Would 250mcg b12 in a daily b complex raise blood levels significantly over a period of a couple of years?
Is there anyone who has tried long term supplementation before they had injections? Ie. who had high blood levels from oral supplements with unresolved symptoms.
In someone who can absorb B12 and is low due to low dietary intake or perhaps reduced stomach acid, then yes, tablets will raise levels. 250 mcg is something like 50 to 100 times the minimum daily requirement. And it probably won't take long.
Quite a few of us here who've been on or tried supplements. I took 1000 mcg B12 for, oh, several decades, had high B12 when I took them (top of the test range) , and still ended up with numb arms , visual problems, balance issues, burning & tingling everywhere, and a host of other issues. My levels would fall back down the minute i stopped them, but never below the bottom of the range. GP dismissed me of course!
I do wonder, in someone without PA or other malabsorption problem, how high would serum b12 actually get on 250 to 1000mcg tablets. Would it go above the top of the range, as happens when we inject? And how quickly levels would fall back down to their baseline.
I wondered exactly the same because raising your serum level when no improvement is felt makes me question even taking b complex, although I acknowledge the importance of keeping all b vitamins in balance.
Indeed. In that case, injections are probably necessary. And/or look for another cause of the symptoms, depending on what they are. The B complex will still help keep the rest in balance, so no need to stop that if on injections.
Are you asking for someone else, or did you stop injections, if I may ask ?
Of course. 🙂 No I am speaking about my own experience. My doctor refused to take my symptoms seriously after my first test ( low but in range and negative for parietal cell antibodies) so I started oral methylcobalamin. When that had no effect I had private tests and they showed slightly raised homocysteine, normal mma and b12 increased to 412.
I started injections 4 years later and that convinced me that somewhere there was a b12 metabolism problem. Or very low stomach acid. I felt dramatically better within a short time.
I’ve tried different frequencies and am currently trying to last a month as my serum level was nearly 6000 and active b12 above range at >256. I had been taking the b complex a few years and wondered if that was partly the cause of my off the scale results. I’ve stopped that for now and don’t notice any difference so I will keep up the injections and see how I feel.
Ah I see 
No, the high levels will be from the injections. I'm impressed your lab goes so high LOL. My lab tops out at 2000 & all I know is that I'm above it. And I still need to inject daily.
In case it needs mentioning: No need to race with your symptoms / labs to see how long you last. Do whatever frequency keeps symptoms at bay & lets you have a normal life.
I managed to keep my symptoms at bay for ~6 months with 1000mcg sublingual lozenges which I took right after waking up. I had severe heart palpitations and it felt like my blood was sloshing through my lower body as if attracted to a wonky magnet swinging around my body. I would also get body-brainzaps which made me physically leap out of my bed. All this in the twilight zone of falling asleep.
I was so happy the B12 pills made this go away. Also cognitively I was improving (aphasia mainly, but also anxiety).
One day I forgot to take my lozenge.
That night my heart/neuro symptoms returned with full force!
The next morning I gave myself my first B12 shot which I had in the cupboard for a while, I was putting it off because I didn't like the idea of injecting.
I too kept a box of ampoules in the cupboard for a few years while I was trying to improve things with sublinguals. Each time I was in Europe I would buy whatever was available locally but I was reluctant/afraid to self inject and a few lots expired before I could bring myself to do it. 😄
Palpitations were one of my main symptoms too. Dreadful bouts with runs of two and three at a time. I had lots of tests and it was put down to anxiety or just a variation of normal.
Since injecting I haven’t had more than the odd few. It took a while for me to notice - I hadn’t associated palpitations with b12 deficiency. So many things affected by it!
Yes, my symptoms were also very atypical. Good that fora like this one exist so we can share these experiences.
I'm happy for you that you managed to treat it yourself!
No PA or B12 deficiency but I am still going to supplement with oral B12 - should i get any other tests before this to rule out for sure?
Oral b12 or injections
Supplements and exercise
DAILY VITAMIN B12 ORAL SPRAY
Oral B12
