B12 - going privately?

Mojisola

cathy36 wrote: »

I have been B12 deficient for many years and have injections every 12 weeks at my doctors. I have been asking them for years if I can have them sooner than this as B12 is ruining my life. Once I have had my injection I am okish for 8 weeks but then back to being very lethargic, sleep 14 hours+, joint pain, memory loss, irritable and so on.

You can buy oral sprays and sub-lingual tablets which may help get you through to the next injection until you can sort out a source of injections.

maddiemay

Cyclizine wrote: »

My 2p worth... it's not the B12 deficiency that's giving you symptoms.

Not sure if you are replying to the OP or to a subsequent post.

From my 18 years experience of having a B12 deficiency, PA not able to absorb, all of the OP's symptoms could well be down to B12 deficiency. (All information available on the Pernicious Anaemia Society Website and many other sources). The difficulty is that they could be caused by other things too. B12 injections are as cheap as chips and take up very little surgery time, so the logical thing would be to treat with increased B12 and then if no improvement begin testing for other problems.

For those who live in/near a large town or city the type of clinic that does Botox, laser treatment etc often offer B12 injections, but I have heard a figure of £30 a pop quoted, obvs not everyone can afford this, no idea how much a consultation at a private hospital and treatment would cost these days.

As mentioned by Mojisola sprays or sublingual lozenges do not have to be absorbed via the stomach and so do help many people bridge that gap between injections, but don't work for all and might be trial and error to find correct dosage. There is no problem taking more than suggested dosages, like Vitamin C B12 is water soluble and excess excreted in urine.

FBaby

As maddiemay suggested, go have a read on the Health Unlocked Pernicious Anaemia Society forum. Many people self-inject getting the B12 from a reputable German company. It is available over the counter there. The forum gives advice on how to order the vitamin, syringes and needles and how to best self-inject. You can buy bulk of B12 of 100 vials. You are then in total control of injecting when you actually need it.