Posted by Larry Hoover on February 14, 2005, at 16:17:53
In reply to Re: B-12 level too high? Larry Hoover, posted by Cairo on January 28, 2005, at 11:13:07
> We just received lab results on my teenager who has been complaining of fatigue. SMAC, thyroid, folic acid, vit. E, ANA, lead, and iron indices came back normal. Only things that stood out were ferritin being low normal (20 ng/ml) and B-12 being high (1456 pg/ml; normal=211-911). Could high B-12 mean anything? I searched on Google and found only a few sites than even mention B-12 overdose with the following symptoms:
>
> "Can cause folic acid-related anemia if low,
> numbness or tingling in right arm or right side
> of face, anxieties, panic-anxiety attacks, heart
> palpitations, hyperthyroid, optic nerve atrophy
> (in someone with Leber's disease), insomnia,
> may worsen symptoms of mitral valve prolapse"
>
> The anxiety, panic, and insomnia stood out as she has these.
>
> She takes a B-50 supplement. Should I be concerned about the high B-12 level in terms of toxicity? Or could it indicate something else such as reduced B-12 in the CNS (it not crossing the BBB and serum levels go up)?
>
> CairoVitamin B12 has no established toxic threshold. There is no evidence that there even is one. I'd also suspect that the "normal" values might better be expressed as "typical", which may or may not be "optimal". Extra B12 in the blood serves as an especially efficient scavenger for the potent oxidant peroxynitrite, so I'd say this B12 level is a positive finding, not an adverse one. The ferritin level is worth efforts to increase, though.
Lar
poster:Larry Hoover
thread:449152
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20050131/msgs/457748.html