Vitamin B12 Deficiency

What You Don't Feel

Mood changes or slower mental perceptions may be two of the first symptoms of Vitamin B12 deficiency. Since B12 nourishes the myelin sheaths that surround your nerves, deficiency will decrease functionality of your reflexes, sensory perceptions and even lead to changes in walking and speaking. In some deficiency cases, nerve and spinal degeneration occur and symptoms include tingling or shooting pains throughout the limbs. People who suffer from Vitamin B12 deficiency often feel tired or fatigued. What you don't feel is the Vitamin B12 that you need to circulate through your blood daily. Your body stores and circulates Vitamin B12 with the highest concentrations found in the active metabolic tissues the liver, pancreas, brain, bone marrow, blood and kidneys.

Doctors and Vitamin B12 Deficiency Blood Tests

There are symptoms of Vitamin B12 deficiency, but the most concrete way to know if you have a deficiency is to have your doctor order blood tests. Vitamin B12 levels, as well as folic acids levels, comprise the most common vitamin deficient blood tests performed by doctors. Vitamin B12 deficiency causes blood cells to become larger resulting in various forms of anemia, and sometimes dementia. Vitamin B12 deficiency may be difficult for you to diagnose beyond the point where you know that you just "don't feel well."

How Did You Lose Your Body's Vitamin B12 Stores?

You can deplete your system of Vitamin B12 through ingesting products such as laxatives, antacids, diabetes medication and alcohol. Aging, mal-absorption, long-term illnesses or hereditary factors may deplete the body's Vitamin B12 in your blood stream as well. Because your body stores B12, chances are that you did not deplete your body of this important vitamin just through less-than-perfect eating habits. It's difficult to lose Vitamin B12 due to dietary habits alone, unless you are a strict vegetarian or vegan.

Eating Your Vegetables Just Isn't Enough

If you are a vegan, you do not replenish Vitamin B12 through your diet, unless you consume large amounts of tempeh, miso or certain types of sprouts. Even so, tempeh, miso and spouts contain only small amounts of Vitamin B12. Vitamin B12 comes from animal products such as meat, eggs, milk products, yogurt, certain fish and shellfish. If you cannot store Vitamin B12 through eating meat products, or if your body depletion of the necessary Vitamin B12 is due to hereditary or other factors, consider taking B12 supplements.

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The Little Red Pill

Vitamin B12 is the only vitamin that contains the mineral cobalt, and it's often referred to as the red vitamin because of its natural red-crystalline compound. Vitamin B12 is an essential vitamin, yet you need very small amounts if you take supplemental forms. Dosages range from 400 pcg for infants to 2.8 mcg for lactating females of any age. Some holistic practitioners recommend as much as 10 mcg daily, but you'll want to consult your doctor in any event. Your body stores this vitamin it is not water-soluble. There are no known studies of toxicity build-up or damaging effects from "too much" vitamin B12. Yet, as in everything in life, find the balance your body needs.