anyone check their B12?

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Anyone else here tested their B12 levels?
Before I was diagnosed I had a blood lab done for a general checkup. My B12 was 214, which is low (a healthy level would be about double that). I'm far from being a vegetarian (at least 3 servings of meat a week), so there was no obvious reason why my B12 was low. After more than a year of supplementing with about 25ug/day, my levels only increased to 229.
A friend's wife has celiac disease, and she takes B12 shots. He told me they were available over the counter without a prescription, so I picked up 10ml of 1000ug/ml cyanocobalmin and some ultra-fine needles. I'm usually not good with needles, but the ultra-fine needles I bought were great - almost half of the time I wouldn't even feel the needle going into the skin on my abdomen. I did shots of 0.5ml(500ug) about every week for a couple months and also found 1000ug methylcobalmin B12 pills that I started taking a few times a week.

I haven't got a new blood test yet, so I don't know how much my levels have gone up. I did notice a big difference in my frustration tolerance. If someone interrupted me while I was focused on something like writing an email or doing calculations, I'd snap at them. The only solution I had before B12 was to avoid doing any tasks requiring mental focus when other people were around that might interrupt me. Now I still get annoyed when I'm interrupted, but can calmly say, "Hold on", finish what I was doing, and then deal with the interruption.

I'm guessing you don't have pernicious anemia yet--but if you're not careful, you could get it. Maybe they caught something in time before it got to the point of pernicious anemia.

If B12 works for you, then go for it. It's nothing dangerous, really. Just look at the side effects, etc. Monitor what you feel while you take it.

If you had B-12 deficiency while taking oral supplements, that's strongly indicitive of some kind of damage to the digestive system, as B-12 is a highly conserved vitamin. B-12 deficiency is often an aggravating symptom of something deeper.
It might be Crohns disease, wheat intolerance, a lack of intrinsic factor and so on.

Because some of the causes of Low B-12 can be fixed, it might be worth finding out what's causing it in your case.

interesting. thanks

Pretty sure I don't have Crohns. I've had allergy tests and I'm not allergic to wheat, and even if I did, there doesn't seem to strong evidence that it would cause low B12 absorption problems.
One thing I did find is that h. pylori infections can cause B12 absorption problems. There's a simple breath test for h. pylori infection, so I plan to ask my doctor to order the test.

My father also was low in B12, so it could also be a genetic problem with intrinsic factor production.

p.s. those levels I quoted are in pmol/L.

I have some blood issues and have to get regular blood tests as a result. My B12 has always been fine.

I recently got my mum b12 tablets which contain a 1000ug dosage (as low b12 is common in people with a condition she has called syringomyelia), so that amount doesn't need to be injected. As b12 is supposed to be water soluble, it's also supposed to be hard to overdose on that way because you pee out what you don't need/absorb. I would've tried higher dose tablets before injections, although it could just be my averseness to needles speaking lol

Do you recall levels? Most countries do pmol/L, but I think in the US pg/L is also used.

Beyond the capacity of intrinsic factor (about 2-3ug), only about 1% is absorbed, primarily through osmosis. With injections, about 50% stays in your body. So I took the injections as a quick way to boost my levels, and now just take the 1000ug pills to maintain my B12. As I said I'm also averse to needles, but the ultra-fine needles I got from the pharmacy were so tiny it was just like a mosquito bite.

Magnesium is another important thing in your diet for mood.
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