[mrsD]

No I don't think you need shots. If you are taking methylcobalamin? That is the active form.

You may be out of balance however with folate, or other nutrients. If you decide to take a folate, please choose methylfolate which is active too. Metafolin by Solgar is one brand. 800mcg a day is plenty for most people.

I'd try to stay on a fixed plan...say just one form of B12 daily at a regular dose, so your body can settle down and use it properly.
Say 5mg daily. Then get tested in 3 months, and do not take any for a week before the test. Injections flood the system suddenly and within 72 hrs that dose is gone. You can develop a see/saw phenomenon, with highs and lows, which you may be feeling.

B12 is not only one thing that works in the nervous system. Magnesium, folate, bcomplex and omega-3 fatty acids also do lots of jobs there.

[julleri]

Originally Posted by mrsD

No I don't think you need shots. If you are taking methylcobalamin? That is the active form.

You may be out of balance however with folate, or other nutrients. If you decide to take a folate, please choose methylfolate which is active too. Metafolin by Solgar is one brand. 800mcg a day is plenty for most people.

I'd try to stay on a fixed plan...say just one form of B12 daily at a regular dose, so your body can settle down and use it properly.
Say 5mg daily. Then get tested in 3 months, and do not take any for a week before the test. Injections flood the system suddenly and within 72 hrs that dose is gone. You can develop a see/saw phenomenon, with highs and lows, which you may be feeling.

B12 is only one thing that works in the nervous system. Magnesium, folate, bcomplex and omega-3 fatty acids also do lots of jobs there.

Thank you, MrsD. I always appreciate your knowledge and advice.

I did a bad thing this morning. I gave myself a shot of methylcobalamin, but then I looked at the vial and noticed it expired on 9/5/12! Ugh, can't believe I didn't see that. I should be OK, right? I'm thinking the worst that will "happen" is it's too inactive to still work, and will simply do nothing. I hope I don't get ill from an expired shot.

I hope I don't need shots. To be safe, I picked up another refill on that methylcobalamin at my compounding pharmacy this morning. It expires 11/25... I didn't know it didn't last very long at all.

I do take methylcobalamin in the sublingual form, too. I never use cyanocobalamin anymore. I also do still take dibencozide everyday, personal preference. I notice when I do not take it, my appetite is poor.

I notice you said B complex. I have never tried a B complex, but it has always piqued my curiosity. I take a multivitamin that has 100% RDA for all the other Bs. It's Target's Up & Up brand, and is actually pretty good and rated pretty fairly (I think I saw it in Consumer Reports or something of that nature). However, I have thought about maybe trying a B complex that has the active forms of the Bs in it, but at a very, very low dose (maybe only 100% RDA or so). I can't find one! Would you happen to know of any off the top of your head? Also, my B6 was kind of high when it was tested back in May. I don't want high B6. It was 47.9 (the range is 2.1 - 21.7).

I may not worry about other Bs since I can't find one that isn't super mega dosed and has inactive forms in it.

[mrsD]

B-Right by Jarrow has a nice formula.

http://www.iherb.com/Jarrow-Formulas...eggie-Caps/110

It has a modest formula with not too high levels of B6, and has activated folate, B6 and B12 in it. Of course the B12 is not really high enough for intense treatment.
You don't have to take this every day...you can do every other day or twice a week, to start, if the B6 worries you.

Many people over the years who have posted here have used it, with success. I believe it is available online at other places too, and perhaps Amazon now.

Those compounded injections, may not have a preservative in them, and in that case injecting them may be problematic. I'd call the compounding pharmacy up and ask. I hope you are keeping them in the refrigerator? Most of the time that storage is recommended.

What can happen with very high dose vitamin supplementation that lasts a long time, many months or years, there can be a vitamin dependency syndrome that occurs. This is one reason I don't recommend really high doses of anything.

Vit C was the first to be recognized as causing this. And I think it is possible with other vitamins. It involves the body "getting used" to very high doses, of some thing, and then over time the chemistry and enzymes, then "expect" this flood all the time. Withdrawing the vitamin then can cause deficiency symptoms. In the case of mega C dosing, trying to reduce may produce scurvy in some people.

http://orthomolecularvitamincentre.c.../dependencies/

Some dependencies may be inherited like B6 dependency in infants who have neonatal seizures, that respond to high dose B6. But cases of induced dependency also occur, for whatever reason.
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/985667-overview

http://books.google.com/books?id=QBJ...ndency&f=false

So I think it is important for you to find a dose, that works for you and keep it steady. Flooding systems here and there may not work over the long haul. Stopping and starting high dose apparently is not working well for you.

[julleri]

Originally Posted by mrsD

B-Right by Jarrow has a nice formula.

http://www.iherb.com/Jarrow-Formulas...eggie-Caps/110

It has a modest formula with not too high levels of B6, and has activated folate, B6 and B12 in it. Of course the B12 is not really high enough for intense treatment.
You don't have to take this every day...you can do every other day or twice a week, to start, if the B6 worries you.

Many people over the years who have posted here have used it, with success. I believe it is available online at other places too, and perhaps Amazon now.

Those compounded injections, may not have a preservative in them, and in that case injecting them may be problematic. I'd call the compounding pharmacy up and ask. I hope you are keeping them in the refrigerator? Most of the time that storage is recommended.

What can happen with very high dose vitamin supplementation that lasts a long time, many months or years, there can be a vitamin dependency syndrome that occurs. This is one reason I don't recommend really high doses of anything.

Vit C was the first to be recognized as causing this. And I think it is possible with other vitamins. It involves the body "getting used" to very high doses, of some thing, and then over time the chemistry and enzymes, then "expect" this flood all the time. Withdrawing the vitamin then can cause deficiency symptoms. In the case of mega C dosing, trying to reduce may produce scurvy in some people.

http://orthomolecularvitamincentre.c.../dependencies/

Some dependencies may be inherited like B6 dependency in infants who have neonatal seizures, that respond to high dose B6. But cases of induced dependency also occur, for whatever reason.
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/985667-overview

http://books.google.com/books?id=QBJ...ndency&f=false

So I think it is important for you to find a dose, that works for you and keep it steady. Flooding systems here and there may not work over the long haul. Stopping and starting high dose apparently is not working well for you.

Thank you for replying, MrsD.

Well it appears I have a bad cold again. I had a severe sore throat last night. I'm taking some EmergenC today and trying to rest. Later I will try to get a bit of sun for natural vitamin D (it will be in the upper 80s here today, in Phoenix, AZ).

I appreciate your advice. I do keep the injection solution methylcobalamin refrigerated, yes. I don't think the injection did anything to me yesterday, aside from make my thigh muscle a little sore. I'm not going to continue to use it, but I do like to have it on hand as an "emergency."

Thanks for the info on vitamin dependencies. I knew about B6 dependency (I have read your B6 thread some time ago), but didn't know it can happen with virtually any nutrient. I'm wondering if this is what will happen to me with B12. This link (http://www.doctoryourself.com/dependency.html) also talks about vitamin dependency, and discusses well-known B3 enthusiast Dr. Abram Hoffer, who found that after treating POW victims who became severely nutrient deficient over a long term period of time, the victims needed unusually high amounts of vitamins on a long-term basis. Since I may have been B12 deficient for many years now, I'm wondering if my body is simply going to require high dose of this vitamin for the rest of my life. Although, I have read that, after a period where some people take 10mg a day, that it may not be for life one would need that much all the time. It takes time to replenish the liver, and I'm sure within the first six months to a year, that part of the megadose goes to both nerve repairs and liver replenishment.

I will try sticking to doses of 1-to-2 X 5000 mcg per day and see how I feel. I can't imagine needing any more than that. Besides, that gets expensive. Shots are very expensive, too, which is why I don't want to continue them for life, if the high-dose sublinguals will work just as well if not better.

I met a man I was possibly going to rent a room from, who after I told him I was B12 deficient, told me that a long time ago was diagnosed with pernicious anemia. He takes only 1,000 mcg/day of sublingual B12, each and every morning but this is after doing this for quite some time I imagine. He does fine on it. No shots. (I don't believe.)

Again, a lot of this is likely antidepressant withdrawal issues. I can't believe I spent all those years putting all those toxins into my nervous system, all the while depriving it (of course not by my own fault or means ... I suspect this all came about for me from using proton pump inhibitors for years, not knowing the potential damage that could cause down the road) of a nerve vitamin.

5 - 10 mg of B12 should be OK, I am thinking and hoping. About the other Bs, I am not sure... I have check out Jarrow's B Right but read mixed reviews. I do like the methylated and co-enzymated forms of the Bs, but I don't like some of the negative reviews I read such as the packaging (the plastic bottling) contains a plastic that is carcinogenic? And that also one of the fillers in the pill is carcinogenic? I don't know how true this is or to what degree it is a potential problem. Also, it contains straight niacin, which can cause a flush sensation. I have never experienced one of these, but have read about them, and, knowing my super-sensitive self, could imagine myself freaking out and having a full-blown panic attack from such an instance. If it only contained niacinamide (which, ironically, is spposedly good at quelling panic and anxiety, in fact valium is said to be modeled after the chemical structure of niacinamide), then I may consider it.

Thanks again for the info.

Jason

[mrsD]

There is a pretty good oral GABA now. I used it last May, and continue with it now at 1/2 dose. It is called PharmaGaba.
We lost our young cat last May, and I was a wreck for weeks looking for her (to no avail).

Natural factors used to make it, but Amazon stopped carrying it in the capsule while I was on vacation. I just ordered the newer company called PharmaGaba Gold.
http://www.amazon.com/GABA-Supplemen...ds=pharma+gaba

GABA is antianxiety and not supposed to work orally, but this one seems to....made a different way using a natural source.
I tend to be anxious at night, and sometimes upNorth in the spooky dark woods on vacation too.

I find it very calming without hangover or side effects. When I was a wreck I used it twice a day, but now only one at bedtime.
The new brand is slightly less expensive than the old Natural Factors was.

[julleri]

Originally Posted by mrsD

There is a pretty good oral GABA now. I used it last May, and continue with it now at 1/2 dose. It is called PharmaGaba.
We lost our young cat last May, and I was a wreck for weeks looking for her (to no avail).

Natural factors used to make it, but Amazon stopped carrying it in the capsule while I was on vacation. I just ordered the newer company called PharmaGaba Gold.
http://www.amazon.com/GABA-Supplemen...ds=pharma+gaba

GABA is antianxiety and not supposed to work orally, but this one seems to....made a different way using a natural source.
I tend to be anxious at night, and sometimes upNorth in the spooky dark woods on vacation too.

I find it very calming without hangover or side effects. When I was a wreck I used it twice a day, but now only one at bedtime.
The new brand is slightly less expensive than the old Natural Factors was.

Houdini? Is that the name of the cat that went missing? I remember you being worried about this, yes, back in May. I'm so sorry he/she never turned up.

I'm originally from Wisconsin, and have spent some short periods of time in northern Wisconsin and the UP of Michigan. Really beautiful places, they are.

Wow, well I can really feel the vitamin C kick in. I will be sure to be careful on megadosing anything now, given what I've learned today. I am always worried about my B12 deficiency issue (never in a million years thought a simple vitamin could wreak so much havoc on the system, but, if we think about it, these are the types of things people used to DIE from - scurvy, pellagra, etc...), and my nervous system after years of antidepressant poisoning. Wondering how this will all heal, but, time... time... time is probably the best medicine with regards to all of this.

MrsD, thank you for everything!

Jason

[mrsD]

Yes, it was Houdini... We adopted a new kitty upNorth. A barn cat and she has taken most of the pain away.
Tough to tame her though, but now she is delightful. Wednesday is her spay. I guess I'll be taking two PharmaGaba caps on Wednesday. I have her photos in my album here.
We had to put Oreo to sleep 3 days before our vacation as her cancer came out of remission with a bang, and we couldn't take her up there the way she was. sigh. It was so sad. She was 14.
She had a rare cancer with a rapid course, but our new Vet kept her active and enjoying life for year. (prognosis was 2mos).
A friend of ours runs a rescue/spay non profit up there, so I contacted her and she picked the best kitten for us and saved her until we could pick her up. I told her a black was okay as long as shorthair with intelligence and nice personality. Weezie here has become Maya's surrogate mother and friend, and you should see them together...Maya adores her. Weezie was kind of lost without Oreo too, so having Maya was good for her as well. It was tricky being up there with a kitten, but since Maya hid most of the time she never tried to escape and all went well. The trip home was unpleasant tho, but they have to learn sometime! Lots of carrying on and crying. HOURS of it.

I really think that the effervescent and soluble liquid forms orally work very fast. AlkaSeltzer works in minutes too.

Emergen C has a loyal following of customers too!

[nsrsg]

Hi All,
I posted in this forum before regarding my B12 deficienty and I have been using puritan methylcobalamin 5000mcg for almost an year. In the recent blood test my B12 levels are up (1000) but doctor said "Antiparietal cells antibodies" are found in the test and referred me to gastroenterologist. I am not sure what it is and waiting for the appointment. Doctor says it can lead to cancer if not treated properly. Can anybody give some information on that and how serious it is? Thank you.