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No Energy, Not Depressed. B12 Or Nutritional Supplement Helpful?

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Posted on Mon, 28 May 2012
Question: I AM A 70 YEAR OLD FEMALE IN VERY GOOD HEALTH.I STILL WORK A FULL TIME JOB THAT I LOOK FORWARD TO DOING EACH DAY AND FEEL BLESSED TO HAVE IT. I HAVE BEEN OFF FOR 2 MONTHS VACATION AND I FIND THAT I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO ENERGY OR DESIRE TO DO MY DAILY ROUTINE.I AM NOT DEPRESSED I FEEL I JUST HAVE NO ENERGY OR GET UP AND GO. WOULD B12 0R SOME SUCH NUTRITIONAL SUPPLEMENT HELP ME.
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Answered by Dr. Robert Galamaga (3 hours later)
Hello and thanks for the query.

The symptoms you describe may be multifactorial. That is to say there are likely a number of issues which are affecting your overall health. The first two things which come to mind are anemia (low blood count) and possible thyroid dysfunction. anemia can be caused by a number of things including iron or B12 deficiency or some type of problem in the GI tract such as an ulcer or bleeding in the colon. With the thyroid - sometimes it can develop a dysfunction which leads to lower than normal circulating thyroid hormone. This can contribute to progressive weakness and fatigue.

Simple blood tests will be able to rule out anemia or vitamin deficiency or thyroid dysfunction. In the meantime a good multivitamin which contains some iron and B12 would be fine to take. B12 by itself does not provide any boost in energy unless someone has a true deficiency.

Of course we cannot deny psychological factors such as anxiety, depression or lack of sleep. If you have thought abut things and think these are not playing a role then I would pay more attention to the previous paragraph regarding possible causes.

I thank you again for submitting your query and hope my answer has served to be both helpful and informative. should you have additional concerns I would be happy to address them.

Regards,

Dr. Galamaga
Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Raju A.T
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Answered by
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Dr. Robert Galamaga

Oncologist

Practicing since :2002

Answered : 2635 Questions

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No Energy, Not Depressed. B12 Or Nutritional Supplement Helpful?

Hello and thanks for the query.

The symptoms you describe may be multifactorial. That is to say there are likely a number of issues which are affecting your overall health. The first two things which come to mind are anemia (low blood count) and possible thyroid dysfunction. anemia can be caused by a number of things including iron or B12 deficiency or some type of problem in the GI tract such as an ulcer or bleeding in the colon. With the thyroid - sometimes it can develop a dysfunction which leads to lower than normal circulating thyroid hormone. This can contribute to progressive weakness and fatigue.

Simple blood tests will be able to rule out anemia or vitamin deficiency or thyroid dysfunction. In the meantime a good multivitamin which contains some iron and B12 would be fine to take. B12 by itself does not provide any boost in energy unless someone has a true deficiency.

Of course we cannot deny psychological factors such as anxiety, depression or lack of sleep. If you have thought abut things and think these are not playing a role then I would pay more attention to the previous paragraph regarding possible causes.

I thank you again for submitting your query and hope my answer has served to be both helpful and informative. should you have additional concerns I would be happy to address them.

Regards,

Dr. Galamaga