Hi All
Super quick question to see if anyone has been using the B12 oral spray's and its resulted in absorption and health/symptom benefits?
I am definitely not planning to switch from the injections but if its an effective way to supplement then I will happily stock up.
Thanks in advance.
Yes I tried every possible method of B12 supplementation , including oral spray ,before I was forced to self inject, because nothing else worked for me . It had no impact whatsoever .
I fear this will likely end up my fate too. My gastroenterologist has written to my GP asking them to inject me every 6 weeks, not 12. As he agreed that it would do me no harm whatsoever to have it more regularly. But apparently there is still a chance they may refuse to do it. If they do refuse then I will have to self-inject inbetween GP injections and just not tell them. I love how it makes us feel like criminals when all we are doing it trying to get well! Utter madness.
Like wedgewood I tried pills, lozenges, patches and sprays. They did nothing at all. And I have sound science to explain why they did nothing.
But no proof. So the best advice is to suck it and see. If the sprays help then that's good.
I’ve tried tablets and the sublingual pellets that dissolve under the tongue and they didn’t do anything, but I wondered if the spray going into the blood stream via the cheeks (like the way ketamine is absorbed - my friend has ulcerative colitis and she was on it recently) would be more effective?
I’d love to hear the science as to why it likely wouldn’t work? I’m always trying to understand this condition better so anything you can share would be hugely appreciated.
I remember fbirder , who is a scientist , explaining that the B12 molecule is very large and that that was the reason it was very difficult for it to be absorbed through the skin. be it in the mouth or on the body .
To easily cross any biological membrane without any help a molecule needs to be small and fat soluble. That’s because cell walls are made of a double layer of lipid molecules en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lip... Molecules that can easily dissolve in fats (lipohilic) can ‘dissolve’ in that lipid layer and move across it, if they’re small enough. Molecules that easily dissolve in water (hydrophilic) can’t dissolve in that layer, so can’t easily cross it.
B12 is large and hydrophilic. That’s why it needs to be carried across membranes via special proteins (Intrinsic Factor for gut to blood, transcobalamin for blood to cell).
Ketamine, in its free base form, is lipophilic and it is one fifth the mass of the B12 molecule. That’s why it can be absorbed across the membrane of the mouth.
The best evidence that B12 can’t cross biological membranes is the fact that nobody has ever developed a B12 suppository. The rectal membrane is just as good at absorbing suitable drugs as is the membrane of the mouth. But in the mouth the drug is only in contact with the membrane for a minute or five at most. Given as a suppository a drug can be in contact with the rectal membrane for hours and hours, meaning more can be absorbed.
I’m sure doctors would much rather hand out cheap B12 suppositories than expensive B12 injections. The fact that they don’t leads me to believe it’s because they wouldn’t work.
Unfortunately the spray did nothing for me.
just to buck the trend I do find nasal sprays useful ... and same seems to go for sublinguals. It seems to vary a lot from person to person and unfortunately the only way to know if it works for you is to try it.
I’m willing to try anything so will look out for the nasal. Sadly I saw no effect from taking the sublinguals which was a shame.
I’ve just had a thought.
The salivary glands produce haptocorrin, a protein that binds to B12. It’s supposed to protect B12 from the acid in the stomach. Normally the HC-B12 complex is separated by proteolytic enzymes in the duodenum, allowing the B12 to bind with IF for absorption in the ileum.
But the HC-B12 complex will be far too big to get absorbed through a membrane (it’s about 50 times heavier than B12 on its own) which will make it even harder for the B12 to be absorbed.
But sprayed into the nasal membranes there will be little, or no, haptocorrins for the B12 to bind to. So it’s possible that absorption may be higher nasally than sublingual.
I wonder how they are able to say that absorption is scientifically proven on the box? They state that it bypasses the digestive system entirely and is absorbed via a membrane under the tongue?
studies that I've come across show that marginally more B12 is absorbed from sublinguals than from large dose oral - but it's marginal - just over 1% compared to just under 1% so most seems to be passive absorption outside the gut - but these are averages and some people will be better than others.
The spray seems to help me a little, I only use it as a top up if I am having lots of symptoms but it does seem to take the edge off.
Fingers crossed I have the same reaction 🤞🏻.
Did you try the spray? And did it help?
I did and sadly no effect so far. I was spraying 4 sprays every morning and occasionally another 4 sprays of an evening, and after 2.5weeks my blood results showed my iron had dropped. So I’m very disappointed. Especially as I was also taking Solgar gentle iron tablets. Also the spray did a number on my IBS even though it said it’s meant to bypass the digestive system.
Oh sorry I’ve replied about the iron spray. I haven’t tried the B12 spray yet as I’m currently getting a trial run of B12 injections every 6 weeks to see if it helps my iron absorption. And so far it looks like it’s not. 😬
I can’t think of any reason why B12 injections might help iron absorption.
Well on a recent Nov blood test where I all of a sudden showed an unexpected iron reading indicating I had absorbed some for apparently no reason at all (which hasn’t happened in 15yrs) , the B12 injection seemed like the only variable in play, as the blood test was taken 2 weeks after an injection. But then like I said, I’ve been hammering my body with iron since 1st Dec, had my B12 injection on the 3rd, and a blood test on the 20th looks like nothing has gone in. Which would indicate the B12 injection is totally irrelevant.
At the moment my body is a total mystery to me. It seems I can take iron supplements until the cows come home and absorb none of it, and then randomly absorb it from food at completely freak intervals with no logical explanation.
Between June 2017 and Oct 2018 both my iron and ferritin tracked down blood test after blood test. And Jan 17 to April I was on constant iron supplements. Then in November is replenished itself for no reason going from 7 to 29 and I wasn’t taking anything or doing anything different. And then this month I’m back to tracking down. Completely wierd right?
Fortunately I’ve got my folate back up from 3 so at least I’ve been absorbing that.
This is very interesting this happened to me too. Before the loading dose my iron and Ferretin were very low. I didn't take any supplements or change my diet. I did another set of bloods privately a few days after my loading dose and my iron and ferretin were back to normal. Strange.
And was it a nasal spray or oral?
Does taking oral B12 bias a B12 test high for someone with PA?
B12 oral spray - which is the best? How much do you take?
NHS Guidelines 2-monthly injections for B12 deficiency patients with neurological symptoms
What do I do for the best? B12 injections now to be denied?
My Intrinsic Factor came back negative, with a range 0-25, does it have to be over 25 to be positive please?
