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[menopausalalways]

Anyone taking Vitamin B12? and has it helped?

[jaypo]

I was on B12,then I had a blood test at Drs for something or other and he told me to stop taking it immediately as my levels were 4x as high as they should be,so do be careful with it,why do you think you need B12?

[CLKD]

I've asked the question in the other thread ;-)

[menopausalalways]

Obviously I'm getting confused 
Its Spatone I am intererested in and have purchased!
Obviously going completely batty........no hope!

[Kathleen]

Hello menopausalalways.

Is it iron that you want to supplement? In which case Spatone is very good and was recommended to me by an expert on iron infusions. For maximum absorption it is best to take one sachet every other day.

I also take B12 but I thought that as it is water soluble that you just wee away any excess but perhaps not?

Take care.

K.

[jaypo]

That's what I thought with vitamins Kathleen but my B12 levels were way to high and I was just taking an over 50s women's multivitamin,took two weeks for it to come back down

[Postmeno3]

There's a fair bit of confusion in terms of whether B12 is stored or any excess wee'd away and it keeps coming back to this issue of "normal range" also. A test for intrinsic factor will determine absorption. I inject myself with B12 and once I presented all the correct evidence to a gp, he was happy to prescribe it. Different surgery, different ballgame. It's an important vitamin for metabolising energy and, just like our hormones, how we feel is the important thing. Dr. Sarah Myhill writes a lot about B12 on her website.

[CLKD]

Is it essential though in that it's life threatening without 

[Postmeno3]

I forgot to say that standard, NHS B12 testing only tests levels. So, one could have a high level according to the misleading "normal" range (What's my normal, is unlikely to be the same as yours, what you need potentially being very different to what I do), but without testing for one's capacity to utilise it is pretty futile!

[CLKD]

Why would one require VitB12?

[Marchlove]

Gosh CKLD, just Google benefits of B12! It’s a very powerful vitamin, but like all things has too be treated with respect. The problem with serum testing is that it only shows what is in the blood not what is actually in the cells. There are quite a few different types of B12 and not every one can get on with some of them.
It’s quite a complicated subject. But if you feel like you are benefiting from the one you are on, carry on, but it not, you should put it on hold whilst you try and figure out why?
B12 puts a lot of gas in the tank, but the engine has to be able cope!

[Postmeno3]

Hydroxocobalamin is the B12 I use.

[Marchlove]

Good choice, I either use that one or adeno sublingual/lozenge.
What about the other B’s Postmeno3,
do you take them?

[Marchlove]

B12 absorption from food is done in two steps-
The first you need hydrochloric acid in the stomach to separate B12 from the protein that is attached to the food.
Thus taking omeprazole or metformin will prevent this first vital step.
The second step is B12 combines with a protein made by the stomach called intrinsic factor and it is absorbed by the body in the small intestine.
Vitamin B12 from supplements isn’t attached to a protein and so apparently doesn’t require the first step. However B12 in supplements does need to combine with intrinsic factor to be absorbed.
Intrinsic factor antibody (IF antibody) test can be done to confirm pernicious anemia.

https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminB12-Consumer/#
 
I spent years taking omeprazole so no wonder I ended up with low B12 and magnesium.

xx