Is Vitamin B12 Deficiency Sucking Your Energy?

For our living, food is one of the major sources because it gets converted into energy, which acts like a fuel for our body but in spite of consuming a sufficient amount of food daily, do you ever feel that your body is feeling low all the time? Or are you struggling to get out of this loop but can’t? Well, this is not just because of any random ups and downs in your life but could be because of the deficiency of vitamin B12. Vitamin B12 plays a major role in our body and it is critical to maintain its ideal level for a healthy life. To be honest, vitamin B12 deficiency is widespread in India, especially among office-going people and as an office-going individual, I can say it. Reason? Most of my day is spent inside the office building, sitting in one chair and I used to skip breakfast before leaving for the office. This poor lifestyle not only made me miss out on sunlight (for Vitamin D) but also a balanced diet (for Vitamin B12). Even when I wake up in the morning, most of my concentration is on how quickly I can mark my attendance so that I can leave the office early and I face this situation almost daily, so I hardly go out to spend time outside to connect peacefully with nature or eat a balanced meal. 

Approximately three months ago, I started feeling drained; most of the time it felt as if my brain was foggy, no matter how much I slept the night but that time I always felt sleepy during my office hours and not only this, my brain started feeling heavy for those months. I started believing that I had a tumor inside my brain until one day I visited a doctor near my area.

He first asked about my symptoms in detail to understand the root cause. I began with my initial symptoms, which were fatigue, nausea, vomiting, and no urge to eat food. I started losing weight and most days I felt that my body was weak but to be honest, my daily symptoms were not limited to this; instead, it was more than this, as I explained at the start. I told him that I am forgetful of things in my brain easily, feeling confused all the time, even though I am not able to focus on my work fully, plus sometimes I feel that I am losing balance while walking normally.

After understanding everything, he explained that the reason I am feeling all this is because of my disturbed lifestyle and the delay of the regular health checkups. If I had realized it before, then I wouldn’t be feeling this way now. I wish I could have understood the signs earlier and then treated it on time but better late than never. He suggested some basic tests to identify the real reason for my condition and also to explain their importance to me. 

1. CBC (Complete Blood Count) Test: This test gives an overview of your overall blood health. It helps detect anemia, infections, and other disorders that may be contributing to weakness and fatigue.
2. Vitamin B12 Test: This is the most crucial test in such cases. It directly measures the level of Vitamin B12 in your blood. A deficiency can lead to fatigue, poor memory, dizziness, and even neurological issues if left unchecked.
3. Vitamin D Test: Many office-going individuals like me spend most of their day indoors, with little exposure to sunlight. Low Vitamin D levels can cause fatigue, weak bones, and low immunity, which often worsen Vitamin B12-related symptoms.
4. Iron Studies (Iron Profile / Serum Ferritin): Deficiency of iron leads to anemia, weakness, pale skin, and loss of stamina. Since fatigue can be a combined result of low B12 + low iron, doctors often recommend this alongside.
5. Thyroid Function Test (T3, T4, TSH): Thyroid imbalances are another hidden cause of constant tiredness, brain fog, and weight changes. Getting it tested ensures that fatigue isn’t just from Vitamin B12 deficiency alone.

The doctor explained that these simple tests could save me months of confusion and weakness. If I had done them earlier, I would have started treatment on time instead of silently suffering.

I immediately searched these tests online to book and found flebo.in useful than other searches on the internet. The reason I found it helpful is that there I compared multiple lab prices and ratings in one place only and finally chose the one that fit my criteria. It was actually very convenient. Since I am an office-going professional and do not have time to visit labs, plus I did not have the caliber to sweat it out in long queues, so flebo.in solved my major problem. They also offer an option for home sample collection, so the next day of my doctor’s visit, I booked my sample collection for 7 AM with my favorite lab (honestly, it’s my mom’s favorite one. The major reason was that flebo.in has given good discounts on it and it was India’s well-known lab as well). Everything was done smoothly without my stepping out. 

I got my reports on the same day only. The reports were clear. My vitamin B12 levels were significantly below the ideal range, which was 200–900 pg/mL but mine were 140 pg/mL and my vitamin D3 was at the borderline. This experience made me realize how underestimated vitamin B12 really is. Most of the time, we think that weakness, sleepiness or poor focus is just due to stress or a busy lifestyle, but in reality, vitamin B12 deficiency silently disturbs your entire system. Unlike other nutrients, our body cannot produce Vitamin B12 on its own, which means it has to come from food or supplements, and if we miss out, the effects show up slowly but steadily. I dug more on the internet about the food sources that fix the vitamin B12 deficiency in my body, which mainly come from animal-based foods like milk, eggs, and meat. Since the majority of Indians are vegetarian, this deficiency can be clearly seen in them. 

Additionally, now I know that low vitamin B12 doesn’t just cause fatigue but it can also damage nerves slowly, affect your entire mood, and even impact long-term brain health. That is why it is always better to check your vitamin B12 levels early with routine health checkups rather than wait for the symptoms to pile up.

A few tips to improve your vitamin B12 levels are:

1. Stay Hydrated: Staying hydrated is important throughout the day. Drinking enough water helps in absorbing vitamin B12 in your body.
2. Healthy Diet: Eating vitamin B-12-rich food such as meat, fish, eggs if you are non-vegetarian and fortified cereals, if you are a vegan or vegetarian, is important to maintain vitamin B12 levels B12 in your body.
3. Activity(Exercise): Staying active can help your body stay fit and healthy. Moderate exercise daily helps increase vitamin B12 levels.
4. Stress Management: Managing stress is an art and being the master of it is the key to commanding your stress. Practicing yoga and deep breathing is important for optimal vitamin B12 absorption.
5. Regular Health Checkups: Regular health checkups help to identify deficiencies early and take action on time.

Beyond these factors, I now know that keeping track of my Vitamin B12 is not an option; rather, it is a lifelong necessity for energy, focus, and a healthy lifestyle. Just like me, if you are also feeling drained and foggy, then consider checking your vitamin B12 levels today with Flebo.in, where you can compare labs, get discounts and even book a home sample collection at your convenience. Trust me, that small step can save you months of silent suffering.