Private B12 injections in London please?

[GastritisB12]

Hello,

Does anyone know of a private GP in the London area or Kent who will give B12 injections please?

I have had my loading dose of 6 just over 2 weeks ago, some symptoms went away but dizzyness and strange tiredness after walking for more 10 minutes were still there. I told this to my GP. But now some of the more worrying symptoms are coming back. The palpitations when walking up the stairs or just standing up (regular but faster, noticable heart beat) and the increased anxiety especially in the mornings, and seeming difficulty digesting (I also have gastritis probably auto-immune).

I do want to learn to self inject but just want the first few done by a professional. I asked two GPs at my surgery they won't give me more loading doses they say it will be of no benefit. My gastroenterologist won't give me more either because he is afraid of giving me a toxic dose!

Before the loading dose my blood results were:

B12 145ng/L

range is 180-914

Folate 4.9ug/L range is 4.0-9.9

Iron 7.5umol/L range is 12.6-26

Transferrin saturation 13% range is 20%-45%

Potassium was 4.2

mmol/l range is 3.5-5.3

After injections I went for a private blood test because GP wouldn't do one.

Red Cell folate was 221nmol/L range is 285-1474

Iron was 18.9umol/L range is 10.6-28.3

Transferrin sat. 37% range is 20%-55%

Potassium was 4.7mmol/L

range is 3.5-5.1

Intrinsic Factor antibody - negative

Parietal cell antibody - positive! titre 1:40

Thanks!

[fbirder]

Sorry can't help with the private injections (and it would be against forum rules if anybody were to post recommendations on the forum - they would need to use the messaging system).

Your folate could do with being higher - try taking 400 mcg folic acid a day.

[GastritisB12 in reply to fbirder]

Thanks very much. Good point about public reccomendations, if anyone knows someone please message me privately.

The private GP did say I should take folate 5mg for 4months but didn't give me a prescription. I took the standard Boots 400mcg for a few days but then stopped. I should get back on them. I was worried depleting my B12 in case it dropped after the loading dose.

Is it possible for symptoms to come back so soon? Maybe I didn't have enough folate to make use of the B12 they injected me with?

[fbirder in reply to GastritisB12]

Taking more folate can’t increase the amount of B12 the body needs.

Many people find that they need injections more frequently than the standard. Nobody knows why, but the PAS are involved in ongoing research that has found distinct differences between those who survive on the standard treatment and those who need more frequent injections.

At the moment the only choice for those people is self injection.

[GastritisB12 in reply to fbirder]

Thanks! I'll carry on taking folic acid, and get some more B12 asap.

Just found ncbi articles correlating low serum folate and high homocysteine, articles are suggesting folate below 8.0ug/L is correlated with increased homocysteine, and high homocysteine is correlated with high cortisol and anxiety and depression. That could be whats causing some of my symptoms, I wish I had both of those measured.

So I'll be gulping down the folic acid

[fbirder in reply to GastritisB12]

Stick with the 400 mcg a day. Folate levels respond pretty quickly to folate intake.

[Vicky2822]

Your numbers are very similar to my daughters and she started getting her symptoms back after 2 wks. The GP won’t change her next inj either it’s st 12 wks he said only a specialist can authorise them to reduce it to 8 wks. I feel like I’m asking them to inject heroine to her not a vitamin to make her better. The more I read into the more angry I get.

Go doing more blood tests for celiac now but hasn’t done intrinsic factor test so we might go private for that too.

Have you joined any Facebook grps for PA they have lots of good info on other vitamins etc you need to take. We are in Kent too so If you find anyone to give you private injections can you pm me details please.

[fbirder in reply to Vicky2822]

Your doctor probably doesn't know that the guidelines were changed recently. Ask him to check the latest British National Formulary entry for hydroxocobalamin and he'll see it's been changed from every 3 months to every 2/3 months (with no mention at all of a specialist's advice needed).

[Vicky2822 in reply to fbirder]

I did tell him that and printed out the info. I think it’s all about money.

I wouldn’t mind but he told me he is on b12 injections himself so I thought he would be more understanding and be a bit more clued up. He also said they don’t like you having too much as it’s dangerous!!! I pointed out it was water soluble and asked what evidence there was that it was dangerous (he didn’t answer that). I gave up at this point, it’s like banging your head against a brick wall. It’s so frustrating as after 5 yrs we finally know what’s wrong with my daughter but they won’t give her enough b12 to make her better.

[fbirder in reply to Vicky2822]

I'm afraid it being water soluble won't have much influence. People tend to repeat it as a mantra. Solubility doesn't really matter. Hydrogen cyanide is water soluble.

[Vicky2822 in reply to fbirder]

I’ve read research to say there is no evidence of any side effects from using hydro for more than 50 yrs. I’ve never seen any research which says it is dangerous. My daughter is exhausted all the time she is plodding through her life just getting through each day. It’s no quality of life at all.

[fbirder in reply to Vicky2822]

It is true that there is no evidence for any toxic effect from too much B12. But that isn't because it is water soluble, it is because it is non-toxic.

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Try watching some s.i. videos on YouTube. Honestly, if I can do it, anyone can. I can't watch a nurse inject or draw blood from me, but self injecting is no problem. You'll feel nervous the first couple of times but after a while you think nothing of it. You're in control of supplying how much B12 you know your body needs.

[GastritisB12]

I definitely want to learn to self inject. I'm mainly worried about hitting a vein or something. I should have been watching the nurse more closely when she was administering it to me 3 weeks ago.

[fbirder in reply to GastritisB12]

Watch the nurse and they don't try to miss veins. That's because they're all very small.

Next time you buy some ham look carefully for veins. There aren't any. And pig ham is essentially the same as your thigh muscle.

Sometimes when injecting into the thigh a small drop of blood will appear. That's because the needle has passed through a small vein in the skin.