Looking for an Affordable Source for Injectable B12

[maddie521]

Hi Everyone - I am new here and joined the forum primarily to ask the question above, though I am also interested in having more discussion about this treatment!

I started doing B12 injections in the 90s and they were life-altering, helping me get off disability and go back to work. For many years I did 5000 mcg of cyanocabalomin three times a week, IM.

A few years ago I went off it (too long a story to tell, but it wasn’t a problem with the B12). Now I want to go back, but it seems like injectable B12 has gotten quite expensive and scarce!

I would like to go back on the 5000 mcg/mL concentration I used before, but most places I’ve seen just sell the 1000 mcg/mL concentration. I found this dosage useless.

I would be open to a 10,000 mcg/mL concentration as well. It doesn’t matter to me if it is single dose vial or multi-dose vial, or whether it is cyanocabalomin or methylcobalamin. I just want costs to be reasonable.

If you know any good pharmacies I can try, please let me know! I’m getting so desperate I am considering veterinary formulations, which seem identical to what I used to order, and are far cheaper than what I am seeing on the human market so far.

 

[Slushiefan]

I don't have an answer for you directly, but don't disregard the veterinary option.

Often, even usually, the veterinary product is produced on the same production line as the human product.

First, even the veterinary option has to meet standards, so going with a 'cheaped out' production process just for the veterinary route isn't even an option - the producers would still have to complete a very similar refining process (refining guarantees a measurable purity standard).

Second, it is very expensive to create a wholly separate second production line just for animals. It is much easier to produce the exact same product for both. Then the producers can take some of the produced product and package it for humans, and some can be packaged for veterinary use. Finally they charge much more for the human version so they can make enough profit to cover the costs of both.

Best of luck!

 

[maddie521]

I don't have an answer for you directly, but don't disregard the veterinary option.

Often, even usually, the veterinary product is produced on the same production line as the human product.

First, even the veterinary option has to meet standards, so going with a 'cheaped out' production process just for the veterinary route isn't even an option - the producers would still have to complete a very similar refining process (refining guarantees a measurable purity standard).

Second, it is very expensive to create a wholly separate second production line just for animals. It is much easier to produce the exact same product for both. Then the producers can take some of the produced product and package it for humans, and some can be packaged for veterinary use. Finally they charge much more for the human version so they can make enough profit to cover the costs of both.

Best of luck!

 

[maddie521]

Slushiefan: Thanks so much for your reply and for that extremely helpful info! I didn’t know how the process worked and how safe it would be to use the animal version. But what you’ve said made me feel much more comfortable with it. My main concern was about how reliable the sterility would be, but it sounds like that should not be a problem.

I did look at the ingredient list for the version for horses, and it looked very similar to the B12 I used to get. Mainly 5000 mcg/mL cyanocobalamin and 1% benzyl alcohol as a preservative. I know a lot of people with ME/CFS are concerned about preservatives, but it never seemed to bother me. And I also did fine with the cyanocobalamin version of B12.

If I decide I’m comfortable with that, then I need to find a way to get it, as it is vet prescription only. My sense it that its pretty freely prescribed for horses, and luckily I have a lot of friends with horses, so maybe one of them would help me out.

A little perusing online showed that another approach to saving money is to purchase methylcobalamin powder and mix it up yourself (with sterile water or saline). That makes me a bit nervous, especially because it sounds like at least in some cases they are mixing up multi dose vials without preservatives. Unless the saline serves that function? If anyone reading this is taking that route, please let me know how it is working for you! (I read about it in B12 deficiency and pernicious anemia forums.)

Anyway, I think it’s absurd that someone like me with pretty decent health insurance is having to go to these lengths to get a pharmaceutical needed to function well - and a very benign, harmless one at that.

I’d still love to hear from others about sources, or any creative hacking you are doing in this area, or both!

 

[Slushiefan]

The prescription part could be hard. I have not personally yet found a reliable solution for how to get a veterinary Rx, even though there were times it would have been useful if I could have.

My route of choice when I have been under the same set of issues, is to find a seller online that does not have an Rx requirement. Then I just accept the extra cost associated w/ that choice.

Following up on that line of thought, you would need to find a seller on line. B12 is a common treatment so this should actually be easy.

B12 would probably be available as a ‘bodybuilder’ treatment. Bodybuilding supplements have lots of avenues of availability in online sales.

Start with ‘Irondaddy.to’ I have bought from them before and they are very popular among the bodybuilders.