# b12 **URL:** \ **Category:** Other Prescribed Medicines\ **Created:** [December 14, 2011, 4:02am UTC](https://mvertigo.org/t/b12/3566 "2011-12-14T04:02:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Victoria](https://mvertigo.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/v/ea5d25/32.png) [@Victoria](https://mvertigo.org/u/Victoria)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 4:02am UTC](https://mvertigo.org/t/b12/3566/1 "2011-12-14T04:02:25Z")
This is a very interesting blog from Science Based Medicine discussing B12 deficiencies and supplementation. B12 has come up on this forum a number of times (including as an ingredient in Magic Milo! 🙂 ) so I thought it may be of interest: [sciencebasedmedicine.org/ind … more-18204](http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/index.php/vitamin-b12-the-energy-panacea/#more-18204) ---
**Author:** ![cmoc](https://mvertigo.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/35a633/32.png) [@cmoc](https://mvertigo.org/u/cmoc)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2011, 9:33am UTC](https://mvertigo.org/t/b12/3566/2 "2011-12-14T09:33:28Z")
Interesting article. I have had B12 injections every 3 months for the last 10 years, I was below the reference range when tested on the NHS, even with the B12 shots my blood levels dont go high. I have no problem with intrinsic factor (they tested everything) including giving me the schilling test, I am not veggie and love red meat, especially good for the blood sugar. They couldnt find a reason that I am low on B12. The injections make me feel rotton for a week, but then I think they do help but nothing that I could say I notice, I just know when I am late for my injection I seem to go downhill, so they do a little, but not a lot. Christine ---
**Author:** ![Wexan](https://mvertigo.org/user_avatar/mvertigo.org/wexan/32/47_2.png) [@Wexan](https://mvertigo.org/u/Wexan)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 12:08am UTC](https://mvertigo.org/t/b12/3566/3 "2011-12-15T00:08:42Z")
_— Begin quote from **“cmoc”** _ Interesting article. I have had B12 injections every 3 months for the last 10 years, I was below the reference range when tested on the NHS, even with the B12 shots my blood levels dont go high. I have no problem with intrinsic factor (they tested everything) including giving me the schilling test, I am not veggie and love red meat, especially good for the blood sugar. They couldnt find a reason that I am low on B12. The injections make me feel rotton for a week, but then I think they do help but nothing that I could say I notice, I just know when I am late for my injection I seem to go downhill, so they do a little, but not a lot. Christine _— End quote_ I take 500 microgram of B12 daily which is several hundred times more than the RDA. Although I have taken this dose for over a year my blood tests show B12 levels somewhere between middling to high. I expected I would be at the top end of the normal scale if not well beyond it! I haven’t had a test for intrinsic factor and I’m not planning to as my B12 levels seem adequate. The wonder is that the B12 level is not really high. _-Wexan_ ---
**Author:** ![beechleaf](https://mvertigo.org/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/71c47a/32.png) [@beechleaf](https://mvertigo.org/u/beechleaf)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2011, 9:13am UTC](https://mvertigo.org/t/b12/3566/4 "2011-12-15T09:13:19Z")
That’s a really good article Vic. There is a huge industry making tons of money out of people’s worries and concerns, when there is very little scientific evidence to support taking vitamins unless you have a medical reason to do so (e.g. malabsorption caused by pernicious anaemia, or by certain drugs), or have a very restricted diet. And as an aside, it’s usually much better to take in vitamins through diet rather than as a supplement, as often they are not as well absorbed when in non-dietary forms. ---
**Author:** ![david\_shapiro](https://mvertigo.org/user_avatar/mvertigo.org/david_shapiro/32/13_2.png) [@david\_shapiro](https://mvertigo.org/u/david_shapiro)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2011, 4:16am UTC](https://mvertigo.org/t/b12/3566/5 "2011-12-16T04:16:35Z")
Beachleaf, I share your bias in favor of dietary intake rather than popping pills. OTOH, when they discovered I had bone loss–and I realized I’d loss two inches–they started me on chalk pills, and told me that high dietary calcium didn’t necessarily get absorbed as well, even if I ate the same amount of Vitamin D as the CaCO3 pills contain.