B12 self supplementation?

[LG93]

I've been diagnosed with low folate and given a prescription for folic acid, they also said my ferritin was the low end of normal (although higher than my last test which they said was fine!) so are starting me on iron tablets again too. They said my b12 was the lower end of normal but not low enough for them to do anything about (presumably as it would require them doing injections as a loading dose) but said that if I wanted to supplement myself OTC then I was able to do so and it wouldn't hurt but they couldn't advise what to take.

Is there a form that works best/most quickly? I'm desperate to see some results (and forgot to ask the GP when I might start to see an improvement in symptoms 🙄) but not sure what to do for the best. I could be tempted by the injections but as the only people I can find it are aesthetics people working out their spare room I'm not sure how I would verify what they were actually giving me was a) effective b) safe!

There are lots of high street places that do the B12 injections now, they are around £15-£25 depending on area.
UK levels are set really low, lots of people order from Germany and self inject because you can buy it otc in pharmacies there.
The solution is red, it also stings going in. You could ask to see the ampoule before they draw it up if you are concerned. It’s call hydroxocobalamin. It’s quite expensive to buy it from suppliers in the U.K., anywhere from 13-16£ for a box of 5 ampoules. I’ve just ordered a box of 10 from Germany for under £20 inc postage. I do a have it on prescription but dr won’t give it earlier than every 12 weeks, despite nice guidelines saying it can be given from iirc 8 weeks, so I do the occasional one myself to keep me feeling well.
If you don’t have pernicious anaemia and yours is diet related, rather than an absorption issue, you need to see if there are any improvements you can make to your diet to keep yourself well too.
I hope you feel better soon.

https://www.b12deficiency.info/mhra-double-standards-on-vitamin-b12-injections/

That's really helpful thank you I'll look into it some more.

Nobody has discussed why it's happening, I thought I ate a pretty good diet but I had a huge pph in childbirth nearly 18 months ago followed by about 9/10 months of ebf so I think the assumption is that it's all linked to that. Thinking about it nobody has mentioned how long I need to take these for or any repeat tests so I'm not sure when we'll know if it's worked or not, or if I'm meant to take them indefinitely!

There's a Wake Up Vitamin B Facebook group (or something like that) that's v knowledgeable. Worth looking at their guides.