It seems that people on this site have not yet discovered vitamin B12 patches
(they are like plasters). They are much better than supplements, because supplements have to be digested by the stomach and the liver has to work hard with them. Vitamin patches go STRAIGHT INTO THE BLOOD STREAM. No digestion necessary. (Important for people with the 'intrinsic factor). There are lost available, but many have to be worn for 24 hours and then work for 5 days. I would think that they are just as good as injections if not better.
You cannot sleep with them on, as they might stop you sleeping.
I have very bad digestive problems so discovered these which work very well. I am tested by my alternative doctor and she verifies that work very well. You can get patches for almost all vitamins nowadays. If anybody has any problems digesting minerals (for instance iron and zinc is sometimes necessary with vitamin B12 shortage)
When I was desperate , and couldn’t get enough injections , after having a diagnosis of P.A. , I tried B12 patches . They were useless for me , though they did send up my B12 serum reading .I persisted for weeks on end . I also tried sub lingual lozenges . Also useless . For most people with P.A. injections are the only solution . You must be one of the lucky people for whom they are effective . I think that the NHS would prescribe them if they were generally effective. It would save nurse’s time .
I’m another one that found the patches absolutely no good at all. Which isn’t surprising. The skin is very good at keeping out large, water soluble, molecules - like B12.
There are patches that will get big molecules absorbed but they all involve complicated processes like microneedles, dermal abrasion (sandpaper), electroporation or cavitational ultrasound.
Absorption rate from tablets, sublinguals, sprays and patches approx. 1%-3%, at best. If they work - and they don't for many people with absorption problems.
Absorption rate from B12 injections 100%. Recommended treatment in the UK for those with neurological symptoms due to B12 deficiency and for those with Pernicious Anaemia.
Link to further information:
b12researchgroup.wordpress.... (Serious Caution Note about the use of Oral, Sublingual B12 Supplements and transdermal Patches)
I have tried more than one patch, the ones I currently use are in a green sleeve and have folic acid in them too.
I spent 2 years since diagnosis feeling crappy with no opportunity to increase frequency of injections, I was desperate to try anything.
I also tried more than one spray prior to the patches I use now. The first time I used them I didn’t realise I’d made it the full 3 months in between injections.
They aren’t a miracle but they certainly make things a little more manageable!
Hi Kezzabel. I am interested in the patches you are using in the green packet. Are they the ones available on Amazon? Could you please let me know the name of them. I use the Vie patches, both 1000mcg and the 5000mcg between injections. My doctor is VERY resistant to giving me more frequently than every 8 weeks. I'm really struggling this time. Been so lacking in energy this past week and feeling quite weak today. Generally out of sorts. Be glad to hear from you 🌞
I use a combination of the ones in the green sleeve on Amazon by "PurOrganica", and also patches by SpoilMeWith, with a slightly higher dosage of 5000 mcg + folate: amazon.co.uk/SpoilMeWith-Pa...
I have found that the patches work very efficiently. My last lab tests show that my B12 is very high, so high that my GP was worried.
I used some patches that were substandard, then I found a company that sold pharmaceutical grade patches. They have a distinct odour, as they should. If not, they are probably not the best ones and won’t help.
What I do for optimal absorption,I swab the site, (behind my ears) with rubbing alcohol to remove any skin etc. They are time release, so I appy them in the morning and remove them a few hours before bed so I can still sleep.
Anyway, it is good to try different ones, as someone said, we are all different.
Good health to you all.
PS. Im going to look into the patches for the other minerals. Thanks, great advice!
HI. I have tried so many tablets and various forms of B12 (aside from food sources) but I become very ill. I'm wondering if patches would be better. can you tell me the name of the patches you used? Are you still using them? Any advice on patches would be welcome!
Hello there, Please note that if you have a shortage of B12 you could be suffering from Lyme Disease! I found patches good because it goes straight into your bloodstream, you do not need to digest it in your stomach if you have problems with your digestion
Patches I have used are B12 Super Energy Patch by the company 'PurOrganica'. I have also used them by a company called 'Healthy Living'. You can find them on Internet but it can sometimes take a while to find what you want. There are many other makes, but these two are the purest. Other makes such as 'Patch MD' will have more vitamins added, which is not always a good idea. Regards.
Thanks! I have never been shown to have B12 deficiency but the RDA levels/measurements here in the Netherlands are much lower than other EU countries and I am severely intolerant of whey (it's pretty much allergy level without anaphalytic shock) so no dairy. Fish is also problematical so trying to cram in enough B12 each day is tricky. Fortified foods produce the same response as B12 supplements so I'm a bit baffled since real food no issue and most tablets I am okay with.
I don;t have any of the symptoms of Lyme disease and I am actually terrified of being bitten by a tick so I never ever go walking in the countryside, in grass etc I stay away from anywhere there might be a tick. I stick to urban concrete!
Hi. Funny you should mention HI. I had a test last year and didn't have it but recently, I've been having the same doubts - reacting to typically high histamine foods. I've arranged another faeces test whilst I'm waiting to hear how I can arrange a DAO/histamine blood/serum test. I'm not 100% convinced the faeces test is reliable but it's something I can arrange without a referral. I know of a lab who does the blood test and I trust them but I'm waiting to hear if I need a referral and how much it would cost.
I eat eggs (actually egg white I'm fine with and that's supposed to be a typical HI trigger) and meat but chicken is surprisingly low (seriously, I've become a B12 level obsessive!) - 0.3 mcg in 85 g and you're supposed to hit 2.4 mcg per day. I'm staying away from fish at the mo because of my HI suspicion - def some fish makes me feel terrible. Beef I eat but try to limit it to once or twice a week. I wish I could figure out what the issue is with B12 supplements (Vit C supplements, even in small doses, make me really ill too.)
My whey intolerance came out of nowhere - maybe a few low level signs in the months preceding if I drank heaps of milk in one go but pretty much the massive attack where I couldn't breathe properly, nausea, headache etc etc came like a bolt - and prior to that, I drank lots of milk, ate lots of yogurt and kefir so hitting my B12 was never a problem. Taking away dairy makes things so much harder.
I had a B12 test - as part of regular vit & mineral blood test checks - earlier this year. I know I was not deficient then but I'd like to see what the level is.
Of course, stress and poor sleep could be behind this (and indeed any sudden HI) - I have a very stressful job and Covid19 terror is not bringing calm to anyone's mental environment!
Thanks so much for your advice though. It often helps to have a new set of objective insights/suggestions.
Regarding B12. Have you ever looked into 'intrinsic factor'. This stops your body absorbing B12 properly. Regarding the possible histamine intolerance do you know that eating fish is O.K. but only when it has been frozen on the boat. Once the fish has been exposed to air for too long then it makes it difficult to digest for histamine people. If you bought it fresh from a shop it would be then not suitable because it would have been exposed to the air for far too long. I always buy frozen. They mostly freeze it on the boat anyway. The same thing for eating meat. I always buy mine from the online butcher 'Het Woeste Gronden'. That is an online butcher who sells meat frozen. It is frozen by them as soon as it is butchered. Same for nuts too I always buy them in the sealed bags, never fresh.
But you could be different. By the way, I don't know if you realise, but the B12 tests by the doctor are notoriously unreliable, at least they were with me.
Do you live in Holland? I might be able to recommend the alternative doctor I went to. I am curious as to the outcome of your puzzle. Regards.
Yes, I live in the Netherlands and I know of ' Woeste Gronden'. I know about the frozen factor but I tried some frozen koolvis this week and felt bad. And yet, I've had tuna (not canned, that's a no no) from Albert Heijn and felt okay - ditto chicken (I only eat Ekoplaza organic) and beef. My huisarts said, just before Covid19 arrived, that he thinks I should do another IgE/IgG4 test at a different lab which also includes additives (240 things tested). The one I had in 2016 (when the whey thing happened), confirmed severe IgG4 to whey, sugar and bananas.
I do also have an alternative doctor (orthomolecular) but would be interested to learn who you see.
I do want to stress that I have not shown anaemia. I had a test a few months ago but, as I say, I'm suspicious only about B12.
Well you do have a big mystery. The doctor I go to is in Roermond (I live in Amsterdam)
so it's quite a trail to get there. His name is Patrick BeaumontPraktijk voor natuurlijke & biologische geneeskunde
Raadhuisstraat 6
6077 AD Sint Odiliënberg
I had one of those IG tests but unfortunately my allergies changed constantly, so it was not
Thanks - that's over 2 hours drive away from me but thanks anyway (I am in Leiden). I got hold of the most recent full minerals & vitamines blood results (I think I mentioned I have them every 6 months or so just to keep check on everything - my decision) and in January B12 was 416 (should be between 130 and 700) and the previous one in August 2019, it was 330, so how I'm doing this, I don;t know. So, you're probably wondering why I'm even asking people about supplements - well, I want to be able to eat less meat - have more varied diet plus not feel like I'm battling to hit 2.4 mcg B12 each day. PLUS, all the issues I mentioned - chronic constipation being one and bloating - there could well be a connection with B12 and/or histamine. I have kept a detailed food diary for years and some things (e.g high histamine things) I can trace back but then there are other things (coffee, egg whites), zero problems. Could be an intolerance and maybe I'm missing it because it's coming hours afterwards? I'm going to try something this weekend to see if it's something along those lines. It could indeed be that I'm intolerant as that would release histamine and potentially make me super sensitive for a couple of days whilst the high histamine levels are raging around inside me.
Odd that I've chanced upon someone also in the Netherlands. Never 'met' someone from here.
I am curious how you have your vitamins and minerals checked. Is it the huisarts or an other company? I would like mine checked regularly too, but would prefer not the huisarts. Please let me know the adress if you have a good one. I should mention that when I myself eat something wrong I do not get an immediate reaction I usually feel it when I wake up the next morning. Have you also got gluten intolerance? Patrick is two hours journey on the train for me, but I am glad that I decided to do it. He is a lot further ahead than a lot of other doctors. I am curious if you are also fatigued. Bionomes?
Not really fatigued - well, not without and obvious cause - namely, not enough sleep most nights (we're talking average 4 hours and it's mostly my fault though I'm now trying a new routine to stop this!). Yes, I know what you mean. Sometimes, the reaction is within an hour, sometimes, the next morning (today being a baddish one but I am pretty sure I know what it was and it made me think I was super-sensitive to other things for the rest of that day and this morning). I ask my huisarts - he's brilliant, I'm very lucky, he's really supportive and big into microflora/the micro biome, etc He is happy to request regular testing. You can also (with a referral, which your Roermond doctor could give if he's a qualified doctor) go here worldhealthlaboratories.com/) . Bunnik is closer than Roermond and I do recommend WHL - I've been using them since 2016. I use them (with referral from my orthomolecular doctor) to have regular micro flora/overgrowth checks but I've gone to them before for extensive blood tests (they do even the minor ones). Not cheap but what is anyway? It's also where I had the extensive IgE/IgG4 test in 2016 and where, if my orthomolecular doctor agrees, where I will go to get DAO in serum tested and a bloods histamine intolerance test (to compare it with whatever comes out from the stool test with a different lab).
Definitely not gluten intolerant - thank heavens - strangely intolerant of corn and oats though - I sometimes think I have the reverse of everything most common in the field of intolerances!
Your experiences of intolerances are indeed very much different from mine. I have an enormous list of intolerances. I even have to eat everything separately,eg the fish or meat (if possible to eat) 2 hours later than the rice and veg. I can only eat millet and rice and buckwheat, vegetables and protein are very minimal. I found the address of the World Health Laboratories very useful indeed. Would you mind giving me the address of your
orthomolecular therapist too? This will be useful even after I am healed, to keep abreast of everything. Thanks a lot. I am very curious what is causing your illness.
I am going to get another IgG4/IgE test when my huisarts is back from holiday. I feel like I'm going around in circles. I bought some Better You B12 oral spray. I'm nervous to try it because I've always thought it's something to do with the synthetic form of B12 that makes me feel dreadful but maybe it's something else and manufacturer related.
A friend of mine, in Norway, has also had similar issues and chronic fatigue and migraines etc for years. She just got diagnosed with PTSD and they think some of her issues are a response to that. I am starting to wonder if some of my responses are stress of PTSD related - there's certainly enough stress and enough in my past for that to be a reasonable assumption. Anyway, for now, I'll focus on what can be scientifically proven in a lab.
Let me know how you get on with everything. You can message through this site.
Thanks very much. I would also like to hear how you go on. As doctors are so useless we all have to help each other. I should just mention that Patrick Beaumont says that 95% of us have Lyme Disease and this underlies all our health problems. (A lot of us are apparently born with it) So if all else fails you can always try that. I am looking forward to hearing what the cause of your illness is.
I just ordered the patches abcs am curious to see if they help.
I’ve found the injections once a month are not a sustainable option. They help for roughly a week then I fall off by week two and full fatigue shortness off breathe etc begins by week 3.
An athlete growing up and staying active, with an active job and motherhood I feel I metabolize it so quickly. According to government regulations I should only need one shot a month 🙄🤦♀️
It would be lovely to see more research and lees generalization toward pernicious anemia. My grandmother had it
Hi Jemo4 & welcome to the forum! I suggest you start a new post of your own because this one is 5 years old & the original poster has left (Hidden means the user is no longer on this forum).
Patches don't really seem to be a suitable replacement for injections.
Many of us self-inject at the frequency we need (daily, weekly, etc) using privately sourced B12. If you want to go this route, let us know which country you're in, and what type of B12 you normally get or prefer (cyano, hydroxo, or methyl), and we can suggest reliable online pharmacies.
Some people have had success getting more frequent injections from their doctors.
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
I suggest you start a new post of your own because this one is 5 years old & the original poster has left (Hidden means the user is no longer on this forum). 
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