Injections

[Ktululady]

I have been supplementing for a while now, I need to take 5000 mcg a day to feel okay. My doctor has just started me on injections, but they are only 1mg every other day. Is this going to be enough or do injections work better so I won't need so much?

[fbirder]

How are you taking the 5000ug? If you're taking them orally, and you suffer from PA, then you could be absorbing as little as 50ug from the tablets.

Whichever route you're using you will be absorbing less than the 5000ug. With an injection you know that all of the 1000ug is actually getting inside you.

[Ktululady in reply to fbirder]

I have tried tablets, liquid, sub lingual tablets, lozenges. I need a high dose with them all.

My levels are high now, over 1000, but I can't go more than a couple of days without taking B12 before I feel bad again, and I still have numbness all down one side of me. Hopefully the injections will work better.

[fbirder in reply to Ktululady]

What are your folate levels like?

[Ktululady in reply to fbirder]

In July it was 13.3, I don't know what it is now.

[Galixie]

Injections work better because they bypass the need to absorb the B12 through the stomach. If you have a malabsorption problem, very little of a supplement you take orally will be absorbed. That would explain why you needed 5000mcg a day. It is also likely that your doctor only plans to do the every-other-day injections for a short period of time. Most doctors only do that for a couple of weeks before lengthening the time between injections. It would be a good idea to start keeping a journal so you can track your symptoms. That way you will have something to refer back to if you need to compare how you're feeling now to how you were feeling previously. It's also helpful when you're working with your doctor to fine-tune your injection schedule.

[Ktululady in reply to Galixie]

The journal is a great idea, I'll do that. Thanks

[Ktululady in reply to Galixie]

If I have a malabsorption problem, is it tablets that you swallow that are not absorbed or is it the same for sublingual tablets or liquids?

My doctor agreed to give me 5 injections, one every other day. I have had my 3rd injection today and I am gradually getting worse, more fatigue and numbness. She'll probably want to refer me now and I will have to wait months to be seen, which I am not happy about as the numbness is really worrying me in case it becomes permanent.

[chatycafy]

sublingual liquids are absorbed easier, but I prefer monthly injections. You need to supplements with all vitamins and minerals as if you have PA you have maldigestion. You are unable to break down food enough for the small intestine to do its job. You especially need the fat soluable vitamins and my guess is iron also.