Unpleasant reaction to B12 spray?

[petal02]

Last night I tried the Better You B12 Spray – I used the recommended dosage, which is 4 sprays, which gives 1200ug of B12 (I realise you don’t absorb quite all of it, so if you absorb as much as 1000ug, then that’s the equivalent of a 1000mcg injection)?

After approx. 20 mins, I started to feel hot, slightly light headed, and developed quite a bad headache. I went to bed shortly afterwards, thinking that I’d either be fine or dead (!) in the morning.

I woke up today feeling ok-ish, but still have a headache.

Has this happened to anyone else? I only had my last injection on Saturday, so did I overload my body? Or should I have started by only having one or two sprays rather than the full four sprays as per the recommended dose?

[clivealive Forum Support]

Personally petal02 I've never had a problem with the spray and I've been using it for over two years. It may be something in the "make up" of the spray rather than the B12 itself because as you know only a very small percentage "gets through".

I'm not a medically trained person.

[JanD236]

You can’t overload your body with B12 as your kidneys will excrete any excess. I also think it very unlikely that you would absorb as much as 1000ug (but hasten to add I don’t have anything scientific to back this up).

I doubt 4 sprays could be compared with an injection as far as effectiveness is compared (otherwise we’d all be happy using a spray rather than having injections)! There is research to show that sublinguals (I assume that a spray is comparable) are not effective for most people with PA.

Having said all that I do occasionally use a spray in the hope that it will help. Unfortunately I can’t say it does but nor does it give me the reaction you describe. Maybe you just had a virus/headache coming on? I guess that one way to test would be to try the spray again in a few days?

[petal02 in reply to JanD236]

Thank you both for coming back to me - I'm still quite new to all this, and find it confusing. I will try the spray again in a few days time, maybe using a smaller quantity.

[taka Administrator in reply to petal02]

The Better you B12 spray gives me a stonking headache. Not the other symptoms you mention... just a headache within a short time of taking it. I tried it several times and each time it happened. I also tried methylcobalamin lozenges (the type of B12 in the spray) with a similar result though it took longer for the headache to start, and the headache wasn't as bad. I gave up and found some hydroxocobalamin+adenosylcobalamin lozenges instead - no headaches!! Headaches after taking methylcobalamin have been mentioned on here before too. Some have mentioned they only got the headaches initially and they lessened with more time using methylcobalamin. Maybe try another type of B12 if you want to supplement between injections?

How much B12 you take in will rather depend on whether you have an problem absorbing it or not. Since you are on injections your GP must believe you are unable to absorb enough from your diet to remain healthy without injections. With something like PA, only approx 1% of the B12 from oral supplements is passively absorbed. That may be enough to help you feel a bit better between injections if you take high dose lozenges or sprays but it is unlikely you would be absorbing anything like 1000ug orally if you do have an absorbence problem.

[fbirder]

I’m with taka on this one. It’s probably a sensitivity to methylcobalamin.

I’ve tried injecting methylcobalamin once. I got symptoms similar to yours. Bad enough for me to give away the remaining ampoules.

Interestingly, I’ve never felt anything when I use methylcobalamin lozenges, patches or sprays. Which leads me to believe I don’t absorb them via any of those routes.

[petal02 in reply to fbirder]

I assume that if I was going to have any sort of serious reaction/black out/ambulance required type reaction, it would have happened by now? This sort of thing scares me.

[deniseinmilden]

Hi Petal,

I hope (assume) you are OK!

If I inject 1500mcg it lasts me for about 28 hours (so daily high strength injections work well). The equivalent in the spray only gives me about half an hour of improvement! It just shows we're all running at different absorption and elimination rates so it's hard to say.

I need a certain amount of methyl, either as methylcobalamin or methylfolate but if I overdo either or a combination of these I get a stonking headache which will only go off as my levels drop.

Given time you should be OK.

Next time only try one spray or a drip under your tongue and see how you go.

The good news is you are absorbing something!!

As Taka suggests, hydroxocobalamin or adenosylcobalamin might be a better option for you.

[petal02]

Hi, I'm feeling much better today thanks, but I felt quite rough for nearly 24 hours after using the spray. I was amazed how quickly the spray got into my system, approx 20 mins! As others have suggested, I will stick to hydroxocobalamin in future, I've heard people recommend the Yuvil spray.