How do you know when you're taking enough B12?

[bigmillz]

I know this differs between protocols, but is the general consensus to stop when you don't get any more startup effects from increased doses? Or is there an amount that's sufficient for most people regardless? Is there a benefit to going higher?

More specifically, I had some trouble with B complexes earlier this week, but upon stopping those, it seems my usual mB12/adB12 might be overstimulating me as well. I've been on their current doses of 10mg/1.5mg (respectively) for about 2 weeks now. I feel I should've adjusted (and I thought I had already).

 

[PeterPositive]

I know this differs between protocols, but is the general consensus to stop when you don't get any more startup effects from increased doses? Or is there an amount that's sufficient for most people regardless? Is there a benefit to going higher?

More specifically, I had some trouble with B complexes earlier this week, but upon stopping those, it seems my usual mB12/adB12 might be overstimulating me as well. I've been on their current doses of 10mg/1.5mg (respectively) for about 2 weeks now. I feel I should've adjusted (and I thought I had already).

You started with methyl B12 at 10mgs? that's a massive dose, no wonder you feel overstimulated.
Why not starting from .5mg and build it up over time?
Many people start with megadoses, get all sorts of side effects and quit because they don't want to get worse, which is understandable.

My 2c

 

[bigmillz]

You started with methyl B12 at 10mgs? that's a massive dose, no wonder you feel overstimulated.
Why not starting from .5mg and build it up over time?
Many people start with megadoses, get all sorts of side effects and quit because they don't want to get worse, which is understandable.

My 2c

Haha, no way! I started at 250mcg, a while back. Years ago, I did start with 5mg, and I was always getting weird side effects. Problem was, at the time I didn't identify that more was causing those problems. Guess I've learned my lesson there.

 

[caledonia]

If you're getting overstimulated, there should be a sweet spot where the overstimulation goes away and you feel the best. Hopefully you kept good notes in a symptom journal as you worked your way up in dosage. Otherwise you have some more trial and error to do.

A normal B12 dose is 1000 mcg aka 1mg. Doses beyond that are megadoses.

If your B complex contained folate then methylation could be cranking along and you could actually stop the B12 and still feel overstimulated (aka overmethylated) for quite some time (days, weeks, months? if you've been doing large doses).

In that case some niacin in the form of nicotinic acid can be used to more rapidly slow overmethylation per Ben Lynch. I have some more info on that in my Start Low and Go Slow document in the Overmethylation section - see my signature link.

 

[PeterPositive]

A normal B12 dose is 1000 mcg aka 1mg. Doses beyond that are megadoses.

Is it really? I thought 1000mcg was already a megadose.
Official sources indicate an RDA of 2.5mcg for vitamin B12, meaning that 1000mcg is 400 times the RDA.

Many bottles of B12 supplements (Jarrow, Solgar etc...) say that 1000mcg = 16667% or 166.67 times the daily dose. Which seems already generous, since they assume the daily dose to be 1000mcg / 166.67 = 5mcg.

 

[bigmillz]

On the plus side, 10mg seems to have leveled out for me (about a day after I posted this lol).

In reference to the rdv I'd say 1mg is definitely still a mega dose.

Thanks for all your help and support.

 

[caledonia]

Is it really? I thought 1000mcg was already a megadose.
Official sources indicate an RDA of 2.5mcg for vitamin B12, meaning that 1000mcg is 400 times the RDA.

Many bottles of B12 supplements (Jarrow, Solgar etc...) say that 1000mcg = 16667% or 166.67 times the daily dose. Which seems already generous, since they assume the daily dose to be 1000mcg / 166.67 = 5mcg.

The RDA is the minimum amount required to not have a deficiency. That's about the amount in one serving of meat. Not necessarily the amount required for optimal health, especially among people with chronic illness, or who have issues absorbing or utilizing B12 or who are recovering from a deficiency state.

1000 mcg is the amount suggested by Ben Lynch, Rich Vank, and other sources as a target amount to work up to.

When you take 1000mcg you're not really getting 1000mcg anyway. Different forms and types of B12 absorb differently. Cyanocobalamin taken orally (going through the stomach) absorbs about 1-2%. So that would get you to the RDA level. Methylcobalamin taken sublingually absorbs more like 30% (off the top of my head from something Freddd said, so don't sue me it that's not exactly correct).

I did a quick google search and found what looks like a pretty good article describing the situation:
http://www.life-enhancement.com/magazine/article/1764-vitamin-b12-how-much-is-enough

 

[bigmillz]

If you're getting overstimulated, there should be a sweet spot where the overstimulation goes away and you feel the best. Hopefully you kept good notes in a symptom journal as you worked your way up in dosage. Otherwise you have some more trial and error to do.

A normal B12 dose is 1000 mcg aka 1mg. Doses beyond that are megadoses.

If your B complex contained folate then methylation could be cranking along and you could actually stop the B12 and still feel overstimulated (aka overmethylated) for quite some time (days, weeks, months? if you've been doing large doses).

In that case some niacin in the form of nicotinic acid can be used to more rapidly slow overmethylation per Ben Lynch. I have some more info on that in my Start Low and Go Slow document in the Overmethylation section - see my signature link.

I was re-reading this thread, and it got me thinking about your post again, and how you mentioned a sweet spot. Is it common for folks to find that scaling mB12 higher (even slowly) does not yield better results?