Anxiety is a normal emotional response to the stresses of everyday life. Anxiety that is prolonged or disproportionate to the triggering circumstances can create unnecessary emotional distress, interfere with effective coping behavior and contribute to mental and physical health problems. Vitamin B12 deficiency, or in its more severe form, anemia, is one of many possible factors that may contribute to your anxiety. In order to treat anxiety effectively with vitamin B12, you first need to determine if a vitamin B12 deficiency is contributing to your anxiety reactions. Vitamin B12 supplements can be helpful in alleviating anxiety when there is a vitamin B12 deficiency, or when there is a deficiency in the enzyme called intrinsic factor that breaks down B12 during digestion.
Step 1
Consume foods rich in vitamin B12. Rarely does B12 deficiency result from a lack of B12 in the diet, but you should nonetheless assure you have sufficient sources of vitamin B12 in your diet, including lean red meats, fish, poultry and dairy products, such as yogurt, milk and cheese.
Step 2
Monitor and review for possible symptoms of vitamin B12 deficiency, many of which are experienced as anxiety. Symptoms of B12 deficiency can include irritability, heart palpitations, rapid heartbeat, chest pain, dizziness, concentration problems, feeling hyperactive or frantic, headache, cold hands and feet, tingling or "pins and needle" sensations in your hands and feet, muscular weakness, cramps, fatigue, depression, irritability, blurred vision, falling, diarrhea, nausea or vomiting after meals, change in personality and mild memory impairment. Make note of these symptoms and mention them to your doctor.
Step 3
Discuss your anxiety and your vitamin B12 deficiency symptoms with your physician. Your physician should rule out underlying physical conditions that may contribute to anxiety. If you are over 50, have symptoms described in Step 2, are pregnant or if you use an antacid, which suppresses acids that help break down the B12 in food you ingest, then you are an appropriate candidate for a blood test for a possible B12 deficiency. According to the American Academy of Family Physicians, 50 percent of patients in early stages of anemia have normal blood levels of vitamin B12. Have your doctor use the more sensitive blood test that measures serum methylmalonic acid and homocysteine levels, which are heightened in earlier stages of vitamin B12 deficiency.
Step 4
Discuss treatment options with your physician if you are diagnosed with a vitamin B12 deficiency. Oral supplements are effective, even when there are deficits in intrinsic factor or other problems with absorption of vitamin B12. The recommended initial therapeutic dosage of B12 is 1,000 to 2,000 mcg daily for two weeks. After two weeks, your supplement can be reduced to a maintenance dosage of 1,000 mcg daily for life.
Step 5
Follow up with your doctor after a couple of weeks of treatment, and then again after three or four months of treatment, to get repeated measurements of blood levels of B12, homocysteine and methylmalonic acid. If you continue to have a vitamin B12 deficiency, then your doctor may recommend that you receive monthly injections of vitamin B12, or may recommend a B12 nasal spray. Once you identify an effective treatment, you will probably need to continue B12 treatment for life. If your anxiety persists even after your B12 levels have stabilized, then discuss further anxiety treatment options with your doctor.
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