Is it possible that I need another injection when I had one just three weeks ago.

[quepasa]

I was eventually diagnosed with PA about 14 years ago, ( aged 25 at the time) after the usual fob offs, and mis diagnosis and have since had regular injections, and a relatively normal life. Symptoms are always worse when tired/ stressed- and I´ve felt huge relief when I´ve had injections every 2- 3 months. I have mainly self treated my condition as I have lived in Spain for the past 11 years.....( imagine the difficulty explaining my situation to Spanish doctors, and not having my medical records with original diagnosis from UK)

Unfortunately, I have recently gone through a terible stressful time and despite having had an injection just 3 weeks ago- I feel exhausted, and have almost constant pins and needles, and brain foggyness Can I do any harm by having injections too regularly. I really feel I need another one, and then vow to start the uphill battle with dealing with getting supervised treatment here!?-

Can I do more harm than good by having injections too regularly?

[Hidden]

Hi Quepassa (what's wrong),

If you buy your B12 in Spain and self treat, then you are most probably getting cyanocobalamin (Optovite B12?). Cyanocobalamin is normally given once a month for maintenance so perhaps you have been undertreating anyway?

But to answer your question there is no known health hazzard/ harm from "over dosing" with vitamin B12, Far more known harm comes from undertreating a vitamin B12 deficiency.

I self inject optovite B12 once every 2 weeks, have done so for over 5 years now, initially weekly for a year including the 3 monthly NHS hydroxo jab at that time. But I do have to say my serum B12 dropped low on 5 years of conventional NHS maintenance of one hydroxocobalamin B12 every 3 months ( 170 pmol/L), I also then was folate def. My serum B12 has never got very high, the highest ever was 404 pmol/L I cut back to once every 2 weeks (for convinience, I do not like the jabs) and it drops accordingly. So does my energy... We all are so very different.

Also it is important to have some monitoring of serum folate and ferritine (-iron storage) as all 3 (B12, folate, iron and B6) are needed for good blood production. It is quite common to over time become folate def,, a lot of B vitamins need each other to metabolise say, if you give a lot of one vitamin, others can deplete because of the imbalance say. My explanation is only using what I understand from reading things, but please note I am no expert!. A good multy (B) vitamin may be all you need.

If at all possible it would be good to have a blood test testing serum B12/ folate and ferritine to see if you are getting low etc, besides having an "Active B12" test done to see if you are actually def at cell tissue level. Serum B12 is not a very accurate test of how much B12 is actually usuable for your body.

There is a large 'grey zone' between normal and abnormal serum B12 levels.

Clinically significant vitamin B12 deficiency may be present even with vitamin B12 levels in the normal range,

If you want to read up on the Active B12 test have a look at these sites:

active-b12.com/

gsts.com/new-tests.html

You will find a lot more like minded people and info on the PAS forum:

pernicious-anaemia-society....

I hope this helps,

Kind regards,

Marre.

[ribbon in reply to Hidden]

Thanks so much for this advice, Marre. I'm new here and just saw it. You're a life saver.

[Eccentrica]

My understanding would be No.

B12 is water soluble and so far there is no known detrimental side effect.

Over the past 2 years I have gone from 1 injection every 12 weeks to every 6 weeks. It has however been a battle with my Doctor. I've had to have repeated blood tests to "prove" that my levels have been depleted faster than "average".

I am also now on Folic Acid and Iron supplements which have helped. Do you take these? Have you had regular blood tests to get a picture over time of what your levels do?? Both pre and post injections?? Do you know what your current level is (along with the reference ranges)??

E,x

[quepasa]

Thanks so much .....I was seeing on the website that Folic and Iron could be good, and a friend recommended a natural source that dosn´t bung you up ( which I was also taking whilst pregnant), so I have bought that today, and mum is SOS ing some other supplements she swears by, and I will get another blood test soon. Yes I´ve had regular enough blood tests to show, I am still not absorbing Vit B12, and my levels drop substantially between injections- but since I discovered I can just buy the jabs over counter here, I havn´t bothered return in th elast year or so! I plan to get " more on the case" again, but am just fed up with the amount of time waiting in hospitals etc ( as not done through a GP here in Spain- there is no such thing!). Thank you, I have such bad brain fogginess, and pins and needles- but I think the run of high stress I´ve had including two house moves in 8 months, and a relationship split- plus running a business, and being a single mum of two! ....may have caused me to need more resources than normal!

[jayneejay]

Quepasa

Hi I live in Malaga Spain and need to buy Vit B12 shots, again its easier to self inject, I have type 2 diabetes and need to buy the shots, can you confirm if the shots are actually Optovite B12 ? And can you tell me how much they charge at the farmacia please... Be so grateful to you.. I have no energy what so ever at the moment, I have aches and pains, know I need 'B12, I dont seem to get the effect from tablet form as shots..

[manyarecalled]

Everyone is different , so you are the expert on how you feel , not a doctor.

if you need more frequent injections , tell your doctor.

theoretically the doctor may say you are getting sufficient B12 . your answer is that you appear to be using it up more quickly than '' normal'' .

my shoe size is 9.5 G . does this automatically mean that is your size ?

one size does not fit all.

[manyarecalled]

There are several main forms of B12 that can be obtained. if you can find a doctor , ( perhaps privately) who will sign a prescription , you can order your own , and repeat orders are easier

methylcobalamin does not need conversion in the body. neither does adenosylcobalamin (dibencozide) , but this form is only available in tablet form .

hydroxylcobalamin needs to convert to methylcobalamin ( perhaps with folic acid to donate the methyl group) . cyanocobalamin needs to convert to hydroxylcobalamin and then to methylcobalamin ( about 7 steps).

some methylcobalamin converts to adenosylcobalamin, if in high concentration.

you need both methylB12 and adenosylB12 .

[harvold]

While acute overdoses of B12 are not known its my understanding from doing some research that one can indeed take too much vitamin B12. I'm no health professional but I find personally that overdoing anything knocks the body out of balance and that is never conducive to healing. It's best if you have regular blood work done when taking any supplement for a health condition. I strongly believe that we have the responsibility to take a pro-active role in determining what's best for our bodies and how much but do so cautiously. It's interesting you mention the "brain fogginess", my mother experienced this symptom of Fibromyalgyia until she started taking injectable B12 on her own volition. Needless to say I treat my anemia quite successfully with it. We were able to find a great source from vitaminb12direct.com which offers a very competitively priced generic. There should be a private lab in your area where you can requisition some blood tests with minimal hassle to see if your levels are low and thereafter can consult with a professional. I hope this helps and wish you the best of luck.

[Graham_R in reply to harvold]

It is not possible to overdose on Vitamin B12 although you can take too much (ie more than you need) Vitamins are divided into two groups fat soluble or water soluble. Fat soluble vitamins are stored in the body until needed and you can indeed overdose on these, sometimes quite dangerously. Water soluble vitamins are used as required and any excess is disposed of in urine. B12 is a water soluble vitamins and will do you no harm whatsoever.