Sublingual vs shots

[Meblue]

Does anyone know if sublingual b12 is as effective as shots if you don’t have absorption problems.

[wedgewood]

B12 injections are always the most efficacious way to administer B12 quickly , no matter what the reason for the deficiency .

[fbirder]

Sublinguals should be better, because you can take one a day (or more than one).

When you have an injection, all 1000 mcg enters the body. But a lot of it gets eliminated in the urine straight away because of the way the kidney works.

The kidney filter almost every small(ish) molecule from the blood - including B12. It then reabsorbs all the stuff that it wants to keep, letting the rest go out into the urine. It's a bit like cleaning your house by taking everything except the furniture out into the garden, then bringing all the stuff you want to keep back inside.

But this reabsorption has a limited capacity. If there's too much B12 in the blood then not all of it can be reabsorbed - so it goes out in the pee. This first phase of elimination is pretty fast. So most of that 1000 mcg will go out in the pee until the blood levels are back down to where the reabsorption process can handle it.

But with the sublinguals (or oral tablets) you'll only be absorbing around 10 to 20 ug (the absorption process also has a limit). But if you take the pills every day then instead of levels zooming up then dropping down rapidly, they will build up until you reach the limit of the kidney reabsorption. It'll take a bit longer to get there, but both methods will reach the same amount in the blood in the end.

Then the sublingual route takes the advantage. Some of the injected B12 will continue to be eliminated (the reabsorption process isn't 100% efficient) and blood levels will continue to drop. The sublinguals will keep levels topped up, avoiding the drop.

[waveylines in reply to fbirder]

Sublinguals do not work for everyone but are always worth trying if you are one of the lucky ones. I found the mouth spray more effective but even that did not do the trick so had to go to injections. I have to inject every other day.....

[Hidden in reply to fbirder]

Thats very interesting fbirder for some time now i have been thinking my 8 weekly injections arnt lasting long before symptoms come back im forever peeing especially at night now i do drink enough water through out the day keep hydrated plus tea 4 to 5 cups a day trying cut down caffiene! I didnt find better you spray made any difference really

[waveylines]

Oh snd if you dont have absorption issues then you dont need to worry.....eg if your a vegetarian then a B12 supplement will work.