Tired all the Time? Do an Active Vitamin B12 Blood Test in London (Wimbledon, SW19)
| Appointment | Price |
| Blood Test by Doctor | One-off £39 admin fee (per visit) – plus labaratory cost (select your blood test for prices). – £5 surcharge on weekends |
To See Our Main Blood testing section for this, please visit Haematology Blood Testing page.
| Diagnostic Test | Price |
|---|---|
| Active Vitamin B12 and Folic acid Blood Test | £43 |
| Full Blood count (to check for a megaloblastic anaemia) | £27 |
So What is an Active B12 blood test?
Most NHS hospitals do a Total B12 blood test. However, there are 3 carrier proteins involved in transporting Vitamin B12 around the body.
Holotranscobalamin (Only 1 of the 3 carrier proteins binding to Vitamin B12) accounts for between 10-30% of the Vitamin B12 circulating in the blood, but is the ONLY form of Vitamin B12 that is taken up and used by the cells in the body (that is, it is bioactive). This is known as Active B12. The other 70% of Vitamin B12 in the blood is biologically inactive.
Hence, sometimes ‘conventional’ Vitamin B12 blood tests may not pick up an ‘actual’ B12 deficiency and the cause of your fatigue may continue undiagnosed.
Need more information on Active B12? Please visit the Active B12 blood test guidance page for excellent easy to read advice.
What do I do if I am found to have a deficiency in my Active Vitamin B12?
Our first suggestion would be to repeat the blood test after 3 months having ensured that your diet had a sufficient amount of meat, fish, milk, cheese, eggs and some fortified breakfast cereals in it. This will eliminate a dietary cause of your Vitamin B12 deficiency and will also ensure that the result was not ‘spurious’.
You may also wish to perform the below blood tests to possibly exclude a cause of Pernicious Anaemia or Coeliac disease:
| Diagnostic Test | Price |
|---|---|
| Intrinsic Factor antibody Blood Test (for Pernicious anaemia) | £82 |
| Gastric Parietal Cell antibody Blood Test (for Pernicious anaemia) | £48 |
| Coeliac disease screening Blood Test (for Coeliac disease) | £93 |
After all the above has been performed and you are found to have a persistently low Vitamin B12 level, you may want to see one of our GP’s to discuss either a private referral to a gastroenterologist or to discuss long term Vitamin B12 injections and blood monitoring.