It is 2014 and Vickie wakes up in the middle of the night to find she's soaked in sweat.
It would take years and endless missed opportunities before she would learn the truth behind her symptoms: she was living with B12 deficiency.
Vickie's story is not unique: an untold number of Britons are suffering in silence as they seek out answers and ways of treating their B12 deficiency.
The symptoms are non-specific and the causes are manifold, which makes it fiendishly difficult to diagnose.
B12 deficiency can give rise to non-specific symptoms, such as brain fog
Getty Images
B12 performs several important functions in the body, including keeping the nervous system healthy, so becoming deficient in it can cause many problems.
For Vickie, it started off with severe night sweats.
"It was so bad that I had to get up regularly through the night to dry my body and bed," she told online patient community The B12 Society
Chronic fatigue and severe pain in her stomach soon followed.
She also experienced:
- Tinnitus
- Speech problems (struggle to get my words out sometimes)
- Chronic, persistent cough (started around 2009 – thought it was just my job, inhaling chemicals – was diagnosed with a nasal drip)
- Dizziness
- Loss of smell
- Brain fog
- Eye twitching
- Insomnia
- Irritability
- Gastritis
- Mouth ulcers
- Abnormal pap tests
- Chest pain
- Fatigue
- Enlarged red blood cells
- Palpitations
- Fainting/light headedness
- Internal tremors
- Numbness/tingling
- Headaches
- Nausea
- Severe night sweats
- Recurring skin rashes
- Diarrhoea
- Belching
- Stomach pains
- Weakness in my arms
- Burnt mouth feeling after eating and drinking food that isn’t even hot
- Metallic taste in the mouth
Just when she thought all hope was lost, a blood test revealed she had low B12 levels.
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You can top up your B12 levels by eating plenty of meat, fish and eggsGetty Images"I came home and did as much research as I could on B12 deficiencies and pernicious anaemia and found out it runs in my family," she said.
Pernicious anaemia is an autoimmune condition that affects your stomach. It is the most common cause of vitamin B12 deficiency in the UK.
Unfortunately for Vickie, a test for pernicious anaemia came back negative but she remains determined to find the cause.
"I finally feel I have found a doctor who will listen and is willing to try everything to find out what has caused my deficiency. I will continue to fight for my own health, all thanks to the amazing files and group of people from the charity," she said.
How is B12 deficiency treated?
The treatment for vitamin B12 or folate deficiency anaemia depends on what's causing the condition.
Most people can be easily treated with injections or tablets to replace the missing vitamins.
