At what stage do people change over to self-injecting?

Hi folks, hope you can give me some advise.

Blood test in April 2016 showed B12 of 203 (145-569pmol/l). GP no help, so started self-treated with 3000mcg/day B12 sublingual as i had lots of symptoms. Initial response was amazing, but since then I find I have to keep increasing the amount I take. Currently I take 7000mcg/day otherwise I get a lot of eye symptoms, general weakness and I now have a lot of dizziness again these past few months.

I take a good range of other vits and minerals so no problems there (not vegetarian). I also self-medicate with NDT the last 2 years.

So my questions are:

Have others found that their need for B12 increases over time?

At what stage do people change over to self-injecting?

And if I started self-injecting, what regime would you recommend?

Thanks in advance.

[Nackapan]

Have you had any b12 injections?

If you haven't it's best to get first one done at the surgery.

Make a case for a trial. List your symptoms state what you have tried.

It's safer that way .

[deniseinmilden in reply to Nackapan]

Definitely! x

[Statesideheather]

I started with oral B12 only. I did this for maybe 2 years. I had a great deal of recovery in that time. I found that the expense of buying large amounts of oral B12 and the need to take it many times throughout the day was just not working for me. If i increased physical activity, i felt like a slave to my bottle of B12 lozenges.

I went to a clinic and began injections once monthly. I found i was still relying on oral supplementation so i tried twice monthly. This was better for me but i still relied on oral B12. At this point i moved to self injecting weekly as it was more cost effective. At weekly injections, i was able to stop the oral supplementation. I did once weekly for several weeks and paid close attention to symptons. I began twice weekly eventually. Now for about 6 months i have injected every other day and sometimes daily. I do not notice any effects from injection. What i notice is a lack of symptoms. I increased my dosage in increments while watching closely to eliminate all symptoms. I do OK now. I had some very high stress last month and have had to do some extra injections. Its always watchin, injecting and waiting.

[deniseinmilden in reply to Statesideheather]

Well done! I think this is a great strategy that would work for many people.

I'm so pleased to hear you're doing well now.

[Hidden in reply to Statesideheather]

Hi , your story sounds very like mine as I too have to take oral B12 several times a day now and I feel shattered after exercise plus it is getting expensive which was why I was wondering about injections .

I seriously doubt the gp will take me seriously. They didn’t at the beginning and of course now my serum levels are well over a thousand , so no chance now. Sadly the doctors here in NL are no better informed than those in UK.

Thanks for sharing your experience.

I still wonder why the amount people need keeps increasing?