What else should I be taking with my B12 injections other than Folic acid ?

[Jesswoozer1]

Could someone give me a link to some advice about Co factors please ? Many thanks. I have just started SI alternate days. I have my folic acid 5mg and plenty of coconut water / banana's! Should I be taking other B vitamins and Vitamin D? Many thanks!

[fbirder]

You should take vitamin/mineral supplements if you have a diagnosed deficiency or if you have medical advice to do so.

Medical advice is for everybody to take low dose vitamin D supplements, especially during the winter.

[Barbaraj]

Folic acid is not a good idea for anybody to take. Much wiser and healthier to take the active form of it as methylfolate or folinic acid. You can read why this is on mthfr.net or Google Dr Ben Lynch.

[fbirder in reply to Barbaraj]

For the vast majority of the population folic acid is the preferable form. It is cheaper and it has a higher bioavailability.

People with a certain genetic mutation (homozygous for the C677>T mutation on the MTHFR gene - less than 9% of the population) may find it preferable to take methylfolate. These people make an enzyme called MTHFR that is less stable than normal. It means the efficacy of the enzyme is reduced to about 30% of normal. Most people with that mutation can compensate in various ways (simply making more of the enzyme will work).

If you do have a homozygous C677>T mutation then it's probably worth switching to methylfolate for a while to see if it makes any difference. If you're not sure if you have the mutation then it may be worth a trial run. But the chances are good that you'll be wasting your money.

[shipscat]

Vitamin D, Vit K and B complex, make sure to buy a B complex with less than 10mg B6 as B6 can be toxic and doesn't agree with some people. You may also need iron depending on your level

[fbirder]

I'm sorry, but what Eoaz says is SO true.

All acidic bio chemicals will, when dissolved in water, lose a hydrogen ion to form a negatively charged ion. That ion is given the same root as the acid, but with an 'ate' suffix.

So acetic acid produces acetate. Citric acid produces citrate, glutamic acid produces glutamate and ascorbic acid produces ascorbate.

Chemists will always refer to the particular chemical by the name of the acid. Biologists will always refer to the name of the ion, often without realising that the two are interconvertible.

Indeed, in solution most of it will be in the form of ascorbic acid. Even if you dissolve sodium ascorbate in water you will convert most of it into ascorbic acid immediately. It is only in the very dilute amounts found in the body that it's safe to say that much of it will be in the form of ascorbate.

If Morely Robbins is responsible for the idea that ascorbic acid and ascorbate are even slightly different when dissolved in water, then he's obviously not worth reading.

[fbirder]

As the conjugate base of a weak acid, what do you think happens to ascorbate in water?

It combines with a hydrogen ion to form ascorbic acid. in the acidic environment of the stomach almost all of the ascorbate you consume will be converted into ascorbic acid.

[Hidden]

Hi, I've personally never been advised to take anything else from a medical point of view, but I take omega-3 and various vitamins by choice. I've actually just been taken off vitamin D because I was on a hospital-strength dose and it was too much, so I'm going to have to buy it from Asda from now on!

[Paulaw22]

It depends on whether you have Pernicious Aneamia or B12 deficiency? I've had severe PA since birth so my body will not absorb iron or B12 through my stomach, just gives me symptoms of food poisoning!

I take a vitamin called alive that contains everything, including Vit D which is important with PA as you are more likely to have low Vit D, except iron or B12.

I also have low dose thyroxine from my GP, amount a lot of other medication due to the problems caused by having very low B12 for a long time.

Not quite sure why your question has turned into a long discussion regarding whether Vit c is an acid or not lol! This isn't very relative to your question.

I would recommend that you get your vitamins more from what you eat and just top up with vitamins, if you feel you need them?

I eat lots of fruit; bananas, tangerines (I can't cope with the acid in oranges or orange juice as I have stomach problems) I'm abducted to coconut or anything that has it in it, nuts, fish (salmon in particular) lots of med veg and I drink litres of water. I also have chicken with herbs but not much red meat as it causes me a lot of pain digesting it.

I hope this helps you but don't 'over think' what you have listen to your body and any problems see your GP

[fbirder in reply to Paulaw22]

If you have PA then you will have problems absorbing iron because of the low stomach acid.

Iron needs to be in solution to be absorbed. It is a lot more soluble in an acid environment, which is why it doesn't absorb well in a stomach of somebody with PA.

You can get round this by helping the iron get into solution. You can supplements that are chelated. Iron fumarate and bisglycinate are two common forms.

You can also do it by adding citric and/or ascorbic acids, which both act as chelating agents. This should work with iron sulfate tablets which are, otherwise, a real pig for people with low stomach acid.

[Jesswoozer1]

Thank you everyone !

[fbirder]

I must be getting senile. I knew there was a way to calculate it, but just couldn't remember.

[Paulaw22]

I have quite high stomach acid but it's the wrong type of acid so I have to use Lansoprazole to reduce it.

I lack intrinsic factor so I cannot absorb Iron even in fluid form. I have to be injected with iron. I remember having a hysterectomy and they gave my tablet form of iron but it made me so ill I couldn't keep anything down and had terrible diahorrea. They put me in a side room and tried me with liquid iron but I had to tell them to stop as I was so ill. I told them that I was given the liquid iron a lot as a child and it made me ill. They changed me to iron injections and I was well with a couple of days.

My daughter also has PA and it looks like I was born with it and passed it on and my son had issues when born with his stomach and skin which looks line was due to my condition.

Seems strange that I was constantly anaemic yet no one realised Ihad PA.

Looks like my grandmother died through stomach cancer and PA in her early forties and my Mother may have had it. One of my sisters was diagnosed with it after her sons birth but after she was given the loading dose she didn't need any more treatment.

My daughter is a senior nurse and I am a trained Holistic and aromatherapist so we get together a lot and do research regarding our issues. I'm hoping to find some answers to help my daughter as PA has caused me a lot of problems.

[fbirder in reply to Paulaw22]

There is only one type of stomach acid - hydrochloric acid. It is secreted by the gastric parietal cells, which also make IF.

IF has no part at all to play in the absorption of iron. It is specifically designed to fit B12 and nothing else. So a lack of it will not affect iron absorption.

[Paulaw22 in reply to fbirder]

I think my problem is that foods that are high in iron also contain high levels of B12 which I cannot absorb. PA has also affected my blood cells so iron replacements only work via injection. Maybe my stomach just cannot cope with the formulation in iron tablets? What ever the reason my body doesn't like them.

[Geordi]

My doc told me to take Vit D in addition to my B12 injections

[kmalbasich]

No to folic acid!

folate as metafolinI use!1000mcg by solgar