I was told that B12 injections would not be effective if B9 was not supplemented?
I was advised to take 5 milligrams of folic acid supplement daily by the NHS consultant treating my pernicious anaemia and is prescribed by my GP. NHS says. Folic acid is generally very safe. Taking too much is unlikely to harm you or your child.
5000 mcg = 5000 micrograms = 5 milligrams. Folic acid = vitamin B9.
Any advice will be very welcome.
What is your folate level on your last blood test?
My b12 I jectiond were given.
I did not take a high dose of folic acid. The high doses are usually for a shorter period if you are low.
Its 400mcg daily but even that isnt needed by all
It's important when pregnant.
B12 requires folate for one of the reactions it mediates. But it needs that if you’re supplementing or not. You need the same amount of folate if you’re having injections as somebody who is not having injections.
PA is like having an oil leak in your car. You need regular oil top ups to keep the car running properly. As long as you keep the oil level up you do not need extra petrol to keep the car running properly.
If you have PA then you may have problems absorbing folate from food. In that case you may need to take supplements. A doctor may prescribe high-dose supplements to treat a severe deficiency. But it will be short term (normally three months).
This is what the NHS says about folic acid nhs.uk/conditions/vitamins-...
“If you're taking folic acid supplements, it's important not to take too much as this could be harmful.
Taking 1mg or less a day of folic acid supplements is unlikely to cause any harm.”
This is what scientists say about high dose folic acid. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...
“There is growing concern that detrimental effects may be produced when folate is administered in inappropriate doses,”
And b12science.com/B12Science/D...
There is nowhere (outside a dangerous facebook group) that recommends anybody takes 5000 mcg of folic acid long-term.
Prescribing high dose folic acid, for folate deficiency, for longer than 4 months is outside the terms of its license. Doctors doing so are liable for severe penalties if they do so without good reason. bnf.nice.org.uk/drug/folic-...
Perfect timing for this respond. I have been wondering how much folic acid would be ok.
Women of childbearing potential are advised to take 400 mcg a day. I base my recommendations on the thinking that this amount must be safe.
Personally, I take 1000 mcg of folate a day. But that's because I'm more than 50% heavier than the average woman (and because 1000 mcg turns out to be a cheap option).
Thanks!
When it comes down to folic acid there are different opinions about what form to take. When some say folic acid made them worse, do you think it's more about the amount they take as many seem to go way overboard when not deficient?
I think it's down to some people believing the rubbish on the interwebs about how wonderful methylfolate is. As well as people vastly overdosing.
I have to agree with this and give the cautionary tale that my GP practice accidentally gave me a repeat prescription of follate, during a time I couldn't get an appointment.
Fortunately I read something a few days later and realised the error of my ways.
So don't take prescription strength for any longer than you have been advised and tested for.
Ernest
to summarise:
It isn't true that B12 injections will be ineffective if you don't supplement folate.
It is true that B12 injections may not be as effective if you are also folate deficient as they won't make up for the folate deficiency.
5000mcg is the dosage used to correct a folate deficiency. It is not a maintenance dose.
This all makes sense to me now. I have just had my first run of loading injections and felt no difference at all, until I started taking a folate supplement halfway through as my folate level was very low also. An hour later, i had the energy of an olympic runner. Amazing transformation. It has levelled out a bit now, but got loads of cleaning done this weekend!
Olympic athlete nice🤣
Almost everybody can easily convert folic acid to methylfolate.
I Presume you're talking about people with a MTHFR mutation. More than 99% of the population have a mutation in that gene. There is just one mutation that might possibly have an influence on some people - C677T, homozygous.
Here is what 23andMe say about MTHFR - blog.23andme.com/health-tra...
"Based on the existing data, scientists at 23andMe have concluded that people should not interpret their genotypes at the common MTHFR variants as having an effect on their health"
Nobody needs methylcobalamin. b12science.com/B12Science/D...
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