Sat night riddle with B12 vits....

[EleanorM-G]

I have read on a recent reply to someone else's post that "if your B12 is too low, you need to supplement 5000 mcg sublingual methylcobalamin daily for a couple of months, then reduce to 1000." Mine is low, so I went out and bought some B12 vits from Holland and Barrett. However the tablet amount isn't mentioned in "mcg" amounts. It is in greek letters! It says each tablet has100ug. (The "u" has a little leg attached to it on the left side!) It says that this amount is 4000% of what we need and to take 1 to five tablets a day. Any idea if this is enough???!!!!!

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

EleanorM-G mcg and ug (with the little leg) are the same, both are 'micrograms'.

Is this the one hollandandbarrett.com/shop/...

If so, I'm sorry to say..... just throw them in the bin 😞

First of all, generally H&B own brand usually use the cheapest of ingredients, are not good quality and won't be particularly bioavailable.

Secondly, 100mcg isn't anywhere near enough. 1000mcg is used as a maintenance dose and 5000mcg used to bring a low level up in a reasonable amount of time.

Thirdly, they contain cyanocobalamin which is the wrong sort of B12, you need methylcobalamin.

See naturalnews.com/032766_cyan...

It's usually recommended to take Solgar or Jarrows sublingual methylcobalamin lozenges and that's because they are good quality, the correct type of B12 and being sublingual they are dissolved under the tongue where the blood vessels mean they get absorbed into the bloodstream directly without having to go through the digestive system.

If you want to say what your level of B12 is then a suggestion can be made for a good dose for you to take.

[EleanorM-G in reply to SeasideSusie]

Oh wow, thank goodness I posted and thank goodness you replied!!!!! Yes, it is that Holl and Barrett B12! You can tell I am new to all this!!!!!!!!

When I pointed out my low levels of B12, the doc told me to take a B12 supplement and said nothing else. When I pointed out my low levels of ferritin, she told me to take an iron supplement, so I'm guessing I've bought the wrong one there as well.........

B12 576ng/L (180-910)

Serum Ferritin 67ug/L (10-291)

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to EleanorM-G]

EleanorM-G Never mind, they weren't too expensive.

If you get either of the brands recommended I think they're both 60 lozenges. I would get the 5000mcg dose to start with, at one a day that will last two months. I think by then your level should be quite close to optimal and you could drop down to the 1000mcg ones as a maintenance dose.

As for ferritin, yes that's a bit low but not dire. What did you get?

[EleanorM-G in reply to SeasideSusie]

Iron and vit C. 1 tablet a day. 60mg of vit C, 14 mg of iron.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to EleanorM-G]

EleanorM-G What iron supplement are you taking? They all contain different amounts of elemental iron.

For example, Solgar Gentle Iron is Iron Bisglycinate and contains 20 or 25 mg elemental iron. Ferrous Sulphate comesnin 200mg tablets and contains 65mg elemental iron. Ferrous Fumarate comes in 210mg tablets and contains 65-70mg elemental iron.

When taking iron, take a separate Vit C supplement, 1000mg, at the same time to aid absorption and help prevent constipation.

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to EleanorM-G]

EleanorM-G I forgot to say, when supplementing with B12, you should also supplement with a B Complex to balance all the B vits. Look for one that contains methylfolate (5MTHF) which is natural and not folic acid (synthetic).

[EleanorM-G in reply to SeasideSusie]

Oh my goodness, thank you. My doc didn't mention any of this!!!!!!

Thank you SeasideSusie!

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to EleanorM-G]

EleanorM-G I don't think they know, it's probably not covered in their training.

By the way, did you see my reply about iron supplements above?

[EleanorM-G in reply to SeasideSusie]

Oh yes, I replied, but it doesn't seem to have posted.....I'll try again.

[EleanorM-G in reply to EleanorM-G]

I do take vit C already 2000mg. Do you thing that is too much?

[thyr01d in reply to EleanorM-G]

If you take too much Vitamin C your stools become loose, 250 mg is the max I can tolerate, it seems your system can take much more, but it is water soluble which means whatever your body doesn't use just goes down the loo. I avoid paying to pee it out again!

[EleanorM-G in reply to thyr01d]

If anything, I have the opposite toilet issue! Yes, I take your point about it maybe being a waste if my body isn't using it all.

[EleanorM-G in reply to SeasideSusie]

So this is the iron supplement I bought hollandandbarrett.com/shop/...

I'm guessing it's rubbish??!!!

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to EleanorM-G]

EleanorM-G Well, as usual, they are very careful not to inform customers which form they are using!

If it's 14mg of elemental iron (they don't say, you could email and ask) that might be enough to slowly bring your level up. Otherwise, the different forms of iron I mentioned in my post above will all do the job, Solgar Gentle Iron being less harsh so hopefully no tummy upset and is supposed to be non-constipating.

2000mg Vit C isn't too much, I take 4000mg a day. Just make sure you take 1000mg with your iron to aid absorption and help prevent constipation and take the rest at a different time.

[EleanorM-G in reply to SeasideSusie]

Fab thank you. How much of this B Complex should I take?

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to EleanorM-G]

EleanorM-G It probably depends on the brand. I would normall recommend one with good bioavailability like Thorne Basic B as it has all the active forms of the vitamins and I'd just take one, that will be fine. Jarrows B Right seems to be another good one. When taking a B Complex your pee tends to be bright yellow, don't worry, it's the B2 (riboflavin).

[EleanorM-G in reply to SeasideSusie]

Thanks for the "pee" warning!

[greygoose in reply to EleanorM-G]

Your B12 isn't drastically low - although 1000 is optimal. Taking 1000 mcg sublingual methylcobalamin daily should be ok - but I think it would be a good idea to take it for a long time! Your level could fall again if you stop.

Yes, you do need to supplement your iron.

[EleanorM-G in reply to greygoose]

Thank you greygoose! What should I be taking for my iron? I'm guessing that it wont come from Holland and Barrett?!!!!

[greygoose in reply to EleanorM-G]

Sorry, can't help you with iron.

[EleanorM-G in reply to greygoose]

Just I was beginning to think you knew everything !!!!!!

[greygoose in reply to EleanorM-G]

God no! lol Far from it.

[Angel_of_the_North in reply to EleanorM-G]

Just buy mercury pharma ferrous fumarate 210mg from a pharmacy. That's what you'd get if you had it on prescription. Has to be from the pharmacy counter (or online). About 4-5 quid a box of 84.

[EleanorM-G in reply to SeasideSusie]

Oh and I just read the article-Wow! How are they allowed to do that?! The more I read, the more scary things seem!!!!! It's great to know though, so thank you!!!!

[LtAngua52]

I started on methylcobalamin sublingual lozenges by Jarrow and bought from Amazon. They are 5000mcg and I was taking up to 10 a day but I improved significantly. I had intended to drop down to 1000mcg as a maintenance but I've been deficient for so long I couldn't cope with less. I self inject methylcobalamin now every other day but still need 3-4 lozenges as well. I'm starting injections at my GP surgery soon and that will be hydroxocobalamin, the next best. I'm hoping that I will get even better, some people find hydroxocobalamin better than methylcobalamin and vice versa. It's trial and error.

Don't worry about taking too much as it's water soluble so you can't overdose on it and excess is just excreted away. I was taking 50,000 mcg daily and I'm still here! Hope you start to feel better quickly when you start on the better product. I avoid Holland and Barrett completely. Good luck.

[EleanorM-G in reply to LtAngua52]

Ok, they are great tips, thank you for posting.

[Ldhall]

Sorry to jump in, but I have b12 242 and ferritin 22 folate 4.1 my Dr said all fine x

[SeasideSusie Remembering in reply to Ldhall]

Ldhall Your doctor is going by them being 'in range' but that is not optimal, they don't seem to understand about optimal.

It would be best if you start your own thread as you will get more responses rather than it be hidden in someone else's thread which is now no longer on the first 'page'. Be sure to include reference ranges as they differ from lab to lab.

[EleanorM-G in reply to Ldhall]

Welcome to the party! You are in a similar position to me. (but your no's are a bit worse than mine.) You are "in range/normal" like me, so we won't get any NHS help. We want to be better than ok, so we need the help from these lovely people to get us there.

[Angel_of_the_North]

mu g is mcg . mu (Greek m) is short for micro. For B12, iu (international units) is also the same as mcg.