B12 Injection Therapy

Vitamin B12, also known as cobalamin or methylcobalamin, is a nutrient that aids the body in maintaining healthy nerves and blood cells, and sustains the production of DNA, the genetic material in all cells. B12 also helps inhibit megaloblastic anemia, which many people attribute to constantly feeling fatigued, weak, and short of breath. Given it’s role in all these essential functions, it’s important to note that B12 is not something our bodies can produce — it must be either consumed or introduced to the body via supplements or injections. 

 

B12 is typically found in animal products, such as beef, liver, chicken, salmon, trout, tuna, cheese and eggs. This fact may sometimes present a problem for vegetarians, and especially vegans who do not consume any animal products by choice. For these groups of individuals, as well as those of us who simply may need a boost, B12 injections is an easy way to fight back against the chronic fatigue and “brain-fog” that tends to settle in when B12 levels are low. B12 is also sometimes added into certain foods, such as fortified breakfast cereals, as a supplemental vitamin, so keeping an eye out for those foods can also help introduce a higher content into a person’s diet.

 

As far as supplementing B12, patients have the choice of taking pills orally (and typically daily), or having a course of monthly injections. For adults, the recommended daily intake of B12 is 2.4mcg. The recommended intake is even higher for women who are pregnant or breastfeeding. When consuming foods that contain B12, the stomach acid is needed to break the B12 free from its proteins. Thus, in the case of lower amounts of stomach acid, injections may be preferably.  Injections directly into the bloodstream help to bypass the rigors of the digestive tract, as oral supplements are wont to do. Injections are also fast, relatively painless, and convenient for those not wanting to take a daily pill.

 

Here are some symptoms that may be experienced by people with low levels of B12: