'I was diagnosed with B12 deficiency five years ago - my feet still ruin my day and I cannot bear it'
B12 deficiency can cause burning and tingling in the feet
Getty Images
A B12 sufferer has expressed frustration over the problems she's still experiencing in her feet five years on from her diagnosis.
It's an all too familiar story: B12 deficiency is estimated to affect around six percent of the population but the true figure could be far greater.
That's because the symptoms are non-specific and diverse, meaning many people slip through the net or are misdiagnosed.
And delaying treatment can cause irreversible damage. B12 helps keep blood and nerve cells healthy, and helps make DNA, so becoming deficient in the vitamin can be devastating.
To make matters worse, a growing number of Britons claim that an accurate diagnosis does not help much either, with treatments failing to alleviate the problems it causes.
B12 deficiency can cause brain fog for years on end
Getty ImagesThis will certainly resonate with one sufferer, who has shared her ordeal online.
The unnamed user was diagnosed with vitamin B12 deficiency in 2019 and "never got proper treatment".
Writing in the patient community Mayo Clinic Connect, she says a "burning and tingling" sensation in her feet still keep her up at night.
She also suffers from "extreme brain fog and cognitive impairment".
The B12 patient is injected with B12 every two weeks but it hasn't made a blind bit of difference.
Another patient has voiced her frustrations over the lack of effective treatments available for B12.
"I was first diagnosed with B12 deficiency years ago, quite severe, after developing numbness in my feet and legs, tingling, and neuropathy in my hands as well," she told Mayo Clinic Connect.
Her condition rapidly deteriorated. She started experience nerve pain in her legs and was becoming weak.
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Most people can be easily treated with injections or tablets, claims the NHS
PAElizabeth now takes B12 supplements and gets B12 injections every two weeks.
It has been years since her diagnosis and yet she still has low levels.
The treatment for vitamin B12 deficiency depends on what's causing the condition.
"Most people can be easily treated with injections or tablets to replace the missing vitamins," says the NHS.
Many B12 sufferers would beg to differ.
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