what does urine colour indicate?

[brenanddave]

Hi everyone. Just a quick question! I am on a cruise holiday at present and am SI 3 x 1.5 hydro b12 daily. My pee is a light lemon and clear so no sign of the excess b12 being pee'd out as far as colour goes. Does this mean that my body is utilizing all of what I am SI?? I am still experiencing neuropathy in hands and feet. Also taking daily 1100 mg gabapentine. I am having pretty full days Thanks in advance! xx

[clivealive Forum Support]

You are absolutely fine - I've been having B12 injections every four (now three) weeks for over 52 years and my urine has never ever showed any sign of "discoloration",

As you are new to the B12 it is not uncommon for symptoms of neuropathy to appear to get worse before they get better - No worries there.

I am not a medically trained person.

Enjoy your cruise. I wish you well.

[brenanddave in reply to clivealive]

Thanks Clive Yes! I do understand that. What I was wondering was whether it was a sign that my body is being efficient and using all the b12 I was SI. I know that anything your body doesn't use you pee out so am trying to decide if my body may need a little more b12 while I am on holiday as I am doing a lot more physically. I have a lot of neuropathy as PA was left many years untreated but it has been better with 2x daily 1.5 b12 and 3 x while on holiday. I just expected to see some brightness in colour of pee at that amount of b12. Hoping it is a sign none is being excreted and wasted. I may have an extra injection to be sure it is getting what it needs if it is using it all. Thanks again Bfor your reply Clive x

[clivealive Forum Support in reply to brenanddave]

Who's to say what colour the "relatively tiny" amount of B12 would be after it has been swirled round the bloodstream in and out of the kidneys/liver and out through your bladder?

The proof of it effectiveness will be in the improvement and/or changes in you symptoms which as I said earlier may even appear to get worse.

Night night from the UK. Enjoy the cruise and don't over worry.

[Technoid in reply to brenanddave]

Injecting 4,500mcg of B12 over the course of the day would greatly exceed the binding capacity for B12 in the blood. So I don't think its even theoretically possible that you would retain all this B12. Most likely you are indeed peeing it out. If you keep yourself hydrated you might not necessarily see significant discoloration in urine as the amounts are still very small in absolute physical terms.

If we consider the maximum likely normal daily loss/requirement for B12 to be 3mcg, and add to that the maximum possible daily B12 loss via broken enterohepatic recirculation of 5mcg, the likely daily maintenance B12 requirement for PA would seem to be around 8mcg (once deficiency symptoms resolve to the extent they can).

So I estimate you could be injecting about 4,442mcg more B12 than you probably need.

I could be mistaken because the physiology of B12 metabolism is not extremely well studied but this is my back of the envelope calculation.

[brenanddave]

Thanks Technoid! Well I have been using my symptoms to guide me and found that lesser doses were helping and decreasing fatigue and neuropathic pain and numbness gradually until I reached twice daily 1.5mg. It has taken the good part of a year to finally feel that I could live pretty well with how I feel on that regime until I have had the added exertion of travel and all that is entailed with it. I am finding adding the 3rd inj when needed helps so it must be doing something. I'm not sure if it is the quantity or the frequency but I have improved far more than I was on EOD I know that.

[Technoid in reply to brenanddave]

Good to hear. In general, the alleviation of symptoms should guide B12 injection frequency but I wanted to throw some amateur nutrition biochemistry into the equation to consider too 😁

[brenanddave in reply to Technoid]

Thanks for the info Technoid!. PA is such a complex condition. Of all the things to have it had to be this aaahhh!! Anyway it is what it is. I am so appreciative of everyone's experience and knowledge and take from it all what works for me going forward x

[DiNL]

Have a wonderful cruise. U have been through a lot. Have followed your previous posts and it’s so lovely to hear that u are feeling more yourself and able to go on holiday. I am sorry the neuropathy is still present. Hoping with time it will ebb away, like those other symptoms that have gone. I know when I am on holiday, I am more relaxed and usually have less symptoms but being active does ask a lot of you when u compare to your regular life at home. Listen to your body and give it what it needs and don’t forget to remember all you have accomplished and where u are now compared to how you were in the beginning. Well done!

[brenanddave in reply to DiNL]

Awww!! Thank you for your kind and thoughtful words. I really appreciate it. Sending you hugs and hope you also are feeling better with your journey. It is so complex and we can only trust we will find the answers we need moving forward. xxx

[Rexz]

I have been injecting 2,000mcg every 4 to 7 days for several years now and have never had color, other than light yellow, show up in my urine. I do drink lots of water and keep myself hydrated which sounds like you are also if your urine is light yellow to clear.

I think you should just enjoy your holiday ⛴️😉

Best wishes, Rexz

[brenanddave in reply to Rexz]

Thanks Rexz! Yes I am thank you. It has been challenging with all the extra walking and standing but looking forward to 2 lazy days before heading home . Thank you for your kind thoughts x

[OldmanD]

As to colour there is vast difference tween SI every day and SI every week , . . or 2. . . . . . No B12 jab stays in the system for long and the amount your injecting is likely to colour your urine at times . . .But urine colour is not a symptom nor a guide to anything .. . . . . My own is coloured at 600ug-ish per day if it every day. . . . . Every 2nd day it is a little clearer Colouring the urine really is not a symptom of anything. . . . . Any combination of things can result in more or less colouring and you are on a cruise are you not with strange food and strange water. . . . . . I think I read your are active so prob drinking plenty water which will make urine clearer. . . . . . Drinking less especially not enough will cause it to colour anyhow Injecting yourself several times per day especially at 4500ug really is no better than a much reduced dose especially if you can go about the things you say you are doing. . . . . . B12 will not make you "fitter" as it will not make you slimmer. . . . . B12 is only required for deficiency or anemia when you cannot absorb it via your own system. . . . . If you are deficient really at all you will not be doing much physical activity until you have had a few jabs over a few days and if anemic that takes weeks. . . . . There is no fast route with this stuff if you have had a problem. . . . But assuming the problem is on going I would suggest continue as you know best but dont add any more B12 jabs because your urine is clear-ish. . . . Excess B12 is not known to be harmful but you are rather beyond any recommendations and if you fit to go about briskly you are not short on B12. . . .

[brenanddave in reply to OldmanD]

Thanks OldmanD Yes! I do understand. I guess the pee colour thing was more just a pondering thought as to whether it indicated that I was utilizing not discarding b12. But! You answered that for me thank you. The reason I am experimenting with more b12 is because I have a lot of nerve damage and have struggled with chronic fatigue daily in some for or another. If I do a lot one day I am wiped out on the couch for one or two days with no energy to cook clean take dogs for a walk! Other days I am fine until about 2 oclock and then I am on the couch and can't keep my eyelids open. It comes over me like a blanket. What I have found is that by increasing my b12 it has helped greatly with my energy and symptoms. I am taking 1100 gabapentin for nerve pain. I have personally found that a higher dose of b12 is allowing me to do more and feeling the effects of more healing due to it. I have found that the past few days that 2 x daily 1.5 has been sufficient but so I am staying with that. I guess we are all different and what works for one doesn't seem to for others. I am so much better than I was when I was bed ridden 11 months ago and I can tell you that EOD was not doing a thing for me it just forced me to take more gabapentin.

[OldmanD in reply to brenanddave]

If it works it works. . . . You are up and about. . . . . . I keep trying every 2nd day but then seem to come back to once per day . . . . . . . However taking all the 1000ug or 1500ug makes no odds to me. . . . ..Trying to keep the acne subdued. . . . . If I hadnt the B6 I'd be covered in it but maybe spread out twice over 24 might agree okay .. . .. . 600ish or near as I can guess in syringe is as good as it gets. . . . . What I wonder from afar reading your posts is that I might try halfing the ampoule so twice per day. . . . . I know it keeps well enough as I used it tlike that up until I learned I meeded 600/650 rather than 500.. . . . . I was on hevert or another 1000ug brand at the time.. . . . Pascoe cuts well for that job. . . . . Ye loose a little in the needle area every time.. .. . . Little and often . . . . . I hope anyhow.. . . . I like the results but I dont know I;s want to be several times per day but if it made mefeel better then maybe. . .. . .

[brenanddave in reply to OldmanD]

Yes! It is worth playing about a little with it to see if a different strategy may help. Then maybe give it a little time. I found the acne that was always on my back and occasionally on my face went within a short time of treating with b12. Then I had an unusual thickening of the skin on my face for months. Finally just recently it resolved itself. I really was thinking it could be permanent. I would be keen to hear how you go with your new trial with your b12. All the best x

[OldmanD]

Last few days I been Si at near bed time before I get sleepy. .. . . First day I was getting tired by 4pm but last couple days been okay. . . . . I'd the kind who will try anything once. . . . . I've tried Cyano, Hydroxo. Hevert, pascoe and one beginning wit Z which I have used about 6 of I think.. . . . . All have been fine but I always injected in the morning .. . . . . I'll give it a week or two and see . . . . . If it seems okay I'll go back to trying that latest Cyano I got . . . . . .

[brenanddave in reply to OldmanD]

Thats great OldmanD Do you have someone that can help with giving you rhe injections? I am now back to twice daily 1mg hydrovo now that I am home from my cruise. That seems to allow me to get through my day energy wise so am staying with that until that changes. Keep us posted how twice daily goes for you. x

[OldmanD in reply to brenanddave]

No one to help.. . . .. Gosh I'd rather SI than have anyone else do it. . . . . . You might try reducing the dose to see what happens . . . . . Not the frequency but the amount pr jab, , , , ,

[brenanddave]

Well the reason I am taking the amount I am is because of the improvement energy and symptom wise it has stopped many problems that I couldn't on a lesser amount. . Thats the reason I am able to even think about holidaying. Any less and I am back to where I was. At least now I can have a life. It is not a huge amount I take. Many in my other PA group do the same as they also have found it beneficial. It won't harm me but it has helped me. My husband noticed a marked improvement when I upped my dose and often points out the change it made to my recovery. It may not be for everyone but we all have to find our own way forward right? There is no help from the doctors that's for sure.