What are the signs of low B12?
Answered by the AskDoc Medical Team · Medically reviewed under our Medical Director, MBBS
B12 deficiency builds slowly: fatigue and pallor from anemia, then the nervous system, tingling hands and feet, unsteady walking, memory dulling, low mood, sometimes a sore smooth tongue. Nerve damage can arrive before anemia does.
Risk concentrates in vegans, older adults, metformin and long-term acid-blocker users, and anyone with gut absorption problems.
A blood test settles it, and treatment, tablets or injections depending on cause, reverses most symptoms if caught early; long-standing nerve damage forgives less. Persistent unexplained tingling deserves this test by name.
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