How to Diagnose a Vitamin B Deficiency

Fad diets and fast food can take a toll on nutrition. Our bodies need well balanced diets full of vitamins to ward off a variety of serious health problems. If you're not getting enough vitamin B in your diet your central nervous system, heart, skin and blood can be affected. Look for the following signs if you suspect you have a vitamin B deficiency. Then talk to your doctor about making some lifestyle changes.

Instructions

• 1

  Take note of inflamed skin that blisters, weeps or splits. If the skin condition is accompanied by fatigue, poor appetite and frequent indigestion it could be a sign of a niacin deficiency.

• 2

  Treat dermatitis with creams and lotions prescribed by your doctor. But if it won't go away and you also notice a sore mouth and tongue as well as abdominal pain and vomiting you could be suffering from a vitamin B-6 deficiency.

• 3

  Check your lips for excessive cracking. If your tongue is also sore and your pallor is unusually pale it could mean a vitamin B-2 deficiency.

• 4

  Watch for tingling or loss of sensation in the legs. Sudden mental changes, such as poor memory or psychosis, along with the tingling are primary symptoms of a vitamin B-1 deficiency known as beriberi.

• 5

  Talk to your doctor about your symptoms and request blood tests be run to check the vitamin B levels in your body if you suspect a problem.