Vitamin B

I was getting in my car after a workout and noticed some tingling in my feet.  It was like coming indoors after a very cold day and feeling your feet begin to warm up. I had bought some new socks and thought perhaps these socks were too tight, cutting off the circulation a bit. I expected the feeling to disappear by the time I woke up the next morning: it did not. I asked my Mom, who is a nurse, what she thought, and she suggested elevating my feet might help: it did not.

When I arrived at the hospital a few days later, one of the first things they tested was my B12 levels. When I got a call from my family doctor a few days later, she focused on my B12 levels at first. She was looking at it because people with low B12 levels also have circulation problems, and the pins and needles feeling may be caused by a lack of B12. When she discussed it with me, it became apparent that, although my levels were slightly below average, they weren't the source of the tingling (spoiler alert: it was Multiple Sclerosis).

As time has gone on over the last few months, I have had a number of symptoms:

-       Tingling, pins and needles in my feet

-       Tightness in my knees

-       Tension in my abdomen (also described as the ‘MS hug’)

-       Numbness throughout my body from my feet to my belly button

These symptoms began to fade as time went on, with the exception of one thing: the tingling! Literally every step I’ve taken for the last seven months has been an annoying reminder of what is happening to my body.

That was until my last visit to my naturopath. She looked at my B12 levels could not have reached for the bottle of B12 supplements fast enough. I’ve been taking them for a couple of weeks and have noticed a significant improvement in my feet. They aren’t totally back to “normal” and I’m not sure they ever will be, yet I am so grateful we were able to get to this point of progress. I’ve learned that B12 helps in the maintenance of the nerve’s myelin sheath, which is critical for people with MS because damage to the sheath causes symptom flare-ups and eventually disease progression.  

These days, it’s the small progressions that feel important. Being able to take a few steps without major annoyance has changed my mood and outlook. I’m grateful to have such a strong support system in place to help me get better. 

I’m also surprised with how far vitamins have come since the last time I took them on a regular basis, but these don’t taste as good as the Flintstones.

-       Jesse