Pernicious anaemia

[Rosie1960]

Because of Coronavirus , I have been prescribed B12 in tablet form, does anybody know if the tablets are as good as the injection ? Thankyou

[MarsBarKid]

I have always used tablets - and GP when takes test now and then always tells me I take too much. I take a tablet daily usually and too much was 942 - so went down to 3 times a week and he is happy with that. So it works. My tablets are made by Australian company and 1000mcg each as I live in Oz.

[Rosie1960 in reply to MarsBarKid]

Thankyou for that

[wedgewood]

I have diagnosed Pernicious Anaemia ( diagnosed with a positive Intrinsic Factor AntiBody test -IFAB test ) I do not benefit from oral B12 at all , as is the case with P.A. patients. Vitamin B12 needs the Intrinsic Factor and stomach acid in order to be absorbed in the stomach . These are both lacking in P.A. patients due to the destruction of the parietal cells in the stomach .by the aforementioned antibodies .That’s why P.A. patients need injections of B12 FOR LIFE. If I don’t get injections , symptoms start returning , Tablets are totally useless for me . I’ve tried everything possible to avoid injections , to no avail . Patches , sub-lingual tablets , nose and mouth-sprays- all totally useless . So , no , tablets are useless for me But the NHS wants to get out of injections , and that’s running the risk of endangering P.A. patients . They have been forced to alter their edict subsequently and if you start to suffer the return of symptoms , they will be obliged to re-instate injections . P.A. is not taken seriously by the medical world , unfortunately .

MarsBarKid has apparently always managed on tablets . I can only imagine that his/her B12 deficiency is due to some other reason than P.A.

Best wishes to you .

[Nackapan]

I've not got a diagnosis of PA .

I've tried tablets and sublinguals.

As I've got them ' in stock' I take them as well as b12 injections every 10 days

Certainly could not do without Injections.

So an absorbtion problem.

Never had an Intrinsic antybody test. Was given an parietal cell antybody test.

I've been told injections for life.

Write to Go.

Many links on this .

Most people on injections have tried every sort of oral dose .

It's crazy what going on.

I would try and get them reinstated if you need them .

I think alot harder if you wait to try and get them back.

[fbirder]

It depends on the cause of your deficiency. If it is dietary then the pills will work better than injections. If it is PA then they will not work at all.

Download these recommendations from the BSH and discuss your treatment with the doctor.

b-s-h.org.uk/media/18259/bs...

[briarhillcat]

If you have pernicious anaemia, then Wedgewood's post is spot on. Read that carefully. If you do have pernicious anaemia then tablets are useless.

[Gambit62 Administrator]

What dose are the tablets - they need to be 1000mcg at least. If you have been given 50mcg tablets then you need to go back to your GP to point out that these are not the correct dosage.

The tablets depend on a process called passive absorption - this results in an average of 1% of the dose being absorbed along the length of the gut. However, this is an average - and there is a lot of variation between individuals and for some it is totally ineffective. The only way of knowing if you fall into this class is to try them and see. There is one literature study out there that looked at passive absorption across a range of absorption conditions and interestingly showed it not being effective for between 20-60% of patients across a range of conditions. The studies underlying generally involved small numbers of patients but it also included studies specific to patients with PA and those with no ileum so there doesn't really appear to be anything to support saying that there is any specific relation between not responding to tablets and a confirmed diagnosis of PA.

Assuming you are in the UK these are the current recommendations by the BCSH for dealing with B12 injections during COVID-19.

b-s-h.org.uk/media/18259/bs...

[ruffnut]

Not if you have Pernicous Anemia.