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Always Tired


AndreaC

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Having POTS is still new to me. This is sooo confusing:( I know that dizzyness seems to be a constat system for most, but what about being tired? I am always tired. I get up in the morning and feel like I am ready to take a nap, even after sleeping 8-10 hours a night. My doctor checked my B12 level and said that it was too low. She wants me to start B12 injections and continue them for the next 8 months. Have any of you dried B12? I am always dizzy and spend my day either laying down or in a wheel chair, I am concerned that I am going to all of a sudden have extra energy and not be able to do anything to burn it off, because I can't get up and move around. If anyone has tried B12, does it help?

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I have the same issue of always being tired, doesn't matter how much sleep I get. I can get out of bed every morning, but feel like I am moving in slow motion and not thinking straight for a while after I get up. Doesn't help that my worst NCS almost fainting episodes are in the morning in the shower. I was just recently diagnosed with NCS so I look forward to working with my doctor about fatigue, especially morning fatigue.

I initally thought I had a sleep disorder, since I wake up many times during the night. Thought it was sleep apnea, but a sleep study said I did not. Before being diagnosed with NCS I tried sleeping pills, which helped me sleep through the night, but the fatigue in the morning was no better or worse. I eventually stopped taking them since I had an infant son and my wife didn't like how I was completely zonked out all night, very hard to wake me up and very disoreinted when I did. After being diagnosed with NCS I started to think the fatigue was related to this. I am on Citalopram (Celexa) 20 mg a day, which helps a lot with the episodes in the shower, but the morning fatigue is still pretty bad.

I have not tried B12, but I will bring that up with my doctor. Thanks for the idea.

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B 12 can help a lot. ESPECIALLY when you know your levels are low. Oral form not helpful. Learn to give yourself shots (Seems creepy at first but you get used to it)

No longer helps my fatigue much but I have other issues going on.

Good luck and let us know how the B12 works for you. If you are low it needs to be replenished.

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I have NCS and OI [heart stuff thrown in the mix] I said should have been the first sign for me that I was sick; being so fatigued that even after sleep or a nap I'm still tired, when I was used to 4 hrs sleep all my life and I was fine.

all of my blood work was ok though except my sodium - can I get too much B12?

I do know I started taking my children's gummie vitamins and notice I feel somewhat better when I do and they don't upset my stomach since they're geared for children.

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I have tried b12 ( and everything else). My dr. told me that b12 is a scam (really he said something in yiddish but that's what he meant).

I think the shots can help with energy if you are deficient- but I can't say the oral stuff does any good. I am a big believer in vitamins. I take them every day and think that they are important for my overall health- meaning I would be in worse shape without them. I know that I need to take iron for example.

Good luck to you- I am learning that so much of what is on the internet is bunk and I really have learned to trust the dr. i have now ( so many dr's have NOT helped me). So I am not for b12 but at the same time is is not harmful.. just a potential waste of money.

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I was found to be deficient in B12, and started taking it and it helped a lot. Didn't help the fatigue at all, but it did help my mood. Seemed to even me out a bit. Also, I had bruising that disappeared after starting the B12. I can now stand with my eyes closed and not fall over immediately. For me, I can't believe how much of a difference I've seen with the B12. I do take it orally- 1000mcgs. Can't get too much, it's water soluble, you'll pee out the excess. I think I'm deficient because my digestive tract works too fast and a lot of the nutrients just don't get absorbed.

Sara

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I gave myself B12 shots for several years and they really helped. It took me a few shots to get over the strangeness of poking myself, but it never hurt. Now, I take a B Supplement daily. If I don't take it, I notice it.

Caron

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Oral B12 is often waste of money, especially in we aging folks due to the inability to produce the write digestive enzymes & the intrinsic factor issue.

So ORAL B12 CAN be useless for some (unless you are blessed with perfect acid balance in your stomach :unsure: )

Injection B12 is safe, relatively inexpensive and doesn't not hurt ANYTHING. It's water soluble so you pee it out if you have too much.

If you are LACKING in it you need b12 injections and other vitamins taken orally help it all to work better.

Many many years ago, I took MultB injections, B12 & Vita C shot together. (Came in figure 8 shaped bottle where you pulled a plunger to mix dried part with liquid) It had to be used in 14 days. This was more expensive and burned like the dickens due to the Ascorbic acid in the C. But it often helped me immensely but I never used it all up. IIRC it helped more than B12 but I am going back 18 years so don't quote me on that. :)

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Sophia has a great point about vitamins working together. ( they can also work against each other.. I have to take my Iron pill alone.

Also don't forget vitamin D. Very important if you are not in the sun and don't drink milk!

You could always get a b12 shot from your dr and see if you feel better.

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kayjay

For the price of one doctor visit for shot, you could get several scrips of the stuff!

Practice giving shots and using syringe on orange. For some of us and our weird ways, be impossible to tell if ONE shot is helping or not.

I seem to either have a weird body or weird suppressed "Placebo" effect after the fact. I swear a med/vitamin is helping, then after a few times it no longer does. MANY of us have experienced that..thus I don't like to "give a full report" on a new med/vitamin supplement until I've been on it for weeks.

CynicalSophia

:unsure:

:)

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Many people say that oral B12 is not as good as a B12 shot.

But what about sublingual B12 vs. B12 shots?

I wanted some B12, I was worried that my intestines wouldn't absorb it, so I bought a month's supply of sublingual B12 from Walmart for 9 $. Apparently, you can also get subdermal B12 patches for 25 $ a month.

What is in the shots, exactly? Is it the same form of B12 in the pills? If so, then absorption would have to be the only issue, and I would think sublingual or subdermal administration would be as good as injections. Unless there is an upper limit on how much B12 can be absorbed through a given patch of skin in a given amount of time.

kayjay

For the price of one doctor visit for shot, you could get several scrips of the stuff!

Practice giving shots and using syringe on orange. For some of us and our weird ways, be impossible to tell if ONE shot is helping or not.

I seem to either have a weird body or weird suppressed "Placebo" effect after the fact. I swear a med/vitamin is helping, then after a few times it no longer does. MANY of us have experienced that..thus I don't like to "give a full report" on a new med/vitamin supplement until I've been on it for weeks.

CynicalSophia

:(

:)

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I take the sublinqual B12 and it has worked just as well as the shots. My GP was giving me one shot a mth. which did nothing to increase my levels and I was told giving yourself a shot of B12 is more complicated that say an insulin injection...the placement of the shot was too hard to reach on my own.

I decided to try the sublinqual and after several mths. my levels are much higher...last check was above 800...so I know it's being absorbed. I've had low B12 levels for years and always thougt the shot was the only way to go so I'm happy that I can rely on the sublinqual now. :blink:

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Wareagle

not sure WHY a dr would say b12 shot is more complicated than insulin. NOT true at all. I use huge 21 gauge needles to give myself shot in the hip for years (and with smaller needles, gave on the thigh)I sit down, grab a piece of flesh on upper hip, twist a bit to do this, and inject. The end. Easy. Within inch of where the doctors nurses gave it to me YEARS ago.

I still use big needles because I used to mix antivirals with B12 & got used to the long needles. & get them by the box of 100 which is just a couple bucks more than 10 syringes.

Plus my eyes are bad I would never see a smaller needle!! :P I don't have that much extra flesh so need to be able to SEE what I am grabbing & the needle.

But b12 shots are VERY safe to give yourself so don't want folks to be scared off. Been doing it off and on since 1992. I know many that take them and some vegan friends that are older and don't absorb the oral form. The sublingual is not always well absorbed either. Very complicated to explain.

Bottom line, take what works for YOU peeps..on and BEWARE the sublingual version often has manitol or that other sugar substitute ending in -ose or tol. Can cause gas & diarrhea. Same thing that's in sugarless gum...so if your insides are sensitive, :)

P.S. a cut and paste from a site on How to self inject B12. Hope this helps..and no this wasn't written by me!! :blink::)

"I self inject every 2 weeks and have been since 1995 and sometimes my husband will do the arms so I can give the thighs a rest. I've had no problem getting the syringes at the pharmacy and the nurse showed hubby how to do it one time and he has no problem doing it for me. The nasal stuff didn't keep my B12 up so I had to go back on the injections after a month, but it may work for you if you can't do the self inject. I'm surprised or rather not actually that your Dr said you'd have to get a teaching nurse to show you, that's idiotic. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to give injections to yourself or anyone else, I did it all the time as a nurse and it was nothing.

Of course if you start giving yourself injections then they won't get the office call money so tell them to have his nurse show you how the next time you need one and then all he has to do is write the prescription for the solution and syringes as a standing order, once a year I need to update the prescription and that's all.

They're just trying to keep you for the office call money. Once you get it you may feel apprehensive about sticking yourself with a needle for the first few times but after awhile it will be fine."

p.p.s. this link easily explains HOW to give urself injections only I do not put alcohol on ME. burns & I am clean. I do use it on top of the B12 bottle where needle goes in. I rub the area after the shot but not with alcohol. Sometimes if cold, the B12 will stay in a small bump, but will dissapate. I give 3ccs so that's a lot. It's WONDERFUL not being dependent on a doctor for this and to know when the stick is coming into your body with controlling it. My nephew once called me on the phone to give his wife a B12 shot as they were never, LOL. but it was fine.

http://www.ehow.com/how_4600517_give-b-injection.html

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The nurse was showing me how to gage the correct spot on your hip and it was too difficult for me to reach on my own...also if going into my arm I would need help. There's nothing wrong with getting the shots or learning to give them yourself...I would urge people to consult a nurse or Doctor and learn the proper techniques before attempting any kind of injection however!!

I've simply found that the sublingual is absorbed well for me and I've no need for the injections any more....Yay!!

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Wareagle,

cool the sublings work for you. That's the great thing about this board is we learn about ALL avenues of choice (even if we do have to scream at docs to allow us do do things on our own, but my ex CFS doc let me have the script for B12 & they never even showed me how to do it! lol) but he knew I was from a medically oriented family and if I needed help I would get it...this was 18 years ago?

I had had allergy shots years before in early 80s (something you should NEVER give yourself alone in case you have a reaction, but if a doc/medical person is in the fam, it worked and you owned adrenalin for reaction!) but nowadays I don't do allergy shots, they never worked but went away on old fashioned antidepressant. after three days (sinequan!! I think)

but B12 safe....and so many options! even a patch but I could never do patches due to adhesive itching..but more power to those that can use them. :-)

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I definetly think if you have low b12 levels you should try something to get those ups. I think that the whole "b12 is a scam" comment might be more about how some energy drinks advertize how they have TONS of vit b to give you energy. Like someone else said if you take too much b12 you'll pee it out so if you aren't deficient b12 probably wouldn't help much. I take cerefolin and it brought my levels up and gave me some more energy.

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Thanks for all the feedback:) I started the shots Monday, so far I can't tell a if it is helping or not. I am going to ask my GP about the sublingual (sp) next week. I don't know what the level is supposed to be, but mine was 207. The clinic at Vandy told me the best place to get it was in the hip. I am going to try it next week and If I have trouble with it, a friend of mine said that she would come by and give it to me.

I just got back form Vandy two weeks ago and they increased the dosage of my medicine after being off of it for three weeks and about the time I get it back in my system, I have to come off of it to partcipate in a drug study.

I have been feeling soo bad for almost a year now, and the last few months the worst. I just want to feel better and get out of the house for more than going to the doctor.

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I get my first b12 shot tomorrow and I'm really nervous! My body reacts so strongly to anything new even if it's 'natural' - so I'm really scared that I'm going to feel awful or weird. I read you can get very warm? Anybody have any input on this?

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So I survived! :lol:

My doctor is actually starting me really slowly and buidling up to the 'normal' dose of 1cc. Today I started w/ .25cc. Next week I'll go to .5, etc. It stung pretty bad going in and then I left and got in my car. As I was driving the only thing I noticed was that my feet felt warm - they NEVER feel warm. It was actually a nice feeling. Didn't last though.

Anyway, glad that I made it through today!

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So I survived! :lol:

My doctor is actually starting me really slowly and buidling up to the 'normal' dose of 1cc. Today I started w/ .25cc. Next week I'll go to .5, etc. It stung pretty bad going in and then I left and got in my car. As I was driving the only thing I noticed was that my feet felt warm - they NEVER feel warm. It was actually a nice feeling. Didn't last though.

Anyway, glad that I made it through today!

I got the full dose and my arm is still hurting at the injection site. Mine stung pretty bad to. I wonder if I should ask my doctor about starting with a lower dose and working back up to 1cc? I am supposed to start giving them to myself next week.

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I was told giving yourself a shot of B12 is more complicated that say an insulin injection...the placement of the shot was too hard to reach on my own.

It is not necessary to give a B12 shot in the muscle. It can be given subcutaneously, which is easy to do. I used to give myself these shots once a week! Easy as pie to give, no different than giving an insulin shot. Now I give them to my hubby who is a scardy cat about giving himself a shot. Believe it or not, I used to give them to myself in the stomach, and never ever felt them.

Caron

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