According to the Merck Manual Home Edition, the most common cause of vitamin B12 deficiency is not lack of ingestion but trouble absorbing the vitamin. This can be resolved by making some changes to your dietary habits. A severe B12 deficiency can lead to pernicious anemia, a serious condition that can cause fatigue, muscle weakness, shortness of breath, difficulty walking and dementia.
Step 1
Ask your doctor for a blood test. Vitamin B12 deficiency can sometimes be suspected when symptoms like ongoing weakness and fatigue are present, but only a blood test can confirm the problem. If the resulting numbers are low, ask your doctor about B12 injections, which might speed up your body's reaction and absorption of the vitamin. Injections are given either daily or weekly, depending on how serious the deficiency is.
Step 2
Take a supplement. DiagnoseMe recommends a 2,000mcg dosage once a day in the form of a sublingual tablet or liquid. If you have a serious B12 deficiency, this is the easiest way to get high dosages of the vitamin into your body quickly without having to visit the doctor regularly for injections.
Step 3
Eat more foods high in B12. Most animal products are high in B12. These include meats, dairy products and eggs, salt-water fish and liver. Fortified brewer's yeast is also a source of B12.
Step 4
Try tempeh, spirulina, sea vegetables and miso if you're a vegetarian. Keep in mind that according to DiagnoseMe, non-animal sources of B12 contain only negligible amounts of the vitamin. Your body might not be able to absorb or use this form of the vitamin either, so if improvement is not seen, consider other options. Unwashed, organic fruits and vegetables can also be a source of B12.
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