Advice on b vitamins

[Charlie27612]

After the help I had yesterday, another question.Can I ask if a multi b vitamin is necessary?

The dr I saw at the start says no, as you can get most from food,

I have read on a fb group about taking multi b's and I did for a short time take the recommended ones, without b6 though.

I know that b6 can become toxic so as I didnt need another problem I avoided.

I think I need to stop reading too much as there are so many opinions on what to do, so I will stick with the advice here,

Is it necessary to suppliment b vitamins or not, does vit b6 make a difference to anyone here.

The b12 institute in rotterdam mentions b6 but again its a different opinion, I get so confused about everything ALL the time.

Also if I change my folic acid to folinic acid can anyone recommend a brand, as I may reduce my dose to 400mcgs daily instead of the high dose I have been on.

[Nackapan]

I've mainly gone by blood results.

The highest amount of folic acid ivd taken is 400mcg daily .

I then reduced as blood levels had risen..

They is no set regime that fits all as there is no set regkme that fits all for b12 injections .

Even without an absorbtion problem thd NHS advocate 400mcg folic acid to women of child bearing age now.

Waiting until pregnant often too late if stores are low .

As for people with an absorbtion problem a maintenence dose is often needed.

I've nevef taken s b complex but have taken s multivit every other day but only with rda doses.

I don't personally think the brand matters .

Some are just expensive bug no better .

I'm thinking less is more thses days apart ftom B12 !!

[oilbeetle]

The specialist I saw from Cambridge reccomended methyl foliate 400ug (B9) and riboflavin (B2) 100 mg, iron 200mg and vitamin D as a spray daily. These have low toxicity at normal 'health shop' doses. The only side effect is pee that you could use in a magic marker as its so bright yellow from the B2. It seems to work well for me.

The logic is that these are all needed along with injected B12 as hydroxy cobalamine to create red blood cells and drive the methionene and foliate cycles in your body. You might be wasting your money, but you might also be avoiding another deficiency stopping the B12 working.

methylfoliate from Cytoplan, remainder from Holland and Barrat

I'm also trying pills from methy and adenosyl B12 from nutrition geeks to suppliment injected. Its a bit speculative but a years suply is about £10 so I will try it.

[Parlay]

if you take a wholefood supplement which is as close to nature as possible your body eliminates what you don’t need. As our food no longer contains all the goodness we need I take a “Strath”.

[B12life]

take b6 but take the p5p version as it is not toxic. It seems to help me. I have do e 50mg a day of p5p.

[Technoid]

I guess that your question is whether it is necessary to supplement B vitamins while recovering from/treating a B12 deficiency.

The answer is : It depends.

It depends on what your diet is like, it depends on your age and life situation (e.g. pregnancy etc), on what you are absorbing from that diet and even genetic issues can have an impact, for example as much as 800mcg folate can be helpful with some MTHFR variants.

Biomarkers of intake and absorption can be checked using blood or urine tests. If a deficiency is present, you should certainly be supplementing at least until you can get levels up.

Despite what facebook group "protocols" seem to believe, I still do not think that what they term "co-factors" are used up more quickly with frequent injections of B12. Folate has the most direct importance to B12 but of course other nutrients are important also. A reasonably dosed multivitamin and mineral supplement is a fairly sensible choice especially if unsure about diet quality and absorption. Vitamin D at 1,000-2000IU is one to include at least until the sun comes back.

Obviously, from a historical perspective, humans survived for millions of years before B vitamins or other supplements were invented. So of course, they are not "necessary" in a broad general sense.

Whether they are necessary for you at this moment depends on all the factors previously outlined and there is no one size fits all.

The brand doesn't matter if you stick to well known reputable manufacturers or even buy fom your local supermarket or health food store. If you buy things from obscure websites and "one man and his dog" operations you could run into trouble.

[Charlie27612 in reply to Technoid]

Thanks for your reply, I do agree that everyone is different, its just dealing with PA without the support of a gp ,when I have a massive dip in how I feel I've started to wonder if some of these things may help me.I have a varied diet, dairy, veg of any type, chicken fish and a little red meat,

I take vit d the dose you suggested with combined K2 as my vit D was very low and would not budge until I tried a higher dose.it sits around 100, I am due more blood tests next month which I do through medicheck so I keep an eye on my iron folate and d vit.

This last blip is either due to dropping my folic acid dose as advised by a private dr to 5mgs once a week, as that was also very low 2 years ago, its at 45nmol now, OR the batch of b12 being ineffective due to being left in the sun last July (I only recently thought of this ) I have started a new batch now.

I tried a b multivit for a while but didnt really see any change, I do prefer to 'not take supplements" as I also take blood thinners and thyroxine each day....a necessary evil 🙄

I will have to make an appointment at my new gp surgery soon, but cant bare the thought ofanother battle with a gp. I am also thinking of another private consultation but need to save up 😊