Vitamin deficiencies

Boop
on 12/10/07 9:34 am - Farmington HIlls, MI
Help. I've been fighting a battle with strictures and being unable to eat/drink properly over the last 45 days. We finally cleared the stomache problem with dialation but last Thursday I found myself hospitalized for dehydration and weakness. I received vitamin supplements with the IVs and mentioned to my surgeon that I have numbness and tingling in my legs and feet. He sent in a Neurologist who could not pinpoint the cause of my "peripheral neuropathy." Supposively I was not terribly low in B complex vitamins, my blood sugar was normal and the spinal tap was normal..... So, if the numbness is caused by vitamin deficiency, will the numbness clear or is this  a permanent loss of sensation? I've also hear that weight redistribution can cause  some pinched nerves...Has anyone else had these issues?
melissa1973
on 12/10/07 7:23 pm - CT
I recently went for 2 months with completely numb feet that only kept getting worse. It started with my feet feeling like they were asleep every day which progressed to feeling so numb at night I'd feel like I had ice picks under my toenails. I went to my doctor, surgeon, and finally the emergency room. I had an MRI, leg ultrasounds to rule out clots, and mega bloodwork. Nobody had a clue what was wrong and nobody could help me. I ended up seeing someone on another board posting about numb feet, I asked her about it, and she said it could be a lack of B1 or B6 vitamins which docs don't seem to be aware of or test for even though deficiencies in those can cause limb numbness. They did test me for B12 which was fine, but not B1 or B6. So I started taking a super B complex daily which has B6 and a separate B1 vitamin, in addition to the vitamins I already take. Notice B1 is not included in the B complex which is why I take that seperately. My numbness is almost completely gone now and getting better every day. I am so angry I went through everything I did for what looks to be a simple B6 and/or B1 deficiency that can so easily be fixed, I suffered A LOT because of doctors not helping me. If it weren't for me doing my own research on these boards I would have never found the answer. I pray there is no permanent damage, but since I've recovered so much since adding these vits I think I got lucky and will be ok. Btw, not diagnosing you or saying this is what is causing your numbness, could be something totally different for you, I just felt the need to share my own story in case it does happen to be the issue with someone else and can help them not go through what I did. Thanks.
339 / 151 / 155?   day of surgery / current weight / goal weight
190 lbs lost
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Boop
on 12/11/07 8:56 am - Farmington HIlls, MI
Thank you, Thank you Thank you. I have identical symptoms and they have done ever test they can think of, from ct scans to a spinal tap. My B-12 was not deficient, makes me wonder about B1 and B6.......
sarard
on 12/11/07 12:49 am - Costa Mesa, CA
Try Vitamin B1 (also known as thiamine) - we have found some cases of B1 deficiency in WLS patients. You can take this by mouth or injection.
Sara Nejat-Bina, RD, CNSD, CDE
Registered Dietitian
wendy_fou
on 12/13/07 11:51 am - AR
Deficiencies in Calcium, Vitamin E, Vitamin B1, B6 & B12 can cause numbness/tingling in the limbs (peripheral neuropathy).  http://www.farmacopia.net/nutrient_symptoms.html http://www.recoenterprises.com/american-longevity-vitamin-de ficiency.html http://www.imakenews.com/mvius/e_article000217509.cfm http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/news/response.html Usually, symptoms of vitamin deficiency improve within days of increasing vitamin consumption. 
sburnett9
on 12/16/07 1:35 am - Fort Wayne, IN
Hi, just wanted you to know that I had a b1 deficiency and was diagnosed with beriberi. I had numbness literally from my feet to my chest. My dr tried to say I couldnt have a deficiency only a few months out of surgery, at that time I  only was numb and tingling in legs and feet. It progressed gradually and fianlly my family dr saw me and found the dificency. I still have it , it has been months  with vitamin therapy and neurotin(a drug). Seems to be improving slightly and slowly, so please dont let your dr fail to run all tests and pass you by on your health issues like mine did!
Boop
on 12/16/07 2:04 am - Farmington HIlls, MI
Oh my God. I also have numb "spots" in my abdomen and chest. I just started taking a liquid b complex that absorbs sublingually (under the tongue). I see a neurologist on Wendesday amy family Doc just pulled a complete lab panel on me. Thanks so much for your help....
sburnett9
on 12/16/07 10:17 am - Fort Wayne, IN
When diagnosed, I had to get megadose daily injections of b1 for 7 days, my doc let my hubby give them to me. I now take a vitamin called vitaplex, which is a prescription from my neurologist. It is b1, b12, b6 and folic acid, also 400 mg of neurotin(gabapentin) a drug used for seizures but works to lesson the pain in neuropathy twice a day. I started a suppliment called nervefix also that my hubby found online. Do you get muscle cramps? Stabbing or shooting pain as well?  I know after my visit with neuro,and nerve conduction test, muscle test (emg needles into muscles) I felt hopeless > Slowly though now I am starting to get less of the pins and needles sensation.The chest area, stomach and pelvic region are feelng more normal. I also am seeing a chiropractor and therapist . I am trying everything to get better. I wish you luck and make sure your drs are on it! Feel free to write anytime for questions or just someone to talk to who knows what you are going through.
Roberta Murray
on 12/24/07 4:58 pm - Pittsburgh , PA
I don't have tingling in the trunk area but I do get tingling in my mouth (almost like chewing tin foil), tongue around the lips, hands,neck, feet. It has woken me up, I feel like my entire body is trembling, it has gotten so bad that it wakes D up, she will ask me "are you cold? Why are you shaking so badly?" I went to the dr and my "labs" were normal...........TSH, CMP,CBC no vitamin levels. Their diagnosis? Panic Attack......................so a few days later I spike a temp (102) and they decide it must all be viral and I will be ok, this was over a month ago and nobody told me what to do when I keep getting the tingling. About 3-4 years ago I would have episodes where I would just...suddenly...not be able to move or speak.....I had the numbness and tingling then too, went to the dr (this was before my revision but after my Open VGB) and they decided I was NOT having a stroke, it was all in my head......ARGH!!  My biggest fear is STROKE...........my paternal grandma had 15 in 13 years, my Dad had a couple strokes before he passed away at age 51....my Maternal Grandma threw a blood clot (PE) that hit both lungs and she died (age77).....my Mum had several strokes that eventually led to stroke fed dementia (vascular dementia) before she passed away (age68)....then my baby brother died last year, the day after his 45th b-day of a Pulmonary Embolism or flash CHF or something vascular, we opted out of the autopsy, I couldn't put him thru' that.................so anyways, every time this happens I freak out thinking I am having a stroke.................D accuses me of being a hypochondriac but I am just so afraid of having something wrong and nobody knowing......................ARGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH not like I miss work or run to the doctor for everything but when I see something on line that sounds like what I am experiencing I jump on it, does that make me a hypochondriac? Hope not....but still nobody has explained this tingling and metallic taste in my mouth (Not ketosis I know what that tastes like) and the shaking from head to toe and the headachy feeling, I feel like I am being zapped with low voltage..........like grabbing a hold of a low voltage electric fence (don't ask I grew up in the country LOL)   Any ideas or suggestions???????????????

Ciao 4 now,
    Berta
385(hw)/292(sw)/186(cw)/150(gw)

    
sarard
on 12/26/07 1:27 am - Costa Mesa, CA
See my post to you regarding vitamins -- I'd recommend B1 to you ---- I went over this in my last post to you ...
Sara Nejat-Bina, RD, CNSD, CDE
Registered Dietitian
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