After having a high serum level of approximately 1900 for years without supplementation, I had a test that determined I wasn’t absorbing it. Exactly what Mrs. D said the first time I posted. I was put on 1000 mcg with folate and B6. It worked great! In fact for two weeks it was the best I’ve felt in years. Unfortunately a couple of weeks ago, it stopped helping and all of the old symptoms came back. Has that happened to anyone here?

I’ve decided on my own to go up to the Jarrow formula 5000 with 800 folate and 2.5 B6. I’m just wondering if anyone has thoughts as to why it would stop working and I’m also curious if most of you take the B12 alone or if you take it with the folate and b6 formula. My folate was also very low, but my b6 was normal.

Thank you!

You may want to consider trying or just adding in the hydroxy/adenosyl form of B12. You may have some trouble tolerating the methyl form at that dose. Pure Encapsulation makes one.

Also, Lithium is needed for B12 and folate transport. Search on lithium orotate and B12 transport. It's a very low dose....5 mg usually.Vitamin Research has one.

If you find the higher dose of Methyl B12 has no effect or is making things worse, I would back off for a few days then start again at low dose every other day. It's best if you can re-introduce them one at a time. Go low, go slow. It's possible you flooded your system and it's just too much for it to handle at once.

Hope this helps

Thanks Marlene. I don’t think I did a good job of explaining myself or asking my questions.

I have trouble absorbing b12 and folate for no known reason.

I’ve been taking 1000mcg b12 with 400mcg folate and 1.5 b6 for a couple of months.

I felt really good, less tired, less neuropathy symptoms and less depressed for about two weeks. That was six weeks ago. I’ve continued on the same dose, but all of the old symptoms are back and it’s as though I’m not taking anything. I was curious if anyone has had that happen and if so, wondering if a higher dose helped.

Also, do people here that supplement with 1000mcg or 5000mcg b12 take it alone or do you take it along with folate and b6? I’ve read that without the folate and b6, the b12 just ends up being peed out.

maybe its the B6. too much of that alone can cause peripheral neuropathy.

Here's a potential example of why your supplementation is not working anymore. It has to do with being overloaded with methyl forms of B12 and folate. It's characterized as "the honeymoon". You feel great at first but a week or two out and it's back to your old symptoms. MTHFR site has a ton of info on B12/folate but is not always the easiest to find what you're looking for.

If this is the case, more is not better. Stopping it for a while and re-introducting them one at a time can provide you with some insights. And, maybe just take them every two or three days versus daily. It can be a bit overwhelming to figure out.

http://mthfr.net/methylfolate-side-effects/2012/03/01/

Specific to your questions, we take a separate B12 on an empty stomach and then include a B complex with a full meal. We don't do this daily anymore. It's more to maintain levels vs restoring a deficiency.

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We're all different, and have to find our own way.

I'm just starting to explore vitamin B6 toxicity (as possible cause or contributor to 15 years of Peripheral Neuropathy), and it's another maze. No doctor even mentioned it for those 15 years, it's a known cause of PN, and recently I found my B6 levels are abnormally high. Hmm.

Though, that abnormal result, I've found, can itself be misleading--it could be due to damaged blood cells during the blood testing process, or it could be that my serum levels are HIGH but intracellular levels are LOW (which then leads to the question, why...). And if B6 toxicity is a factor, it's not that easy to solve.

In all this, be wary of simple answers.

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Sorry, I'm too new here to be allowed to post links (?!).

--one's B12 alone, completely separate from any other supplements, and at least two hours after food or one hour before.

The cobalamin molecule is the largest molecule our body uses as a nutrient on a regular basis; it is VERY easy to interfere with its absorption, especially if one has problems in that area to begin with. Even taking it with other B vitamins tends to set up a competition that the larger B12 molecule is likely to come out on the short end of.

I would try taking your B12, in whatever form you're taking it, completely separate and alone for a number of months and then compare.