On 17 Mar, 22:09, Joe Riel wrote:
Martin writes:
I was diagnosed with small fibre idiopathic peripheral neuropathy in 2005. It progressed pretty much as the textbooks said it would. I stopped cycling and kept walking to a minimum because both seemed to make things worse..

For various reasons (long story) I became 99.9% sure it was caused by vitamin B12 deficiency and started taking oral B12 supplements (methylcobalamin, not cyanocobalamin). My B12 blood test was normal so the neurologists I saw laughed off this approach but said the B12 would not do any harm. (B12 blood tests are very unreliable, particularly in people who exercise regularly.) I also took alpha lipoic acid, acetyl-L-carnitine, coenzyme Q10, and a good multivitamin containing all the B-group vitamins. *Within about 6 months my neuropathy started to improve, much to the surprise of the neurologists. I now get only mild symptoms, but I am riding as much as I like and still taking B12.

If you are over 50 there is a high probability you may be deficient in B12. I learned a lot from this support group:

http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/forumdisplay.php?f=20
or *http://tinyurl.com/ajzvup2

This program is well worth listening to.

http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/...rt/vitamin-b12...
or *http://tinyurl.com/8

Conversely, a few years ago I started taking a multivitamin with B12.
Some months later began to experience a weird tingling in my right big
toe. *Saw a specialist. *He suggested the problem could be excessive
vitamin B12 and ordered a blood test, which confirmed his hypothesis.
Quit taking the supplement and the tingling quickly disappeared.

--
Joe Riel

Wow, those that are "defficient" in B12 serum levels usually end up
injecting as they are otherwise unable to make the magic numbers.

Supposedly mushrooms contain adequate amounts which are easily
absorbed and utilised. I usually have a broth with loads of
mushrooms in each month but have no idea what a blood analysis would
show.