Guest guest Posted July 17, 2010 Report Share Posted July 17, 2010 I was anemic for years, probably attributed to CLL. A new oncologist check my B12 counts and I had virtually no absorption. Lack of B12 had effected my ability to sleep and caused irritability and depression that I was prescribed Effexor XR for. So it has been a B12 shot every two months and I feel great,! My anemia has totally gone, my sleep has returned and I'm off the antidepressant. Now I know why the call it 'Side Effexor'. Many other things have improved also, so get that B12 level checked! ~chris CLL CANADA http://cllcanada.ca Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 17, 2010 Report Share Posted July 17, 2010 At 06:49 PM 7/17/2010, " cllcanada " wrote: A new oncologist check my B12 counts and I had virtually no absorption. The wife of my biochemistry Ph.D. advisor is a CLL patient. My advisor probably taught the vitamins component of biochemistry classes. I sent him Chris' post, and he replied with the following response related to the biochemistry of B12 absorption. " B12 is a little different from most B vitamins in its uptake. In the initial studies on B12 nutrition, they recognized that its uptake was a two-component system, referred to as " intrinsic factor " and " extrinsic factor " . B12 itself (cobalamine) is extrinsic factor. Intrinsic factor is a protein, formed and secreted in the stomach as I recall, which binds to cobalamine and facilitates its uptake from the small intestine. It is not uncommon, especially in the elderly, for an individual to be deficient in the intrinsic factor, and hence the intramuscular injections of B12 to alleviate this condition. " Al Janski Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 17, 2010 Report Share Posted July 17, 2010 I had my B12 checked about 1 1/2 years ago and it was smack in the middle of the normal range. Of course, that might have changed since. I'll ask my doc to have my B12 checked again. I also had my plasma iron checked a few times. It was a bit on the low side, but still within normal range. Again, that was more than a year ago. As we age, our metabolism can change with time. Andy Re: Get your B12 checked too! At 06:49 PM 7/17/2010, "cllcanada" wrote: A new oncologist check my B12 counts and I had virtually no absorption.The wife of my biochemistry Ph.D. advisor is a CLL patient. My advisor probably taught the vitamins component of biochemistry classes. I sent him Chris' post, and he replied with the following response related to the biochemistry of B12 absorption."B12 is a little different from most B vitamins in its uptake. In the initial studies on B12 nutrition, they recognized that its uptake was a two-component system, referred to as "intrinsic factor" and "extrinsic factor". B12 itself (cobalamine) is extrinsic factor. Intrinsic factor is a protein, formed and secreted in the stomach as I recall, which binds to cobalamine and facilitates its uptake from the small intestine. It is not uncommon, especially in the elderly, for an individual to be deficient in the intrinsic factor, and hence the intramuscular injections of B12 to alleviate this condition."Al Janski Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 18, 2010 Report Share Posted July 18, 2010 Yes, B12 is an absolutely necessary component for the synthesis of the hemoglobin molecule. Look it up. Ellen cllcanada wrote: > I was anemic for years, probably attributed to CLL. > > A new oncologist check my B12 counts and I had virtually no absorption. > > Lack of B12 had effected my ability to sleep and caused irritability and depression that I was prescribed Effexor XR for. > > So it has been a B12 shot every two months and I feel great,! My anemia has totally gone, my sleep has returned and I'm off the antidepressant. Now I know why the call it 'Side Effexor'. > > Many other things have improved also, so get that B12 level checked! > > ~chris > CLL CANADA > http://cllcanada.ca Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.