[Keith]

Hi all, looking for some experience here.

Vitamin B12, of the variety that dissolves or is absorbed under the tongue.
If you use it why do you?
Do you find it helps you?
There are no known side effects I can find for using too much, do you have any?

Thanks for reading 

[asathorny]

Hello Keith.

Are you feeling tired and listless, are you pregnant or has someone said you need to supplement your B12 intake???

I cannot and indeed will not venture down the route of advising long distance without seeing a blood film et al.

I will discuss with you and all our friends here 'MY' vit B usage and why I self Px.

I am a bald, fat aging hippy from Manchester.   I have three metal stents inside my heart and I suffer from 'FAT MAN' diabetes also known as Type2.

So, with this knowledge I will now dilate upon my reasoning.   

1.   Diabetics urinate a lot.  I can piss for England.  In the morning I can easily take 4 or 5 visits to the lavvie within the first two hours of rising.

2.  I take lots of blood thinning drugs, I wont list them as this could cause confusion (the have different names in different parts of the World) and also I take fish oil Omega3 as this also acts to thin the blood. 

OK I will now cut to the chase, Vit B Complex (which is what I take) indeed ALL the B vits are 'WATER SOLUBLE'.  I refer you back to my urination habits....
All the Vit B group Allegedly improve circulation, I refer you back to my cardiac stents.

So Keith, this is my faulty logic, it sorta works for me.   In other words, I have come to the belief that taking Vit B complex will help me, not so much my fat man diabetes, for that I am just replacing what is lost down the Lav, but with the improved circulation for my dicky ticker.

OK, now that I have said all of that I will now reveal my stupidity.

Until a year or so back I was part of the Oxford University study on Niacin and a couple of other elements.  This study went on for several year and included 'SIMVASTIN' indeed partaking was conditional upon simvastin.  The study was world wide, although the American drugs administration barred it there after a year or so for reasons I will not bother you with here. and we were promised a copy of the findings.  Would ya believe it, I can remember my password to recover it  , trust me.

The results were, in short, that taking the Niacin supplement made very little, or no difference.

I hope this is of some help Keith and if you want ask questions I will answer you to the best of my limited abilty.

[Keith]

Perfect response Asa, you have my empathy.

I am also T2 diabetic, (but not a fat bloke at 210lbs and standing 6 feet 2)
And yes I have looked at B12 for lower energy levels, plus my Metformin reduces natural B12 absorption and storage. Plus Simvastatins gave me peripheral neuropathy!

So I'm thinking of self prescribing B12 in an effort to tackle those symptoms.

[asathorny]

Yeppers Keith I would go for it...    I go for the deals at Holland and Barratt.  B12 is fine, I chose B complex to sorta touch all the basis but as I said the Oxford study gives it no credence... 

I am sure that they will have regular deals in B12 tho.  Keep an eye on their web site, or set the mrs on it, the girls usually sniff the bargains out.

I am following you down the servicing route, my car is in for service next week,  Hyundai want almost £400 of my  meager pension  money.  the little local man £200.  No brainer, with one years warranty left they can whistle Dixie now...

Good luck with the supplementary B12

[asathorny]

Perfect response Asa, you have my empathy.

I am also T2 diabetic, (but not a fat bloke at 210lbs and standing 6 feet 2)
And yes I have looked at B12 for lower energy levels, plus my Metformin reduces natural B12 absorption and storage. Plus Simvastatins gave me peripheral neuropathy!

So I'm thinking of self prescribing B12 in an effort to tackle those symptoms.

I just reread your response.   You do know that the diabetes causes the neuropathy don't you.   Well when I say the  diabetes what I mean is that, high levels of blood sugar alter the acidity of the blood.  As I am sure you know the blood when it is healthy and well is more or less neutral.   
When it is carrying more sugar than it ought too it becomes as I say slightly acid and indeed the higher the sugar levels are the higher the acidity.  This slowly but surely melts away the myelin sheath around the nerves which is akin to the insulation around the electric cables on your car.  So once they are destroyed and don't function properly

NEUROPOTHY  AAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaagggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhh

[Keith]

Thanks Asa, and good luck to you with the Servicing.
If your Warranty is done and you feel inclined, you can cut that to around £80 with DIY.
When I traded my i30 I asked what difference it would have made with a fully Dealer stamped book but there was no difference. As long as the history was there and receipts to substantiate it.
I certainly couldn't imagine getting £2k more with Dealer stamps, but I do COMPLETELY get the need for Dealer stamps for the first 5 years.

[Keith]

Yep Asa I'm aware that diabetes can do that but it takes years...
Simvastatin can do it in months! I had no neuropathy before I was diagnosed but developed it after about 6 months. Stopped the statins and improved about 50% but I don't expect it to go away 100%.
I'd had a full medical 6 months before I was diagnosed and my bloods were perfect for Glucose and Cholesterol...
People don't realise the neuropathy promoters around us diabetics, Metformin for one, Aspartame is another and guess what most people turn to for a sweetener when they can't have sugar!
I wear my socks inside out now lol, and always have cold feet, but my podiatrist is happy with my responses and flesh colours, ditto with my eyesight. In fact I just yesterday passed my 1 year anniversary as a T2 diabetic thinking about it...
And B12 promotes the repair to the nerve sheathing too.... Here's hoping...

[Phil №❶]

Bloody 'ell, I better hop on this gig too, I don't want my insulation getting eaten away.

[Keith]

Bloody 'ell, I better hop on this gig too, I don't want my insulation getting eaten away.

  "hop on this Gig" lmao! Too funny!

[asathorny]

Yep Asa I'm aware that diabetes can do that but it takes years...
Simvastatin can do it in months! I had no neuropathy before I was diagnosed but developed it after about 6 months. Stopped the statins and improved about 50% but I don't expect it to go away 100%.
I'd had a full medical 6 months before I was diagnosed and my bloods were perfect for Glucose and Cholesterol...
People don't realise the neuropathy promoters around us diabetics, Metformin for one, Aspartame is another and guess what most people turn to for a sweetener when they can't have sugar!
I wear my socks inside out now lol, and always have cold feet, but my podiatrist is happy with my responses and flesh colours, ditto with my eyesight. In fact I just yesterday passed my 1 year anniversary as a T2 diabetic thinking about it...
And B12 promotes the repair to the nerve sheathing too.... Here's hoping...

Yes I wasn't trying to resurrect the simvastin debacle Keith.   
If you suffer some adverse side effects to some of the drugs which are life savers for millions of people around the world I am sorry for you.
You asked for information which I felt able to offer, I am just making sure that I have given you all the information that I have...

good luck again   

[asathorny]

Bloody 'ell, I better hop on this gig too, I don't want my insulation getting eaten away.

Oops, to late 

[AlanHo]

I have angina, high blood pressure, T2 diabetes, high cholesterol and hiatus hernia to name but a few.  I currently take 6 pills a day to combat these illnesses. 

I also suffer from (or enjoy) severe involuntary priapism, racial intolerance, homophobia, lesbianism (I keep fancying females), kleptomania, insomnia and flatulence. I could name more if my amnesia hadn't just kicked in.

My angina/blood pressure medication is currently amlodipine 10mg and candesartan 4mg. Plus aspirin 75 mg to thin the blood.

My cholesterol is controlled by atorvastatin 20 mg. Until recently I was taking simvastatin but it was possibly causing joint pains.

My hiatus hernia is kept at bay with omeprazole 20mg

My T2 diabetes requires no medication - it is diet controlled.  I suspect it was caused as a side-effect of 2 years on Atenolol when first diagnosed with angina. However recent nerve pains in the toes and feet have been arrested by taking amitriptyline 10mg. This is a drug normally prescribed in high dosage for chronic depression but I have yet to be depressed so it may not be working as described. However, my foot pains and nightly leg cramps are now diminished. The side effect is that I am now a zombie - I used to get 4 to 5 hours sleep a night, I now need to set the alarm to wake me up before lunch  time.


I also self prescribe a daily half bottle of "Pillastro Puglia Primitivo Italian" or "Black Stump Aussie" full bodied red wine with dinner. I also quite often enjoy a debilitating glass of strong Marguerita cocktail in the afternoon.


 

[Keith]

As usual Alan...

Frickin AWESOME! Always entertaining even suffering with that lot, makes me feel like a right fraud moaning about a bit of hot feet and tingle-toes!

[Keith]

Asa... I'm very VERY grateful for your words of wisdom and support.

There is no substitute for informed and educated feedback on real life experience based on knowledge.

Thankyou buddy...  

[Phil №❶]

This is a drug normally prescribed in high dosage for chronic depression but I have yet to be depressed so it may not be working as described.

Or because it IS working.   

[Just Rick]

Also people with a high alcohol useage,are B deficient,Itake them for many of the same reasons as asa