B12 and Vitamin D Deficient With NMOSD

Living with NMOSD isn’t easy. Throughout the years I’ve learned that the most important part of navigating my health is listening to my body. Getting to know my body has been the most challenging yet the important part of my journey with NMOSD. Knowing that I have an infection versus a real attack was crucial to understand and took some time to realize what was the difference. It was knowing the difference between riding out symptoms at home or heading to emergency room.

At one point in time, I believed I was going mentally crazy with unexplainable symptoms. I swore a new infection or attack was coming on. I did what I usually do when I’m feeling off, contact my neurologist.

I was sent for an MRI, blood test, urine culture, and more. Everything came back normal except for 2 blood tests. The B12 and vitamin D in my blood work were severely low.

B12 and vitamin D

My neurologist called me as soon as the results was posted on to my patient portal. My neurologist emphasized how important and crucial it was to keep those two specific blood results on a higher level.

Being B12 and vitamin D deficient caused me to have a mixture of symptoms that mimicked some NMOSD symptoms:

• I was experiencing nonstop tingling in my hands, so much so that my hands felt numb all day.
• I was having one too many moments of brain fog; I felt a bit lost when it came to completing tasks.
• I was constantly fatigued even after drinking caffeinated drinks.
• I felt weak and unmotivated to complete my physical therapy exercises.
• I felt like my muscles, especially my legs had no strength.
• I was starting to experience dry skin somewhat like eczema.
• All of this made me really sad which in turn caused me to be depressed.

Treatment for vitamin deficiency

I was ordered a six-week treatment of vitamin D medication at a very high dose, and after was to continue with over-the-counter vitamin D. As for B12 I was ordered to do weekly injections. I was told it would be the fastest way to restore B12 back into my body. Then once it was stabilized, I would continue with over-the-counter B12 tablets.

With bringing my vitamin D and B12 up, the hope was to overcome some of the symptoms I was experiencing.

About a month after starting treatment, I started to notice less tingling on my hands was going away. I was able to use my hands more and the numbness started to reside. I was feeling more energetic and a bit stronger. I felt like my leg muscles were a bit more reliable. I was feeling more focused and not as lost in completing task around my house.

I can honestly say that I felt less crazy in my head, and understood by my neurologist. I’m grateful she was able to find other ways to help rather than to just point me to medications.