B12 Deficiency - Confused!

[GE90]

Hi All

I hope you are staying as well as possible in these very unusual times.

I would really appreciate some help.

I’ve been living with neurological symptoms for some time, and a recent blood test showed my level of B12 being 150. Just finished a course of B12 injections, with no improvement just yet (I understand that the nervous system needs time to repair). Absorption test showed no issue, but I don’t tend to have much B12 rich foods in my diet.

GP says it’s important to keep up a good level, due long term deficiency showing itself in neurological issues. However, this is where I’m confused! What dose do I take.......? She suggested 100ug a day, which I understand is 100mg. We typically need 2.4 ug, but do not absorb all of the 100 ug tablet.

So, being a gentleman maturing, I looked at say Vitabiotics Wellman, but this lists only 9mg. I assume this is content so too low? I do like the idea of a multivitamin, but it seems they won’t have a sufficient B12 content?

Any clarification would be much appreciated.

Cheers

[DocJock]

You are confusing micrograms (uG) with milligrams (mG).

[ReverendCounter]

GE90 said:

She suggested 100ug a day, which I understand is 100mg.

I'm not sure they are the same - the first is microgrammes, the second milligrammes:

[Scrump]

You are getting micrograms and milligrams mixed up.
1 milligram= 1000 micrograms.


(Edited to correct a moment.)

Edited by Scrump on Thursday 24th December 11:59

[ReverendCounter]

Slightly off topic, I used to take a variety of vit B including 12 - they smelled quite strongly of yeast.

[Scrump]

ReverendCounter said:

Scrump said:

You are getting micrograms and milligrams mixed up.
1 milligram= 1000 milligrams.

Do you not want to edit this?

Yes I do!
Now edited

[GE90]

Ah, thanks guys.

NHS suggests we need 2.4mcg, which is the same as 2.4mg! 2.4 Milligrams. It seems we only need to absorb 1mg a day, but need an intake of at least 2.4mg to get this.

The tablets are 100ug, so 0.1mg - surely not enough?

Again, NHS website - “Taking 2mg or less a day of vitamin B12 in supplements is unlikely to cause any harm”.

Thanks again.

[Scrump]

GE90 said:

Ah, thanks guys.

NHS suggests we need 2.4mcg, which is the same as 2.4mg! 2.4 Milligrams. It seems we only need to absorb 1mg a day, but need an intake of at least 2.4mg to get this.

The tablets are 100ug, so 0.1mg - surely not enough?

Again, NHS website - “Taking 2mg or less a day of vitamin B12 in supplements is unlikely to cause any harm”.

Thanks again.

2.4 mcg is 2.4 micrograms, this is 0.0024 milligrams

Adults (aged 19 to 64) need about 1.5 micrograms a day of vitamin B12.

Therefore tablets with 100 micrograms (0.1 milligrams) is plenty.

[GE90]

Thank you.

Would you know why the dosage instructions of these Holland & Barrett 100 microgram supplements are 1 to 5 a day, when one is more than enough?

Much appreciated.

[paulyv]

Decades of research tends to suggest Vitamin B is one of those which it is not possible to overdose on, with excess simply passing out the body. You're right in understanding your body can only absorb so much hence finding a tablet that works for you, and taking one or two a day, should be fine.

I turned my life around in my mid-forties after taking B-complex tablets but found not all tablets are equal. The ones on Amazon in a white and green bottle called 'super b complex' have worked best for me over the past 2-3 years so it is worth trying a few different ones. I recall these are about 1000 µg. Took about a month to turn me around mentally and physically.

Edited by paulyv on Tuesday 29th December 00:25

[GE90]

paulyv said:

Decades of research tends to suggest Vitamin B is one of those which it is not possible to overdose on, with excess simply passing out the body. You're right in understanding your body can only absorb so much hence finding a tablet that works for you, and taking one or two a day, should be fine.

I turned my life around in my mid-forties after taking B-complex tablets but found not all tablets are equal. The ones on Amazon in a white and green bottle called 'super b complex' have worked best for me over the past 2-3 years so it is worth trying a few different ones. I recall these are about 1000 µg. Took about a month to turn me around mentally and physically.

Edited by paulyv on Tuesday 29th December 00:25

Thanks very much, this is useful. Feeling disappointed as despite all the loading injections this month, I still have stabbing pains around whole body and aching joints. I’m taking just the 100 mg tab a day. Need to review with GP, but perhaps the neurological issues will take time to fix..... I was hoping for a little improvement by now.

Many thanks.

[ReverendCounter]

GE90 said:

... I don’t tend to have much B12 rich foods in my diet.

Very, very easy to change that - https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vitamins-and-mineral...

As far as symptoms go, personally I would give it a couple/few weeks before expecting to see a clear improvement. And I would definitely be changing my diet to boost natural vitB.

[paulyv]

GE90 said:

Thanks very much, this is useful. Feeling disappointed as despite all the loading injections this month, I still have stabbing pains around whole body and aching joints. I’m taking just the 100 mg tab a day. Need to review with GP, but perhaps the neurological issues will take time to fix..... I was hoping for a little improvement by now.

Many thanks.

Pleasure. It frankly may be your disappointment is part of the symptoms - I was a right doom merchant at times. Try some different tablets - you'll not do any damage to yourself from what I understand. Despite taking a B-complex and a B12 atop that daily, when I had a health check last year my levels of vitamin B were only 'normal' - not at all elevated so must have been very low when I was taking nothing. My symptoms were not the same as yours though - generally negative feelings, particularly at night, and very little energy in general - neither are the case now. Funny how the body and mind rely on something so seemingly small to function correctly. Sorry you have not seen changes but do try other methods - at least that way you can be confident if you need to suggest to your GP it is something else.

[molineux1980]

I had chronic fatigue a couple of years ago, (38yo, fit and healthy). I'd be out mountian biking, and climbs i'd previously fly up, I had lactic acid build up virtually straight away and struggled.

It got to the point when I nearly fell asleep in a team meeting at work, opposite my boss.

Had a blood test it showed my B12 levels were around 60. I underwent a course of injections, and now have a booster jab every 3 months, and I can feel when it's due.

This is despite having plenty of B12 foods in my diet, it appears for some reason my body has stopped absorbing it - Apparently it can be linked to anaemia, and it bothers me slightly that i've not been offered further tests.

Perhaps you are suffering further absorption issues? The jabs work for me.