B12 Labs?

Ok, I threw this out there on the Diet & Nutrition page, but I'd be interested in some RNY Specific feedback.

I had labs done Thursday, and my B12 came back >2000.  It says the high end of acceptable is 980.

Currently I take the Celebrate Multi-Complete chewable, and a sublingual B12 liquid, which is 5000 mcg.

I think, clearly, I should drop the B12 liquid, but I was under the impression that we needed a sublingual because we don't absorb it from things we eat (such as the vitamin!).  

Of course I will talk it over with my doc tomorrow, but my B12 has never been checked before, and of course, Dr. Google has convinced me I'm going to get cancer (or already have it!)  LOL.  

So what are you experiencing?  Have you found you don't need additional supplementation for B12?

I do need additional B12...because my body needs it. 

The Question is how often do you take the 5000mcg B12, and how soon after taking B12 did you have your test done. 

I.e. i give myself injections.. Otherwise my body does not retain it. But i wait at least a week to 10 days between my shot and my blood work. Beause i have to give myself shots every week or 10 days, i need to make sure that at the end of the 10 days my B12 is still OK. (For me that needs to be 800-1500.)

I don't want it to get higher that 1500..but so far the highes B12 i got in the last 7 year's was 1100...

I am sure if measure my B12 a day after my shot, it may show much higher. 

Most people need 500mcg every day... So 5000 mcg you take - should last you 10 days.  Or at least a week. Looks like you absorb it well... I would wait a week ..then use the 5000 once a week, and retest B12 app 2 months on a new regime, week away from taking B12..

You do need a sublingual.  You might just not need as much as you are taking.  Are you taking 5000 mcg daily?  The ASMBS recommends 500 mcg daily.  So you are taking 10 times more than they recommend.  You could probably take 5000 mcg once a week instead of daily.  But I would not stop taking it altogther - if you do that you will almost certainly have your levels drop very quickly.

By the way, 980 is not the high end of acceptable.  I think what your lab report probably says is that 980 is the high end of the reference range used by that lab.  Which is not at all to say it is the high end of acceptable.  Labs use reference ranges which are based on an average of a number of apparently healthy volunteers.  Your lab probably has the low end of the reference range as something like 211, and 211 is absolutely not the low end of acceptable - below 400 you can get PERMANENT nerve damage in your hands and feet!  That is not acceptable, at least not to me.

I want my B12 to be around 1000.  I was taking B12 shots once a week but when my B12 was around 1800 I cut back to every other week, not because I thought it was dangerous for my level to be that high (and neither did any of my doctors) but because I just don't need it to be that high.  Last time I had labs done it was around 1200, I think, and I'm happy with that (as are my doctors).

My labs were done recently and my B12 was 2000. I asked my Nut but she said that is fine. I take 2- 500 B12 sublingual. Do you take 1 500 sublingual ?

I don't take sublingual B12.  I take sub-cutaneous injections, 1000 mcg every other week.

My NUT recommends 500 mcg a day...or 1000 every other day

I'm one of the oddballs. I found out I could just take tablets and have normal B12 levels, since Aug 2012. I take 500 mcg 3x week and my last level was >1000.  But I do take large doses of vit D (90,000 wk) and iron (300mg a day).

Almost 6 years out - never taken B12 supplementation - good labs re this vitamin.  I eat 100 plus grams of protein daily mostly from meat-eggs - chicken - fish

Please don't supplement unless your labs/doctor indicate.

I am religious re vitamins I require and getting my labs done twice per year.  At some point I may require B12 or other specific vitamins - but currently 1 multi - 1000 of calcium citrate - extra D only in winter - iron once per day.

More than three years out, in addition to my daily multi-vitamin, 1000 mcg of B12 sublingual once a week keeps me in a good place. 

But I also have to still take 50,000 of D3 once a week as well as an extra B-1 daily (my fingers go numb if I don't) and a ****ton of Magnesium daily (or my feet cramp horribly) so everyone is different... my point is, play with doses, timing, etc, and repeat your labs, you will eventually find your happy place.

Audrey

As poet_kelly said, you do need a vitamin b 12 sublingual. But perhaps your intake is too much than needed. I think you should take advice from your surgeon to help you on this.