[Marlene]

Hi Margie....I think you are right on about the elderly and B12. This is such an easy vitamin to check and very easy to correct. B12 is not toxic and can help so many other things. The one thing that's never addressed is that during times of extreme stresses your body requires and uses more B12 than someone who's not. I wish they would treat the entire person and not just the disease in isolation. Oh well....

Junglegirlsue....is that 1000mg or mcg? The methyl form is a more bio-available form. Also, since she is supplementing, if you have her B12 checked, it will be elevated so you won't get a true reading. So if it comes back high, don't let them scare you into stopping it. One last thing....the B6 should not exceed 50mg. 50 mg is the standard. You can go up to 100mg/day but not in one dose. The standard B6 ingredient in most supplements must be converted by the liver and you don't want to put an additional burden on the liver. There is a form which does not require conversion, the p-5-p form of B6. This form is considered to be more bio-available also. But unless you think there's a b6 deficiency also, I would keep it to 50mg. (just my suggestions base on our experiences....I'm not "nutritionist") Hopefully her doc has checked at least her B12, folate, B6, iron and copper serum levels to establish a baseline. I would get copies of the results to have on hand.

I know how difficult it can be to try and get them to hear you when you come in with anything regarding treatments, nutrition, etc. It does take courage to assert yourself in these situation because they can be so defensive when patients/care givers take an active role. I find that if they do not know about certain nutrients, then they play it safe and say don't do it. At least our doctor says that he does not know about some stuff and therefore cannot recommend it either way.

We have found that John's vitamin C, B5, zinc were low....again, nothing to do specifically with his anemia but alot to do with overall health. We will be checking his vitamin D level in the next few weeks.

I hope the B12 helps....let us know.