B-12 ANEMIA

B12 Anemia – treatment

If you are diagnosed with B12 deficiency there are many different forms of treatment, and they are all correct as long as you are continuously monitored to make sure your levels are where they should be.  At the point I am at now I have my B12 levels checked about every 3 months.  That isn’t a right or wrong amount, I’m just letting you know if you would like someone to compare it to.

When B12 deficiency anemia is first diagnosed, many doctors will start with a shot a week for 4 weeks to get your levels up and reintroduce lots of B12 into your system to begin the healing process.  After checking your levels they will change the shot schedule accordingly.  There are lots of different variations of treatment out there.  Some start with a shot, then another 2 days later, then another 4 days after that then onto 8 days and so on.  These are just examples, as long as you are getting treatment that raises your B12 levels you are in good hands.

In searching for answers I found lots of different plans of attack that doctors take to get B12 back into your body.  One thing I hear all the time is mega-dose.  From what I have been able to gather there are two different types of treatment that are referred to as mega-doses.  One is when you take a huge amount of vitamins orally, either vitamins or sublinguals.  The theory is that if you saturate the body with B12, enough will be absorbed for the body to function normally.  This way seems to work great and can even work better then the shots.  The down side is you have to take these mega-doses every day without fail and it can become expensive.

The other mega-dose is in shot form.  My suspicion is that it’s just a regular amount, but the doctor is referring to it as a mega-dose, because compared to what one normally takes it is.  There also may be doctors that give more then the usually prescribed amount, 1 ML,  in the shot. Many doctors do prescribe both shots and supplements, just to be on the safe side.  The most common is a vitamin a day, around 1000 mcg’s a day, and a monthly shot.