Allen called Friday morning in a panic.
He said that a friend of his could not get tested for vitamin B12
deficiency. He was seeing the same doctor Allen had his trouble
with. Allen wondered if he should take his friend to the
endocrinologist we see or take this up with the local doctor. He
said his friend had been taking metformin longer than he had.
I suggested that he try the local
doctor and see if he was sincere in the concern he had expressed
earlier. Allen said this was what he was thinking and said he would
call me back later. That afternoon he called and said the doctor had
taken him immediately and did several tests like the endocrinologist
had done on him. Allen said that his vitamin B12 level was even
lower than his had been. His vitamin D level had been slightly
higher than Allen remembered his had been. Then Allen said the
doctor had also checked the potassium and magnesium levels and they
were low.
Once the doctor had the test results
and found out why he had not been tested by his doctor, Allen said he
had called the doctor and made his results known and told the doctor
to be in his office that evening. Allen said he then called the
pharmacy to see what they had for potassium and magnesium supplements
and wrote a note for him to purchase the supplements and take one a
day for 30 days and he would be retested then.
Then Allen was asked to leave the room
while he gave vitamin B12 and D shots. In the discussion when Allen
was back in the room, the doctor asked his friend not to drive until
his levels were back in the normal range. He then asked Allen to let
him know if he did drive and he would ask for his license. He was
scheduled for shots in the next two weeks and then he would be tested
again the third week before they decided whether he needed more
shots. He would be started on vitamin B12 and D supplements at that
time if no more shots were required.
Allen said that he was asked to stay
while his friend checked out. The doctor had thanked him for
bringing his friend and said that this would go a long way in helping
him convince this doctor that many people could not eat their way to
good health and levels of vitamin B12 on metformin. I told Allen
that I had sent the URLs for this article and this article to the doctor and received a
thank you for sending them. Allen asked me to send them to him as well.
Allen said his friend wanted to drive,
but Allen said the doctor was serious and recounted what had
happened to him. Allen said he had also alerted his friend's
daughter about the situation and she had agreed to help her father
until this was over. I asked Allen how old his friend was
and Allen said only a year younger than he was.
Allen anticipated my next question and
stated that he was on VA assistance and that he had been warned about
his vitamin B12 levels, but had ignored them. I said he may not have
been very low or they would have given him a shot then.
Allen said his friend had asked him to
drive for his tests the following week at the VA and then for his
appointment the week after. I said that he may be taking them
serious now, but at least he knows. I commented to Allen that he
could send out an email to everyone now and emphasize to people the
importance of being tested for vitamin B12 especially if they had
friends or relatives on metformin. Allen thanked me for allowing him
to do this and he would have Tim send it on to people in the other
groups.
Allen concluded by saying he had asked
his friend to consider joining our support group, but his friend was
not sure he wanted to. Allen said he was not going to pressure him,
but would continue to promote the idea with him.
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