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8 Signs You May be Vitamin B12 Deficient

Men's Health, Women's Health / By

8 Signs You May be Vitamin B12 Deficient

  • Vitamin B12, also known as cobalamin, is a water-soluble vitamin that is essential for the body.
  • It plays an important role in the development of DNA and red blood cells and is also necessary for the coordination of the nervous system.
  • You can typically obtain vitamin B12 through animal-based food items such as meat, poultry, dairy, and eggs.
  • Another way to get is through food items that are fortified with the vitamin.
  • A deficiency of vitamin B12 can be quite problematic for the body and has to be addressed immediately.
  • With that in mind, here are 8 signs of vitamin B12 deficiency:

Pale or Yellowish Skin

  • A deficiency in vitamin B12 can disrupt the development of red blood cells.
  • This may cause your skin to get paler or even yellowish, which is a sign of jaundice.
  • Jaundice can even show up in your eyes, giving them a yellow tinge.

Fatigue

  • The lack of red blood cells results in anemia, causing your body to lack oxygen.
  • The lack of oxygen will make you feel fatigued, hampering your daily life.
  • This symptom might not progress further, but it can be a pain to deal with if you have an active lifestyle.

Feeling Needle-like Sensations

  • A deficiency of vitamin B12 can also result in nerve damage.
  • The nerve damage can occur throughout the body and result in irritable, prickly sensations.
  • You might feel as if a needle or pin is sticking into you all the time.

Difficulty in Mobility

  • Damage to the nervous system also causes problems to your body’s balance and coordination.
  • You might find it difficult to move or may even change the way you walk.
  • It might take more energy for you to move, and it could be difficult for your to adjust to this change.

Mouth Ulcers and Glossitis

  • Vitamin B12 deficiency symptoms also show up in the mouth.
  • Inflammation there can result in glossitis, which is a condition in which the tongue swells and can lose color.
  • It might be difficult for you to properly and you may also have problems with taste.
  • Inflammation can also cause other oral problems, such as mouth ulcers.

Dizziness and Breathlessness

  • The anemia and the lack of balance and coordination can make it quite hard for you to accomplish your daily tasks.
  • The extra effort can regularly leave you breathless, and you may also find yourself dizzy from the effort.

Disrupted Vision

  • The nervous damage caused by vitamin B12 deficiency can also affect your optic nerves, damaging and disrupting your eyesight.
  • This condition is known as optical neuropathy, in which the images captured by eyes do not reach the brain intact.
  • Optic neuropathy is reversible.

Frequent Mood Changes

  • Vitamin B12 deficiency has been linked with mental complications such as depression and dementia.
  • It can cause frequent mood changes that occur randomly throughout the day.
  • The disruption in your brain’s activity is the likely cause for this, as it fails to keep your emotions and moods in check.