So we are basically speculating about something (nitrious oxide) that we don't know if it was used causing something else which we don't know was caused by that (B12 deficiency) causing something else we don't know for certain (vagus nerve damage). Let's say that's a chain of events that seems rather unlikely given the million of other possibilities
I forgot to mention there were other risk factors that would suggest B12 as a possibility, including strict whole food vegan diet, no B12 supplements for over a year (and therefore none in my diet), and very little before that year, and high doses of pepsid for over a year.
I was drinking fortified soy milk on and off for a while. Once I stopped, within a few months, all symptoms started becoming a lot worse.
These were my list of symptoms when I started (many of these have gone away even though they were persistent before starting B12). This was the list I wrote for the hematologist:
--tingling in feet that moves to legs. And sometimes other parts of my body.
--abdominal distension
--gets FAR worse with exercise / chronic fatigue type symptoms despite being a passionate distance runner and healthy eater with no health problems for years.
--developing extreme fatigue (slept all night then couldn't stay awake in the morning -- spilled tea on myself after breakfast but fell asleep anyway -- woke up wet an hour later-- didn't even have the energy to change clothes).
--autonomic issues over the past year -- blood pressure going up and down wildly at times despite previous very stable blood pressure. This was usually just after getting sick like with a cold, for a week or two, then BP would become stable again.
--night sweats just started recently even though no history of those.
--insomnia (sometimes caused by supplements but sometimes caused by exercise).
--occasional constipation (I think caused by antacids)
--memory problems / significant word recall issues
--severe physical anxiety unlike anything I've ever had before usually at night. Shaking, strong warmth in my chest, swirl of something feeling all over my torso (scary), like I was going to have a heart attack, frequent insomnia -- all worse after exercise
--heart palpitations at times
--tremors
--tinnitus worsening a lot, even though it should be improving after surgery
--headaches, at times bad, getting worse
--losing a LOT of hair
--taste altered
--smell altered
--burning roof of my mouth -- this was bad and persistent.
--reflux that doesn't improve despite very low acid diet and lots of antacids and drinking high pH water and taking reflux Gourmet. Actually reflux was only getting worse / turned into heartburn. Two reflux experts told me that they thought the reflux was caused by nerve damage.
--tongue looks weird / painful
--recently developed unusual daytime fatigue
--I have never tested positive for covid despite numerous PCR tests
--night terror waking up screaming to the top of my lungs.
--thoughts of death often
--crying / depression often
--getting sick very often (sometimes could have been allergies but much worse than anything ever before)
--no stress besides medical in my life.
ALL of those symptoms were listed across various sources as symptoms of a B12 deficiency. Even the night sweats, just as an example, were listed. I'm going through menopause so it would be easy to assume meno was causing them. However, I strongly suspected that was not the case bc I hadn't had them in the years of perimenopause. And these were bad like 5 times a night for the last few months before starting B12. Those were totally gone after the first shot, along with the roof of mouth burning, and the taste / smell alterations. I thought my husband smelled terrible and my favorite soy milk tasted spoiled even though it wasn't -- I even emailed the company and asked what was wrong. Now that tastes good again. Night terrors gone. Anxiety gone. Depression gone when I've taken enough B12. And minimal at other times. Exercise tolerance improving a lot. Actually thoughts of death gone. Heart palps gone. Tongue pain gone. Mouth still sore though. I haven't noticed memory issues as much (that's hard to tell but I was noticing very subtle memory deficits and haven't lately). Before, BP was variable after getting sick (which I did often over the last year), but then would stabilize, and was stable for several months before I started the shots. Daytime fatigue mostly gone except small windows (30 min) when it seems connected to electrolytes -- and drinking either salt or potassium or both perks me right up. Tremors gone.
Oh I also had glossitis, I think it's called (tongue had distinct glossy look -- my husband confirmed after we both looked at comparison photos with others who had B12 deficiency -- this was very distinct looking bc the little spongy bumps were gone), which can be caused by other things but is also classic for B12 deficiency.
I'm still losing hair. Still have reflux but it's much better (not nearly good enough bc I can't expand my diet without symptoms getting worse -- however I haven't needed any pepsid to sleep since day one of the B12). Abdominal distension is worse. Sides of tongue still hurt. Tinnitus has been almost silent many days -- going up and down but overall WAY down from when I started the shots (this is remarkable bc my surgery was for a perforated eardrum and I had severe Tinnitus after, and have seen an ENT every two weeks for 3 years -- my Tinnitus should have improved within 1.5 years after surgery but it was only getting worse, for which they had no explanation). I still have tingling in my legs and feet.
Insomnia better for two days after shots. Then worse again. I've been spacing my shots 3-9 days apart. Just decided yesterday to try them daily. I started with 500 mcg yesterday -- and I don't think that was enough bc Tinnitus was bad yesterday, reflux a little worse, and I didn't sleep enough last night. So today I'm trying 1 mg.
I've developed new transient symptoms since starting B12 like spots in vision, blurry vision, pins and needles -- these have all just been for a few seconds each. Persistently worse abdominal distension that distinctly seems more watery.
Very low BP that's been fairly persistent (not true before) I might be forgetting something. My understanding is that it's not unusual for new symptoms to appear during treatment.
The other thing is that all of the books I've read (three total, written by doctors, about B12), said that basically B12 is something that you should exclude when there are risk factors with a therapeutic trial. And that's what the hematologist said, too (although he thought low ferritin and dropping iron levels were the more likely cause of some of these issues -- and I started iron supps at the same time as B12). Anyway low B12 iisn't something that you need clear cut proof to justify trying to treat (although I feel the proof is very solid).
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