HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

B12 Injections...Do you think they really help?

Support Forums
>
Crohn's Disease
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
12
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 5/14/2009 1:06 AM (GMT 0)
I'm just wondering how many of you take Vitamin b12 injections and do you feel like they make a difference in the way you feel?  I feel like mine do but also wonder if it partially a placebo affect?  How often do you recieve them?
Posted 5/14/2009 1:23 AM (GMT 0)
Honestly, I dont feel any difference. I do however, continue to get them anyways.

Posted 5/14/2009 1:43 AM (GMT 0)
The same happens to me,nothing.
More fearful of effects of lack of B-12.
Injections fun to do though...
Posted 5/14/2009 2:01 AM (GMT 0)
My Best friend gets her shot every 3 weeks and swears by them she can feel the difference as it gets closer to her jab she gets very tired.
Posted 5/14/2009 6:24 AM (GMT 0)
They made no difference with my energy levels or CD symptoms at all (but they wouldn't with the CD symptoms) they did however stop the nerve damage that I was experiancing due to lack of B12, I had tingling in my fingers which is the first signs of nerve damage so if I hadn't supplemented my B12 then the damage would have become permanent, believe me, there is a reason for getting your B12 supplementation if you're low on B12 and cannot maintain enough via diet alone.

:)
Posted 5/14/2009 8:50 AM (GMT 0)
Hi, i started B12 jabs last month after having to beg the hospital for them as i felt i had no energy since  the 1st one i have been great i also take multivitamins have the B12 every 3 months Bev x

Posted 5/14/2009 9:03 AM (GMT 0)

my doctor mentioned B12 injections after I asked him what effect my recent resection will have had on digestion etc. he was a bit vague and said I should probably start injections as it wouldn't harm anything. Is there a more scientific way e.g. does it show on routine blood tests or do I have to ask for it to be looked at (I get checked regularly for underactive thyroid so some of the symptoms may be the same and I wouldn't know). does it have to be injections?

Penny x

Posted 5/14/2009 10:17 AM (GMT 0)
Considering how low my b12 levels were since I don't have a TI any longer, I wouldn't stop them. I mentioned to my PCP in the fall how tired I was and got weekly injections for a month ---- great help! Now I'm back to monthly.

uklass -- have they don't blood work to check your levels? It takes a while to use up your stores of B12, but it could happen over time.
Posted 5/14/2009 11:21 AM (GMT 0)
I get them monthly and i don't think they do anything, I'm still tired all the time.
Posted 5/14/2009 1:22 PM (GMT 0)
I am taking them now weekly. I didn't do one week recently, and I really could feel it. Way more tired than normal. Just now getting back to normal after missing that one shot.
Posted 5/14/2009 1:27 PM (GMT 0)
I get them every 4 weeks and i can definitely tell the difference.. usually the next day... I can tell when it gets close to time for my next one without even looking at the calendar!
Posted 5/14/2009 6:01 PM (GMT 0)
They usually start out giving injections then try to wean you onto pills if you seem to be able to start absorbing B12 with injections...then they wean you onto pills and check your levels again, if all is good they keep you on pills if not then it's back to injections.

I started with injections (for 4 months) and was weaned onto pills with no issues, I still take them and my levels are fine (this started 7 yrs ago now).


:)
Posted 5/14/2009 7:17 PM (GMT 0)
I've been on the injections for about 3 years or so, once a month, then about a year or so ago, they changed it to every 2 weeks since my levels went too low. Just this week I had an appointment with my GI and he said I could probably go to every 3 weeks or back to once a month. HUH? I'm still not able to absorb it, so how can I go back to spaced out dosing. The only difference I notice is that I sleep better after my shot and if I go too long I get scalp tingling, which goes away within hours of the shot. So as long as I am sleeping better after the shot, I don't think I will be changing the dosage.
Posted 5/14/2009 7:32 PM (GMT 0)
Ive just started B12 injections, had one a week for 4 weeks. then one in 3 months.

Dont feel any different at all

Posted 5/14/2009 7:36 PM (GMT 0)
If you do not have a TI then they will not wean you to pills as you do not absorb them. My GI said that even healthy people don't absorb about 98% of the pills, but you absorb about 98% of the sublingual. Since many Crohnies having absorbtion problems, if you aren't taking the shots, be sure to use the sublingual as they are better absorbed. JMHO
Posted 5/18/2009 12:13 AM (GMT 0)
Mine certainly makes a difference. yeah Daily sublingual, that I buy myself because I never could get a doctor to give me any. (In the UK they usually won't unless you are missing large chunks of intestine. eyes)
Taken in conjunction with B5, to aid against that "running-up-a-hill-feeling-even-just-sitting-down", I have found my brain fog shifting for the first time in years. I also sleep more restfully, (albeit with more dreams), can concentrate better, and take fewer naps during the day. nono I still wouldn't call my memory good, but it is no longer in the senile dementia zone that it was before. Just overall I no longer feel as burned out or diabolically tired all the time, and don't have the same number of blankouts when I try to remember something.
Posted 5/18/2009 1:29 AM (GMT 0)
Nanners, well said!!
Doctors in the USA are concerned that patients without T.I's
lack B-12 absorbtion. (to the point of being annoying!)
Posted 5/18/2009 8:30 AM (GMT 0)

I'm confused..........

I had a resection 13yrs ago - right hemicolectomy so they removed a chunk of terminal ileum but no-one mentioned B12 then or since; more a problem of bile salt recycling and fat digestion. Recent resection - took a lot more small bowel but I don't know how much.

 Is it likely now that I am having difficulty absorbing B12? Is it for me to push for this or is it something that should be routine treatment? why do some GIs prescribe and others don't?

Feeling more down and tired as the weeks go on - might be all sorts of reasons for this including purely pychological but if B12 is the culprit then it seems a straightforward thing to sort out - I don't want to see medical people that regularly for injection etc but better that than worsening symptoms or assumption of more sinister causes.

Posted 5/18/2009 8:50 AM (GMT 0)
uklass - I would think that you'd have difficulty absorbing B12. I only had about 23cm taken from my terminal ileum in my resection - my doctors said that usually you need a lot more than that taken to affect absorption - but my bloods show that I'm very deficient in it.

I assume you're in the UK - you should ask your GP about this. I get my B12 jabs for free because they hold them at the GP surgery, so therefore I don't have to get a prescription and pay.

To go back to the original question, I had my first injection last week and haven't noticed any difference at all! I'm supposed to get them every 3 months.
Posted 5/18/2009 9:38 AM (GMT 0)
Let's hear it for the ileum! My CD location as well. When I visited with my PCP about B12 injections he told me to stay with my dissolvable B12s, so I take those every day... can't go a day without them!!
Posted 5/18/2009 11:15 AM (GMT 0)
uklass - I also had a right hemicoloctomy, and although my Crohn's felt better, I slowly became more and more exhausted and fatigued.... When I finally asked my doctor about it, I was told that because of the part that was removed I would not be able to absorb B12 any longer and I should have been put on the injections.. for some reason no one told me this until I complained... I was told that I could take a whole bottle (not recommended :) ) and still would not absorb any of it.
Posted 5/18/2009 12:02 PM (GMT 0)
I take B12 and notice a difference. I didn't think it made a difference until I went a long time without taking it again. Most of the positive effect is that prevention of the neuro tingling I was getting (like pb4 said). It doesn't take me from exhausted to cartwheels necessarily. It does give me more of a boost though. i also notice that my iron supplement is more effective if I keep up with my B12.
Posted 5/18/2009 12:22 PM (GMT 0)
Ok, so I'll run a little test. My nose and the area around it has been feeling all tingly for a few days, classic sign that I'm due. I just had my B12 shot this morning. Lets see if the tingly goes away today, and if I sleep better tonight, cause I've been sleeping like cr*p, and usually I sleep better after I get the injection.
Posted 5/19/2009 11:40 AM (GMT 0)
Just finished my course of having 6 in 2 weeks feel no diffrence but still gonna continue maybe one day!! eh
Posted 5/19/2009 12:39 PM (GMT 0)
So I had my B12 shot about 24 hours ago. Most of my tingling is gone and I did sleep better last night. Not great, but better. I'm waiting for some bloodwork results to come in, but I'm not sure if a B12 level was ordered. I'm curious to see where I'm at because I start to get the tingling after 2 weeks, but I never notice any increase in energy level.
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
12