Preliminary review of Kirtland 5mg Methylcobalamin

[Freddd]

I purchased a jar of 300 x 5mg tablets for about $19 at Costco, today, the first time I've seen it. I have perfomed my usual 50mg single dose. That is 1500mg for the same price as 90mg of Enzy so even if absorbtion isn't as effective, quantity might make up for it as long as the qualitative aspects are present. These are very fast dissolving so it takes some determination to keep them in place (as mush) to allow substantial absorbtion under the lip. The contain sucralose as a sweetner which isn't a sweet alcohol so many are sensitive to. It appears quite non-irritating so far. It is a natural cherry flavor. The sucralose dissolves quickly and so it starts sweet and ends a little bitter.

It appears to be at least 3 stars. It's hard to tell this quickly as I only succeeded in keeping it in place for 75 minutes before fully dissolving. The percentage absorbed appears to be in the less than 5-10% category, so far, at that time span based on effects and urine colorimetry. I can feel it's body effects, so I can tell it is at least somewhat effective.

I am repeating with another 50mg to see if I can get it up to that 7.5mg CNS absorbed dose, by effect and urine colorimetry. However, even if it doesn't have the critical for some of us CNS characteristics, it might make an adequate booster for the ENZY to get that into the CNS.

Anybody else willing to put it through it's paces? Let me know what you think of it.

 

[pela]

I'd love to try it but I doubt I am sensitive enough to be any use in a trial. I assume you mean Kirkland not Kirtland, and is it only availalbe at Costco?

 

[pela]

I found this on Amazon, is it the right one?

http://www.amazon.com/Kirkland-Subl...8&qid=1359058715&sr=1-2&keywords=kirkland+b12

 

[Ema]

The price on this is certainly appealing but I am concerned about daily dosing with sucralose given its detrimental effects on gut flora.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18800291

Ema

 

[Freddd]

Having used the Anabol Dibencoplex with no flavoring or sweetening at all, perfectly fine as b12 has no flavor I can detect, I don't see why they try to make it taste like candy. That is not needed. I posted this and mentioned the sucralose so nobody would buy it and get blindsided. I find sucralose more offensive than sweet alcohols. However, as the Jarrow mb12 went south and is useless now, I am desparate to find a suitable replacement. I don't like the flavor, I would rather have no flavor. It reminds me too much of Elixer of penicillan on which I grew up in the 50s and hated every spoon of it.

I don't know if the changes from sucralose will make any difference. A month's trial will tell me. At that point I can rate it. At least it isn't nutrisweet and it's neurological affecting problems. I do know that If I can't find another 5 star mb12, especially one I can afford, that the Subacute Combined Degeneration will continue to worsen for me. That DOES make a difference.

The one somebody pointed to on Amazon is the same mb12 at $8 more than store price, but that includes shipping. Locally it has about $1 sales tax.

Kirtland is a town outside Cleveland where I grew up. Kirkland is the brand. OOPS! I plead habit.

 

[jeffrez]

Thanks for the initial review. What's your preferred mb12 now, Fred?

 

[Freddd]

Right Now, Enzymatic Therapy is the only one I can confirm as to having effective CNS healing qualitites and is radically more effective than any other brand so far tested currently available in that form. The Medicine Shoppe housebrand has been suggested but I don't have a source. Some others have been suggested but so far no others have been confirmed.

 

[jeffrez]

Have you tried the AOR yet? With jarrow gone bad, I'm still looking for a replacement.

 

[pela]

The price on this is certainly appealing but I am concerned about daily dosing with sucralose given its detrimental effects on gut flora.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18800291

Ema

Thanks, Ema. I'm going to skip this brand!

 

[L'engle]

I might be able to trial this but not sure given the many additives. I am in favour of no sweetener. After taking MeB12 every day for two years my upper teeth are stained around the gumline and constant treatments with a natural tooth powder to prevent/mitigate more obvious staining.

Doctor's Best has a new one with no additives but only in 1mg capsules. It is hard to use anything smaller than 15mg when you need the neurological dose.

 

[Freddd]

I might be able to trial this but not sure given the many additives. I am in favour of no sweetener. After taking MeB12 every day for two years my upper teeth are stained around the gumline and constant treatments with a natural tooth powder to prevent/mitigate more obvious staining.

Doctor's Best has a new one with no additives but only in 1mg capsules. It is hard to use anything smaller than 15mg when you need the neurological dose.

I'm not having any staining from either the Kirkland or the ENZY at this time. All the staining I had was coming from the Jarrow.

 

[Freddd]

An update on the Kirkland brand MeCbl. I have gotten the technique down to making it last 2-3 hours with a single 50mg dose and now I am getting the urine coloration that indicates 15-25% absorption. That lack of coloration was concerning me as it has nowhere else to go if it gets into the body. So far all I can say it isn't 5 star on it's own. But it may be a somewhat acceptable 4.5 stars with the Enzy.

 

[Lotus97]

Has anyone else tried this brand? I'm concerned about the sucralose (aka Splenda), but I might consider just taking 1/4 of the Kirkland tablet along with some Enzymatic Therapy if the Kirkland is ok. I suppose if someone took the Kirkland as a suppository (or transdermally) then the sucralose wouldn't affect the intestinal flora. You're still putting the artificial sweetner into your body though. The more I think about it the less I want to try this brand, but 300 tabs for under $25...

 

[MeSci]

Has anyone else tried this brand? I'm concerned about the sucralose (aka Splenda), but I might consider just taking 1/4 of the Kirkland tablet along with some Enzymatic Therapy if the Kirkland is ok. I suppose if someone took the Kirkland as a suppository (or transdermally) then the sucralose wouldn't affect the intestinal flora. You're still putting the artificial sweetner into your body though. The more I think about it the less I want to try this brand, but 300 tabs for under $25...

Sorry if the answer to this is in this thread somewhere, but do you know of any evidence that sucralose can adversely affect the gut flora? I have just bought a drink containing sucralose after checking it in the large pdf "Sweeteners and Sugar Alternatives in Food Technology" Edited by Helen Mitchell which I downloaded a few years ago (which doesn't seem to be available as a download now).

These bits seem reassuring:

When sucralose in hot coffee was tested, the acidic nature of unsweetened coffee, which led to a modest pH depression, appeared to be blunted by sucralose. This study confirmed sucralose’s non-acidogenicity and indicated that it may reduce the acidogenic potential of coffee, although the clinical relevance of this is unclear.

The data derived from these studies show no evidence that sucralose, or its two hydrolysis products, have any adverse effect. As shown in Fig. 8.5 above, sucralose will very slowly hydrolyse in acidic media into its monosaccharide components, 1,6-DCF and 4-CG. Even though these compounds would only be present in foods in microgram quantities, given the stability of sucralose, these two compounds were subjected to almost the same toxicology testing programme as was sucralose itself.
As discussed in Section 8.6 above, extensive metabolic studies were undertaken with sucralose in a variety of animal species and human volunteers to determine the disposition of ingested sucralose in the body. From these studies it was shown that sucralose passes through the body intact, and is not broken down. The bulk of ingested sucralose is eliminated in the faeces, and the small fraction that is absorbed into the body passes through the tissues and organs by passive diffusion, eventually being excreted in the urine.

Special tests were conducted to determine whether sucralose or its hydrolysis products had any neurotoxic potential. It was found that neither sucralose nor its two breakdown products represented any neurotoxic risk.

A test for immunotoxicity potential in developing rats demonstrated that sucralose had no effect on the developing immune system even at 1500 mg/kg BW/day.

A number of clinical studies were performed in human volunteers over a number of years. These studies gained in complexity over time, varying from tolerance studies in normal volunteers initially to studies of diabetic subjects.

No adverse experiences or clinically detectable effects were attributed to sucralose ingestion in any study. These studies, plus the animal studies described above, firmly established that sucralose has no effect on glucose homeostasis. It did not interfere with normal carbohydrate metabolism or alter insulin secretion or action in animals or man.

 

[trollo]

Wich brand and form of b12 do you suggest?? I mean is it better absorbed the sublingual or the liquid?? What about the various Mega drops that Holistic Health sell??

 

[jammies]

Having used the Anabol Dibencoplex with no flavoring or sweetening at all, perfectly fine as b12 has no flavor I can detect, I don't see why they try to make it taste like candy. That is not needed. I posted this and mentioned the sucralose so nobody would buy it and get blindsided. I find sucralose more offensive than sweet alcohols. However, as the Jarrow mb12 went south and is useless now, I am desparate to find a suitable replacement. I don't like the flavor, I would rather have no flavor. It reminds me too much of Elixer of penicillan on which I grew up in the 50s and hated every spoon of it.

I don't know if the changes from sucralose will make any difference. A month's trial will tell me. At that point I can rate it. At least it isn't nutrisweet and it's neurological affecting problems. I do know that If I can't find another 5 star mb12, especially one I can afford, that the Subacute Combined Degeneration will continue to worsen for me. That DOES make a difference.

The one somebody pointed to on Amazon is the same mb12 at $8 more than store price, but that includes shipping. Locally it has about $1 sales tax.

Kirtland is a town outside Cleveland where I grew up. Kirkland is the brand. OOPS! I plead habit.

What is wrong with the Jarrow mb12?

 

[Mr. Cat]

Hi B12 gang,

After Jarrow changed, I have been taking one 15mg pill of AOR methylcobalamin ultra per day to good effect. It is rather expensive at around $100/6months if you order from Healthy Planet in Canada (the cheapest I've found online so far). I tried to cut these costs by trying the Kirkland B12 for about 2.5 weeks. I started with 3x5mg/day, then upped it to 4x5mg/day. I gradually began experiencing typical CFS effects of muscle achiness, lower energy, decreased mood, and general neurological unpleasantness. I had planned to be on the Kirkland for one month as a trial, but couldn't keep it up. These negative symptoms improved a couple minutes after I broke down and went back on the AOR.

My findings have been that 15mg/day of AOR methylcobalamin ultra is at least as good as Jarrow was, and the best currently out there. My symptoms took at least a week to gradually show up, so it's possible Kirkland is better than nothing, a sub-5-star brand. It is also possible it has no effect at all. I'll leave that to others who want to conduct further painful research on themselves.

I've contacted iHerb a couple of times about carrying AOR 15mg methylobalamin ultra, and explained that it is an effective form of B12 used by many with CFS/ME. They still do not carry it, though. If others find this product helpful, perhaps we could stage a mass advocacy effort with iHerb to urge them to carry this product, as they can usually sell things at much lower prices than their competitors.

 

[Critterina]

Have you ruled out the source of the symptoms being the other things in the Kirkland tablet? I take it without ill effect, although I use 3 x 5 mg/day of the Kirkland but 3 x 1 mg/day of the Enzymatic Therapies brand for about the same effect. I'll look at AOR (no spell out, so I take it that's the full name) when I run low.

 

[trollo]

Nobody here knows if the HH Megadrops are absorbed sublingually? Do they work?