I us B12 sublingual (under the tongue). 1 drop 3 times a week and it keeps my B12 levels where they should be. I can feel when I have low B12 but can't imagine it'd be a huge boost.

Odds are that if you are a meat eater you do not need to supplement. Even better, unless you are a vegan with a terrible diet you do not need to supplement. Most of the population has no vitamin B12 deficency to speak of, so supplementation simply makes for expensive pee. On the plus side vitamin B12 dosen't have any real negative side effects due to over supplementation, so you don't really have to worry too much about hurting yourself if you are taking it.

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Run, work, run, sleep, repeat until fast, injured or insane.

 
Total placebo effect .... but its cheap ... and if you're really convinced it helps ... its cheap ;-) Better choice than something that costs $1/pill to get your placebo effect.

Dave

Quick pubmed search doesn't really support the latter part about too much B12 either way, what is there kinda says we just don't know about the effects of too much B12.

I take a b complex vitamin in the morning and if I dint take it I can tell a little bit. It does seem to give a but of energy. No Moreau than coffee would. I don't know how much more effect a shot would give. Should be similar.

I think that a b12 shot is much more potent than a pill, so maybe a few cups of coffee??

If you have a REAL B12 deficiency, you need some testing. You either have an Intrinsic Factor deficiency or some kind of malabsorption. As stated in the post after yours, it is pretty difficult to have a B12 deficit, unless you are a vegan, or lost the last few feet of your small intestine.

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Dick

Take everything I say with a grain of salt. I know nothing.

I use to take vitamin b12, but I could not digest it and it caused other problems with my digestive system.

Do the shots have a side effect like this?

Buy a bunch of B12 supplement pills from Target or Costco. (not the vitamin B supplement, the B12 supplement.) It works to give you energy. Take 4 of them and you will get a boost.

i've never had the B12 shot personally, but i've had some music clients that fell ill or were really run down from touring before a big performance or show. the docs suggested the shot and it definitely helped them perform at a much higher level than without it. the rest just snort a few lines and give it a go. ;-)

As other folks have mentioned, it is quite unlikely for anyone to have a Vitamin B12 deficiency unless they have absorption issues ( pernicious anaemia ). If you were deficient then your diet would have to be so shockingly poor then participating in any exercise would be out of the question. Similarly if you were suffering from pernicious anaemia then no oral supplement is going to help, only intra-muscular injections.

In short, B12 supplementation is simply not worth it.

I agree with what you are saying. I do have a malabsorption issue, hence needing extra vitamin supplements. I don't use it for a boost of energy but to mainain proper levels. Also what was said about peeing out extra vitamin/protein intake is spot on.

B12 stores are normally quite large and take a long time to deplete, even in vegans. Absorption requires an intact stomach and an intact ileum. Oral supplements are not usually effective. There are two proven methods of replacement, injection and intranasal. Even my patients with Crohn's disease after replacement of their stores rarely require more than one injection every month and most do fine with an injection every three months. This isn't something that requires daily replacement.

On the other hand, if the placebo effect is a positive thing for you, at least for now there appears to be no downside to the B12 supplements.

they worked great for Barry Bonds ;-)

B12 is often used to reconstitute PED's. ;-)

No, but too much B6 can cause balance issues.

This is my personal theory on the questionable bike handling skills of (some) triathletes.

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Dick

Take everything I say with a grain of salt. I know nothing.

I was recommended vitamin b12 sublingual by my doctor after WLS. Sublingual is easy to digest as it is absorbed directly into the blood stream.

> The other side of the coin says that this is all a placebo result?


The placebo effect is highly underrated. As long as you don't turn into a kook, etc. why not get the benefit? :)

Try it and see what happens for you. Personally, taking B12 really wreaks havoc in my brain because it compounds the effect of a med I'm taking.

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/Howie Nordström

Placebo like everyone else said. It's a painful shot, it must do something good!!

All the pro's take "Vitamin B" shots" and it works for them. I guess it all depends on your definition of Vitamin B.