My Lab Results

Hey Everyone... Just wanted to update you on my lab results and what not.  I had lab work done on Feb. 13th with my surgeon and my platelet count came back as "low".. not dangerously low, just low. So, they told me to make an appointment with a hematologist to find out what was going on. I had my appointment this past Tuesday. The doctor seems to think that its my B-12 vitamins that is causing my platelet count to be low. And my body isn't absorbing the B-12 pill that my surgeon had me on. So, I started the B-12 injection on Tuesday. I will take the shot once a week for a month then she will draw more lab work and see if my numbers come up any. So, I go back to her on April 22nd for all that and hopefully the numbers will be up where they need to be. If the numbers are up, then I will have to learn to give myself the B-12 shot once a month for the rest of my life.   Karine

Well, I am glad that it didn't turn out to be anything serious.  I know you are relieved too.   Were you swallowing a B-12 pill or were you doing the sublinguals?  I know that my B-12 went higher when I did the sublinguals than even with the injection.  I know we don't absorb the ones you have to swallow.  If you didn't have the sublingual kind you might could them a try along with your injections.   Melissa

Hi Melissa... What is the B-12 sublinguals? I was taking the B-12 pills by mouth. What I don't understand if our bodies and new stomachs don't absorb the B-12 pills, then why on earth would they put us on them in the first place?? Just doesn't make much sense to me...  I just wonder if these sublinguals will work just as well as the B-12 injections... Thanks for the info! Karine

The sublinguals dissolve under the tongue and get directly into the bloodstream bypassing our digestive tract.  They work like the nytroglycerin tablets they give people for heart attacks.  You simply place it under the tongue and let it dissolve.  You don't chew it or swallow it.  They worked better for me than the infections.  I just do 1 to 2 per day and it keeps my levels high and consistant.  With the injections, by the time the next one was due I was feeling sluggish.  My counts are higher now than when I did the injections.  Give them a try.  It can't hurt.  They say you can't overdose on B-12.  But when you don't have enough it sure causes problems.  LOL. Melissa

Good Gravy alive!!  Sorry for all the extra posts.... the site wasn't work right earlier this morning. Anyway, thanks for info about the sublinguals. I will ask my doctor about them next time I see her.  How do they taste???  lol  I might rather give myself a shot then taste something nasty... I'm such a baby!  lol Karine

Girl, I don't like nasty medicine either.  The sublinguals have very little taste and dissolve pretty quickly.  LOL. 

I can't believe your doctor gave you b-12 pills? Was this your surgeon, or PCM? PCM's don't really understand how the RNY works. The reason we can't take B-12 through any way but subliqual or shot is because we don't have the intrisic factor to absorb it from our stomach. That part of the stomach was bypassed. Also, I take b-12 shots every week. I am not deficient, never was, but some NORMAL people take it once a month AND they absorb it... so we need more cause we don't absorb it. There is no known toxicity for too much B-12. Sounds like this is going to do well for you. You are probably anemic due to lack of B-12. I would suggest taking it weekly (the shot) and if you don't go ahead, do the month shot, and then do the sublinguals once a week (or 3000-5000 mcg a week). Hope all is well with you and yours =)