Pringy, tickling feeling, paresthesia

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  1. Vegan newbie
I've been a lacto-ovo-vegetatian for 20+ years, feeling great. Now it's been 3 month i turned vegan, and i'm getting this weird tickling feeling all over the body, like i've been sitting out on it for a long time. Only it happens without any sitting out, after a very short pressing on a hand, hip or even a heel. I got problems sitting or standing. No other issues apart from that, great health, much energy. I don't supplement any B vitamins, but B12 deficiency can't start in just 3 month, can it?
Did anyone have this issue?
 
Generally it takes a very long time for B12 deficiency symptoms to show up, but if it is a concern, certainly a visit to your doctor and a simple test will confirm or rule out. I had a B12 test done at 5 years vegan just to check and mine was very healthy and robost (691 pg/mL), but I supplement B12 3x per week and eat occasional fortified foods here and there. Why not supplement? Also, B12 deficiency is not limited to vegans. It can happen at any age to omnivores, vegetarians, or vegans. Usually it is an absorption issue rather than deficiency, but even as a lacto ovo vegetarian you may not have been getting enough B12. Eggs have very little (1 whole = 0.6 mcg) unless you eat a ton of them per week, and only some dairy products have b12 and usually not a ton.

Did you start any new supplements? Or start eating some new food? I had the same sensation a few years ago when I took a K2 supplement with Natto (which is a fermented soy) made by Dr.s Best brand. I had electric like prickly sensations all over my body, and tingling and just plain discomfort. It was horrible actually. Within days of stopping the product it went away.

It might not be food related either. Any other new products? That's the only time I have experienced a full body prickly sensation.
 
Kudos for trying veganism!

You definitely should supplement B12. (Even as a lacto-ovo vegetarian it would have made sense to consider it, as Naturebound pointed out.) You're right, a deficiency probably wouldn't manifest itself in 3 months if you had normal B12 levels initially, but it's possible your stores were already low. That said, if the only symptom is this tickling feeling, and you're feeling energetic, then that's not exactly typical of B12 deficiency, as far as I know.
 
Naturebound,
Indian Summer,
thank you so much for your answers, makes me feel i'm not alone out there.

Thanks for the info about B12. Like i said, i don't think this could be the issue, cause it literally took me days after going vegan to develop this tingling. B12 deficiency can't develop in days, and i really never had anything of the kind before.

No, i take no supplements whatsoever, no meds or drugs, so there's nothing to cancel actually. New foods? Not really. A bit more nuts just recently, but i've been eating them before, and this issue started exactly after cancelling milk products. I don't take any fortified foods either, so nothing to change or cancel.

I never ate much eggs, but milk products made a large part of my diet all my life. I'm 40, so cancelling them might have caused some changes in... metabolism? blood changes? I don't feel any yearning for milk, but this tingling signifies something has definitely changed.

Plan is, if this thing keeps going on, i'll just have my blood tests and see what's gone wrong.
 
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It could be totally unrelated to diet and just a coincidence, certainly something to get checked.
I think it's a very good idea to get a full bloodwork done when first changing your diet. It lets you know your starting point.
B12 takes years to deplete. You may not have realized you were low to begin with, and it's just now having effects. Either way, if you're going to eat plant based you do have to supplement B12.
"Eat fortified foods two or three times a day to get at least three micrograms (mcg or µg) of B12 a day OR Take one B12 supplement daily providing at least 10 micrograms OR Take a weekly B12 supplement providing at least 2000 micrograms." From -What Every Vegan Should Know About Vitamin B12
Not trying to steer you to thinking you're vitamin deficient, but plant foods don't have B12 by themselves and it's easy to not eat enough fortified foods without realizing it. I take 1000mg B12 every couple days
Those symptoms could be so many different things
 
You don't say whether you're a female or male. It could well be hormonal. Any persistant tingling should be checked out by a doctor as it could be due to so many things. Even stress can cause these kind of symptoms.
 
I'd 100% get yourself along to a doctor as it could be so many things, but taking some B12 in the meantime would be a good idea anyway :)
 
I know I am late to this thread but in case it is useful to anybody, I used to get bad pins and needles at night the first time I tried to be vegetarian, many years ago. In the end, I decided it must have been due to a sudden drop in calories. Maybe more carbs would have been helpful? I'm not a medical practitioner but this is all I could think of.