My energy has improved drastically. I went from sleeping 10-11 hours a night to only needing about 7 hours of sleep. This week I have been waking up between 4:00 and 5:00am and I just find myself not being able to sleep anymore. I also have had the energy and time to exercise in the morning which I haven't done for longer than I want to admit. I imagine that my stamina will continue to improve and perhaps I will be outside running again this summer.
My digestion has improved quite a bit and I am starting to add healthy foods back into my diet that I had taken out because they seemed too be too hard for me to digest like raw foods and fats. I have been weaning myself off my oxygen pills that I used to take every day for my digestion. It is just nice to know after all this time when I was told that there wasn't anything wrong with me, or I was making a big deal out of nothing, or that it was all just in my head that there really was something the matter with me. I am just glad to know that it wasn't some incurable infection or some rare disease.
My nerves are so much better. I don't have the tenseness I had before except for the tightness of my muscles which is due to me starting to exercise again. I am not dealing with the shortness of breath I had before where I couldn't seem to take full breaths without huge effort. My stomach muscles are able to relax when they used to be tensed up all of the time. I will also say that I am sure that there is no amount of yoga, talk therapy, anti-anxiety meds or anti-depressants that would have eased my nerves. Without B12, my life would have been a constant battle to relax.
I am starting to get back into my studies again and find it less of a challenge to focus on my assignments. It is no longer overwhelming to think about memorizing information or finishing my classes. Today I should be done with my 14th and 15th classes and I will only have 5 more to go!
In some ways I feel like my body has been used for my own scientific experimentation. In a period of about 20 years none of my doctors could give me the answers I needed so I just felt like I had to keep trying new things until something worked. I mean something would eventually have to work right? To think about the thousands of dollars that have been spent on me for lab tests, my endoscopy, my liver ultrasound, prescriptions that did nothing for me or made me feel worse, supplements, detoxes, and just your basic doctor's visits gets really frustrating. When I think about how little most doctors seem to know about B12 I just want to shout it from the housetops. I am debating writing all of the doctors I had visited a letter just so they can help other people in my situation. I feel like it might be a little premature for that at this point but maybe after a month or two I can be sure this isn't just a placebo effect.
I have told so many people that they need to be taking it. At least six of my family members are taking it which is probably a good thing because I was reading that predominant groups in my family history like the Norwegians have a tendency to lack B12. This also probably helps explain my family's battle with anxiety. My mom told me that my grandfather used to be on B12 for his alcoholism which has pushed her and me to get my brother to start taking B12 as well. He has seen too many friends die young recently who had issues with alcohol and poor diets. I have also told two vegan friends that they need to be taking it. I am not so sure they have taken my advice quite yet but I will keep pushing them. One has chronic unexplained back pains that her doctors can't help her with and the other has chronic fatigue but they both like to tell me that they are fine and not in need of B12.
I have always believed in the power of nutrition and diet to help our bodies heal themselves and I had my doubts for a while when I couldn't figure out my problem but now I am back on the bandwagon more than ever. I have started to also take a women's multi-vitamin just in case there is some other vitamin I am deficient in that I don't know about and I am taking D3. I can't be sure that all of the positive results are from B12 but I would say that for the most part the answers I have found point to B12. Interesting how my health had to get so bad before the light bulb finally went off. Perhaps it isn't the cure for everyone but I am SO glad I have discovered it!
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