What are the Symptoms of Vitamin B12 Deficiency?
Many people with stomach or GI issues, such as IBD and Chrohns disease have trouble absorbing B12 from the gut and will get benefits from injections when the oral route does not work. If not, your body will start manifesting several deficiency symptoms without sufficient absorption of vitamins. A few of those symptoms are enumerated below.
Neurological Issues
Memory Loss
Brain Fog
Fatigue
Heart Palpitations
Pale Skin
Muscle Weakness
Constipation
Appetite Loss
Infertility
What are Vitamin B12 Shots?
Vitamin B12 shots are injections that contain the synthetic version of cyanocobalamin and are used to treat the deficiency of Vitamin B12 in your body. One of the best things about Vitamin B12 injections is that it doesn’t have to go through the digestive system to be absorbed. Vitamin B12 injections can boost your health and invigorate your body.
What are some of the possible Benefits of Vitamin B12 Injections?
Helps Boost Your Immune System:
As discussed earlier, a deficiency of B12 can lower your immunity. Its deficiency decreases the production of white blood cells. Vitamin B12 injections can boost your immunity and regulate the production of white blood cells that enables your body to fight against viruses and bacteria.Can Improve Your Metabolism:
Vitamin B12 injections can significantly boost your metabolism. While the deficiency of Vitamin B12 causes obesity and fat accumulation, the Vitamin B12 shots help you in losing weight as it improves the level of several enzymes that affect metabolism.
Helps in the Formation of Red Blood Cells:
Obtaining and absorbing an appropriate amount of Vitamin B12 is necessary for red blood cells' proper production and function. Having said that, the deficiency of Vitamin B12 causes lower production of red blood cells, which causes anemia. Vitamin B12 injections are widely used to treat anemia since it helps the body produce and regulate red blood cells.Helps Regulate Sleeping Patterns:
Vitamin B12 is widely used to treat disorders related to sleep patterns such as insomnia since it works directly on your brain to induce sleep.Helps To Increase Energy Levels:
Vitamin B12 shots are found effective for treating conditions such as depression, anxiety, and inability to focus since it increases your energy level.Helps To Reduce Hair Loss:
The deficiency of Vitamin B12 is often the cause of hair loss since hair growth requires a high level of ferritin, hemoglobin, Vitamin B12, and serum. Regular B12 injections restore the ability of your body to cause your hair to begin growing as usual.Is An Adjunctive Treatment For Acne & Other Skin Problems:
Since B12 is an essential vitamin for the reproduction of cells, it can help with the dryness and inflammation of your skin. It cannot treat the skin problems but boost the effectiveness of other treatments for skin diseases such as eczema, psoriasis, and acne.
How is Vitamin B12 Administered?
The administration of Vitamin B12 can be done using either of two injection methods i.e. intramuscular and subcutaneous
Intramuscular Injection:
It is a more common method of Vitamin B12 injection.
In Intramuscular injection, the needle is inserted at a 90-degree angle, deep into the muscular tissue.
It is considered a safe and effective way to ensure that the muscles have absorbed all the B12.Subcutaneous Injection:
In this type of injection, the needle is inserted at a 45-degree angle, just below the skin and the needle doesn’t pierce the muscle.
Vitamin B12 Injection Sites
The age of the recipient and other genetics are taken into account while determining which B12 injection site to use. There are 4 common injection sites for Vitamin B12 shots.
Upper arm
Buttocks
Outer Hip
ThighThe injection procedure is very quick and convenient.
Is there any Downtime for this Procedure?
No. There is no downtime for Vitamin B12 shots. You can easily resume your daily activities right away after the procedure.
Are there any Side Effects of This Treatment?
There are minimal side effects from Vitamin B12 shots such as soreness in the area of injections for a few hours and possibly up to a few days. The risks, likewise, are minimal but can include infections at the site of the injections. It is a water soluble vitamin and so it does not accumulate in your tissues. Your body will urinate off any excess vitamin. It is therefore very hard to get toxic levels, unlike the fat soluble vitmins.
How Long Does the Effect of Vitamin B12 Last?
This depends on your diet and medical condition of deficiency of B12. In most cases, the results of B12 shots last for almost 1 week.