When a B12 deficiency occurs it can cause symptoms to manifest almost anywhere in the body. Some sufferers will show many symptoms whilst others will show no physical symptoms at all.

 

Intensity of symptoms can vary greatly from person to person. Some will experience a vague feeling of being unwell but find it difficult to describe, whilst in others their symptoms are so severe that they impact on everyday life.

 

Short, sharp stabbing pains can come and go instantaneously but other symptoms creep up over a number of years. When these occur in older people they are often just put down to old age and the B12 deficiency goes undiagnosed and untreated.

 

Some symptoms can disappear soon after treatment begins, but for most people it takes months or even years to regain full health. If diagnosis or treatment has been delayed it is quite possible for irreversible neurological damage to have occurred.

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To find out more about the possible signs and symptoms of vitamin B12 deficiencies, click on the body area buttons on the diagram below to see some of the most common symptoms affecting each part of the body.

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Symptoms underlined and highlighted in the same colour as their body area can be clicked on to see documented and peer reviewed sources of information.

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Because neurological symptoms of vitamin B12 deficiency can cause irreversible damage if left untreated, we have also indicated which of the symptoms are neurological by putting this (N) next to them.

 

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