Pernicious Anemia, another term for vitamin B-12 deficiency, is actually very common yet easily treated. Unfortunately it cannot be prevented or “cured.” Most often this condition goes undetcted - or worse, misdiagnosed because the symptoms are similar to many other conditions, and can even mask those.
Let’s clear up one thing before we go on. Anemia is a blood condition and there are many different types. Pernicious anemia is in simple terms: B-12 deficiency. Not to be confused with probably the most common- iron deficiency. I was diagnosed with it and I at first thought “iron.” Wrong.
Pernicious anemia occurs usually when a protein produced in the stomach called intrinsic factor, stops or reaches a very low level. This substance is a key element to making B-12 work. When it’s not there, the B-12 basically does`nt get absorbed and properly utilized by the body. The solution? One would think you could just take B-12 tablets. I thought this too. Wrong. You could take a whole bottle of B12 tablets, and you would just be wasting your time because without intrinsic factor, the B-12 would not make it into the bloodstream. So the treatment is an injection, usually once a month.
I am sharing this with you because I have this type of anemia, and I HATE SHOTS. An 80 year old lady told me that she had pernicious anemia too, and used what is called sublingual, or under the tongue, liquid. I did of course check with my doctor on this and he told me to try it and we could check my B-12 level. I tried it and I have been taking it for 15 years now. If you do go to your local vitamin store, you may find they don’t know if they even have sublingual vitamins. There are by the way, two types that I know of: tablets for under the tongue, and liquid. Get the liquid. At one time there was a nasal liquid, but our FDA claimed that the dosage was so high, that it would be classified as a drug. Funny because there is no known toxic level of B-12 because it is water soluable.
