Vitamin B12 Shots

[surgtech1956]

After some labwork, my doctor wants me to do Vitamin B12 shots. My B12 was 284 pg/ml. Anyone else with low level of Vitamin B12?

[KnottedYet]

Yup.

The pills are a lot cheaper than the shots, so I do the pills.

2x2500 mcg per day the first week.
1x2500 mcg per day after that.

Next trick is to figure out how you got low on B12 in the first place, and address that.
(in my case, it was a malbsorption artifact of celiac disease, now I've been holding steady in the 600's for a few years)

[mudmucker]

I've been getting monthly B-12 injections since 1998 because I have pernicious anemia and lack intrinsic factor. They did a Schillings test too to see if I can take it by pill but can't. When I get near the 4th week I feel it so much - a kind of fatigue that is so debilitating and nothing that sleep can remedy. I try to get my shots between the 3rd and 4th week.

I don't particularly like having to be beholden and dependent on my doctor every month but I got used to it. I'm grateful it's something they can fix.

They have a nasal spray out there you take once a week too, called Nascobal. but it doesn't seem to be as effective for me. Works for some.

[KnottedYet]

I've been getting monthly B-12 injections since 1998 because I have pernicious anemia and lack intrinsic factor. They did a Schillings test too to see if I can take it by pill but can't.

Surg, this is why I really encourage you to find out what caused you to get low in the first place. I can absorb B12, I'm just bad at it. Mudmucker can't absorb it at all. We each have different reasons why B12 got low for us.

If it turns out you are low due to something like celiac disease, it is very important to treat the root cause to avoid other problems.

If you are low because of smoking or alcohol consumption, it is important to decrease them because it's more than your body can handle.

If you've got pernicious anemia, it's important to learn your body's need and how often to get the shots. (oh, man, Mudmucker, I'd forgotten how AWFUL the fatigue was until you mentioned it!)

There are a few other things that can cause B12 to get low, and each has important reasons why you'd want to identify and control it.

[surgtech1956]

I have Hypothyoidism, over the age of 50(don't absorb B12 like we use to), don't eat alot of foods high in Vitamin B12(pretty much Vegetarian) - I eat eggs, but maybe once a week, cereal 4x a week, milk(in my cereal), yogurt x5 a week - no beef, chicken, fish.

[szsz]

After some labwork, my doctor wants me to do Vitamin B12 shots. My B12 was 284 pg/ml. Anyone else with low level of Vitamin B12?

Yup. I get the shots from my accupuncturist, but I have also used the patch with good results: http://www.b12patch.com/

Really no down side (to either) except for the price.

[ridenread]

I too have pernicious anemia and have been doing monthly B12 shots since 1995 or so. I have a prescription for the syringe and injectible B12 and give myself the shot every month. I find it is much easier to do the shot myself than to try to find the time to get to the doctor's office each month.

[Anelia]

I will order these vitamins. Now my blood is OK but when I start cycling longer in spring I'll need Vit B.
I haven't considered doing shots because it seems too radical for me (the mere idea of injections).

[Biciclista]

Thanks for bringing back a memory of my father. My father was an uneducated man, but he was proud of what he had, muscles; he worked as a plumber and was known to carry bathtubs up several flights of stairs. When i was quite young I watched for the first time him giving himself a B12 shot. He made a huge muscle (bicep) and then stuck himself with the needle. What a spectacle. I will never know whether he actually needed them or not, but I know he got some strange pleasure from administering the shot into his own arm; especially with an audience of wide eyed kids.

[bmccasland]

Thanks for bringing back a memory of my father. My father was an uneducated man, but he was proud of what he had, muscles; he worked as a plumber and was known to carry bathtubs up several flights of stairs. When i was quite young I watched for the first time him giving himself a B12 shot. He made a huge muscle (bicep) and then stuck himself with the needle. What a spectacle. I will never know whether he actually needed them or not, but I know he got some strange pleasure from administering the shot into his own arm; especially with an audience of wide eyed kids.

Mimi - your Dad was "Da Man"! What I remember about learning to give myself shots is that it's better to inject into a relaxed muscle instead of a tensed muscle. So injecting into a tightened bicep
I had bruises on my leg until I learned to not tense. yeah right.

[Biciclista]

Beth, (teehee) today I know that. At 11, I had no clue.

[westtexas]

I watched for the first time him giving himself a B12 shot. He made a huge muscle (bicep) and then stuck himself with the needle. What a spectacle.

I am so glad animals have a great subcutaneous space (unlike us). I hate intramuscular injections.

Also, I could never do shots. I take the vitamin pills. Because anything to do with human bodies makes me pass out (no joke), including my own.

[Anelia]

Besides the Vitamin B complex, I am doing the shots now. I started in February by 2 shots each 1000 mcg 3 times a week. I did this for 2 or 3 weeks. Then I decreased them to 2 times a week for 2 weeks and now I am doing 2 shots 1000 mcg each, every 2 or 3 weeks.
Today I did a blood examination and my mean corpuscular volume is still high: 97,8 fl. Tomorrow I'll visit my doctor and show her the results but it's weird that even the shots did not change the situation.