"It feels like ants are walking on my feet."
Priya, 31, has heard her mother say this for months. Usually at night, sometimes during the evening serial. Amma, 58, laughs it off: "Age, beta. What else?" She also forgets where she kept her spectacles more often now. That gets a laugh too.
Then one night, Amma stumbles on the way to the kitchen because she cannot quite feel the floor. Nobody laughs this time.
Vitamin B12 deficiency symptoms that hide in plain sight
Vitamin B12 helps keep your nerves healthy and helps your body make red blood cells. When it runs low, the signs are easy to blame on age or stress:
- Tingling in feet or hands: pins and needles or numbness, often worse at night.
- Tiredness: low energy that sleep does not fix.
- Memory and mood: forgetfulness, low mood or feeling slow.
- Balance: feeling unsteady, especially in the dark.
Think of your nerves as the electrical wires in your home. Each wire has a plastic coating. B12 helps keep that coating healthy. When the coating thins, the current leaks: the lights flicker, and your feet start sending strange signals.
B12 deficiency in vegetarians: why India runs low
B12 comes naturally almost only from animal foods. That is why a pure vegetarian plate, however healthy, can fall short. A study from Pune found that nearly half of the adults tested had low B12 levels, and vegetarians were more likely to be among them.
B12 foods for vegetarians include milk, curd, paneer and buttermilk. Eggs and fish add more for those who eat them. Most dals, vegetables and fruits, sadly, add almost none.
Metformin and B12: the link few people are told
Amma takes metformin for her sugar, like millions of Indians. It is a good, trusted medicine. But in a long-running study, people who took metformin for years were more likely to develop low B12 levels.
The coating thins quietly. The signals start long before anyone listens.
Remember those ants on Amma's feet? Some of that tingling may be her sugar. Some may be B12. Only a blood test can tell them apart.
Please do not stop metformin on your own. Instead, ask the doctor to check B12 levels once a year.
The vitamin B12 test and what comes next
Ask for a serum vitamin B12 test. It is simple and widely available. If your level is truly low, your doctor will choose the right dose, sometimes tablets and sometimes injections, depending on how low it is and how your body absorbs it.
Once your levels are healthy, the goal is simple: keep the coating topped up every day.
A B12 supplement for steady daily top-ups
Daily Boost in you for men and Balance in you for women each include 2.2 mcg of vitamin B12, the daily amount Indian nutrition experts recommend for adults. It is a steady top-up for everyday needs, not a treatment for a proven deficiency. If your test is low, your doctor's dose comes first.
Back to Amma's feet
Three months after her B12 injections, Amma is back at her evening serial. Priya asks about the ants. Amma waves her hand: "Which ants?" Then she finds her spectacles on the first try and gives Priya a look that says, don't you dare laugh.
Your one step today: if someone you love has tingling feet, is vegetarian or takes metformin, book a vitamin B12 test for them this week.
Daily Boost in you
For men: 2.2 mcg of vitamin B12 in every daily serve, a steady top-up once your levels are healthy.
Balance in you
For women: 2.2 mcg of vitamin B12 in every daily serve, a steady top-up once your levels are healthy.
