing your eating habits. For instance, you can request a vitamin B12 check if youre vegetarian, or if youve suffered from problems related to the stomach, pancreas, or intestine. Its also reasonable to check the level if youve been on medication to reduce stomach acid for a long time.

When a person lacks this protein, they can become deficient in vitamin B12. Vitamin B12 is an important vitamin that your body needs to be healthy. Most people can prevent vitamin B12 deficiency by consuming enough of it in their diet. If you have risk factors for developing vitamin B12 deficiency or are experiencing symptoms, be sure to contact your doctor to get a blood test to check your levels. Untreated vitamin B12 deficiency can lead to severe neurological damage, which can put an individual at a higher risk of mortality.

When to contact a doctor

Often, a doctor may diagnose the condition during a medical exam through a routine blood test. Vitamin B12 deficiency anemia is a type of megaloblastic anemia. Instead, they are very large and have a more oval shape than healthy, mature RBCs. Deficiency in another B vitamin, known as folate, is another type of megaloblastic anemia. Vitamin B12 deficiency anemia occurs when a person’s levels of B12 are too low, meaning the body is not able to produce enough healthy RBCs.

Creating awareness and understanding of the condition so you can use it to help you to gain a diagnosis and the best treatment available. Remember, correct and timely B12 treatment can mean reversal of all of your symptoms. In this article, we will discuss B12 deficiency anemia, including the different types, causes, and treatments. If B12 deficiency is caused by a malabsorption issue and not dietary lack, injections will be required for life. Vitamin B12 is an essential nutrient that your body can’t make on its own, so you need to get it from your diet or from supplements. Vegetarians, people who are pregnant or nursing, and others who are at risk of deficiency may want to track their diets closely to make sure they’re getting enough.

This test is most often done when other blood tests suggest a condition called megaloblastic anemia. Pernicious anemia is a form of megaloblastic anemia caused by poor vitamin B12 absorption. This can occur when the stomach makes less of the substance the body needs to properly absorb vitamin B12.