Get Informed: B12
Active Ingredient(s)
Cyanocobalamin
What does it do?
This product is one of the Vitamin B12 family. It is used in the supplementation of diet to prevent vitamin deficiency illnesses.
- Last Text Update:
- 2010-Jul-31 3:44 PM
- Last Data Update:
- 2010-Jul-30 9:15 PM
Other Names
- B12
- VIT B12
- Cyanocobalamin
- Nascobal
- Cytamen
- NEO Cytamen
- Cytacon
How Safe Is It?
- Your Risk Rating
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- Average Risk Rating
-
- Pregnancy Category
- N/A
- Black Box Warning:
- No
Facts & Figures
- Date Approved
- 15 Sep 1949
- Est US Patients*
- 958,100
- Generic Available
- Yes
- OTC Available
- Yes
User Age Distribution*
< 21
21-39
40-59
60+
Age (Years)
* Estimated number of US people currently taking B12 or its active ingredient based on population adjusted patient numbers registered with iGuard.org.
Other Resources
Recent alerts for B12
There have been no iGuard.org alerts regarding B12 during the past year.
B12 Safety Report
Learn more about iGuard's risk ratings
- Please login or register (it's free) so iGuard can check how B12 interacts with other drugs and diseases in your profile.
What is B12 used for?
iGuard is currently tracking more than 7,000 patients that use B12 (or similar drugs with the same active ingredient(s)). Use the table below to learn why iGuard users take this product; click on any underlined condition to get information on other medications used for treatment.
| Disease / Condition | % | Average Severity |
|---|---|---|
| Dietary Supplement | 93% |
mild
severe
|
| Neuropathic Pain | 23% |
mild
severe
|
| Weight Loss | 5% |
mild
severe
|
| Memory Problems/Dementia | 3% |
mild
severe
|
How well does B12 work?
iGuard regularly polls our more than 7,000 users taking B12 (or similar drugs with the same active ingredient(s)) using the Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire for Medications (TSQM) . This feedback is continuously updated in tables below for the benefit of the iGuard community. To request scores for specific patient subgroups, please contact research@iguard.org.
Average Satisfaction Score
(out of 10)
Average Effectiveness Score
(out of 10)
- 87%
- of patients are confident that the good things about B12 outweigh the bad things.
- 7%
- of patients wish they were told more before they started taking B12.
Common Side Effects of B12
iGuard regularly polls our more than 7,000 users taking B12 (or similar drugs with the same active ingredient(s)) to monitor the development and frequency of side-effects. This feedback is continuously updated in tables and graphs below for the benefit of the iGuard community.
5% of patients experience side-effects on B12
5% of patients experience significant side-effects on B12
Most Common Side Effects...
-
= 10%
Less than 1%: Drowsiness, Fatigue, Grogginess/Confusion, Muscle Pain/Cramps
Global Patient Feedback for B12 (Cyanocobalamin) ( Post a comment )
Question/Comment:
I have large Red Blood cells. Tablets are supposed to make them closer to normal. One a day. Anybody heard of this? Thanks, Stay Well.
74 year old Male – Source: iGuard United States
Posted: 2009-04-07 14:43:02
Question/Comment:
I've been taking B12 injections for 10+ years. I have pernicious anemia. My symptoms include fatique, memory loss and restless legs. When i was diagnosed, the dr asked me if I had a problem remembering things. I pulled up my longs sleeves and showed him all the notes I had written on my arms of what I had to do to get through the day! He said my levels were so low, he hadn't seen levels like that in anybody other than in the geriatric ward of a mental facility...yeah, made me feel great! hahha Anyway, once the levels were brought up and I started regular injections, my life changed! My family always knows when I inject as I am happier and more energetic after the injections.
49 year old Female – Source: iGuard United States
Posted: 2009-03-04 22:20:11
Answer/Reply:
After my B-12 injections (every 4 weeks) I don't feel any different. I been on B-12 since 1987. Back then they took part of my colon out due to Crohn's disease.
48 year old Female – Source: iGuard United States
Posted: 2009-03-17 17:50:53
Question/Comment:
I take vitamin B-12 and vitamin B-complex shots twice a week to help with the fatigue I have from my Scleraderma. They help me to get a through the day. I started taking them about when I was on chemotherapy and it also help me then. I give myself my shots. It has been a God-send to me. Any excess is excreted out by the kidneys so I drink plenty of fluids.
57 year old Female – Source: iGuard United States
Posted: 2009-01-21 12:49:38
Question/Comment:
I give myself weekly B12 shots to help with the neuropathy in my feet. If I drop down to every other week, I start getting foot pain when I try to sleep, so weekly works best for me. The part I hate is my thighs have constant bruises from the shots (I have lots of spider veins, so trying not to hit them is very hard).
51 year old Female – Source: iGuard United States
Posted: 2008-12-23 16:19:58
Answer/Reply:
My doctor put me on liquid b12 complex and he says its the best because with the shots you loose too much and with the tablets your stomach acids eat up most of the vitamin. so the liquid was the best and boy do i feel better
37 year old Female – Source: iGuard United States
Posted: 2008-12-23 22:35:32
Answer/Reply:
Just off the top of my head, why can't you inject in a location other then your legs? Even if you need help from a relative or friend. Upper arm is good for me. Good Luck
74 year old Male – Source: iGuard United States
Posted: 2009-04-07 15:00:57
Question/Comment:
I react to or am allergic to sulfites - if I eat something that contains them, it gets harder to breathe, and I get a headache (or my existing one gets worse). Presumably if I breathe in a perfume or other airborne chemical that contains them, the same thing happens, but I have no way to know what smells contain what chemicals. Sulfur dioxide is also bad, but sulfates are harmless.
Sulfites are commonly used as preservatives in foods (except they're banned in meat - it'd still go bad, it just wouldn't be visible) since they are tasteless and harmless to "normal" people, and are usually not written on labels. The only reliable way I have to avoid them in food is to eat only organic food, but even then some specific foods such as grapes contain some naturally. They're also in wines.
Avoiding them in perfumes is basically impossible if I go anywhere, but they take longer to affect me than if I eat something containing them.
Vitamin B12 is basically the antidote to sulfites - take B12, and the sulfites get transformed into sulfates, which are harmless. I can take a sublingual B12 tablet (meaning, the kind you put under your tongue) and get relief in less than a minute. There are also B12 sprays you can spray in your mouth - B12 shots work too, but that's a bit extreme.
Oh yeah, one more thing. Epi-pens contain sulfites.
28 year old Male – Source: iGuard United States
Posted: 2008-12-21 18:34:25
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Comments may be either questions or answers to previously posted questions. Any iGuard.org user may post questions and reply.
14
Patient Comments About
B12