B12 Help

[coralyn]

For the last few months, I was feeling sluggish, had to lie down a couple of times a day, found it difficult to work evenings and to exercise for long periods. Doctor said I need B12. Any suggestions for affordable and effective ones?

 

[Second Summer]

I don't really know what is available to you in the Philippines.

Just make sure you get something that meets the recommended intake. Though recommendations vary slightly between health authorities in different countries, and between veg*n advocacy groups, which suggests B12 intake is not a very exact science yet.

For people of age 14 to 64 the website veganhealth.org (run by registered dietician Jack Norris) lists the following recommendations:

Either 2.4 migrograms per day (the amount recommended by USDA), or two doses of 2 - 3.5 micrograms per day, or a single dose of 25 - 100 micrograms per day, or a single dose of 1000 micrograms per week.

If you're drinking dairy milk, there is some B12 in that. If you're drinking soya or other plant milks, there may be a little in that. (It will be listed in the ingredient list.)

 

[LuvOurMother]

eat foods fortified with B12 like cereal.
or get a B12 supplement, if you can't find any in stores order online.

 

[ledboots]

For the last few months, I was feeling sluggish, had to lie down a couple of times a day, found it difficult to work evenings and to exercise for long periods. Doctor said I need B12. Any suggestions for affordable and effective ones?

B12 is usually pretty inexpensive. It is recommended to get the sublingual type (dissolves under the tongue so is absorbed more readily.) Don't be afraid to take more than the maximum dose as it is hard to absorb in any case.

 

[nigel1]

B12 is usually pretty inexpensive. It is recommended to get the sublingual type (dissolves under the tongue so is absorbed more readily.) Don't be afraid to take more than the maximum dose as it is hard to absorb in any case.

This is key. I'm teased for my obsession with B12 by friends online and irl, but definitely go sublingual and definitely keep getting tested. Absorption rates of regular tablets and fortified foods varies from person to person, somewhere between almost negligible to nonexistent, especially if you eat a vegan diet. If you are testing low now, you will need to maintain and check your levels for life because your liver no longer functions as a store for B12.

I lost my B12 stores in less than 2 years after going vegan, despite my eating plenty of fortified foods. The symptoms aren't pleasant and over not-too-much time the damage resulting can be permanent.