by Biologist » Mon Sep 17, 2007 10:43 pm
BSGfan,
I may have something for you here. I think you are onto something about the Vitamin B12 (even more so than the CoQ10), so I checked it out a bit more because I am having some similar issues with photosensitivity and general redness of my face this summer. Most websites I checked on Vitamin 12 indicated that adverse events were low or nonexistent. Here's an example of one followed by its hyperlink:
"Toxicity
No toxic or adverse effects have been associated
with large intakes of vitamin B12 from food or sup-
plements in healthy people. Doses as high as 1 mg
(1000 mcg) daily by mouth or 1 mg monthly by intra-
muscular (IM) injection have been used to treat
pernicious anemia without significant side effects.
When high doses of vitamin B12 are given orally,
only a small percentage can be absorbed, which
may explain the low toxicity. Because of the low
toxicity of vitamin B12, no tolerable upper intake
level (UL) was set by the Food and Nutrition Board
in 1998 when the RDA was revised (6)."
*http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/vitamins/vitaminB12/index.html
Wikipedia has a very interesting article on B12. When I first saw that heme ring several weeks ago, the lights went on. Regardless of current use for us (as a coenzyme), "evolutionarily speaking" (i.e., Note this quote: "B12 cannot be made by plants or animals[2], as the only type of organisms that have the enzymes required for the synthesis of B12 are bacteria and archaea") such metal centered rings tend to be designed from the start to deal with sun energy to form chemical energy. That means they are photoactive. Suspicious. They can absorb certain wavelengths, and that kind of action can give way to inflammation to exposed skin in people when the energy is dissipated from the molecule.
Here's the site:
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/B12
Now here is what it has to say about side effects:
"Side effects, contraindications, and warnings
Dermatologic: Itching, rash, transitory exanthema,
and urticaria have been reported. Vitamin B12 (20
micrograms/day) and pyridoxine (80mg/day) has
been associated with cases of rosacea fulminans,
characterized by intense erythema with nodules,
papules, and pustules. Symptoms may persist for
up to 4 months after the supplement is stopped,
and may require treatment with systemic
corticosteroids and topical therapy."
I also take B6, do you? Some of the above (mainly the redness) seems to fit me to a tee. On B12, for several months I have been taking a daily pill that is 30,000 times the officially recommended amount (as recommended since absorption is only supposed to be at 1%) and have also been taking pyridoxine (B6) at the above amounts mentioned. So that is almost a clincher for me. That is likely the answer to the issue. I will quit with the B12 for a while and see what happens, but if you read carefully, it could be up to 4 months before it gets cleared up. This could also easily explain several months of unexpectedly heavy sinus congestion too -- histamine release from general inflammation, etc. I have a hunch this is likely to be the cause.
You may want to click on some of the hyperlinks on words from that paragraph from the actual site, specifically including the one on Rosacea Fulminans. Pretty interesting.
Good luck with the surgery.
Biologist