Making our own penetration enhancers to mix with B12 = homemade transdermal B12?
To skip all of my boring details, scroll down to the "Possible Recipe" at bottom of this post.
I googled looking for agents the pharmaceutical industry mixes with drugs to allow/increase the deliver of the drugs through the skin. It seems that these agents are called "penetration enhancers" (not emulsifiers, which are the things that make the drug blend evenly into an oil or water for long term storage; see definition of microemulsion below)
I'm interested in trying this on my own. One source, below, listed several easy to find things as well-known penetration enhancers (one of them is lavender oil - which, now that I think of it, does a good job dissolving the finish on wood furniture - so it's stronger than one would think).
Problem is, I'm not the best judge as to the effectiveness, because I'm not consistently responsive to B12. The sublingual enzymatic therapy tablet that I use in my mouth doesn't usually give me any little energy boost, even if I take a few days off of it and then restart. I'm doing it anyway, "just in case" it's doing something.
So if anyone else wants to try making a homemade transdermal mix, it would be great to hear how it goes. here is a link; scroll down to the "abstract" section on it to see the list of penetration enhancers.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0378517394903468
They use the word "microemulsion" - the wikipedia definition of microemulsion states "In contrast to ordinary
emulsions, microemulsions form upon simple mixing of the components and do not require the high
shear conditions generally used in the formation of ordinary emulsions.:", and it states that microemulsions are mixtures of oil, water, and surfectant. Surfectants (sp?) in skin care products are simple soaps or detergents.
The page I linked talks about having some alcohol in the mix, which increased the delivery of the drug into the skin.
Possible Recipe:
methylB12 from inside a capsule of some reliable brand
vodka
water
oil, like some mild cooking oil
lavender oil (don't scoff, see above study reference, and it's strong enough to disolve furniture finish)
a drop or so of liquid soap
I would shake it well each time before using it, and keep it in a dark container.
A lot of work maybe, but if it works, this is better for me than placing periodic orders from some far-off company. I'd like to find a method that doesn't involve holding something in my mouth anymore.