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Why would my B12 stop absorbing and then ten years later start absorbing again?

Over the past 13 years, I had been very ill. I had a full hysterectomy in 2008. Before that the doctors said that there was no sign of menopause or peri-menopause. Afterwards, I was still very ill. Then a doctor did a full panel on me and found that my b12 did not register. I started on b12 shots and immediately got better. Now, years later, my b12 is suddenly reading in the middle numbers...Why?
AlphaCuck · 46-50, M
I'm no expert but the body only uses as much as it needs and excretes the rest as waste.
@AlphaCuck i would agree with that statement normally, but my b12 not absorbing was killing me...literally
Wishingwellguy · 46-50, M
B12 , is a red blood cell reactive supplement, and if you have a high white cell could for example after a organ removal or drop in function it drops and absorbs much quicker and so it is less likely to show up on blood markers , but as health and motabalism inproves the levels rise ans b12 becone more effective , i had weight lodd surgrey took 2-3 yesr to become effective c despite 6 weekly injections
@Wishingwellguy but the problem started years before the surgery and continued for years after even after the shots. it took years to get the number in the middle and my white and red cells where in the middle the whole time and i had no other signs of anemia.
SW-User
There could be a number of reasons. A common one is did you have IBD? even mildly during the time you were ill? The reason I ask is that it can cause an inflammation in the small intestine, and if so, that will prevent the proper absorption of B12. It's actually quite a common cause of B12 deficiency.
@SW-User that is interesting. i have had irritable bowel for decades. so again...why now and why for ten years? it was not affecting me at the time of the illness. i stopped having issues when i stopped eating barbecue and ice cream.
SW-User
@LILY61 I was diagnosed with it 15 years ago and for two years I had B12 deficiency along with some other minerals. It was all to do with inflammation in the small intestine preventing nutrient absorption. Apparently depending upon where the inflammation is, determines what types of nutrients you will struggle to absorb, so a group of people can all have IBD but have different deficiencies although B12 is the most common.

Then you need to look at what is causing the inflammation. So there's two types as far as I'm aware. There's the auto immune disease which causes it. This is called Colitis and Crohn's disease and is a result of the body attacking itself. This is the most serious. But then there's regular IBD in which the inflammation is often caused by factors such as allergens in the diet, lack of fibre, dehydration from lack of water or too much caffeinated drinks (alcohol is bad for IBD) too much processed carbohydrates vs vegetables (people who live off meat and bread and no vegetables or fruit seem to be at risk) etc.

When I had it I had some bad things in my diet such as potato chips. Just giving up that one thing pretty much cured me. So in your case it could be those things you quit. With IBD, if it's diet related, you need to reduce foods that cause inflammation and reduce acidic foods and have more alkaline foods. If you google that, there's tons of info on it. But mostly you don't need to go to extremes or do anything fancy. It's not what you eat but rather what you don't eat. My tip would be to focus on processed carbohydrates which is basically refined sugar and refined wheat. So white bread, pizza bases, excesses of anything really, like too much dairy cheese, added sugar to anything is bad for IBD.

There's also a great medication called Mesalazine. It has no real side effects in low quantities and reduces intestinal inflammation if you are having a problem.
@SW-User thanks
@SoulKey yep
therighttothink50 · 56-60, M
I am told we need magnesium to absorb our vitamins and nutrients...
@therighttothink50 i will have to look into that

 
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