Volume 2, Issue 36, 09/21/2010
What medications are known to decrease the levels of vitamin B12 in the body and thus put certain patients at risk for developing macrocytic anemia and/or possible neuropathy?
It is now known that some
medications, when used chronically can result in undesirable side effects that
were not necessarily obvious or present within most initial clinical
trials. A delayed adverse drug
effect or interaction could easily occur with vitamin B12 since the time
necessary for most patients to become deficient can be delayed one or more
years due to high storage levels in the body. The table below summarizes common medications that have been
associated with reducing the levels of vitamin B12 as well as the proposed
mechanism for this interaction.(1-12)
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