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Short Summary
Main recommendation: If you notice any of seven possible signs of vitamin B12 deficiency, ask your doctor to check your B12 level, and specifically request methylmalonic acid and homocysteine tests alongside it. Dr. Berry says these signs are nonspecific and often missed, so B12 should be considered as one possible cause.
Key Points
- The seven signs, as named in the video, are: (1) burning, numbness, or tingling in the fingers, toes, feet, hands, or face; (2) a smooth, slightly swollen tongue, or a tongue that feels too big for the mouth; (3) fatigue, with little energy; (4) slow thinking or slow mentation, including memory problems; (5) balance or gait problems; (6) new irritability without clear cause; (7) tinnitus, or ringing in the ears, that has come on over recent weeks or months.
- Depression is also raised as a sign: B12 deficiency can masquerade as depression and produce the symptoms the DSM lists for depression.
- Dr. Berry notes that these symptoms have many possible causes, such as diabetic neuropathy, so a doctor should check other causes too.
Details Worth Noting
- Concrete instructions: If you have burning, numbness, or tingling in your extremities, see your doctor and say you want B12 deficiency checked.
- Concrete instructions: Look at your tongue in the mirror; a normal tongue should be bumpy, irregular, and uneven, not smooth.
- Concrete instructions: For fatigue, slow thinking, or suspected dementia, Alzheimer's, or fatigue workups, ask that three labs be done: vitamin B12 level, methylmalonic acid, and homocysteine.
- Concrete instructions: For new balance or gait changes, or family noticing you walk differently, get your vitamin B12 level checked promptly. The video notes this is common in people who have drunk heavily for years.
- Concrete instructions: For new irritability over the past few months with no clear reason, or new tinnitus over recent weeks or months, see a doctor for blood work.
- Concrete instructions: Before diagnosing depression, check a range of labs including vitamin B12.
- Concrete instructions: To replete B12, eat animal products such as meat, organ meat, and other animal foods. If you avoid animal products, the video recommends a good-quality methylated B12 or B complex supplement taken once a day; Dr. Berry says he will put a link to a good supplement in the description.
- The video says older adults may dismiss neuropathy symptoms as normal aging, when they could be B12 deficiency.
- Dr. Berry suggests sharing the video with people who have these symptoms.
Bottom Line
Because B12 deficiency symptoms are vague and easy to attribute to other causes, the video's core message is to explicitly ask your doctor to test for it, including methylmalonic acid and homocysteine, rather than waiting for a clear diagnosis. This is the speaker's view and not professional medical advice.
