Vitamin B12 deficiency & Metformin

http://www.b12deficiency.info/blog/2014/08/13/please-stop-treating-vitamin-b12-deficiency-as-the-poor-relation-to-pernicious-anaemia-this-discrimination-can-seriously-harm-patients/#respond

It is very likely that the Metformin 'side-effects' are none other than B12 deficiency......

All drugs mug the body of nutrition. Metformin is no exception. And B12 may be only one of many elements it robs out over time.

Hi Ali

It is well known long term Metformin use can lead to B12 deficiency, with this in mind and after around five years of Metformin use I run that past my diabetes nurse. We have a somewhat err.....strained relationship at times, but she is very knowledgeable and highly professional. She lost her father to type two diabetes complications, as did I.  

I stated I eat plenty of food that should help B12 levels, but here is the rub, she said that as we age B12 is not so well absorbed from food. She organised a blood test for me for B12 which came out good. The remedy if a problem is a quarterly B12 injection. Worth looking into for others I reckon.

I was deficient in B12 before becoming diabetic. At the time I was going to see a naturopath because I was getting much help with my various health problems from my GP. She sent me an email to print out and give to my doctor asking him to carry out various blood tests. They came back B12 deficient, but my GP never offered me anything to correct it, so my naturopath gave me tablets. My levels were OK in the most recent test.

https://youtu.be/BvEizypoyO0

Doctors just don't look for B12 deficiency....

True Eddie, but as the above video points out, if B12 is not being absorbed properly, it's cell B12 levels that tell the true status, not blood levels.

Blood tests in anything are rarely displaying true levels. The body will always try to maintain equilibrium in the blood, even if it means the cells have to be robbed. Its often not until the cells are extremely deplete that the blood levels start to go down. By then deep disease may already have set in, and sometimes irreversible damage.

The medical profession doesn't recognise sub-clinical deficiency until it reaches full-blown disease status.

Me and Kath put a post together on the blog about Vitamin B12 deficiency and metformin early this year, it was certainly though provoking and I asked my DSN if could be tested to which she agreed, it came back normal though saying that I'm only on a small dose of met.

It's a long post so I'm not posting it here you can read it on the blog

Metformin beyond it's blood sugar lowering properties

http://thelowcarbdiabetic.blogspot.co.uk/2014/01/metformin-beyond-its-blood-sugar.html