--IS too low, despite the common lab ranges.

In Japan and many parts of Europe, the lower level of the ranges tends to be around 500-550, and some even have symptoms of deficiency at those levels. Optimum levels are likely considerably higher. A lot of us who do B12 supplementation like to keep our levels around four digits.

Moreover, the cobalamin molecule (B12) is the largest molecule the human body regularly uses for nutritive purposes, and one of the easiest to interfere with the absorption of, so if you are supplementing make sure to take it alone, at least two hours after eating or one hour before. And, using an activated form, such as the already methylated methylcobalamin, rather then the cyanocobalamin often found on store shelves, is a good idea, in case you have any metabolic pathway problems (activated forms have to go through fewer conversions to be usable, and you don't really want your body having to regularly get rid of cyanide radicals anyway).

Now as far as the ALA--yes, many people do report stomach upset; it is, of course, acidic. You may want to try R-ALA, which is made up of only the right-handed ALA molecules, which are the ones active in the body anyway (regular ALA tends to be of mixed type, and these are not all bioavailable). The upside to this is that one can take far less for a similar effect--most people say the the dosage ration of R-ALA to regular ALA is somewhere in the 6:1 to 10:1 range, meaning that with smaller doses, acidic side effects can be minimized.