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What number should your B12 level be?
Understanding the Results But a normal level of vitamin B12 in your bloodstream is generally between 190 and 950 picograms per milliliter (pg/mL). Between 200 to 300 pg/mL is considered borderline and your doctor may do more testing. Below 200 pg/mL is low and more testing is needed.
What level is severe B12 deficiency?
Values of less than 160 pg/mL (118 pmol/L) are a possible sign of a vitamin B12 deficiency. People with this deficiency are likely to have or develop symptoms. Older adults with a vitamin B12 level less than 100 pg/mL (74 pmol/L) may also have symptoms.
Can B12 be confused with MS?
Vitamin B12 deficiency can cause MS-like symptoms, such as fatigue, mental confusion, and numbness and tingling in the hands and feet. That’s because vitamin B12 plays a role in the metabolism of fatty acids needed to maintain the myelin sheath. Vitamin B12 deficiency can be identified with a simple blood test.
Can MS cause low B12 levels?
Several recent reports have documented vitamin B12 deficiency in patients with MS. The etiology of this deficiency in MS is unknown. The majority of these patients do not have pernicious anemia and serum levels of the vitamin are unrelated to the course or chronicity of the disease.
Is 293 a low B12 level?
Diagnosis of B12 deficiency. B12 deficiency is usually detected through a B12 blood level. Typical lower limits of normal are 200 pg/ml. Levels between 150 and 300 should be confirmed with secondary surrogate markers (see following).
How do you test for B12 deficiency?
The first step in checking for deficiency is a blood test to check the serum level of vitamin B12. Because folate deficiency can cause a similar type of anemia (megaloblastic anemia, which means a low red blood cell count with overly-large cells), doctors often test the blood for both folate and vitamin B12.