Appointments for b12

[Buffey]

I didn't realise how serious vit b12 def can be no one at doctors explained,I have problems getting appointments with nurse can go three weeks over due time and can hardly walk by the time I get it, can you self administer the injection any inf gratefully received

[Poppet11]

If you want to self inject the prescribed injections then you are best to ask your doctor for advice because they would have to write you a prescription for the ampoules. You may want to go back and see your doctor anyway and explain that the injections are not frequent enough and explain your symptoms.

It may well be at the current time that your doctor is also waking up to the fact they have been getting things wrong.

[Jcwg]

I self inject, I spoke to the Dr who arranged for me to see the nurse and she showed me how, I inject into each thigh alternately, it is the best thing I have ever done as it gives me total control, although I am not lasting the 8 weeks ( I have neurological involvement) the Dr seems to think I should.

[Gambit62 Administrator in reply to Jcwg]

Unfortunately there are numbers of us who don't last the '8 weeks' but it is difficult to get doctors to listen to this/believe it - would your GP consider prescribing you additional ampoules? or you could try supplementing in other ways ... or source the ampoules yourself. Best to let your GP know what you are doing if you do decide to supplement yourself.

[Gambit62 Administrator]

Like you I was told I was B12 deficient but had no info on what that meant, and from my experiences I suspect that is because the medics don't really understand either. I was told I was B12 deficient (in a teaching hospital and students were asked what it meant and neither they nor the surgeon really had any idea reflecting back on things now - though admittedly they were bone specialists ... though actually you would have thought that one of them would have been aware of a link to osteoporosis but ...) ... pretty much the same with my GP so ended up supplementing for myself - using a nasal spray mainly but also inject - subcutaneous rather than in the muscle.

If you can speak to your GP and nurse about getting them to show you how to self inject that would be best and then you can get the B12 from them (injectable B12 is Prescription only in the UK though you can source it quite easily from the continent and just walk into a chemist on most of the continent and ask for an injection!).

[Poppet11 in reply to Gambit62]

Ah, isnt' hindsight a wonderful thing! I look back now and everything that's happened to me, falls into place. None of them had a clue!

[Coppernob]

Injecting is easy, you hardly need to be shown how, in my opinion. Injectable B12 isn't that easy to get hold of but it is possible. Look up the b12d website.

[engels in reply to Coppernob]

If you are going to do intramuscular injections you really need some training although it isn't difficult. Subcutaneous injections are easier to learn without any training but the injections usually need to be more freqent. Injectible hydroxo and cyano are very easy to obtain via the internet or over the counter in many European countries. I don't know about methyl as I've never used it.