Vitamin b12 results
 

Hi - wanted to ask because I can't seem to search the forum correctly and so I couldn't just look this up. What is considered a normal range for b12 ? I know that the value varies based on different doctors and studies . I just got my results back and it was 419 - any thoughts whether that is normal ? (The online hospital results say 200-900 are normal )

400pg/ml is the new suggested low today. Unfortunately labs still go down to 200...and do not reflect the new information about B12 treatments.

This link is to a decade+ old article which is a physician continuing education about low B12. The 400pg/ml suggestion appears on it along with an explanation that oral works...
Vitamin B12 Deficiency - American Family Physician

This is a link to our B12 sticky thread ...it goes further and explains the DNA methylation errors and other factors about B12 including using oral on an empty stomach, etc.
http://www.neurotalk.org/peripheral-...12-thread.html

Most labs do not go above 2000 in reporting. This is because of their calibration techniques. Most of the posters here keep their B12 levels at 1000 or above. National health recommendations suggest people in the US at age 50 or above take a B12 supplement whether they have medical symptoms or not. The best option is methylcobalamin because new research shows genetic failures up to 40% or more, which prevents cobalamin methylation in the body which is the activation to active methylcobalamin.

This methylation information can be found on MTHFR.net.

B12 is very safe and has no upper limit assigned to it by
the FDA. The only contraindication I have found is this...
if a person is diagnosed with polycythemia vera (too many red blood cells) they should avoid supplements of folate and B12 use without a doctor's supervision.

If you take a B12 supplement discontinue it about a week before any further blood testing, to avoid a false elevation result.

Interesting thank you for sharing I will look over the links ! So either way 419 is normal though if I am reading this correctly ? I was also tested for B6 so we will see what those results end up being . I suppose either way I could take a supplement because of what you previously said about there being no upper limit .

I would say, 419 especially in a person with symptoms is low.

It is borderline normal, but "normal" according to old lab ranges.

I think you should supplement with 5mg of methycobalamin daily taken on an empty stomach. Get retested in 3 months, and discontinue several days before the blood draw.

See what you have then, if anything has improved or not.
You should be at a value of 1000pg/ml or higher by then. If you are above 1000pg/ml you
can try reducing to 1mg a day, or not --it is your choice. Some posters here stay at 5mg a day
anyway. I take 5 mg twice a week, because I remain high at that dose.

Thank you for the additional info. I just got back the other two test results one of which was an additional way to test for B12 - Methylmalonic acid level and this number was also within normal range <=0.4 nmol/mL and my level was 0.18 nmol/mL . Supplementation is still something I can try out but it seems this seals the deal that I don't have a deficiency.

Also have B6 done and this was also normal.