Does anyone give themselves sub-Q methyl B injections?

[perchance dreamer]

I've recently switched from 2X weekly methyl B shots with regular needles, given by my husband or a nurse at the clinic, to daily self-administered sub-Q shots. I have needles used for allergy testing that are less painful than regular shots because the needles are so thin.

With these sub-Q shots, you pinch the skin and give the shot through the fat. The 3 sites I was told to use are the upper thighs, the stomach, and the fat under the arms.

I'm starting to run out of places to inject on my thighs. At some point I may have to use my stomach, but I've been told it's more painful there. I'm reluctant to inject the fat under my arm because I wouldn't be able to steady the site before injecting since I have only 2 hands.

@Kina, I've read in the forums that you are a nurse. Does the stomach have more nerves than the upper thighs?

These days I'm sporting pink blotches on my upper thighs because the serum is that color and is going in more superficially than regular shots. I live in TX, so wear shorts much of the year, but luckily, my shorts are long enough that the Easter-candy pink spots are covered.

 

[me/cfs 27931]

I was in the Open Medicine Institute B12/folate study, which required sub-q methylcobalmin shots every 3 days.

The instructions were to give the shots in the fat layer of my stomach. It would have been nice if OMI had given me a demonstration rather than letting me figure out the details on my own.

I rather messed up the first shot and it hurt a lot. So I watched some youtube videos and after that the shots really didn't hurt much at all.

All the shots were to my stomach, but I switched between left and right. I don't recall any significant blotches/marks.

After the trial, I stopped the injections.

 

[Gingergrrl]

I don't know the answer but will be following this thread to learn more...

 

[aquariusgirl]

I do them in the butt ...

 

[perchance dreamer]

@aquariusgirl, I'm impressed you can inject your own butt. Do you use a mirror and stick the needle in without gathering up fat right before injecting?

Seems scary, but I am managing to give myself shots, which I never thought I could do.

@Webdog, I'll look for some videos on the subject to watch.

Thanks, guys!

 

[me/cfs 27931]

@aquariusgirl, I'm impressed you can inject your own butt. Do you use a mirror and stick the needle in without gathering up fat right before injecting?

Seems scary, but I am managing to give myself shots, which I never thought I could do.

@Webdog, I'll look for some videos on the subject to watch.

Thanks, guys!

My initial errors were sticking the needle too deep (should be in the fat layer) and also pinching too hard. Ouch.

 

[Learner1]

I do them in my butt, too. I reach around as far as I can behind my hip and stick the 27 gauge needle in as far as it will go. I'm not overweight, but I still have plenty of fat back there...

I can't pinch at the same time, though. I've been doing it 3-4 times a week for almost a year and it hasn't been too much of a problem. I've had my husband do it, too, but it seems to be more painful.

 

[Hip]

I've recently switched from 2X weekly methyl B shots

I take it you mean vitamin B12 when you say "B".

 

[perchance dreamer]

@Hip, yes, I do mean vitamin B12. In addition to the methyl B12, my serum has also hydroxy B12, methyl folate, and B6.

 

[Hip]

I have injected a number of different drugs and supplements subcutaneously, and always use the belly area (I put on a lot of belly fat after catching my virus, so there's lots of "blubber" to inject into). I use very fine needles, 30 gauge (only one third of a mm in width).

I hardly ever experience pain on injection or after injection; but I make sure I don't move the needle laterally while it is under the skin, because when I do this, I think the needle tip cuts or damages the tissues, and this I find can later cause pain.

 

[perchance dreamer]

Thanks, @Hip. I will try injecting my belly sometime. I think part of my reluctance is a childhood memory of a neighbor boy who petted a squirrel and then had to get rabies shots in his stomach. All the neighborhood kids were horrified.

The needles I'm using are 26 gauge, .45 mm. I didn't know about the 30 gauge.

 

[bspg]

I'm about to start these as well and have never done self-injections before. I'm worried about over-methylation I've downloaded and read the methylation documents by Caledonia but I'm still scared.

Also, Do the shots amp you up (i.e. is it best to do them in the AM)?

 

[perchance dreamer]

@bspg, I would do them in the morning.

It didn't take me long to get used to self injecting. It's convenient to do them at home instead of going to a clinic. My husband is willing to give me shots, but I'd rather do them myself.

 

[Learner1]

I'm about to start these as well and have never done self-injections before. I'm worried about over-methylation I've downloaded and read the methylation documents by Caledonia but I'm still scared.

Also, Do the shots amp you up (i.e. is it best to do them in the AM)?

I do mine in the morning, too. I do a combination of high potency B complex and methyl B12, and then add hydroxo B12 every 10 days. I've felt a little buzzy for 20-30 minutes, but that goes away.

The only negative I've noticed is that occasionally, I'll get an anxious, depressed, tired, "end of my rope" feeling, and when that occurs, its a sign I need more folate. I take 1mg of oral 5-MTHF and the feeling goes away within about 20 minutes. I have a bunch of folate SNPs, so it makes sense that I run a little low.

The other issue I've had is running out if methionine...my homocysteine tends to run lower than many people's, due to my SNPs, so that even if I'm folate and B12 deficient, it'll still be around 9. When I've ramped up folate, B12, and all the cofactors, my homocysteine went down to 3 and wasn't recycling methionine. The fix is to take methionine.

In working with this system with 5 family members over the past 9 years, we've found its important to watch your symptoms, do an occasional NutrEval test (every 9-12 months) and watch MCV and homocysteine in between.

For symptoms, if you experience increased depression, anxiety, irritability, fatigue, nausea, intestinal discomfort, or a sick chemical poisoning feeling, its a sign something needs adjusting by adding oral nutrients.

If you think you're overmethylating, you can take niacinamide.

At times, we've had to add more B6 (P5P), B2, magnesium, TMG, methionine, B1, molybdenum, or taurine. The key is to have a good balance of nutrients so the system hums along without a problem.

Doing the NutrEval and knowing our 23andme SNPs and their tendencies have been useful in helping us know what our tendencirs are, so at this point, we can pretty easily feel what we need to adjust. For me, getting enough B12 into me, adjusting folate, then gradually adding the other nutrients seems to work well.

 

[Galixie]

My body seems to prefer cyanocobalamin over methylcobalamin. I did find that, for me, subcutaneous injections needed to be more frequent than intramuscular injections. This meant that, even though my sub-Q dose was smaller than an IM dose, I was really taking more B12 in total because the shots had to be more frequent to get the same amount of effect. I ended up switching back to IM injections. I will admit that sub-Q shots are slightly less painful due to smaller needle size, but when the IM injection is done right, the pain difference seems minimal to me.

 

[perchance dreamer]

I find the intramuscular injections much more painful, but I have fibromyalgia, and my pain receptors are always ready to fire.

 

[Learner1]

My body seems to prefer cyanocobalamin over methylcobalamin. I did find that, for me, subcutaneous injections needed to be more frequent than intramuscular injections. This meant that, even though my sub-Q dose was smaller than an IM dose, I was really taking more B12 in total because the shots had to be more frequent to get the same amount of effect. I ended up switching back to IM injections. I will admit that sub-Q shots are slightly less painful due to smaller needle size, but when the IM injection is done right, the pain difference seems minimal to me.

You may be mobilizing something with methylcobalamin, which you need cofactors to get rid of.

Cyanocobalamin is probably the most commonly used in the medical world and is often given as `B12 Shots` in a doctor's office for those with certain medical conditions. But cyanocobalamin is actually the WORST choice, despite the fact that doctors in the US are more likely to prescribe it over any other form. Not only does cyanocobalamin require a higher dosage for the same effectiveness of hydroxycobalamin, but it is Entirely Ineffective for several different conditions related to vitamin B12 deficiency. As such, it has been suggested repeatedly by several researchers, starting with Dr. AG Freeman in 1970, that cyanocobalamin should be removed from the market. While Great Britain followed through with researcher recommendations and removed the inferior product, doctors in the the United States have no such restrictions and still use cyanocobalamin routinely.

"...there [is] no condition in which it has been
claimed that cyanocobalamin was
preferable to hydroxocobalamin"
`Cyanocobalamin- a case for withdrawal: discussion paper`

 

[pattismith]

I find the intramuscular injections much more painful, but I have fibromyalgia, and my pain receptors are always ready to fire.

I may be in the same case, each time I try to do intramuscular, the needle intrusion in my muscle causes me a kind of electric feeling that scaries me...

So I do my HoxoB12 SubQ in my stomach, but the contact with the liquid is very painful for an hour, I will try smaller doses every days, maybe less hurtful!

 

[Galixie]

You may be mobilizing something with methylcobalamin, which you need cofactors to get rid of.

Actually, the research shows that all forms of cobalamin have to go through the same steps to be used at cellular level. There is really no best or worst, except in as far as discovering what works best or worst for you individually. Personally, I've tried cyano and methyl but have not had access to hydroxo, so I can only refer to my personal knowledge that, of the two versions I've tried, cyano works better for me than methyl.

6 Conclusions and unresolved questions
At doses commonly used in treatment or prevention of Cbl deficiency, all Cbl forms appear to be absorbed, internalized by the cells and follow the intracellular metabolic pathway that converts all forms into the common intermediate [Co2+]Cbl that in its turn transfers into the functional coenzymes, MeCbl, and AdoCbl. MMACHC exhibits a broad specificity for different Cbl forms and removes the upper ligand of incoming cobalamins, thus MeCbl and AdoCbl coenzymes can be synthesized from all available Cbl forms. Available clinical studies are non-controlled trials and almost all of them show the beneficial biological effects independent of the form that has been used.

Currently, we do not have sufficient evidence to suggest that the benefits of using MeCbl or AdoCbl override that of using CNCbl or HOCbl in terms of bioavailability, biochemical effects, or clinical efficacy. There is uncertainty regarding the claimed superior role of Cbl coenzyme forms for prevention and treatment of Cbl deficiency (Table (Table1).1). However, HOCbl may be an advantageous precursor of the cofactors, particularly in the inherited disorders of metabolic Cbl processing. CNCbl is a more stable and inexpensive form that appears to be best suited for oral supplementation and parenteral treatment as well.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4692085/

 

[Gingergrrl]

I want to thank everyone for such detailed replies to this thread which is going to help me in the future. I don't know why but I find everything related to B-12 and Folate to be incredibly complex to wrap my brain around b/c there are so many nuances and intricacies. I need to devote some time to studying this more b/c my B-12 keeps dropping on tests (it used to be in the normal range and now at only 250 ).

Even though I do not believe it is the cause of my problems, I do believe that correcting it would help b/c for the first time since getting ill, my RBC tests are showing slight anemia which can't be good either. I have never injected myself with a needle, and am just not sure I can do it, even though the muscle strength in my arms has greatly improved.