When I first stopped eating meat about eight years ago- I never did the proper research or came to realize the things I now know about food and nutrition. In fact for the first five years or so I really felt in the dark about whether I was getting the proper nutrition. After the first three years I fell off the wagon as it were, and went back to eating fish and then chicken again…and then back to being vegetarian after about a year…and back again to fish and chicken after about two years…and back again to being vegetarian. Which leads me to where I am now. This, the most recent time I felt as though I could actually make an attempt to being vegan. Though in all of my attempts I've always been concerned with whether I was getting the proper nutrition. In the past I didn't keep a food journal and count calories as I do now. I also felt that I was missing a few variables in my life besides the insufficient research on my part – I also always had insufficient income (for doctors, blood tests, etc..)…and overall support since I still live in a big family of all meat eaters. And even though I still don't have a close partner or vegetarian friends to share my ups and downs of being vegetarian I happy with the community I have found here online in the veganforum as I sincerely want to become a vegan myself. It is comforting to know that if I something on my mind related to being veg*n that there are people out there (people like you), willing to give some insight. I believe that I am closer to being stable and confident with my eating though I do still have some concerns. It is a little frustrating because I'm not sure why it's taking me this long. Whatever the reason, I’m trying make a change for the better now, by finding a better job and connecting with more people. In the last few months I’ve been racing around with questions about food allergies and finding a good balance with my calorie and protein intakes. These are topics related to some of my previous posts, it’s helping me to have a better understanding and really get a grip. In this my third attempt at being veg*n since I stopped eating fish this past March. I made up, what in retrospect is a poor list of staples which was my best idea at the time…better than what I’ve been doing in the past. The list went something like this, take a good multivitamin, getting roughly about 5 fruits and vegetables a day and eat lots of soy products. I didn’t really consider grains to be all that important this last time around. I know that sounds very strange. A year ago, I didn’t do the kind of research that I’ve been doing these days. And my research was very scattered when I first started eight years ago. Eating all the soy products was a bad idea because I went too of a long stretch where I was just relying on them and consuming smaller amounts of fruits and veggies. I was getting about 1300 calories a day then. I was building myself up for a major breakdown though I didn’t know it was coming. As work and family became more stressful, and trying to get so much out of everyday – I was starting find out that my mind and nerves were probably the only thing keeping me alive and moving, and my daily nutrition was playing such a minor role. Well usually when I start to have problems with my nutrition I have a tendency to blame it on a lack of some nutrients that I’m not getting in my plant food which is usually the same kind of thinking everyone around has (friends and family).
In this most recent attempt, like the all the other attempts in the past, I get to a point where I have a hard time swallowing, along being nervousness and fatigue… at which time I would radically change my eating habits. The swallowing thing usually occurs first. When I first started eight years ago I definitely ate more grains, about the same amounts of fruits and vegetables, beans in the form of some prepared salads and soy products (esp. a lot soymilk) and very little or no seeds. And I used to think that my poor swallowing was due to eating too much starchy foods or rice. Now I believe that it is due to an insufficient amount of B12. At that time I didn’t take a multivitamin regularly though I did take an assortment of single capsules (calcium, vitamin E, estherC and B complex once in a while). Getting back to my present day situation, I’m starting think that my nervousness and weakness might be due to a lack of sufficient B12. (regarding one of my other posts) I read in a vegan starter pack that B12 protects the nervous system and that fatigue and tingling in the hands and feet could be early signs of a deficiency. I have experienced all of these within the past 6 months, though the tingling in the hands and feet thing is new. I even sometimes wake in the middle of the night with poor circulation in my hands and arms though that might be due to my sleeping on a couch at the moment.
The reason I wrote this little bit about my veg*n history is to hopefully connect with someone of you who might have some advice about vitamin B12 or the deficiency of B12. To let you know, I read many of the posts and links on this website regarding B12 though I believe my situation and concern is a little unique. You see, my last blood test was about five years ago and the doctor didn’t have any real major concerns at the time. Since then I sustained an injury to my shoulder, and it hasn’t recovered properly. I’m wondering if it could be due to a lack of B12. Perhaps my vitamin B12 is not a very absorbable one. I take the Solgar 1000mcg tablets as recommended by the vegan starter pack, now about 100 mcg every six hours. I am still in the process of finishing some paper work so I can get a blood test by the hospital clinic.
In the meantime maybe someone could recommend a more absorbable B12. (or what you're using) Also, if I am deficient in B12 does that mean I will need to have injections or something?
Thanks for reading this thing.
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