Where can b12 by bought over the counter?

[Grifter]

Hi, as it's the summer holidays I'm thinking of enlisting friends and family to buy some b12 for me whilst on their holidays. However, I'm not sure which countries have b12 over the counter. Help please? Thanks

[Kittycaite]

Ah I waa just thinking exactly the same ! I shall be watching this space xx

[fbirder]

Germany and Greece are two that I know of.

[EdE12 in reply to fbirder]

France, possibly Cyprus and Italy as well. Hungary is prescription only.

[Grifter in reply to EdE12]

Thank

[Grifter in reply to fbirder]

Thanks

[jillc39]

Canada for sure

[Grifter in reply to jillc39]

Really? Do you know how it's sold I.e. Bottle or ampoules. And is it hydroxo or methyl?

Thanks

[Galixie in reply to Grifter]

It's cyanocobalamin and it is sold in 10ml multi-dose vials. I think the manufacturer is Sandoz.

They were having a supply shortage for awhile (at least the area of BC that I tended to visit was). You might have to check more than one pharmacy. It's been at least a year since I've been there, so my info might be out of date.

[Leilanilea in reply to Grifter]

Buy-Otc.com Is my online source of cyanocobalamin, from Canada.

Cytex is the maker. It comes in 10ml multiple-dose vial/bottle with rubber stopper under the cap. 1000mcg/ml, for Intramuscular or Deep Sub-Q Injection.

No prescription needed.

[Grifter in reply to Leilanilea]

I haven't used cyanocobalamin before only methyl. Do you get someone to inject you?

[Leilanilea in reply to Grifter]

No, I self inject.

[jillc39]

Canada for sure....

[Gambit62 Administrator]

its available OTC in Australia

It is only available on prescription in Spain, Belgium, Netherlands

[jade_s in reply to Gambit62]

Just a note in case someone runs into this thread (like I did) - cyanoB12 (1mg in 1mL) is available in Belgium OTC. HydroxyB12 is also available OTC but the dose is 10mg in 2mL. Needles and syringes are also OTC.

[Xanthe]

Australia does, but that's not much help unless you're going long-haul! I got hydrxo version in ampoules.

[Grifter in reply to Xanthe]

I have a cousin in Australia. Would they be able to post it to me do you think?

[fbirder in reply to Grifter]

There shouldn't be any problem with it.

Make sure it's not methylcobalamin for injection. It's less stable than other forms and may well go off during transit (especially if it ends up spending a few hours on a Singaporean runway).

[Grifter in reply to fbirder]

Thanks. I've only ever used methyl for injection! Hydroxo and cyano are good are they?? Can they be injected subcutaneous? Sorry for more questions... 😊

[fbirder in reply to Grifter]

Some might say that they are better than methylcobalamin.

There are two active forms of B12, methylcobalamin and adenosylcobalmin. There is some uncertainty as to whether or not the former can be converted to the latter (Wikipedia will tell you it cannot - I disagree).

Both hydroxocobalamin and cyanocobalamin can be easily converted to both active forms by the vast majority of the population.

However, there are obviously differences. Some people swear by methylcobalamin, others find it doesn't do much or even makes them feel rough.

Another advantage of hydroxocobalamin over methylcobalamin is that it normally is quite a bit cheaper (especially important as the value of the pound plummets).

b12science.com/B12Science/D...

[Grifter in reply to fbirder]

Thanks. I thought that with Pernicious Anaemia we couldn't convert inactive to active, but my brain cells are not up to understandingmuch these days...

[fbirder in reply to Grifter]

Pernicious Anaemia prevents absorption of B12 from the gut. Once it's inside there should be no difference between sufferers and norms.

[Xanthe in reply to Grifter]

I don't know, but I don't see why not unless Australia has some strange regulations.

[harvold]

If your looking for a price competitive solution that's independently lab tested for quality and safety by an independent testing facility in Canada vitaminb12direct can probably offer you the best price on overseas generics. Hope that's helpful!

[Grifter in reply to harvold]

I'm not sure who I'd get to inject cyanocobalamin as its intramuscular. I've only done sub cut before?

[dhm0217]

Canada I know of for sure, I got mine from biosenseclinic.com , they have a clinical pharmacist on site, pretty professional and legitimate

[genesurf]

What does the back of your VitaminQuick box say?

I found a photo on a VitaminQuick box online and there were numerous misspellings and grammatical errors on it. The manufacturer is shown as "YoungSun Pharmacuticals (sic) Hong Kong". There is no third-party testing or purity guarantee on the website, either. If I'm going to inject something, I'd like to have some confidence that the lab is competent, and the ampoule isn't contaminated!

Text from box is copied below:

"СОМРОЅІТІОN:Еасh Мl оf ѕtеrіlе аquеоuѕ ѕоlutіоn соntаіnѕ:

Меthуlсоbаlаmіn В12 500 Меg

Wіth ѕоdіum сhоrіdе 0.22% w/v, Аmmоnіum Ѕulfаtе 0.1% w/v, Сіtrіс асіd 0.01% w/v, ѕоdіum сіtrаtе 0.008% w/v, аnd Веnzуl аlсоhоl 1.0% w/v (рrеѕеrvаtіvе)

Ѕtоrе аt соntrоllеd rооm tеmреrаturе bеtwееn 15с аnd 30с (59F-86F) Аvоіd ехроѕurе tо lіght Рrоduсt Nаmе: Vіtаmіn В12 Іnјесtіоn Drug Саtеgоrу: Vіtаmіn аnd mіnеrаl dеfісіеnіеѕ mеdісаtіоn Рrореrtіеѕ: Ріnk tо rеd trаnѕраrеnt lіquіd,оdоrlеѕѕ, tаѕtеlеѕѕ Ѕtоrаgе:Тhе tеmреrаturе іѕ tоо hіgh оr tоо lоng саn mаkе dіѕіnfесtіоn dесоmроѕіtіоn,ѕhоuld bе dаrk ѕеаlеd lndісаtіоnѕ:Маіnlу fоr mеgаlоblаѕtіс аnеmіа саn аlѕо bе uѕеd tо аѕѕіѕt іn thе trеаtmеnt оf nеurіtе Dоѕаgе: Іntrаmuѕсulаr іnјесtіоn,аdult,1ѕt 0.025~0.1mg оr еvеrу 0.05~0.2mg.Fоr nеurіtіѕ,thе dоѕаgе саn bе іnсrеаѕеd dіѕсrеtіоn Аdvеrѕе rеасtіоnѕ: іntrаmuѕсulаr еvеn саn саuѕе ѕkіn rаѕhеѕ,іtсhіng,dіаrrhеа аnd аllеrgіс аѕthmа,but thе lоw іnсіdеnсе оf rаrе аnарhуlасtіс ѕhосk Nоtе: 1/саn саuѕе аllеrgіс rеасtіоn,еvеn аnарhуlаѕtіс ѕhосk,іt ѕhоuld nоt bе аbuѕеd 2/whеn thе соndіtіоnѕ,mеdісаtіоn ѕhоuld mоnіtоr thе blооd соnсеntrаtіоn оf vіtаmіn В12 3/gоut раtіеntѕ wіth hуреrurісеmіа рrоduсt саn оссur Меdісаtіоn:(реdіаtrіс)іntrаmuѕсulаr іnјесtіоn 25~100ug/tіmеѕ а dау оr еvеrу оthеr dау. Аvоіd rереаtеd dоѕеѕ оf thе ѕаmе ѕіtе, аnd fоr nеwbоrnѕ, рrеmаturе сhіldrеn, іnfаntѕ,уоung сhіldrеn ѕhоuld bе"

And then it just ends.