Day 4 Approaches

As the 96th hour after the injection approaches, I can start to feel that it's actually warm in my apartment. I started feeling better about an hour ago. Though I still find breathing difficult, my hands are no longer cold and numb.

Every day since Tuesday, the act of thinking had been difficult. I could only sit at my work computer for about an hour before getting lightheaded and having to lie down. Now I can sit without a backrest and my arms no longer need to be propped up.

So much to do and so little time! All of the sudden, a list of things I have to do ran through my head. Do I have the energy? Will I be able to walk down the street without having to sit down or stop?

The last four days were a huge lesson to me, and I hope for others with this deficiency.

Vitamin B12 deficiency is no joke. It's not psychosomatic. It isn't something that can be healed with a placebo. Even if a person's B12 level is tested "normal", it's possible that a deficiency can still occur at some other lesser-known physiological process.

The important thing to remember is that the human body simply can not survive without B12. It's the factor of cell replication and energy metabolism that we so easily take for granted, especially among vegetarians. But the fact is, we are omnivores. I'm not against those who choose to be vegetarians. Vegetarianism is more environmentally sustainable. But we are homines sapientes. We are not designed to eat grass. It must be processed in order to take advantage of its nutrients. Otherwise, we eat meat. We can even eat meat raw.

Twenty years ago, I tried to be a vegetarian. It lasted 8 months before I became too weak to play sports. A blood test came back that said my B12 level was low. By the time my blood was tested, I had already started to eat meat again. But it was too late. My body no longer would process this complex vitamin from the foods I ate.

For 20 years I tried many diets. I even ate raw food. And every few months, the same problem occurred. This time, the problem lasted too long.