B12 stores and their reuptake

[Dewbuc]

Does anyone know how effectively PA sufferers can utilise stored B12. If this process is impaired, as I suspect it may be, then this could explain the symptoms that occur increasingly between injections. If this is the case, is there an argument for topping up daily with oral high dose B12 between injections!?

[clivealive Forum Support]

Personally Dewbuc I have been using the "BetterYou B12 Boost" spray for the past twelve months and I think it has helped me through my "trough periods" between injections. It can do no harm - which is more than can be said for some GPs....

[Dewbuc in reply to clivealive]

Thanks. That is what I would expect. I've only just started self Injecting on alternate days, but once the frequency reduces I thought it would be a good idea to boost orally when I felt it was necessary.

[Gambit62 Administrator]

Generally the mechanism for releasing B12 stores is in bile through the ileum for reabsorption there - so not going to be very efficient if you have an absorption problem.

B12 stored in liver is bound to TC3 whereas the form that you need to get through from blood to cells is bound to TC2 - so there would need to be some process that would enable it to be converted from TC3 to TC2 anyway.

Not sure how scientific the 'study' was but B12d.org did look into use of high dose oral supplements and came to the conclusion that using them between maintenance doses seemed to be quite effective and this is the regime that they recommend.

[Dewbuc in reply to Gambit62]

That's very interesting. Thank you. It seems to me if you've used up the available serum B12 after an injection and can't access stored B12efficiently you are bound to experience a dip in your symptoms. I've not seen any posts previously suggesting this as a strategy for coping but it would seem to give the patient much more control of symptoms.

[Jennylind in reply to Dewbuc]

If access to injections wasn't limited, is there a reason why it would be preferable to 'top up' with other forms of supplement, rather than simply to inject more frequently?

[Dewbuc in reply to Jennylind]

The injection gives you a great big B12 dose that doesn't depend on being absorbed from the gut. Ideally I guess you should have the injections frequently enough to keep you symptom free all the time. However, many patients aren't able to get them from their GP and choose not to self inject. In that case tablets, sprays or patches may help smooth over the problems while you wait for the next injection.

Some people, however, seem to need much more frequent injections.

My feeling is that if you utilise the available B12 and excrete the excess very quickly and are then unable to store or reabsorb stored 12, then inevitably you will become deficient more quickly. I have been unable to find any reliable data on this.

In those cases of very early symptom recurrence I guess very frequent injections or alternative tops in the interval between injections might be the only solution.

I would welcome any steer on this.

[wedgewood]

I get no benefit from anything but injection . I've tried sub-lingual lozenges , sprays into mouth and nose , and also patches . To no avail . If they worked for me , I could give up injectioning . Would make life simpler .

[Hidden]

Yes, I was wondering the same thing Jennylind. I don't personally top up, just add in another injection if I feel the need. However, I am pretty sure I read somewhere, perhaps the B12.org site, that taking the active co-enzyme 5-deoxyadenosylcobalamin in tablet form can be beneficial in some cases and also taking a mixture of the B12's, i.e. methyl, hydroxo and adenosyl.

Perhaps I dreamt it and someone else may be able to comment on that.