Pernicious Anemia Puns

Ok, so not every patient with with autoimmune atrophic gastritis has pernicious anemia... But are there patients with pernicious anemia who don't have autoimmune atrophic gastritis? Thanks in advance.

Just saw this.
https://perniciousanemia.org/b12/injections/buy/

Anyone have experience ordering these? I know many of us here suffer anxiety from Methyl, but for those of us experiencing neurological/physical symptoms it might be a worthwhile tradeoff instead of shitty cyano.

How often do you take your shots? I’m on weekly but I feel like crap after 3 days and my symptoms are increasingly getting worse (hair falling out, skin issues, extreme fatigue, etc). Wondering if I should increase the frequency of cyano injections?

their etiology and effect are exactly the same but i never saw any reference calling them the same name so i am a bit confused

Hi,

My dad (age 63) was recently diagnosed with pernicious anemia. His main symptom at the moment is chronic fatigue. He has other symptoms, like regular coughing, disparate appetite, weight loss, night sweats, and shortness of breath. He has two weird symptoms though, that he wonders if anyone else has (he doesn't know how to use reddit so I'm asking for him). First, he used to never drink water prior to being diagnosed, but now he is always thirsty. Second, his tastebuds are weird and he finds things extremely salty. Anyone else have these groups of symptoms?

Thanks so much!

I am a 28 year old female in good health with no other medical conditions. Blood tests revealed I was deficient in B12 and when my levels started to drop after 2 months of weekly B12 (cyanocobalamin) injections, a hematologist diagnosed me with Pernicious Anemia.

I'm now 6 months on weekly injections but 1 month into treatment I noticed bruises/rashes appearing on my arms and legs. Since then they've gotten pretty large and more irritated, this is what they look like.

My hematologist says it's a dermatology issue, my dermatologist says it's a hematology issue. My primary care doctor doesn't know how to help. Wondering if anyone has seen this before as a reaction to B12 treatment or is it a symptom of having PR? Thanks in advance!

So I had a long post typed out explaining my whole story but then the mobile app crashed and I lost it all. So y'all are getting the condensed version instead. Feel free to ask questions of course. I'm 26F.

I was diagnosed nearly 2 years ago with Fibro after experiencing classic symptoms, I even went through Cardiology assessments and and echo first and they found pretty much nothing. I'm also diagnosed with ADHD and take adderall, which helped me realize initially something was really wrong when the symptoms got bad, I could sleep at the height of my adderall activation which shouldn't be possible.

I never fought the diagnosis, I had every resource and opportunity for treatment any Fibro patient could ever ask for, and I did it all. I was determined to adapt and learn to live with the Fibro. But I kept slowly getting worse, and weaker.

Eventually I began to faint, and fall and hurt myself. The first time my doctors brushed it off as a fluke. But then it kept happening and the frequency was every other day. I finally put my foot down and say to my GP that syncope is NOT a Fibro symptom, and my Rheumatologist and GP chose not to test and rule out several other (unlikely) conditions like MS. So I demanded to be sent to Neurology.

Immediately the Neurologist was deeply concerned and immediately banned me from driving my car or any vehicles for at least 3 months. Thankfully I had my mother who wasn't working, she was able to move in and drive me everywhere. The Neurologist suspected a weird form of POTS as 60% likely to be the culprit, and epilepsy was his other guess. He explained that based on what I told him, I had actually described experiencing partial complex seizures as far back as 2 years ago, and the fainting may actually be seizures that now have progressed to full tonic clonic (grand mal in the past). He said that the odd bruises I got after a fender bender and losing conciousnnes after the air bag (obv was a very weird situation) all pointed to me experiencing a seizure that either caused the accident or was triggered by the malfunctioning air bag.

So he immediately put it into perspective for me, if I had had that seizure 5 seconds later on the highway at full speed, I very well may have died. If I had fallen wrong or turned my head during my falls, I could have bitten off my tongue and drowned in blood, shattered my jaw, or swallowed my tongue and suffocated. My first fall had been the worst, I landed squarely on the underside of my chin whi

Is there anyone in this group with Pernicious Anemia who feels that they’re truly, properly treating it?

I’ve tried looking through the Pernicious Anemia subreddit but there doesn’t seem to be a lot of response - mostly just newly diagnosed people asking questions.

I don’t know what all is allowed on this subreddit in terms of discussing one specific chronic illness, but if anyone does feel confident about their Pernicious Anemia treatment and would like to message me, I’d be so grateful! I’m not sure that my current treatment regimen is adequate and I’m worried about further nerve damage from inadequate treatment.

Thank you in advance!

I've been diagnosed with endo for years now (surgery back in 2015, it came back some months later, I'm now on Visanne). I've recently been diagnosed with severe B12 deficiency, they think it's Pernicious Anemia (more testing needed to confirm the exact cause).

I'm curious if anyone else here has dealt with both conditions. Pernicious Anemia is an autoimmune condition, and is more likely to show up in those with other autoimmune conditions. Endo has been thought to be an autoimmune condition (not officially classified as one yet, AFAIK). P.A. is also most common in AFAB people past menopause (50-60+ yo), and while Visanne isn't supposed to put one in menopause, apparently I'm super special and get full blown menopause symptoms from it (I also have pcos, which might affect that? I hate my current obgyn and finding another through covid has been a nonstarter, so she's no help with the menopause shit). It seems like it might be possible that endo/endo treatments could make one slightly more likely to develop P.A., though of course that's only based off of my very limited internet research.

I guess I'm just curious if there might be a connection. Plus, I think I'd feel a little less unlucky if they are maybe connected, since if they're not it's just another part of my body not working properly for no apparent reason, lol.

Hi everyone!

I've recently started B12 injections at age 20 and I am trying to understand some lab results... I was tested for pernicious anemia through testing for the intrinsic factor antibody.

My result was 2.15 u/ml. Is this positive or negative? The references are all in AU/ml and says normal range is between 1.21 and 1.52. These aren't the same units so I am a bit confused!

Any help would be very much appreciated! Thanks so much.

If we can't get our hands on B12 injections, can we treat with oral B12 tablets in this case? Thanks!

Hey guys, Ok so I have chronic illness of roughly 10 years duration. There was a period of really bad GI symptoms that ended abruptly, then things started rolling down hill after that. This has largely consisted of just being tired, chronic yeast infections, and interstitial cystitis (which resolved after 2 years on a low oxalate diet). The entire time, my blood work looked pretty normal, but my MCV was steadily rising. They checked B12 once very early in this ordeal and it was high normal. (I was drinking a ton of energy drinks. I was undoubtedly drinking an energy drink before the lab was drawn.)

Fast forward to a year and a half ago. One of my labs was finally flagged because my MCV was outside the normal range. I think it was like 102 and the upper limit was 99 or something. It had been sitting around 98-99 for years. Anyways, I asked my urologist to order MMA HCY blood test. He’s pretty chill so he said go for it. Mind you, I was chugging a rockstar on my way over to the lab for my blood draw like I did every goddamn day for... idk a decade? So MMA was normal, HCY was at the top of the range. Figured ok, not pernicious anemia then.

Fast forward to a few months ago. Started getting really dizzy. Intermittent bouts of diarrhea, which was odd because I was always constipated before? Also nerve pains in my back, legs, and face that would come and go (usually worst before my period). I got off energy drinks for three weeks prior to blood testing. (This was correlated with a worsening of my symptoms) B12 came back at like 400. B6 was barely in range (I was kinda surprised. I had been drinking energy drinks and even adding some B complex tablets here and there for decades before this.)

Anyways figured ok, not B12 deficient. If anything, maybe B6 deficient. But that doesn’t explain my climbing MCV of many years’ duration.

But now I have diarrhea and abdominal cramping often, but not every day. My legs felt like they were made of lead for a few days, then they kinda went back. I have fluttery sensations under my skin. And I just feel like I’ve been hit by a bus, man. It’s awful.

So my questions to you!:

-Did anyone have some minor symptoms and normal B12 levels for a while before their liver stores of B12 finally “ran out”?

-Can energy drinks consumed immediately before blood draw screw up my MMA HCY labs? Is it better to have urine tests for MMA HCY? Does anyone have relevant stories about their MMA and HCY labs?

-Did anyone have bad GI sympt

Hi everyone - I've been getting progressively sicker for a year now (first tingling/burning in extremities, then low bpm/syncope, then vertigo/dizziness, and now housebound with severe fatigue, temperature disregulation, short of breath, muscle weakness/pain, digestion/abdominal pain issues increasing). I was referred to neurology and cleared for MS. I've also been cleared for diabetes, thyroid issues, lots of ANA/RF levels totally normal.

My B12 was low-normal (340pmol) and folate (10nmol) last November when the dizziness started, and I was advised to increase my dietary sources. I increased as much as possible, meat multiple times a day, fortified foods, folate sources etc and have just had bloods retested and the levels are almost the same, so my 4 months of work hasn't done anything. I also have an elevated ESR and homocysteine level, with a normal MMA.

I have another appointment with my PCP this week and am wondering if it's worth asking for IF and parietal cell antibody tests? I also have chronic gastritis and suspected celiac/IBS issues.

Hi everyone!

I'm reaching out as I'm at a bit of a block in my health and doctors refuse to listen to me. I'm under 100lbs now, 5'8, 21 year old female. I have a naturopath who will do any bloodwork for me but other than that she can't help me with much. I've been to the hospital a few times before and according to them I am "the epitome of health!". I've lost about 35-40 pounds since May/June of last year and it plateau'd for a while but I've started to lose more weight again and I struggle to keep what weight I do have. My mother was diagnosed with PA at 24 with similar symptoms to mine but because I'm so young and my results never leap off the screen, doctors don't think it's true. My blood results never 'flag' their internal system, and my doctors never actually look at the numbers, only my naturopath does. All they care about is hemoglobin (can anyone relate?).

My hemoglobin is normal (139 g/L), platelets are as well, everything that I know about my red blood cells is normal (for now). Folate is also relatively normal. Thyroid stuff normal, no H-pylori, nothing. However, Iron is 13 umol/L (normal range 11-34), transferrin 1.90 g/L (normal 2.00-4.00), TIBC 48 umol/L (normal 50-100), transferrin saturation is 0.27 (0.13-0.50), and B12 181 pmol/L (normal 138-652). My ferritin levels are 65 ug/L (normal 5-272). I've gotten a lot sicker since this bloodwork was done so I'm probably going to try to get it updated, too.

In addition to the weight loss I have terrible acid reflux, painful bloating and cramping, anal fissures/skin tags/pain, unable to digest all meat and dairy, and substantial amounts of fats, oils, and potatoes makes my symptoms flare. My short term memory is next to nothing, I feel like I'm developing dementia, often I even struggle to remember how to spell things properly. Sometimes I poop out straight blood or mucus and nothing else. I'm always either painfully constipated for 3-7 days or have the burning diarrhea you get like 5 minutes into eating. I have frequent mouth ulcers, my lips are constantly dried, cracked and scarred, and more recently problems with my balance and coordination and I frequently get dizzy, lethargic, and my dexterity gets very weak in my hands. My appetite has been poor throughout this but more recently I am usually not even able to meet the calorie requirements needed for a 3 year old, and it is so scary. I've been having infrequent heart palpitations where my HR reaches 130-140bpm, my resting is around 50-70,

Hi! I am a 24 year old female. I have been dealing with digestive/stomach issues for a few years now. I had my second colonoscopy/EGD in Feb of this year which showed chronic gastritis. I had had a previous EGD in 2017 that also showed gastritis. In both of these instances the doctors said that it did not need to be treated as a lot of people have gastritis (??). I looked further into this and saw that is can sometimes cause B12 deficiencies and that I also have been experiencing a lot of the symptoms of B12 deficiency such as numbness in my legs, feet, and hands, brain fog, extreme fatigue, and mood swings. I requested a blood test and sure enough I had a deficiency. This doctor sent me to pcp who wanted to retest to be sure but at this point I had been taking 2000 mcg B12 per day for a month. My results came back today and while my B12 levels were still deficient, my levels testing for pernicious anemia were all borderline. So she basically said that nothing was wrong and she won’t even give me a B12 shot. My question is, should I seek out a second opinion? I am still experiencing the same deficiency symptoms and I am not a vegetarian or anything like that. I am wondering if anyone knows other causes of B12 if y’all don’t think it could be pernicious anemia? Thank you!

Hi I’m relatively new to Reddit and I don’t know how to quite work this app yet but I feel like my story needed to be heard

For about 3 years I’ve had symptoms that are exactly like a chiari minus the constant headache, I do get headaches but they’re not constant. If you are suffering from neurological issues, memory, numbness, and pain. Or feeling like your nervous system is messed up, even sleep issues get your b12 levels check I’ll name my symptoms down below

Symptoms Red eye w/ no irritation (probably just a normal thing) Feeling crawling sensations Twitching of the toes and thumbs Stomach thumping and twitching Hot sensation on toes and legs Headaches slight dizziness Pressure on forehead Ringing ears Sleep issues Face and toe numbness/tingling sometimes twitching lips Memory loss Motor Tics

When I was told I had a deficiency my level was 264 Normal is above 300

(These are from my notes)

The people most at risk are vegans and vegetarians. If you are not vegan or vegetarian and have low b12 you may have pernicious anemia like me. I now have to take monthly b12 to keep my levels safe.

I’m only telling you all this because untreated pernicious anemia can course long term damage to your nervous system.

If you have these symptoms get your b12 levels checked. If they are low have them test your Intrinsic factor, this diagnoses the anemia itself.

I was often misdiagnosed with anxiety and depression

it is commonly overlooked and it took me years to find answers.

I really hope this helps somebody!

24 M here. Recently I found out my great-grandfather had some type of pernicious anemia, and was treated with b12 shots.

As a child, I had a lot of nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. More than the average kid. I was a bit under weight and didn't have much of an appetite. I ended up drinking some chalky stuff and was diagnosed with GERD and left with a script of omeprazole. Later I was diagnosed with Juvenile Rheumatoid arthritis when I was 14-15. I had some sort of autoimmune reaction that caused swelling after a subluxation of my knee. Soon after, my other knee started subluxating frequently as well. I had a partially successful MPFL surgery a year or two later, and afterwards my surgeon said that the subluxation was not from RA, but that it was congenital. Then my rheumatologist said I was in remission. I do not get much inflammation anymore, and my white cell count is normal. I am curious to see if anyone else has any experience with autoimmunes and PA. I'm also wondering if congenital/juvenile PA could cause knees to sublux/dislocate? I never had any issue with them up until puberty, which is interesting to me. Any information on congenital PA/intrinsic deficiency would be greatly appreciated. I'm seeing a Dr. on Monday to discuss this. I'm worried that because I don't have anemia, that he won't order any further labs and the like. The physical problems as well as the mental health/fatigue is really getting to me. Thanks!

DAE have both? How are you handling the symptoms? I'm just now starting meds and I feel like a slug -- I'm exhausted and having bad stomach issues....any advice appreciated...

I’ve never been diagnosed with pernicious anemia, but I suspect I might have it. I deal with fatigue, irritability, and brain fog a lot. Autoimmune conditions run in my family, and I tested negative for hypothyroidism so that got ruled out. One thing that does continue to be an issue is my vitamin b12 levels. They’re always consistently low whenever I get labs done, and I struggle to keep consistent levels between monthly injections. Oddly enough my CBC is normal. Could I still have pernicious anemia with a normal blood count?

Required info:

• Age: 37

• Sex: F

• Height: 5ft5

• Weight: 129lbs

• Race: Caucasian

• Duration of complaint: 1 year

• Location (Geographic and on body): Oregon USA - GI tract/generally everywhere.

• Any existing relevant medical issues (if any): Diagnosed with POTS 10 years ago, also developed other symptoms at same time— livedo reticularis and Raynaud’s phenomenon. Grand mal seizure in 2010 but no others. Had very high blood iron in 2013 and my ALT and AST were 3x higher than normal range. I was diagnosed with hemochromatosis but it’s a mutation that does NOT cause iron overload. Doctor was unable to tell me why this occurred. I stopped all pills with iron and it took almost a year for my lab work to return to normal.

Rheumatologist diagnosed me as probable undifferentiated mixed connective tissue disease based on constellation of symptoms. SED rate was normal. I have not followed up with rheumatology in over 8 years but will do so in the next month. Had a large lipoma removed from upper back in November 2020. I continue to have severe insomnia, anxiety, dizziness, migraines, SOB during mild exercise, etc but have experienced these symptoms for the last 10 years and may be from POTS.

Issue today:

Severe bloating and intermittent abdominal pain for the last year. Constipation but have been using magnesium calm for the last 8 months with bowel movements every day or every other day. Bloating and pain persist. I have very little appetite and fill up quickly when I do eat. Paradoxical weight gain (of 10 lbs) in the last 6 months despite eating approx 1100-1500 calories per day. I fast daily (16 to 24 hours) mostly because I’m not hungry. I am moderately active and should require at least 1900 calories to maintain weight. Some days I have to force myself to eat because I get weak and dizzy when I don’t. Stomach looks bloated and feels full even when I haven’t eaten anything in 24 hours.

Recent normal bloodwork:

Hemoglobin 13.2 (normal)

ALT - 23

AST - 12

Iron - 124

Iron binding - 360

Iron % Sat - 34

Vitamin D - 26 (ref 20-80)

Cortisol post suppression - negative

Intrinsic factor blocking- negative

Recent abnormal or borderline abnormal bloodwork:

Homocystein - 4 (ref range 3.7-13.9 but med journal shows anything under 4 should be treated- https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.drkarafitzgerald.com/2017/04/04/low-homocysteine-concern/amp/)

Ferritin - 14 (ref range of 12-252)

B12 - 1077 (ref range of 211-911)

Gastric parietal cell an

Anyone else have this during pregnancy? Found out my iron is fine, but it's an issue of not enough b12.

Was told to start getting shots, because I've been taking a supplement with 1,000 mg for over a month with no effect.

Nervous about the shots. Read a study about getting TOO much b12 causing autism?? Anyone else getting b12 shots during pregnancy?

Same token, nervous because too low of b12 can cause neural tube defects. 😩 Can't win.

I was diagnosed 10 days ago, my b12 was at 106. Doctor put me on daily injections for the first week, but now it is 3 days since last injection and honestly I feel terrible. I struggling to catch my breath, exercise, even walking up stairs. I'm really interested to know how/when/if you do start to overcome the symptoms of this.

Any other Celiacs out there with a diagnosis for pernicious anemia as well?

Now 10 years into my CD diagnosis I also have hypothyroid, lactose intolerance, rhumatoid arthritis and a brand new pernicious anemia diagnosis.

At this point I'm no longer surprised but also exhausted!

Does anyone else feel like their just playing auto immune bingo at this point?!

Hello all,

I'm taking an A&P course and currently we're discussing various forms of anemia. The professor's description wasn't very good, all I got out of it was that it had something to do with being B12 deficient and something in the stomach called intrinsic factor. I was hoping someone here could give a semi-scientific explanation of what pernicious anemia is and how it effects people who have it.

Maybe not quite ELI5, more like ELI-understands-basic-biology-but-isn't-a-doctor

Thank you

Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31018715/

TL;DR: Vitamin B12 supplementation may lead to dopamine accumulation in the brain, due to indirect inhibition of COMT, an enzyme that breaks down dopamine. Excess dopamine could result in palpitations, anxiety, and insomnia.

Vitamin B12 is known to participate in the methylation cycle as a methyl donor - Vitamin B12 is a cofactor in the Methionine Synthase enzyme, which recycles Homocysteine into Methionine, which then turns into SAMe (S-Adenosyl-L-Methionine) - the body's universal methyl donor. In other words - Vitamin B12 elevates SAMe levels in the body.

SAMe is metabolized to SAH (S-Adenosyl-Homocysteine), a COMT inhibitor. COMT is an enzyme that breaks down catecholamines - dopamine and norepinephrine - and so SAH indirectly increases catecholamine levels by inhibiting their breakdown by COMT. This mechanism explains why SAMe increases brain dopamine levels 15-fold (1500%) in mice (Source - Page 49).

In this case report, an adverse reaction to Vitamin B12 treatment (as Cyanocobalamin) is described. The patient had developed significant B12 deficiency to the point of anemia, requiring treatment. After a total dose of 12mg, the patient developed symptoms consistent with excess catecholamine levels - palpitations, anxiety, insomnia, akathisia - as well as seemingly unrelated ones - acne and facial ruddiness.

The symptoms did not improve 72 hours after cessation of B12 supplementation, which led to the patient being prescribed a benzodiazepine. Eventually, 2 weeks after cessation of B12 supplementation, all symptoms were fully resolved without further complications.

I have symptoms but a low B12...looking back at my labs, I felt best when my b12 was 1,000 + - now it hovers around 600

In March my inflamed toe was diagnosed to be dactylitis, a symptom of psoriatic arthritis. Few weeks later my eyes were swollen and I had a psoriasis rash under one and on both eye lids. Allergist said I’d developed a severe reaction to dust mites. Then my IBS freaked out and my safe foods were blowing my stomach out. Then I tried to donate blood, and couldn’t due to low hemoglobin. Now they believe I have internal bleeding and severe anemia and b12 deficiency and d absorption issues. :( Anyone relate?

So after recently updating to v7 of the anking deck, I saw in the errata that the card "What type of HSR is pernicious anemia" has had the answer changed from Type IV to Type II. I saw that the reasoning for this is because of two separate pages in first aid 2020 (p113 and p379) that states that pernicious anemia is due to autoantibodies and that a Type IV HSR doesn't involve autoantibodies. However, multiple uworld questions I've seen show pernicious anemia as a cell-mediated HSR so wouldn't that mean that it is a type IV?

When the h pylori Spreads to the body of the stomach , it can cause inflammation and damage to the parietal cells and eventually cause pernicious anemia ? Am i correct ?

i started taking oral supplementation for vitamin b12 deficiency as prescribed by my doctor and experienced relief with my symptoms. I suspect i have pernicious anemia . So my question can oral supplementation treat someone with pernicious anemia or pernicious anemia can be treated by injections only.