I'm very grateful to this community for creating such an extensive resource for the chronically ill. When I recently started having negative reactions to an oral B12 supplement I was surprised and confused. Not that long ago I had been able to afford vitamin B12 injections and had an amazing responce to those. The first injection not only gave me a burst of energy but also seemed to help my brain function better. It was like all of a sudden the lights were brighter, colors were more vivid, everything was more in focus.
And thanks to people on here I was able to figure out that the responce I had (both feeling better and then feeling worse from B12) was a clear sign of a long term B12 deficency. The sudden feeling of illness from B12 was a sign of refeeding syndrome. More specifically my potassium levels dropped very suddenly. So I added a lot of potassium via diet & supplementation and I started to feel really good. Heart palpitations, muscle twitches when I was laying down, slow gut movement and extreme fatigue were the signs of low potassium that I was having.
Then after a couple days I started getting anxiety and realized my magnesium was low which I quickly corrected. I also added some extra B2 because I felt like I was low it that, however the extra B2 caused me to need more potassium. Now I think I need more vitamin B1 because I don't really get that from my diet, at least probably not enough since I can't eat whole grains. And because a dose of B1 seemed to give me a boost of energy. Sadly I'm now out of B1 and just ordered more.
I'm very glad that I can make myself feel good with the right combination of nutrients, it's just very difficult that combination changes every few days. At this point I'm buying some of my vitamins in bulk powder form to make this cheaper. I've been out of work for about 10 years now. Trying to recover when you have no money makes this even more challenging and feels absolutly overwhelming at times. But I'm still very excited to see my body & brain functioning better!
And thanks to people on here I was able to figure out that the responce I had (both feeling better and then feeling worse from B12) was a clear sign of a long term B12 deficency. The sudden feeling of illness from B12 was a sign of refeeding syndrome. More specifically my potassium levels dropped very suddenly. So I added a lot of potassium via diet & supplementation and I started to feel really good. Heart palpitations, muscle twitches when I was laying down, slow gut movement and extreme fatigue were the signs of low potassium that I was having.
Then after a couple days I started getting anxiety and realized my magnesium was low which I quickly corrected. I also added some extra B2 because I felt like I was low it that, however the extra B2 caused me to need more potassium. Now I think I need more vitamin B1 because I don't really get that from my diet, at least probably not enough since I can't eat whole grains. And because a dose of B1 seemed to give me a boost of energy. Sadly I'm now out of B1 and just ordered more.
I'm very glad that I can make myself feel good with the right combination of nutrients, it's just very difficult that combination changes every few days. At this point I'm buying some of my vitamins in bulk powder form to make this cheaper. I've been out of work for about 10 years now. Trying to recover when you have no money makes this even more challenging and feels absolutly overwhelming at times. But I'm still very excited to see my body & brain functioning better!
