Vitamin B12deficiency symptoms may include: strange sensations, numbness, or tingling in the hands, legs, or feet. difficulty walking (staggering, balance problems) anemia.
Tingling hands or feet
Vitamin B-12 deficiency may cause “pins and needles” in the hands or feet. This symptom occurs because the vitamin plays a crucial role in the nervous system, and its absence can cause people to develop nerve conduction problems or nerve damage.
According to Oregon State University, one of the neurologic symptoms of vitamin B12 deficiency include numbness and tingling of the hands and, more commonly, the feet, which the health body warns could be difficult to reverse.
Low levels of vitamin B12 in the body can lead to wide-ranging symptoms. Of the many, two of the lesser-known symptoms include “tingling” or “numbness” in the feet, according to the Mayo Clinic. This occurs because vitamin B12 contributes to the healthy functioning of the nervous system.
The B vitamins — vitamin B12 and vitamin B6 — are the most common ones. Deficiencies in copper, calcium, and magnesium can also lead to tingling in your hands and feet. Most of the time, correcting the deficiency can help reverse the symptoms.
Vitamin B12 deficiency anaemia is usually treated with injections of vitamin B12, called hydroxocobalamin. At first, you'll have these injections every other day for 2 weeks or until your symptoms have started improving. Your GP or nurse will give the injections.
Peripheral neuropathy is the most common presentation of vitamin B12 deficiency. Depending upon the type of nerve involved, it may present as pain, numbness, tingling, loss of sensation, decreased motor activity, or decreased muscle mass.
Once you begin treating your vitamin B12 deficiency, it can take up to six to 12 months to fully recover.
It may take a few weeks before your vitamin B12 levels and symptoms (such as extreme tiredness or lack of energy) start to improve.
It's harder to get your B12 from food if you're on a strict plant-based diet. That means you don't eat any animal products, including eggs or dairy. Your doctor will likely suggest taking a daily or weekly dietary supplement to keep your levels up.
Diet. Some people can develop a vitamin B12 deficiency as a result of not getting enough vitamin B12 from their diet. A diet that includes meat, fish and dairy products usually provides enough vitamin B12, but people who do not regularly eat these foods can become deficient.
Apples Aside from being an important inclusion in a list of vitamin B12 fruits, apples are also rich in fibre, antioxidants, and flavonoids. Apples also comprise polyphenols that are found in both the peel and the pulp of the nutrient-dense fruit.
Symptoms of B-12 deficiency can be subtle at first. Early symptoms may include a persistent tingling or prickly feeling in your feet or hands, weakness, numbness, imbalance, and mental problems such as confusion, depression, irritability and forgetfulness. Rarely, vitamin B-12 deficiency is a cause of dementia.
B12 deficiency may cause demyelination of nerves in the peripheral and central nervous system13 and has been associated with peripheral neuropathy, loss of sensation in peripheral nerves, and weakness in lower extremities in older adults1, 14–16.
Disturbed or blurred vision can also occur as a result of a Vitamin B12 deficiency. This happens when the deficiency causes damage to the optic nerve that leads to your eyes. The nervous signal that travels from the eye to the brain is disturbed due to this damage, leading to impaired vision.
Hydroxocobalamin starts to work straight away. However, it may take a few days or weeks before your vitamin B12 levels and symptoms (such as extreme tiredness or lack of energy) start to improve. Are there any long-term side effects? It's OK to have hydroxocobalamin injections for a long time.
Since your body doesn't make vitamin B12, you have to get it from the foods you eat or from supplements. You can get vitamin B12 deficiency if you can't absorb vitamin B12 due to problems with your gut or if you have pernicious anemia, which makes it difficult to absorb vitamin B12 from your intestines.
Vitamin B12 deficiency is common among the elderly. Elderly people are particularly at risk of vitamin B12 deficiency because of the high prevalence of atrophic gastritis-associated food-cobalamin (vitamin B12) malabsorption, and the increasing prevalence of pernicious anaemia with advancing age.
Vitamin B12 deficiency can indeed lead to weight gain. But the weight gain is not a direct result of the deficiency. Instead, vitamin B12 deficiency causes lethargy or lack of energy, and in turn, inactivity causes weight gain. When you lack the energy to move, you don't burn fat.
Long-term vitamin B12 deficiency can cause nerve damage. This may be permanent if you do not start treatment within 6 months of when your symptoms begin. Vitamin B12 deficiency anemia most often responds well to treatment. It will likely get better when the underlying cause of the deficiency is treated.
Vitamin B12deficiency symptoms may include: strange sensations, numbness, or tingling in the hands, legs, or feet. difficulty walking (staggering, balance problems) anemia.
In the stomach, hydrochloric acid and enzymes unbind vitamin B12 into its free form. From there, vitamin B12 combines with a protein called intrinsic factor so that it can be absorbed further down in the small intestine. Supplements and fortified foods contain B12 in its free form, so they may be more easily absorbed.