How oftwn do you get a jab in USA

[Ela1]

Hallo

I'm planning to ho to California next year and am wondering how often ussually you get a jab there is it 3 months or one month

[pvanderaa]

It is cyanocobalamin. Normally given 1 ml of 1000 mcg/ml once a month.

I couldn't manage at that level and my Dr prescribed 1 ml per week. The prescription is valid for a year. And my Dr wants to redo the blood tests each year so i have to continually convince him to not stop.

The pharmacy gives me 4x 1ml vials per refill. Cost is $32. With insurance, i pay $3.75 out of pocket.

Insurance won't pay for more frequent injections so if I go on a trip and am coming up on the refill date, I can pay full cost out of pocket for an extra vial or two.

I self inject 0.5 ml twice a week and take 4.8 mg of folic acid (6x 800 mcg tablets spread throughout the day).

I supplement with 4x 5000 mcg methylcobalamin sublinguals each day also spread throughout the day.

At his dosage level I am stable and feel pretty "normal". An upset in this regime and i know it immediately.

[Ela1 in reply to pvanderaa]

Thank you. That sounds wonderful. I'm in Uk and get a jab every 3 months and it is a real nightmare. Wish you all the best

Ela

[MNK007 in reply to Ela1]

Hi Ela...I just posted this in another comment stream about a guy with who was supplementing between his shots with a new oral Vitamin B12 spray called Misol B12 and he reckoned it was a life saver for him...I can see if I can find the review link if you are interested?

[Galixie in reply to pvanderaa]

I wish I had your insurance. My four vials a month cost me $15 with my insurance. It sounds like both our pharmacies are charging around $7.50 a vial full price.

[SusanLMckinney in reply to pvanderaa]

If you have already had loading doses, you do not need more than 1 a week. Without loading doses, I think you will heal, but it may be a bit slower at first.

[pvanderaa in reply to SusanLMckinney]

That has not been my experience. I run out of energy and brain fog returns after 3 day if i only injection the full 1 ml once a week.

Hence my splitting it into two 0.5 ml injections. One on Monday and one on Thursday mornings.

Since the consumption (loss?) of B12 is a diffusion from blood into cells and back, i figure it is an exponential decay curve. The higher the starting amount, the faster the loss. Basically you pee half of the injection away on the first day, (I also get a headache that day as well if I inject the full dose.)

If i could inject the full 1ml every three days, I probably would not need the 4x daily methylcobalamin sublinguals that currently fill in the gaps.

[SusanLMckinney in reply to pvanderaa]

I can't remember exactly for how long, but I know I did a full ml one shot daily for at least a week, maybe a month, then twice a week for a month, once a week for a month and then once a month and I did fine. Took a long time to heal the damaged nerves (1 1/2 yrs) but slow steady healing.

[NJMommy]

My hemotologist originally said once a month, but that wasn't enough. He told me that since b12 is water soluable I can inject as frequently as I need.

[SusanLMckinney]

After loading doses, I have been taking one mil/CC shot a month, but I have a niece who gets one shot every three months, but she gets a triple dose shot in the butt.

[CH52]

Hi, I live in upstate New York and my internist gives me an injection of B12 every 2 weeks. Some only want to give it once a month though. Plus if you self inject and go through your doctor for a prescription of injectable B12, a lot of insurance here will not cover the cost! It is cheaper to go to physicians office and get jabbed there than to self inject!!!! Insane! I paid out of pocket 54.00 for just 2 injections to keep on hand so I can self inject in bad weather during our long winters up here. If I go to physicians office it's a total lower cost and I only pay 5.00 per injection. I now have my internist trying to get insurance company to pay for my self injection B-12 and supplies. It's sad but diabetics get their syringes, and insulin supplies paid for 100% by most insurance plans but they won't cover cost for B-12 required for PA patients! It is just as life threatening to a PA patient as it is with a diabetic only they die quickly we would linger for a long and painful death. It makes me mad that our government gives free syringes and meds to drug addicts at the cost of taxpayer dollars but people with a medical need that is life saving can't even be covered by their insurance which we pay heavily for!!!! Guess they would rather I go back in hospital for 4 days and get blood transfusions and medical treatment there at the cost of over $30,000 for the days I was hospitalized than pay to keep me well? Good luck with your move to California and your treatments. Insurance here and pricing for plans and treatment is different state to state.

[MoKayD]

My doctor prescribed a monthly shot for me after I finished my weekly loading doses. I found that week four was rough so I started getting B12 shots every three weeks. This seems to be the perfect schedule for me. My doctor's prescription was more of a suggestion. My shots are free thru my insurance company. I have an appointment scheduled with my doctor at the end of the month to learn how to give myself injections. I think it would be much more convenient to be able to take my shots at home instead of driving to the doctor's office every three weeks.