Too much Vitamin B12 maybe?

[Jean Morrison]

I've had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome for such a long time but it was only diagnosed two and a half years ago. From that point on I've taken Vitamin B12 and it has been a God-send to me. I started off by having shots and after a few months I was swapped over to sub-linguals. It has made an incredible difference to my quality of life. However I'm now having huge problems sleeping. I do OK for a couple of hours and after that it really is a waste of time being in bed. I blamed all sorts of things but nothing is making it better. Finally in desperation I started wondering if the B12's were doing it. I can now see a couple of references to it causing insomnia on websites. Has anyone here had any experience like mine please? Does anyone know how long it would take for the B12's to be out of my system when I stop taking them?

 

[Arrowwind09]

oral sublingual should not take long to pass out. But I bet this is not the problem. You will know if you stop taking it, so report back.

 

[Jean Morrison]

Thanks Arrowwind09.

Reporting back after one day without B12: An improvement in my sleep. I still woke up several times but less times than usual. Last night the periods of wakefulness were shorter than previous. This is very encouraging but I'm not raising my hopes too high in case it was just a co-incidence. We'll see what sort of sleep I have tonight.

 

[Jean Morrison]

Reporting back after two days without B12: Absolutely shocking night's sleep. I nodded off for a short while sometime before 1 a.m. and spent the rest of the night totally wide awake.

I'm wondering if my CFS has decidedto desert me (would be nice) and now perhaps I'm left with oodles of B12 still inside me, hyping me up. Who knows.

 

[Jean Morrison]

Reporting back again. B12 was indeed the culprit. After the last post on here my sleeping turned around and I'm now back to havng a normal night's sleep each night. It just goes to show that something that suits your body at one stage in your life doesn't necessarily suit it at another. Even something like Vitamin B12.

 

[majbsb]

Can I ask what brand of B12 you were using? I use Now Foods B12 sublingual spray on a morning only.

 

[Arrowwind09]

I would say that this reaction to b12 is unusul. I have done very high mg injections weeky and even daily without ill effect to sleep or anything.

But everyone is different.

 

[Jean Morrison]

I didn't know there was a sub lingual spray.

I started off two and a half years ago with Neo-B12 injections, 1 mg. These started off weekly and over a period of months reduced down in frequency until I started on the Eagle brand sublingual B12 1000's. On the front of the bottle it says each tablet contains 1 mg of cyanocobalamin.

I'm concerned that if the CFS is still with me what shall I replace the B12 with? Right now I'm still quite a tired person but that is OK because I can deal with that if it stays the way it is now. But I can't bear the thought of going back to what I was before B12 came into my life.

I reckon that if it takes several weeks for a level of B12 to build up in your body sufficient that it improves CFS then it might take a few weeks for it to finally remove itself from your body. So maybe enough of it has gone now for me to be sleeping better but what will I be like when the rest of it has gone?

 

[Vnat32]

I used to be be a tired person too till someone recommended Barleygrass capsules to me....now i dont leave home without taking them.....the only problem I had was finding a brand that actually sold the powder LIVE GREEN instead of dry brown...

 

[Jean Morrison]

I haven't had chance to go looking for barleygrass capsules yet but by the sounds of things I need to find live green and not dry brown. Thank you.

 

[Solstice Goat]

I would keep up with the B-12 and add melatonin at bedtime.

 

[Jean Morrison]

Oh that is interesting. Would I get melatonin at a health shop or is it something my doctor would prescribe?

 

[kind2creatures]

Melatonin is available at health food stores and vitamin companies. My husband likes the Source Naturals sublingual @ 1mg. each, and he usually just halves them. I use the Schiff Melatonin with Theanine 3mg, and I also cut those in half.

Something to remember with melatonin, it won't just knock you out like sleeping pills, and for best results, a dark room is mandatory. BTW, I often use and recommend Sleep Blend SP-17, and herbal blend by Solaray, very effective.

 

[Jean Morrison]

Wonderful information. I shall print it out and take it with me to the health store when I go. Many thanks everyone.

 

[Solstice Goat]

I do the 5mg time release melatonin. It's my favorite so far. I have used the Schiff before and like those too. Being a veteran of shift work, any helper is a godsend when it comes to restoring normal sleep.

 

[Jean Morrison]

I went to the health food store and spoke to a very nice knowledgable naturopath. I went in there looking for barley grass and melatonin. She has persuaded me to try spirulina first up. After a few weeks I'm to go back and tell her the outcome and then maybe I'll start the melatonin. She wants me to try one thing at a time so it can be monitored. Sensible I guess. Life without B12 is rather nice so far. I actually had 5 hours continuous sleep last night and felt like a different person today.