Vitamin B12 deficiency

Sassydoit

Hi all,
I have been vegetarian for over 20 years. In the last number of years I have had non-existent levels of iron and B12. I was diagnosed as having hypermobility syndrome in my teens..resulting in joint and muscle pain. I now have pain to such an extent that it stops me exercising. Given the neurological symptoms that I am now aware of being attributed to vitamin B12 deficiency Im beginning to wonder if the low levels were actually the cause of my pain all along. I have tested negative for pernicious anaemia however my doctor does believe that I have it as he reckons I should be getting enough iron and B12 from my diet. While I eat a wider range of food than I did in my teens and early 20's I do not eat a lot of traditional vegetarian foods. Im a spuds, veg, pasta, stirfry kinda person. I started on B12 injections today and will be on them for the next number of months. Im pretty thick skinned but got rather upset after coming out of the doctors today. Don't quite know why. Im wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience or any helpful advice.

ButterflyGirl23

Sorry to hear about your illness, sounds awful.
I have to say since I have become vegetarian I have never been sick, have more energy than ever and lost some weight. I feel great, though I did do a lot of research before I became vegetarian and it was a slow transition for me. For example first I gave up pork, then red meat etc. I eat loads of fruit, veg, protein sources and raw food too.
You say you are starting to eat more healthily now, do you find that is helping you?

Skr4wny

Below is a link, scroll down the bottom of that page for a list of plants with iron, just start to include these in your diet. I eat quinoa as I prefer it to rice as it's lighter and it is high in iron and protein. I also blend a lot of spinach in my green smoothies, normally spinach, kale, carrot and two apples and a pear. The breakfast of champions!

http://www.vrg.org/nutrition/iron.htm

Sorry to hear about your news, keep up with the B12 vits and start getting iron into you asap. I hope you start to feel better soon. I would high recommend two green smoothies a day. I'm a very cynical person about miracle claims (and just in genera)l but I honestly believe if everyone was drinking two of them a day we'd have far less disease and that they even have the power to reverse conditions.

spiralbound

Skr4wny wrote: »

I would high recommend two green smoothies a day. I'm a very cynical person about miracle claims (and just in genera)l but I honestly believe if everyone was drinking two of them a day we'd have far less disease and that they even have the power to reverse conditions.

Huh? What's in a green smoothie? Fruit and veg? What's magical about about that?

spiralbound

Sassydoit wrote: »

Hi all,
I have been vegetarian for over 20 years. In the last number of years I have had non-existent levels of iron and B12. I was diagnosed as having hypermobility syndrome in my teens..resulting in joint and muscle pain. I now have pain to such an extent that it stops me exercising. Given the neurological symptoms that I am now aware of being attributed to vitamin B12 deficiency Im beginning to wonder if the low levels were actually the cause of my pain all along. I have tested negative for pernicious anaemia however my doctor does believe that I have it as he reckons I should be getting enough iron and B12 from my diet. While I eat a wider range of food than I did in my teens and early 20's I do not eat a lot of traditional vegetarian foods. Im a spuds, veg, pasta, stirfry kinda person. I started on B12 injections today and will be on them for the next number of months. Im pretty thick skinned but got rather upset after coming out of the doctors today. Don't quite know why. Im wondering if anyone else has had a similar experience or any helpful advice.

Have you ever tried to track your nutrient intake with something like fitday.com? That will give you an idea of most of the essential vitamins, you could see there what your iron and B12 intake is like. You will only get B12 in animal products and fortified products, so your intake may have been low. Vegans are recommended to supplement B12 for this reason. But many people, even those who eat meat, can have low levels of B12 - some people just don't absorb it properly.

So don't be upset. You can't change the past, but you can work on making sure you're getting everything you need now, either through your diet or supplementation/injections.

Let us know how you get on.

Skr4wny

spiralbound wrote: »

Huh? What's in a green smoothie? Fruit and veg? What's magical about about that?

What's not magical about fruit and veg? It's the work of mother nature! :-p

The advantages of blending or juicing is that you can take in far more than you could eating them in their normal state. You don't feel near as full and they are also convenient which in this day and age is important.