[m777]

thanks for your reply mrs D.

I have started taking 1000mcg sublingual tablets to check I don't have any reactions. If all is well after a few weeks, I will up my dose as you suggested.

It's hard to wait 30 mins to an hour to eat though! By that time I am starving.

Am I able to take my morning probiotics at the same time as the b12 or will this cause a negative effect?

[mrsD]

Originally Posted by m777

thanks for your reply mrs D.

I have started taking 1000mcg sublingual tablets to check I don't have any reactions. If all is well after a few weeks, I will up my dose as you suggested.

It's hard to wait 30 mins to an hour to eat though! By that time I am starving.

Am I able to take my morning probiotics at the same time as the b12 or will this cause a negative effect?

Not sure.. For the most part, B12 is hampered by fiber that is with the food, and the volume of liquid that comes with eating.
The studies on drugs that are given in microgram doses show food keeps the drug like a sponge away from the lining of the intestine. But probiotics, are alive, and one would wonder if they would consume some of the B12. B12 is excreted, you know in the bile, and may then provide itself to organisms living there. I do know for a fact that parasites (tape worms in particular will cause low B12 in humans, as they soak up the small amounts we eat from animal food sources.) and that is not a pretty picture to imagine! Other organisms may also like to have it I'd assume. The cycle of life is quite complex.

As far as probiotics go, you might investigate Kefir. US Kefir has 12 different strains in it, and is far more helpful than yogurt in fact as a natural food source.

[Nervous]

Originally Posted by mrsD

Not sure.. For the most part, B12 is hampered by fiber that is with the food, and the volume of liquid that comes with eating.
The studies on drugs that are given in microgram doses show food keeps the drug like a sponge away from the lining of the intestine. But probiotics, are alive, and one would wonder if they would consume some of the B12. B12 is excreted, you know in the bile, and may then provide itself to organisms living there. I do know for a fact that parasites (tape worms in particular will cause low B12 in humans, as they soak up the small amounts we eat from animal food sources.) and that is not a pretty picture to imagine! Other organisms may also like to have it I'd assume. The cycle of life is quite complex.

As far as probiotics go, you might investigate Kefir. US Kefir has 12 different strains in it, and is far more helpful than yogurt in fact as a natural food source.

Just wondering if coffee, juice and water interfere with B12 absorption.

[mrsD]

Originally Posted by Nervous

Just wondering if coffee, juice and water interfere with B12 absorption.

I don't think so unless huge amounts are taken with it.

I took my B12 with my thyroid first thing in the morning and had a cup of tea with it. I got a test reading of 1999 after about 3 months on 5mg a day, that way. It is fiber...food...that seems to affect it. Think of a big full stomach... how are micrograms going to be dispersed in all that?

As it is, most supplement makers and doctors haven't made this connection at all. The study on this thread however does state the absorption of B12 orally during empty stomach situations.
No one is calling that from the rooftops or commonly on the net!
It is only because of my training and experience that I know about it.

[Tomas]

My serum levels af B12 and Folic are always very high....VERY high. 10X the upper limit.

I do take a multi-vitamin. Could it be that I am not absorbing it?

[mrsD]

I don't understand your question, I'm sorry.

If you don't absorb your vitamins how can you be high?

The actual upper limit of the old outdated B12 levels is 850- to 900 pg/ml (US units).

If you are 10 times that you would be at 9000? The machines used in US only are calibrated to 2000 maximum. We've had posters here in the past who work in the labs explain that.

People CAN have elevated B12, with no exposure to any vitamin. That usually reflects some serious medical issue:
kidney malfunctions, liver disease, and various blood disorders and cancers.

Folate tests can be high because foods in US are fortified with it. But not 10x normal, from food alone.

Can you post your lab results here? You can get them from your doctor?

[Beachbum65]

Originally Posted by mrsD

I don't think so unless huge amounts are taken with it.

I took my B12 with my thyroid first thing in the morning and had a cup of tea with it. I got a test reading of 1999 after about 3 months on 5mg a day, that way. It is fiber...food...that seems to affect it. Think of a big full stomach... how are micrograms going to be dispersed in all that?

As it is, most supplement makers and doctors haven't made this connection at all. The study on this thread however does state the absorption of B12 orally during empty stomach situations.
No one is calling that from the rooftops or commonly on the net!
It is only because of my training and experience that I know about it.

Got my B12 back today it was 883 , high range on the normal scale she said it only went to 931. So my GP took me off entirely ,on the phone the nurse said if my neurologist wanted me to have it then its up to him. So I'm taking your advise and going to start the B12 methyl 5 mg. a day on empty stomach. My neurologist told me to stay on the injections so I will see. So tired of inept GPs.

[julleri]

Originally Posted by Beachbum65

Got my B12 back today it was 883 , high range on the normal scale she said it only went to 931. So my GP took me off entirely ,on the phone the nurse said if my neurologist wanted me to have it then its up to him. So I'm taking your advise and going to start the B12 methyl 5 mg. a day on empty stomach. My neurologist told me to stay on the injections so I will see. So tired of inept GPs.

I don't understand the fear/panic that doctors have with regards to B12.

I frankly don't understand doctors in general.

[mrsD]

Originally Posted by julleri

I don't understand the fear/panic that doctors have with regards to B12.

I frankly don't understand doctors in general.

You are not alone in this. They are married to the lab ranges.
They have no idea about how B12 works, only if it shows up in
the ranges... That is why it is almost criminal that doctors accept those low ranges as "normal"... really it demonstrates the nearsightedness of how medicine can be! sigh!

[julleri]

Hi MrsD and all others who read the vitamin B12 thread!

I have been having some strange, very painful burning sensations on the tops of my lower legs, where they connect to the feet. I've also been having other strange, hard-to-explain sensations there, too. I've lost a lot of padding on the top of my feet, so the bones and veins stick out. I have not lost weight, either! Sometimes there are very vague, achy pains in the feet, muscle, and bone, too. Kind of like a malaise... almost like a belly ache sensation in my lower legs and feet. There is also a lot of joint cracking in the joints of the feet. So, off to the neuro again I go! See what he says or suggests. I get concerned because sometimes it feels like my feet and legs are heavy and the muscles don't obey... like they don't want to work. I haven't had foot drop (I know what this feels like as I had this when I was first diagnosed with B12 deficiency last year). It's just... like a neurochemical misfiring or something. But I can't help but think this is somehow related to this vitamin.

I am thinking of having the neuro pull my serum B12 level. I still supplement daily with sublinguals, @ 5,000 mcg daily (I use different brands: Puritan's Pride sometimes - a bottle is there for me at work if I forget to take some at home; Natural Factors - this I use at home when I remember before going to work!; and sometimes Jarrow's, but Jarrow's really irritates my tongue and teeth so bad that I can't use it often, if at all).

I was wondering if I should get shots each month? I don't do this currently but, maybe I need them? And I was thinking about hydroxocobalamin. Does anyone know much about this form? Does it have to be converted in the body, or is it similar to methylcobalamin and is ready to be used by the body?

Thanks all! I will let you know what I find out. I am hoping this is nothing serious and, actually... I am thinking this is related to the adverse reaction I had to Prozac over a year ago, and all this SSRI withdrawal nonsense, that, after one year, I am still going through believe it or not.

Jason