Thursday, April 23, 2009

B-12

Earlier in the week I had a doctor visit. it was a standard, no frills, visit with some lab work. I feel as though I am a healthy individual. Although, various ailments do run in my family: diabetes, high cholesterol...blah, blah, blah.

The lab work came back and with it came a phone call.

I have low B-12 levels.

Needless to say, once I got the call, I immediately researched B-12 deficiency and the side effects of such a deficiency:

* Numbness or tingling in the hands or feet
* Insomnia
* Loss of memory
* Dizziness
* Lack of balance
* Depression
* Digestive problems
* Dizziness
* Liver enlargement
* Eye problems
* Headaches
* Hallucinations
* Inflamed tongue
* Breathing difficulties
* Loss of memory
* Palpitations
* Neurological damage
* Tinitus or ringing in the ears

(Ironically the individual who compiled this list, must suffer from B-12 deficiency because they repeated some of the side effects: loss of memory and dizziness.)

Anyway, of the side effects listed above I suffer from:
* Loss of memory (I consider my severity mild; like: where did I put my keys?)
* Depression (who's not these days with the economy, etc.)
* Digestive problems (absolutely...)
* Eye problems (I wear glasses. but, I have since 5th grade.)
* Palpitations (these have been more frequent recently.)
* Tinitus or ringing in the ears (more frequent in recent days.)

::sigh::

So, Monday, I start my round of B-12 injections. I have to have 1 injection per week for four weeks, and then once per month until... who knows? I'll find out Monday.

The injection will be intramuscular.

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