Query b12 amount & frequency

[ShirleyMurray]

Hi there....

I'm hoping someone can enlighten me...

Is it possible for neurological symptoms and exhaustion to be prolonged, if you take b12 daily instead of alternate days... Or take more than recommended dose?

Thanks so much for any thoughts or advice

[fbirder]

Do you mean - "Can taking lots of B12 make things worse?"

No.

The body has a strange mechanism of getting rid of stuff from the blood that it doesn't want. When the blood passes through the kidneys every small(ish) molecule gets filtered out of the blood. The stuff that the body wants gets reabsorbed into the blood and the rest gets passed into the urine.

It's a bit like spring cleaning your house by taking everything outside except the furniture, then bringing in all the stuff that you want to keep. A silly method - and great evidence against an intelligent designer.

Now, the reabsorption process can only proceed at a certain maximum rate. So if there's a lot of B12 that gets filtered out by the kidneys not all of it will get brought back into the blood.

Which means that there's a natural limit on how much B12 can be in your blood - no matter how much you take.

[ShirleyMurray in reply to fbirder]

Thank you so much for your reply & liked your analogy

That now makes sense to me & has alleviated my concerns about the amount to take...

Can I also ask you please... If, the symptoms aren't improving at a reasonable rate... But hopefully aren't due to a different problem....

Is it possible worth taking more b12 & see what happens?

It's highly likely I inherited my PA from my mum, & after a long summer of tests, my 4 daughters have also now been diagnosed with PA too. They're aged between 22-35.... I've been undiagnosed & unwell for 40 years.... So I'm not expecting an overnight improvement. But I've been having daily injections for 6 weeks & although the fog has definitely lifted my neurological & exhaustion symptoms have only improved slightly.

I am taking 5 MFTH, Pottasium & Magnesium.

I also tried a Multivitamin, which made things worse...Though I've just read another reply to my query saying B6 possibly could be responsible... Which I'm pleased to hear, as I wasn't certain what the problem was.

Sorry this is so long...

I very much appreciate your time & help. 😊

[Cariad-y-Mor]

Hi ShirleyMurray - I am no expert on this and I am not a doctor but I just wondered if you are just taking B12 or are you taking a Vitamin B Complex too ? The reason I ask is that both my daughter and I developed side effects after also starting a B Complex. From helpful advice on here ( and alot of "googling" ) it would seem we probably reacted to the high level of one of the B vitamins in the B Complex. Symptoms have gone since stopping the Complex. 🌻🌻🌻

[Foggyme Administrator in reply to Cariad-y-Mor]

Hi ShirleyMurray and Bernie51. I expect the culprit B vitamin might have been vitamin B6 (pyridoxine). Too much of this can cause nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, headache, pins and needles and sleepiness.

Multivitamins, minerals and B complex tablets suit many people but one of the drawbacks is that it is not easy to tailor the specific vitamin and mineral doses to what your individual needs actually are. Hence, it may be possible to have too much of something your body really doesn't need.

Whilst too much B6 is a bad thing, there may be other B's that you need! So it's really quite a balancing act!

Good luck with the balancing 😃

[ShirleyMurray in reply to Foggyme]

Hi foggyme...

Thank you so much for your reply & specific thoughts about B6.

I think you're right. It makes sense, as I have sporadically taken B Vitamins over a long period of time & always had to give up as they made me feel worse

I have also replied to fbirder & foggyme, & given a bit more background.

So, now I will endeavour to discover which vitamins will be good for me!

It will take sometime!

I'm very grateful to you for your kind help 😊

[Foggyme Administrator in reply to ShirleyMurray]

Thank you and good luck 👍

[ShirleyMurray in reply to Cariad-y-Mor]

Hi Bernie 51...

Thank you so much for taking the time to reply.

If you read my reply to fbirder who also kindly replied, you'll see that I did indeed take a multivitamin with quite high doses of everything including B complexes.

Like you I had very unpleasant side affects but at the time had no way of knowing which vitamin might be the culprit.

I'm very grateful for your thoughts, which make total sense.

Thank you 😊

[Cariad-y-Mor in reply to ShirleyMurray]

Hi ShirleyMurray - and Foggyme I think you are right Foggyme ( and with all my googling) I also think the problem is B6. In the course of my "research" I found that we should not take more than 100mgs of B6. My side effects included a heart "flutter....as opposed to palpitations and also felt a bit wired and snappy ( and I am usually .....well most of the time...a placid Libran !!

My daughter's side effects were similar but she also became exhausted again having gained energy when she was on B12 alone. She also experiened fluid retention. We are currently looking into a B Complex with lower dosage . Hope this helps.🌻🌻🌻

[Foggyme Administrator in reply to Cariad-y-Mor]

I got the flutters too...but I've always been weird, so it's a bit difficult to tell about that one!

I now taken supplements as descrete individual items rather than as multi dose tablets.

Still a balancing act but I think I'm getting there.

Be very interested to hear if you find anything 'multi' in low doses 👍

Good luck with it all X

[Cariad-y-Mor in reply to Foggyme]

Hi again Foggyme - giggle giggle.... I am sure you are not weird - I said my symptoms made me feel wired. Re the Vitamin B Complex....I have been recommended one called Nutrisorb. It contains lower doses of the B vitamins. It is a liquid that you can take in water or, it says, sublingually ( not sure how that would work with a liquid ! 🌝 ).

At the moment it is out of stock on their site. May have to do more hunting after my holiday. It is quite a task e.g finding ones that have folate not folic acid - soooo mindboggling. 🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻

[fbirder in reply to Cariad-y-Mor]

Try Tesco multivitamins. Cheap and no stupidly high amounts in there.

Why not folic acid? For 98% of the population it's just as good, if not better (higher bioavailability).

[Foggyme Administrator in reply to Cariad-y-Mor]

And hi again Bernie51. Now I'm laughing out loud...seems my brain reads what it wants to read...weird or wired...what's in a word...and that's one reason for being Foggyme...but expect there are plenty of other reasons too!

I could do with a little of that wired feeling!!

Thanks for the info. Like you, not sure how the sublingual would work!

I'm sure I've seen 'multis' without folic acid...somewhere...will have to dredge the memory banks...if I remember I'll let you know.

But there's always fbirders suggestion...

Take care X

[Cariad-y-Mor in reply to Foggyme]

Thank you Foggyme - there is so much information....and some of it contradictory.

Doesn't help that I have thyroid brain fog alot of the time . !! Have a great day - the sun is shining here. 🌞🌞🌞🌞

[Foggyme Administrator in reply to Cariad-y-Mor]

And here too 👍

[roy1701uk in reply to Cariad-y-Mor]

Hi what symptoms did you get and for how long

Thanks

[Cariad-y-Mor]

Hi fbirder - thank you for the information about Tesco B Vitamins ...I will see if they do a Vitamin B Complex ( I already take Jarrows methyl B 12 ).

I understood that folic acid was synthetic whereas folate was "natural" and therefore that the latter was better. I am still a learner to all this -( I have hypothyroidism - Hashimoto's ).

[fbirder in reply to Cariad-y-Mor]

Yes, Tesco do a multi-B vitamin. tesco.com/groceries/product... - Three for the price of two at the moment.

Yes, folic acid is synthetic and methylfolate is also synthetic. Methylfolate does occur in nature but the stuff you buy is made in a lab - from folic acid!

As for natural being better than synthetic. Which would you take for a headache Aspirin (synthesized) or tree bark (natural).

98% of the population can easily convert folic acid into methylfolate (the other 2% can do it, but not as well and can benefit from taking methylfolate).

More folic acid is absorbed from the gut than a similar dose of methylfolate.

Folic acid is less than 1p for 400 ug; methylfolate is around ten times as expensive (more like twenty times if you take into account the lower bioavailability).

Methylfolate, like methylcobalamin has been touted as a wonder-material that, because it is the actual chemical used in some of the body's processes, must be better than any alternative. The people touting this myth mainly do so for one reason - money. They either sell the magic methyl (at even more inflated prices), sell books about magic methyl, or sell advertising space on their websites (which earn more money the more people visit the site - and outrageous claims get more clicks than boring reality).

[Cariad-y-Mor in reply to fbirder]

Hi again fbirder - Thank you for your helpful reply. Giggle -giggle ...of course I would take asprin for a headache as opposed to tree bark. Often think I can be a bit nutty but not started munching trees .....yet🌝.

Now there's a point about methylcobalamin because as you say it is much more expensive so could it be money making hype ! Clearly the "expensive" vitamin B Complex did not suit me or my daughter so looks like a trip to the supermarket. 🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻