Vitamin B-12.? I have an acquaintance who swears by it.

My doctor claims the recommended blood level for seniors has been changed upward. I am borderline under the old rules. He tried to get me to take the shots. I tried them a few times. Too much trouble. He says learn how to do it yourself. I say, no way.

I did buy some B-12 orange gummy vitamins last week and have been eating them like candy. I'm up to about 800,000% of the RDA. Can't tell a difference so far. They won't last long.
 
My sister in law gets the shots that she gives herself. Gives her a big energy boost but she is now having trouble sleeping because she is so wound up. Probably will have to take a lower dose I guess.
 

If you are tested and find that you are deficient in Vitamin B-12 then of course the shots would help.

I was diagnosed as being deficient in Vitamin B-12 and told to take it. It's supposed to help produce red blood cells.

But. You can't take the pills by mouth because it won't be absorbed in your stomach.

You have to use the sublingual ones that dissolve under the tongue.

I'm not diligent enough taking them to see if they make much difference and try to get the B-12 in my diet.

I guess that's why the person mentioned gets the shots instead.

I suppose the gummy's version is the same because I assume you just chew them and don't swallow them.
 
Never took any shots, but almost daily I take a B-50 complex by Solaray that has 50mcg, and I have a sublingual B-12 in my medicine chest that I take if I ever feel run down, Source Naturals MethylCobalamin 1mg. I think all B vitamins are important for our health, and I understand that B12 as a supplement shouldn't be taken without the rest of the B vitamins to be most effective.
 
I took the sublingual B-12 tablets each morning 1/2 hour before eating. That method of absorption did work, my labs showed an increase from 420 pg/mL to 750 pg/mL. However, this did not ease my peripheral neuropathy, as was hoped.
 
Camper6 said:
But. You can't take the pills by mouth because it won't be absorbed in your stomach.

You have to use the sublingual ones that dissolve under the tongue.
Click to expand...

That is true if you have pernicious anemia, but if you are just deficient in B-12, then the oral route is ok. Megadoses are sometimes recommended. On the bottle it says one dose (2) of the B-12 (gummies) I take contains 1000 mcg, or 16,667% of the recommended daily value. B-12 is a water soluble vitamin, and any excess is passed through and out of your body. There has been no maximum safe dosage set as far as I know.
 
It's worth it to remember that the body stores between 3-5 YEARS worth of B12 if it is adequately supplied from diet and there are no metabolic problems. If the supplements are doing nothing for you, it's probably because you don't need them.

Metabolic problems aren't THAT uncommon with B12 though. According to wiki: "Absorption of food vitamin B12 thus requires an intact and functioning stomach, exocrine pancreas, intrinsic factor, and small bowel. Problems with any one of these organs makes a vitamin B12 deficiency possible." Further, the max absorption from an oral dose is around 1.5ug ... if you're paying a lot for much bigger oral supplements, you're wasting money.
 


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