at the risk of looking pretty silly , I would like to run this by you. I had a b-12 test from a online lab recently and the results came back b-12 --630. Well, afterward I realized I had taken 500 mcg of plain old b-12 each day two days prior. Still seems awfully low would you agree? (The folate came back well within range.)

Hi,

That's not a silly question. In fact, it brings up a very important point that needs to be addressed once in a while.

500 mcg would have an effect on your test result. If you malabsorb only from food, you had a whole lot of B12 running around in your blood that would skew the result.

Even if you malabsorb severely (which is very unlikely judging from your result), your result may have been skewed a tiny bit. Remember, even if you do not malabsorb severely at this point, you could be headed in that direction.

Bottom line, you were most likely quite a bit lower than that prior to the supplements. B12 deficiency is very dangerous. B12 is safe.

rose