Accessing Methylcobalamin ampoules UK - Pernicious Anaemi...

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Accessing Methylcobalamin ampoules UK

Katherine1234 profile image
60 Replies

Hi everyone, can anyone help me. I do better injecting methylcobalamin. Does anyone know of anywhere that will supply UK.

All help appreciated Xx

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Katherine1234
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wedgewood profile image
wedgewood

I used to get Methylcobalamin single use ampoules. from a small manufacturing pharmacy in Munich , called Arnika . Had to order them by emailing. manufaktur@arnika-apo.de to get the cost and to order . Or the phone number is +49 89 452 468 468 They speak English . I do not know if they still do this . They also have a pharmacy in Munich . I used to live there and can tell you that they are an excellent pharmacists .

Some people like to use the powdered Methylcobalamin produced by oxfordbiosciences.com This has to be rehydrated with pure saline which you can only obtain from German online pharmacies, unless you have a prescription for it .

Once made up , care has to be taken with such a multi -dose phial and it should be used up within a month .

I did see some single dose ampoules of Methylcobalamin for sale on Etsy . But don’t know the source .

Best wishes

Katherine1234 profile image
Katherine1234 in reply towedgewood

Hi Wedgewood, I use to get mine from Arnika. I asked this January and they are not shipping to UK :( I did order the powdered Methylcobalamin once years ago. Could not find the saline solution for injection :( So it sat in my fridge until I chucked it out a couple of years later. I will look on Etsy.

wedgewood profile image
wedgewood in reply toKatherine1234

If you want the proper saline any anytime from the German online pharmacies , use this Pharmaceutical reference number - makes it so easy . 02737756 ( 20 x 10 ml) or 03040980 ( 20 x 5ml) It’s called NaCl 0,9%

Katherine1234 profile image
Katherine1234 in reply towedgewood

Thank you Wedgewood.

WIZARD6787 profile image
WIZARD6787 in reply towedgewood

Nice!

Katherine1234 profile image
Katherine1234 in reply towedgewood

Me again wedgewood, re: powdered Methylcobalamin do you use the whole bottle to make one months supply with the saline?

wedgewood profile image
wedgewood in reply toKatherine1234

I’ve not actually used it But when searching for information about powdered Methylcobalamin , I came across a site

perniciousanemia.org

american site

which sells Oxfordbiosciences powdered Methylcobalamin at 3 times the price .!! Go on that site and there are instructions for the use of 40 mg vial if you search . They suggest sub-cutaneous injections.

I think you will get good advice from someone who has actually used the powder .

Katherine1234 profile image
Katherine1234 in reply towedgewood

Thank you for the heads-up Wedgewood Xx

B12again profile image
B12again in reply towedgewood

I’ve had Methylcobalamin from Oxford Biosciences fairly recently. If you state on the order to include saline solution they will supply it FOC and in the right amount to use, but you MUST state it on the order. They also state when asked that the reconstituted solution will last for up to 6 months, email to check, they quickly respond to any questions. But it is certainly longer than 1 month. Included will also be simple instructions how to mix and the dose calculation. The price you see does not include VAT.

Katherine1234 profile image
Katherine1234 in reply toB12again

Oh wow! thank you B12again (love the name). I will do this. Thank you so much. That has made it so much easier for me Xx

wedgewood profile image
wedgewood in reply toB12again

6 months to keep a reconstituted injectable solution sounds dangerous to me . So many opportunities for contamination over such a long period .

helvella profile image
helvella in reply towedgewood

The USA's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say:

1. What is a multi-dose vial?

A multi-dose vial is a vial of liquid medication intended for parenteral administration (injection or infusion) that contains more than one dose of medication. Multi-dose vials are labeled as such by the manufacturer and typically contain an antimicrobial preservative to help prevent the growth of bacteria. The preservative has no effect on viruses and does not protect against contamination when healthcare personnel fail to follow safe injection practices.

5. When should multi-dose vials be discarded?

Medication vials should always be discarded whenever sterility is compromised or cannot be confirmed. In addition, the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) General Chapter 797 [16] recommends the following for multi-dose vials of sterile pharmaceuticals:

If a multi-dose has been opened or accessed (e.g., needle-punctured) the vial should be dated and discarded within 28 days unless the manufacturer specifies a different (shorter or longer) date for that opened vial.

If a multi-dose vial has not been opened or accessed (e.g., needle-punctured), it should be discarded according to the manufacturer’s expiration date.

The manufacturer’s expiration date refers to the date after which an unopened multi-dose vial should not be used. The beyond-use-date refers to the date after which an opened multi-dose vial should not be used. The beyond-use-date should never exceed the manufacturer’s original expiration date.

And more by following link:

cdc.gov/injectionsafety/pro...

I believe that Oxford Biosciences' product does not contain an antimicrobial preservative. Hence, even item 1 cannot be met.

B12again profile image
B12again in reply tohelvella

I’m only repeating….following is the actual response to my email from Oxford Biosciences.

“Thank you for your email.

Once the B12 is reconstituted in the sterile saline, it can last up to 6 months - if stored correctly (in a dark dry place) and a fresh, clean needle is used with every use.

Kind Regards,

Christy”

helvella profile image
helvella in reply toB12again

Yes - I realise that is what they say.

And the CDC might be overcautious.

But I would definitely not even consider that it could be safe for six months!

Katherine1234 profile image
Katherine1234 in reply tohelvella

Helvella, I think I am going to be ok, as I am injecting once or twice a day. It does look like it might not be suitable for people who only inject say once a month or so.

helvella profile image
helvella in reply toKatherine1234

I certainly hope so. :-)

Katherine1234 profile image
Katherine1234 in reply tohelvella

I am suspecting the long shelf life, if mixed properly, is because it is sterile saline solution. I am trying to find out if it should be kept in the fridge.

helvella profile image
helvella in reply toKatherine1234

But I'd have thought ALL injectable multi-dose vials are sterile - initially!

The salinity will be neither here nor there in terms of preservation as it is only sufficient salt to be approximately isotonic with our bodies. If a bug can grow in a body, it could grow in the vial, at least in terms of salinity.

Katherine1234 profile image
Katherine1234 in reply tohelvella

Ok, you are putting me off now helvella. I am sad :( I thought I had found the solution to obtaining methylcobalamin as none of the German pharmacies are shipping to the UK now.

helvella profile image
helvella in reply toKatherine1234

I'm sorry.

Others here do use it - seemingly successfully. But I don't know how they organise themselves. The most important thing seems to me that everyone needs to be aware. And I do think six months is really pushing it.

Katherine1234 profile image
Katherine1234 in reply tohelvella

I am going back to the drawing board helvella. I had bought the powder before but ended up throwing it a year later as I could not get my head around how to mix and getting the saline solution. Perhaps more people will come in who use it successfully.

B12again profile image
B12again in reply toKatherine1234

It’s always good to have a variety of inputs but it’s your decision. I had similar differing responses when investigating it from Oxford Biosciences. I have been using it with no problems as others are also. Ultimately I decided to give it a go by weighing up my needs and also the fact (amongst others) that no one gave witness to having become infected or ill by using it. One website in the USA I was pointed to import a seemingly not insignificant amount from Oxford Biosciences but charge 3 times as much. They have many positive reviews and a video review and pictorial guide on preparation and usage. As I’ve said previously, if you give it a go Oxford give you all you need for its use. Don’t forget to ask to add the saline when ordering should you go ahead. I am relating to you my experience and not advising you. Take care, I wish you only the best in everything.🙂🙏

perniciousanemia.org/b12/in...

Katherine1234 profile image
Katherine1234 in reply toB12again

I have made up my mind to purchase from them, as I need injections daily at present as it does look like my best option. I was just worried about the mixing etc. I now have that clear in my head. Are you USA B12again, that seems an obscene amount to have to pay for treatment :(

B12again profile image
B12again in reply toKatherine1234

I’m British through and through, born and bred….an all round good egg and snappy dresser. 😁😂🇬🇧

Katherine1234 profile image
Katherine1234 in reply toB12again

Ahahahaha! That did make me giggle B12again :))) I am London UK :) These days not so snappy dresser. Some days I am so fatigue I stay in my pj's all day! :)

B12again profile image
B12again in reply toKatherine1234

I empathise, and all on here do so as well, I’m sure. It’s often an uphill struggle so it’s good to have a safe place to share where folk will at least listen and, more often than not, will encourage and give some wise words that may help. 🙂🙏🏼

Katherine1234 profile image
Katherine1234 in reply toB12again

I so agree B12again. It is like finding your tribe and people know what you are talking about.

Katherine1234 profile image
Katherine1234 in reply toB12again

Hi B12again, I am thinking they are saying 6 months because it is in sterile saline. I had read that methylcobalamin should always be kept in the fridge. Now to find more research on this.

wedgewood profile image
wedgewood in reply tohelvella

That is really good to know helvella . Thank you . We all need to know this . I know many people are considering using powdered Methylcobalamin because it can be obtained in U.K. . and there are problems now with short supply from Germany .

Thanks again .

JazzSoprano profile image
JazzSoprano in reply toB12again

So helpful and thanks for sharing. I don’t think I have any massive issues with the hydro form but, 6 weeks into daily injections, I am curious to find out whether the methyl form will make any difference. Maybe I just need to be more patient with the reversing symptoms and trust the process , but I do sometimes wonder…

Katherine1234 profile image
Katherine1234 in reply toJazzSoprano

Jazz I am alternating daily between hydro and methyr. I had very bad nerve damage and ataxia.

B12again profile image
B12again in reply toJazzSoprano

To update my experience, I no longer use Methylcobalamin as it didn’t make any difference, plus there was a lot of messing about with it. I am on PANPHARMA hydroxocobalamin and doing reasonably well. I say reasonably as my body tells me from time to time I likely have a bit of a journey to go on yet, I’ve SI’d EOD for 7 months now. To your’s and everyone’s increasingly good health 🫡.

wedgewood profile image
wedgewood

I’m afraid it’s Cynocobalamin, not Methylcobalamin .

OldmanD profile image
OldmanD in reply towedgewood

Bad info . . . . . Sorry missed that. . . .Removed it there

Katherine1234 profile image
Katherine1234 in reply toOldmanD

No worries :) Us and our foggy brains :)

Wheat profile image
Wheat

hello Katherine1234,here is my previous post on powdered methylcobalamin from Oxford:

Hello, I use 40 mg Bio Oxford Methycolbamin. Its difficult at first I know, but l think this will make sense to you.

Whether you purchase 20 or 40 mg powdered Methyl' always reconstitute with one 10 ml medical saline pod.

So both bottles have a 10 ml content,

However the 20 mg bottle is half the strength of the 40mg bottle solution.

(This Methylcobalamin is stronger than eg hydroxocobalamin where 1ml = 1mg).

*For 40 mg bottle measure .25 ml which = 1mg, At this rate a 40mg bottle lasts 40 uses.

With a 20 ml bottle the measure would need to be .50 ml to = 1mg. A 20 use rate.

Link: oxfordbiosciences.com/store...

I use this daily. Hope this helps. Any other questions please ask. x

Katherine1234 profile image
Katherine1234 in reply toWheat

Thank you Wheat, where do I buy 10 ml medical saline pod. I am assuming you put the 10ml saline in the vial of powdered B12. How do you mix it? Do I then need to keep it in fridge? How long will it last roughly. Although I am injecting every day, so probably will not last that long.

Wheat profile image
Wheat in reply toKatherine1234

Hello, I use the saline from apohealth, nunbers etc. as wedgewood earlier posted, the 10 ml pod. However, German apoheath.de shipping fees too high now, so try versandapo.de or juvalis.de.

Assuming 1 injection x .25 ml (per day) = 1 ml then, 20 mg bottle last 20 injections/ days and 40mg bottle 40 injections/40 days.

I cover mini sized bottle in tin foil, gently add the medical saline, gently turn upside down, then wait, it dissolves/mixes itself, instructions are included. I think its about 6 hours.

I always keep it on the top shelf of fridge, in light blocking container. I use 40 mg bottle. The 8mm 30G .50 insulin syringe they recommend under Resources section, works best I find. x

Katherine1234 profile image
Katherine1234 in reply toWheat

Thank you Wheat, You have been so helpful. I already have the 30g .50 syringes. Strange how we cannot order saline in the UK.

wedgewood profile image
wedgewood in reply toKatherine1234

Saline for injection is a prescription item in U.K. , like anything that is injectable . Great that you got help from someone who uses the powdered Methylcobalamin. .Use the Pharmaceutical Reference numbers to get the saline from Germany .

Katherine1234 profile image
Katherine1234 in reply towedgewood

Thank you :) Xx

B12life profile image
B12life in reply toWheat

What bottle do you mix the b12 in? Does it come with a bottle or do you provide your own?

Katherine1234 profile image
Katherine1234 in reply toB12life

I was wondering that B12life, just got my head around it with help from here. You pour the saline into the bottle of B12 powder. Give a tiny shake and let it sit for 6 hours, so it is thoroughly dissolved.

B12life profile image
B12life in reply toKatherine1234

Perfect! Thanks!

Wheat profile image
Wheat in reply toB12life

Hello, the powdered B12 methylcobalamin from Oxford Biosciences comes in its own small bottle. x

B12life profile image
B12life in reply toWheat

Thanks Wheat!

OldmanD profile image
OldmanD

The UK Gov is crazy bunch. . . . . . 2014 NICE guidelines on needle and syringe programmes. . . . . .(In addition, they often supply other equipment used to prepare and take drugs for example, filters, mixing containers and sterile water).. . . . . Free syringes, needles, filters and saline but not for us. . . . . . I know they are unfortunates but one cannot help but have thoughts on such. . . . . . I dont know much about storage of B12. . . . . I have used half an ampoule one day and the other half the next without problem . . . . Kept in syringe with clean needle.. . . .. I read it is a pretty innocuous stuff and some one of the well know users on here shared info on the subject but I dont think it referenced methyl. . . . . . For animal purposes when we want to store a bottle that we want to keep we melted candle wax on to the rubber thingy. . . . . . . I seen them being used the next year let alone a few weeks. . . . . . If the manufacturer says it is okay it probably is . . . . . It is a sterile needle entering through the rubber and the rubber is designed for that purpose . . . . . But I am not an expert. . . . . . The other B12's loose potency rather than be going off/bad/dangerous. . . .

Katherine1234 profile image
Katherine1234 in reply toOldmanD

I use a large bottle of the normal already made up B12 Oldman. It has a top that you put a needle in and draw up what you want. I just use an alcohol wipe over the top of the bottle before drawing and again when finished. One bottle lasts me about 6 weeks. I keep in fridge. Vets buy big bottles of the stuff and use it this way.

OldmanD profile image
OldmanD in reply toKatherine1234

I know they do. . . . . I think we got cyano not hydroxo though for the treatment of animals in our case goats . . . . . It was refered to as cobalt defiency so even after I was diagnosed it was a feew weeks before I put 2 and 2 together and got 12. . . . . We did keep it in the fridge though and didnt worry about dates. . . . . Ye could not be throwing a half bottle away at over 100euro. . . . . . It was expensive. . . . .And even the following year it still worked fine. . . . . If it handnt worked we'd have had petted animals laying down all around us. . . . . Cobalt is very important to sheep and goats, I dont know about cattle. . . . If it were today I'd use my ampoules on them but just at the time I got my first B12 shots we sold the last of them as I was not fit for such and I never really felt like going back into them . . . . .

Katherine1234 profile image
Katherine1234 in reply toOldmanD

Oldman, I use hydroxo in the big bottle. Funny, I was reading that vets and farmers know more about health and nutrition than doctors.

OldmanD profile image
OldmanD in reply toKatherine1234

I have had chats with vets about my own B12D and I'd agree with you . . . . . But our GP clinic has very clued in doctors and nurses and a young doctor is the wife of a vet in town also . . . . . Same veterinary clinic as we go to. . . . . . Where do you get hydroxo in a big bottle . . . . . I thought it was Cyano we had . . . . . Has to be around 4 years since the start of covid and my diagnosis. . . . . . Mind I didnt throw the big bottle out either ahha. . . . . But I did think it was cyano. . . . .

Katherine1234 profile image
Katherine1234 in reply toOldmanD

I am UK Oldman. I buy from a supplier here. I am finding it so very strange how so many people had covid or the jabs and then went down with a B12 deficiency.

OldmanD profile image
OldmanD in reply toKatherine1234

The B's are so needed by our bodies and covid was an exteme virus especially the 2 or 3 early waves .. . . . Same with Vit D3 in some area's seemingly helping to prevent hospitalisation of covid sufferers. . . . . Both would have flown in the face of convention. . . . . . But sure B12D has been on the wrong side of medical minds for decades. . . . . . . . I found both extremely interesting. . . . . I think B12D has been so underdiagnosed that during during/after covid and vac's the profession was paying more attentions to things. . . . Certainly there were more bloods being doen than had been done in decades. .. . . . Its like the Vit D thing. . .. How come X amount in Japan avoided ICU . . . . . How come all these differing death rates and Vit D appeared out as a common denominator it seemed. . . . . The number were such that research got bypassed and some hospitals prescribed Vit D, the one that acts fast but not in the UK/IRL and the responses were positive. . . . . .

Katherine1234 profile image
Katherine1234 in reply toOldmanD

Nailed it! You are so right OldmanD.

OldmanD profile image
OldmanD in reply toKatherine1234

Reading all again. . . . And these'ns are worried about 6 months and you have a bottle. . . . I think mine was 200ml and had been in fridge since year before . . . . . I didnt blow up or anything. . . . . Yes be careful but we are animals are we are far from sterile. . . . .

Espeegee profile image
Espeegee

messaged you.

Daffers123 profile image
Daffers123

I have been buying methylcobsl ampoules via a fb group based in UK.

PM me if you would like contact info

Mag999 profile image
Mag999

I’m interested in how you worked out you are better on methylcobalamin , I also read it needs to be taken with adenosylcobalamin, as body needs both and they do different jobs.

I’m going back to self injecting as the gp will only offer 3 monthly and my symptoms are returning. I did try to improve my digestion with help from a functional medicine practitioner who believes many problems are reversible (pa, hypothyroidism for example) but I’ve not dated stopped meds for either!

Katherine1234 profile image
Katherine1234 in reply toMag999

Hi Magg, I do not bother with adenosylcobalamin, as I inject hydroxi one day and methyl the next. This should cover me. When I was doing straight methyl I bought the sublingual tablets you dissolve under the tongue.

Mag999 profile image
Mag999 in reply toKatherine1234

Ah that makes sense, thanks

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