Vitamin B12 is used in making red blood cells, in DNA synthesis and in keeping the nervous system working properly. The body cannot make it, so it comes from food — meat, fish, eggs and dairy — or from a supplement.
When someone is genuinely deficient, replacing B12 can make a real difference to tiredness, concentration and mood. Deficiency is more common in people eating little or no animal food, in people over about 50, after weight-loss surgery, and in anyone on long-term metformin or acid-reducing medication. Injection bypasses the gut entirely, which matters when absorption is the problem.
B12 occurs in animal foods, so vegetarian and vegan diets need another source.
Absorption from food falls with age even when the diet has not changed.
Both are associated with lower B12 over time.
Changed anatomy can make absorbing B12 from food unreliable.
Worth ruling in or out rather than assuming.
Both appear in deficiency, and both have other causes worth checking.
B12 injections are sold everywhere as an energy shot. If your level is normal, an injection will not give you energy you did not already have — the excess is simply passed in urine. That is why we check your level, and often your blood count and other markers alongside it, before starting a course.
If you are low, replacement is straightforward: a small injection into the muscle, given at a frequency that suits how low you were and why. Some patients need a loading course and then maintenance every month or two; others need it indefinitely because the underlying absorption problem has not gone away. We re-check rather than leaving you on it forever without evidence.
If your level is fine and you are still exhausted, that is useful information too, and it points us at thyroid, iron, sleep, hormones or blood sugar instead. Tiredness deserves a diagnosis, not just a shot.
We stay current with the research and the technology so that every patient is offered care we would want for our own families, with a plan built around your medical history and your goals.
When you become our patient you are treated like family. You are never a number, and you will always be told plainly what a treatment can and cannot do for you.
Modern, evidence-based methods and high-quality products.
We review your full history and build the plan around you.
We prefer it, yes. Replacing a vitamin you are not short of does not help, and a normal result sends us looking for the real cause of how you feel.
It depends on your level and on why it is low. A loading course followed by monthly or two-monthly maintenance is common; some people need less, some need it long term.
Not by itself. B12 is used in normal energy metabolism, and correcting a deficiency can make it easier to be active, but it is not a weight-loss treatment and we will not sell it as one.
Often, yes. Oral B12 works well for many people. Injection is the better route when the problem is absorption rather than intake.
Soreness at the injection site is the usual one. Allergic reaction is rare. Tell us if you have had a reaction to B12 or cobalt before.
Call the clinic and we will test rather than guess.