Tell me about B12 shots.
 

My wife's doc says she's low on B12 and prescribed a shot a week for four weeks, then one a month. She had blood tests done because she was having tingling in her toes and they couldn't find any nerve problems or anything else for that matter. The tests showed a B12 deficiency.

Anyway, what would cause such a deficiency? The doc really didn't have any answers and my wife asked me to engage the Pelican brain trust. Are there any side effects to these shots?

Thanks,

Diet or problem with absorption of nutrients in gut. Can lead to pernicious anemia I seem to recall.

See it a lot in booze jockeys, not to imply that is the cause here, but if you are drinking your lunch out of a highball glass, you are not getting many nutrients.

Sore ass is primary side effect

Yep, the alcohol thing came up and she is certainly not a booze hound so it was ruled out. First shot was today in the arm from the doc, although I told her I only administer in the ass if she wants me to do it:)

There is a joke in there that I just can't come up with yet..

My wife had a gastric bypass and she is no longer able to absorb b12 naturally.. one shot every 3 weeks... There are also sublingual drops you can use...

B12 shots are given in the ass.

Never heard of them given in the arm before.

Hey, we are building quite a rep here! :D

No, there are no significant side effects, besides the discomfort of the needle. B12 deficiancy is mostly a dietary (vegetarians) and/or malabsorption issue. It is usually not correlated to any other significant desease. Particularly with people that do not display any other major symptoms. It is a fairly common state in adults. In Sweden we traditionally use tabletts, but in most other countries you will get an intramusculare shot which probably acts a bit faster. In general there is nothing else to it - you get your shots/tabletts and you are "ready to go" as you Americans put it.

Vitamin B12 is essential in the DNA metabolism, not least in cells in the neurologic system - hence the typical symptoms your wife displays. It is also important for blood cell maturition. Thus a certain anemia is sometimes noticed.

I got one a month ago and it was in the arm.

My wife had them many years ago when she was a teen and heavy into sports - she said they helped but also thought it could have been all in her head.

I used to down brewers yeast by the hand full when I played soccer and ran track in school.

Hay, if it is covered by your health insurance go for it other wise belly up to a T-bone and fergitaboutit...

Thanks Livi and everyone, I'm going to e-mail her the response.

I should have been more specific. I don't know how old lendaddy's wife is; arm may be fine.

B12 shots are mostly given to more 'elderly' folks. As one gets older, B12 absorption in the gut is decreased.

Shots help with this. They need to be given in a somewhat substantial muscle mass. Many of the elderly don't have much muscle mass in thier arms; so it is usually given in the ass.