Hello,
I am a newbie to this forum. I have just started a maintenance dose of 5 B12 injections. My next injection is due in 3 months time. I suffer with Crohns Disease. Can I continue taking b12 tablets now that I have had the injections? Can anyone point me in the right direction? Many thanks.
You can continue taking the B12 tablets if you wish , but B12 injections have probably been prescribed because you have poor or no B12 absorption in your stomach . So really the tablets are superfluous. The b12 injections are the ideal way to get the B12 absorbed .. You cannot overdose on B12 . Did your GP suggest taking a modest daily folic acid tablet ( 400 mcg). as well ? It’s a good idea as B12 and folic acid work together . Best wishes .
Many thanks for the reply. GP has not mentioned folic acid tablets, however, I do take iron tablets every day.
Folic acid (b9) tablet ie recommended because it acts together with B12 .
Re folic acid, I've gotten very confused about this. Does it matter whether that's folic acid or the active L-methylfolate 5-MTHE form, which I've been taking but have had doubts about.
You need to take the Methyl form of folic acid if you have a variant of the MTHFR gene , which can prevent absorption( I think that’s right .If not someone will correct me.! )
. Most people can take normal folic acid . I’m sure that you don’t need to take the Methylfolate .
Thank you wedgewood, interesting. I've not had my genes tested but took this as I thought it the more 'natural' option and my serum folate was on the low side, 5.2 ug/L (3.0 - 14.4). I'll take whichever is best for my body but I don't really understand the science behind it.
Hi Packhorse
Glad to hear you are getting the B12 you need .
Wedgewood is right you need to take a modest supplement of folic acid as when the B12works it will need folic acid If you don’t supplement you could run low which is a lose lose situation
Keep us posted on your progress so pleased you are getting help 🤗🤗🤗
I inject B12 daily now and take 5Mg folic acid also
wp69 5mg of folic acid is a very large dosage and should not be taken unless under medical supervision. It is the dose for treating a folate deficiency. Doses >1000mg daily can cause problems with the metabolism of B12
I find the folic acid dosing a bit confusing. The NICE protocol in the UK suggests that 5000 mg folic acid be taken daily when you are injecting ed or eod to aid the b12 methylation process. Can you point me to any studies that confirms that too much can cause problems?I self inject also & I don't want to cause further problems.
Blackbeauty876 - not sure what NICE protocol you are referring to. I have never seen anything on NICE about taking 5000mg folic acid daily when you are injecting every day or every other day to aid b12 methylation process. Unless you have a deficiency this level is totally unnecessary and is likely to actually trap folate in the wrong form preventing methylation from running correctly.
If you find that high dose tablets (<1000mg of B12 help you then you can certainly continue using them. There are two mechanisms for B12 absorption and high dose oral is trying to use a process called 'passive absorption' which happens outside the ileum. However, people vary a lot in how efficient this second mechanism is and although the average absorption is 1% it seems to be much lower than this in some people making it ineffective for them.
If the supplement you are taking is a multi-vitamin dosage - 10-20mg then it is extremely unlikely to be of any benefit if you have an absorption problem.
If you have crohns then you won’t be absorbing b12 from food and you so you won’t absorb it from supplements either as they both go through the digestive system which in your case is broken.. injections for life are your only option.. do you have deficiency symptoms? If so you need injections every other day until symptoms stop improving then you can space them out slowly.. cofactors are also needed to utilise the injections.. 5mg folic acid, b complex, magnesium and also potassium rich foods..
You could join vitamin b12 wake up group on fb which is run by the b12 society if you want to learn more
Scientist, not medic.
Your B12 tablets won't do any harm, but may not do much good either. Hard to tell. There's little point in measuring B12 once you're on injections as the results are largely meaningless.
Folate is important, but don't over do it.
Iron needs careful management. Too much is worse than not enough.
Keep in touch!
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