Vitamin B12 Deficiency Support Group
The B12 Deficiency Support Group (B12d, for short) is a charity
The Charity's aims are to:
Raise awareness of this condition amongst doctors and the general public, so that people can be diagnosed appropriately.
Explain the signs and symptoms that a doctor or person who is diagnosing themselves should look out for, and how to make sure that you reach the right diagnosis and don’t confuse B12 deficiency with something else.
Ensure treatment is tailored to the needs of the patient, and where possible, make treatment available free at the point of need.
We rely entirely on donations
Signs and Symptoms
People with B12 deficiency exhibit a wide range of symptoms, including many that respond to B12 replacement therapy even though NHS hasn’t traditionally considered them caused by B12 deficiency.
We show this across the website and in our audits. A start point is to get a copy of the book
Note the book is written as a medical textbook, so it’s quite heavy going for an expert patient. We suggest you read the case studies first – there are 26 of these – to get to understand the range of presenting symptoms, before tackling the text itself. Clinicians (doctors and nurses) can of course wade straight in, but warning it’s 299 pages and over 400 references.
This website also hosts a Signs and Symptoms Assessment Calculator.
This calculator is designed to record symptoms and show how they change over time – so come back and record your symptoms periodically. We are developing the Symptoms Checker and in the future we’ll add a feature so you can record dosing, which will show how symptoms change with respect to dosing. You are able to print to a PDF file the results of your assessment calculation using the Symptoms Checker.
Symptoms Checker
1 Minute Health Check – B12 Deficiency signs and symptoms
The B12 Deficiency Information Sheet
Dr Chandy
It is with great sadness that we have to announce that Dr Joseph Chandy (Kayyalackakom) (16 January 1941 to 20 December 2023) has passed away
BBC reports on the work on Dr Chandy
The BBC local News programme Inside Out broadcast an article on Dr Joseph Chandy and his Horden GP practice in 2006. It highlights the successful treatment of B12 deficiency to his patients and reports on the difficulties faced by Dr Chandy in his pioneering approach to providing this valuable service.
Events
When lock-down started we moved our events from face-to-face coffee mornings in Peterlee and Horden to online evening (UK time) events. This was fortuitous since we’re now joined by people on multiple continents and time zones.
Please visit our Events Page where we’ve listed the events, dates and times, and the zoom links to join them. The events page also hosts the recording when we have a guest speaker presentation which follows with a question and answer session. .
You are always invited to send requests to notifications@b12d.org. Dr Chandy is sadly no longer with us but our expert patient team of volunteers will answer.
Forthcoming Events
Dorset B12d Support Group Meeting – February 2026
🗓 When: Friday 13 February 2026 11.30am – 1pm and the second Friday in the month at 11.30am - 1pm 📍 Where: The Angel Inn Ringwood Road Longham Dorset BH22 9AP 💬 Who: Open to anyone affected by B12 deficiency — patients, family, and friends welcome! What to expect:...