Hormone replacement therapy is the gold standard for managing menopausal symptoms, but it can change key nutrients such as vitamin B12 and zinc. Learn how to maintain optimal health. Hormonal contraception causes vitamin B12 levels to decrease, but this does not appear to be clinically significant or affect BMD. Always consult your healthcare provider to ensure that the information shown on this page applies to your personal circumstances.
Sometimes, the easiest way to determine if mental confusion is due to a vitamin B12 deficiency or menopause is to increase your vitamin B12 intake or take a supplement. Although postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy is not used as a means of cardiovascular protection, it is the only treatment available to treat vasomotor symptoms and prevent urogenital atrophy during menopause. To examine the interactions between hormonal contraceptive use, BMD and serum vitamin B12, it is essential to conduct a longitudinal study that examines the use of these two popular methods with an adequate follow-up period. Giving more hormones in the form of hormone replacement therapy could increase nutritional deficiencies and make it difficult for patients to stop using it in the future.
The mechanism by which hormonal contraception causes a decrease in serum vitamin B12 has not yet been elucidated. The objective of this study was to estimate the effects of oral contraceptives containing 20 mcg of EE and 0.15 mg of desogestrel and DMPA for 3 years on vitamin B12 levels, as well as the role of vitamin B12 in the association between hormonal contraceptives and BMD using longitudinal data with a control group. If the patient is receiving intravenous replacement therapy with vitamin B12, a repeat vitamin B12 test is not indicated, but the response of red blood cells and reticuloculitis should be monitored. For example, in a case-control study conducted in Western Europe, Sütterlin and others observed significantly lower levels of vitamin B12 in oral contraceptive (OC) users than in control people.
An excellent source of vitamin B12 that is also suitable for vegetarians and vegans is fortified nutritional yeast.
