Prescribed B12 jabs contain folic acid?

[SigNi]

Hi all - I’m on Medivitan iM & just worked out it contains folic acid as well. I do have a folate deficiency - but recall reading about needing to treat the B12 first & that the folic acid can mask the B12 deficiency. Esp if you are older. Also issues with FA vs Folate. Does this sound familiar to anyone? I’m thinking of ordering my own injections. I’m in Germany. Has anyone had good experience w/any specific brands? Thanks so much. I’m hanging in there with severe back/hip pain, stiffness, brain fog, & fatigue. Some itching and sharp neuro pain remains. But my cough is blessedly still gone. Trusting in better days to come. Also finally took 2 Tylenol Arthritis tabs this a.m. hoping to blunt the discomfort. So thankful for this community of wise ones.

[wedgewood]

How great to be in Germany ! You can walk straight in to any pharmacy and get your B12 ampoules over the counter . As you are already in your way with B12 , I would just carry on. I would be inclined to take the B12 injections without the folic acid, and take folic acid tablets separately . ( a modest 400 mcg as recommended for pregnancy.)Methylfolate tablets are another option . And up your diet with green leaved vegs , peas etc .

You can probably buy B12 ampoules cheaper with the German online pharmacies than you can on the high street pharmacies .

There are no end of German online pharmacies. Here in the U.K. we use bodfeld-apotheke.de ,We used to use versandapo.de , but they don’t sell to U.K now because of the difficulties that Brexit brought .

apohealth.de apotheke-marienbrunn.de. and many others .

We find that Panpharma B12 depot 1mg x 1ml are good value .

There’s also Hevert B12 depot 1mg x 2ml ampoules and Pascoe B12 depot 1.5mg x1ml

Best wishes .

[SigNi in reply to wedgewood]

Thank you! I will look for those. It is surprisingly convenient. I might get the pure B12 and put the others on hold for a bit. Oh Brexit...don't get me started....sigh. Take good care.

[wedgewood in reply to SigNi]

Ditto about Brexit . Won’t talk about it here though . All the best .

[Maisiethedog in reply to wedgewood]

Thank you for the details about getting ampoules from Germany. I just wanted to ask what people are having to pay in the way of tax and duties imposed by the UK government since Brexit. It's just that my son ordered a guitar from Germany and had an unexpected extra payment of almost £120 before the courier was able to deliver it!

[wedgewood in reply to Maisiethedog]

I’ve not had to pay anything so far ,( 2 deliveries of B12 ampoules so far since Brexit ) I sent my granddaughter in Germany a jumper value £39, and she had to pay €10 .00 duty . I believe that the type of goods and the value come into the equation. But I’m not sure . My goodness £120 on a guitar sounds terrible .

[helvella]

I note it also contains a vitamer of vitamin B6.

What Medivitan® iM with lidocaine contains

• The active substances are pyridoxine hydrochloride,

hydroxocobalamin hydrochloride and folic acid.

4 ml solution for injection I contains: Pyridoxine hydrochloride

(Vitamin B6) 5 mg Hydroxocobalamin hydrochloride (Vitamin B12) 1

mg

1 ml solution for injection II contains: Sodium folinate 1.1 mg

• The other ingredients are: 4 ml solution for injection I: sodium

hydroxide, lidocaine hydrochloride (anhydrous), water for injection

1 ml solution for injection II: sodium hydroxide, water for injection

medivitan.de/www/en/PB-Medi...

[SigNi in reply to helvella]

Thank you - I thought I saw B6 in there but was still trying to puzzle it out. Need to give this some thought. I might put these on hold and switch to the pure b12 for a bit.

[Gambit62 Administrator]

Just to clarify - treatment for folate deficiency should start after treatment for B12 deficiency where both are present but that only means an injection of B12 before treatment starts - I suspect that both at the same time wouldn't be harmful though as helvella points out below the ingredients seem to be B12 and B6 (pyridoxine) rather than B12 and folate (B9).Having said that though repeated high dose supplementation with B6 isn't recommended - so the injection would probably be okay if being done monthly but probably isn't recommended for every-other-day/frequent use

[SigNi in reply to Gambit62]

Thanks - you are confirming what I think I read. I ordered pure B12 ampules today and will save the others for later. The one I have now also contains folic acid - I need to find what I learned about folic acid vs. folate, unless someone here has some wisdom on that. While I was self-educating on injections today - I also noticed the nurse gave me the biggest dang needles available. 🙄 I fixed that. Husband has been giving them to me - but once the new ones come in - I'm going to figure out the self-injection bit.