Vitamins and particularly B12

[Onemoret1me]

I’m sick of feeling run down and catching every infection going.
Ive used first defence which seems to ward off a cold but now have d&v.
my B12 levels are low but borderline so they’ve not said to have any treatment.
i get ill quite frequently and when I do I really struggle to fight it off and seem unwell for much longer than most others.
what supplements do you recommend? I don’t really know where to start. I’ve just been taking a chewy multi vitamin which brought my B12 up to borderline but no higher.

@BretonStripe Kiwis are much higher in vit c than oranges

They are, I believe about 5x higher. Peppers are also 2-3x higher Vit C than oranges. Many of us forget that a Vit C rich meal can be savoury which is especially good for those that take iron meds in the evening. Eating peppers raw or steamed reduces the Vit C loss too. Also, reducing tannins in food, helps prevent depleting iron absorption.

You can buy kefir in every supermarket. They even sell it in the tesco petrol station near me. You can get it as a drink or yoghurt.

I like the collective brand, it's very thick. I mix with Greek yoghurt for breakfast.

@BretonStripe i also used to use a high strength vitamin C tablet as I took my iron on an empty stomach. Far higher absorption.

No one seems to have mentioned that you should avoid dairy and anything with polyphenols (so no tea coffee or herbal tea) with the iron as it affects absorption..

Anyone can have a B12 injection. Several pharmacies and most beautician that offer Botox etc do them. I have stopped having my levels checked and just pay for an injection every 8 weeks. Best £20 I spend!

So many people talking about B12 injections but no one mentions folate levels.

B12 is absolutely useless without folate.

@BretonStripe taking supplements does give a false reading when you get a blood test. There's loads of info out there but a very good site is the one by Tracey Witty https://www.b12info.com/

I live in Scotland where the NHS operates from a bygone era. Can I ask how you are all getting your exact levels?

In England (I’m not sure if it’s every gp surgery) we can see them and other medical records on the NHS app.

Blood test which is then uploaded onto the NHS app.

Usually my test results are available on the app in 36hrs.

Also Scotland, have had issues with low iron and b12 for years but I've never been told my actual result or seen them written down anywhere. Wish we had an app for results.

I think it’s useful to get a blood test, a private test if you can afford it as it tests more than a GP would. I thought my B12 was low so took supplements, but the result came back that my B12 was almost twice the upper limit from supplementing, while my iron was below the healthy range even though I’d been taking it for a year. The test put my mind at rest that everything else was in normal range, and without it I would’ve kept supplementing the wrong thing and probably not feeling any better

Ask the GP surgery for a print out but make sure it lists the lab ranges as well as your results otherwise they are meaningless. I do this as my old phone cannot cope with yet another app.

In Scotland there is no app to see your results on. You would need to ask the GP surgery to give you the results. Legally they cannot with hold the results from you. Just ask for them and if they say no just tell them they cannot legally withold that kind of information - do it politely and they will give you them,

If you want an accurate test but the GP won't give you a test pay someone like Medichecks for a B12 and folate test.

If you have been supplementing the test will give a false result - it will be much higher than you expect. Stop supplementing for 4 months before taking a test for an accurate result. For a more accurate result try and get tested for Active B12 or holotranscobalamin.

Holotranscobalamin is B12 which has been activated which is available for your body to use - this is not what floats about in your blood and is reported on during a normal B12 test.

The NICE guidelines for b12 are hopeless according to experts .. and when you do get offered injections.. its like one every 3 months and they don't tell you to take Folic acid for absorption.. l was like you. Until l started SI every week. I buy from Germany at £1 per ampule then the needles.. there are Facebook sites to help you with all this and excperts on.

I started taking these Nutrition Geeks Iron and B12 and Vit D supplements after blood tests showed incredibly low folic acid and borderline iron. They've made a big difference and recent full blood screening has shown my levels are decent two years later

https://amzn.eu/d/0hnq1uMP

https://amzn.eu/d/0dgqUSTx

Thanks for all of the replies.

i will need to re-read them all as I find it so confusing to get my head round

i can ask the go for repeat bloods but I’ve started supplements over the last 2 days.

so am I right in thinking if I go down the supplement route then taking folic acid and got D would be good alongside the B12
but supplements may give a false reading and my body might not actually be absorbing it? How would I know if tha was the case? Do I take the supplements and see if I feel any better? And if I do I assume it’s working.

it’s all so confusing!

@Onemoret1me

If you supplement B12, you will need to stop for 4 months before retesting. Though the NHS says 3 weeks. Though after only a few days I'd say you could stick on the 3 week side here. Marmite has high bit b12 so be careful with that too.

Iron and Vit D won't give false readings.

Any supermarket these days,
(kefir on polish fridge shelf is more true to flavour though) even Aldi and Lidl have them now

@Onemoret1me it is overwhelming! I guess try some drops/supplements and see how you feel? Do you track your moods on an app? I use a free one called Daylio which nudges me to log my moods each day; it's great for looking back and identifying trends.

The real proof is how you're feeling in yourself, so don't get too bogged down in numbers and tests if you don't want to?

How strong are the B12 supplements you are taking? Two days doesn’t seem a lot and tbh if you were suffering that badly two days worth of B12 wouldn’t touch the sides, most people take weeks and months to feel better.

I think if you did an active B12 test to see what your levels were two days worth of supplementing wouldn’t make any difference.

your folate levels need to be up around 17 for it to be really effective. I took 5mg daily for 4 months to get my levels up.

you can take folic acid and vitamin D right up to the day before a test and the results will be accurate. It is only B12 which you need to be off of for 4 months.

Vitamin D with K2. A good supplement will combine this and deliver it in olive oil as it’s a fat absorbable vitamin. I take 4000iu a day in the winter which is the upper acceptable limit. I haven’t got sick once this winter.