B12

[Guest guest]

Does this make sense

Healing thoughts,

Wallace

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B-12 Injection? No!

Home Topics like this one sound quacky, so let's set the matter

straight from the start:

If you do not like getting shots of B-12, you should be aware that

intranasal absorption is the next best thing. Oral administration of

B-12 is largely ineffective. This goes for so-called sublingual B-12

supplements as well.

VITAMIN B-12, unlike other B vitamins, is stored in muscle and other

organs of the body.

A little B-12 goes a long way, what is stored lasts a long time, and

it may take YEARS to deplete your body's reserves. But sooner or

later, usually later (after age 40), not only do poor eating habits

catch up with us, but we also lose the ability to efficiently absorb

what B-12 we do get from food.

COBALAMIN is the proper name for vitamin B-12. It is a really huge

molecule (C 63, H 90, O 14, P, Co). The " Co " is for the one cobalt

atom at its core. B-12 is obtained mostly, but not exclusively, by

eating animal products such as dairy and meat. If you therefore think

that you have to eat meat to get your B-12, consider this: Where do

grass-and-grain-eating cattle get THEIR vitamin B-12? From synthesis

by microorganisms in their gastrointestinal tract, that's where. And

such synthesis in vegetarian animals is so tremendous that their milk

and flesh is OUR source of B-12. But it all actually came from their

bacteria.

Yes, B-12 is also synthesized in the human GI tract, but not reliably

enough for most people. Such synthesis as occurs may be enhanced by a

good vegetarian diet that favors an internal population of

beneficial, B-12 making bacteria.

But with our diets, we will need more than they can provide.

Nutritional yeast, fermented soy foods such as tempeh, and sprouts

(according to some sources) are vegetarian sources of dietary B-12.

But there still is a physiological hurdle to cross.

Absorption of dietary B-12 takes place in the very last part of the

small intestine, right before the colon. Absorption requires a

biochemical helper molecule called " intrinsic factor, " which is a

glycoprotein normally secreted by cells lining your stomach. Strong

stomach hydrochloric acid is also required to split up this huge

molecule. (That's why a weak acid like vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is

harmless to

B-12, persistent myths to the contrary).

Incidentally, even sublingual (under-the-tongue) B-12 supplements are

probably ineffective because the cobalamin molecule is too large to

diffuse through the mucosa of the mouth.

And if your body no longer makes intrinsic factor like it should, you

cannot absorb oral B-12 supplements very well, either.

The end result can be pernicious anemia, which is more than the

classical inability to make enough hemoglobin for your red blood

cells. Pernicious anemia also results in a sore mouth and tongue,

assorted burning and tingling sensations (paresthesia), and

eventually neurologic damage. I think Meniere's, and dementia

symptoms mistaken for Alzheimer's disease, might be a manifestation

of this.

While there is a urine test for B-12 deficiency (the " isotope-

dilution assay for urinary methylmalonic acid " ), to get it right it

is necessary to measure the cerebrospinal fluid, not the blood, to

get accurate B-12 readings. If you are not a Spinal Tap fan, consider

a simple, non-invasive therapeutic trial of B-12. This is so

inexpensive and safe that it would be difficult to deny it to anyone.

I would suggest your doctor try a 1,000 microgram (mcg) injection at

least once a week. Compared to the US RDA of only about 3 mcg, that

dose may appear rather hefty. But given the miserable nature of

Meniere's, erring on the high side may be preferable to unnecessarily

delaying recovery. And l know of no side effects whatsoever to B-12

overdose.

If you do not like the idea of getting shots of B-12, you should be

aware that intra-nasal (that is, by way of the nose) absorption is

the next best thing. It sounds pretty weird, as duly promised at the

beginning of this section, but it is an efficient delivery method for

large-sized molecules whether you like the sound of it or not.

Your nose has two choices:

1) Buy ready-to-use, over-the-counter B-12 gel, which you will

occasionally find for sale in a pharmacy or health food store. Some

products come in individual disposable packets. These are pricey.

2) Make your own B-12 intra-nasal supplement. It is cheap, easy and

best done behind closed doors. Obtain your doctor's OK before trying

this procedure. Take any B-12 tablet (between 100 to 1,000 mcg) and

grind it into a powder between two tablespoons. Add water, just a

few drops at a time, to make a soft paste. With a " Q-Tip, " it's

generic equivalent, or your clean pinkie finger, gently swab the

paste inside your nose up to a comfortable level. Do not push; use

no force whatsoever. The excipients (tableting ingredients) are more

likely to bother your schnoz than the B-12 is. If it irritates you,

try using less, or a different brand of tablet. I'd try this two

times a week for a month or two.

Feel free to quit at any time, and get B-12 shots instead. Once in a

great while, doctors (such as " Children's Doctor " Lendon H. ,

M.D.) will even teach you how to give yourself your B-12 shots, but

that remains a singularly rare event.

Hence this nose news.

Copyright 2004 and prior years by W. Saul. From the book

DOCTOR YOURSELF, available from Saul, Number 8 Van Buren

Street, Holley, New York 14470 USA Telephone (585) 638-5357.

Reprinting requires the advance written permission of the author.

Saul, PhD