The amount of cyanocobalamin you need depends on the level of vitamin B12 in your blood and why your levels are low. Your doctor or pharmacist will advise you on what dose to take. About 1%-2% of people have a confirmed vitamin B12 deficiency, says M. Elizabeth Swenor, DO, who leads Henry Ford Health System’s Lifestyle, Integrative, and Functional Medicine in Detroit. If you're one of these people, you may benefit from higher doses of B12 but only under the supervision of a health care professional. When I was first diagnosed with ME/CFS I started self-injecting daily with B12. It made a measurable difference to me, especially with my cognitive function, which had gotten so bad I was sent for an MRI to rule out early onset dementia (that was scary!). The treatment for vitamin B12 or folate deficiency anaemia depends on what's causing the condition. Most people can be easily treated with injections or tablets to replace the missing vitamins. Treating vitamin B12 deficiency anaemia Vitamin B12 may be one of the most important vitamins our body needs. But that doesn’t mean megadoses of the nutrient are a good thing. Most healthy people get enough vitamin B12 from food.

Your body requires vitamin B12 to make red blood cells. You can get it from your food or supplements, but sometimes there may not be enough vitamins in what you eat. This can happen if you are vegan or you do not eat much meat or dairy products. If a vitamin B12 deficiency is not detected and treated, it could affect your nervous system. Monitoring your conditionLauri Wright, PhD, RDN, national spokesperson, Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and chair, department of nutrition and dietetics, University of North Florida. Alzheimer’s. Low B12 levels have been linked with memory problems and even dementia but studies have not shown any B12 benefit in people with one of these conditions, even in megadoses of 1,000 micrograms. “We are a long way from saying vitamin B12 can improve Alzheimer’s or even memory,” Wright says. “Animal studies report a slight improvement in memory, but there’s no evidence in human studies.”

Cancer. Different studies have linked both high and low levels of B12 with cancer. That basically means no one knows whether the vitamin helps or hurts, or even if deficiencies increase your risk. Cyanocobalamin tablets are available on prescription. These come as 50 and 1,000 microgram (μg) tablets.

B12 deficiency not caused by your diet is one to two 1,000 microgram tablets, taken once or twice a day – this is usually if you cannot have vitamin B12 injections

Both vitamin B12 deficiency and folate deficiency are more common in older people, affecting around 1 in 10 people aged 75 or over and 1 in 20 people aged 65 to 74. Treating vitamin B12 or folate deficiency anaemia To treat folate deficiency anaemia, your GP will usually prescribe daily folic acid tablets to build up your folate levels. International Journal of Cancer: “Biomarkers of folate and vitamin B12 and breast cancer risk: report from the EPIC cohort.” If you're a vegetarian or vegan, or are looking for alternatives to meat and dairy products, there are foods that are fortified with vitamin B12, such as some yeast extracts, breakfast cereals and soy products.

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If you have had neurological symptoms that affect your nervous system, such as numbness or tingling in your hands and feet, caused by a vitamin B12 deficiency, you'll be referred to a haematologist and may need to have injections every 2 months. The symptom it’s most famous for is fatigue, but Vitamin B12 deficiency symptoms can also manifest in many other ways: Then, depending on whether your B12 deficiency is related to your diet, you'll either require B12 tablets between meals or regular injections. B12 is one of eight B vitamins. It helps produce the red blood cells that carry oxygen throughout our body. It’s also critical for nerve function, energy release, and even contributes to DNA formation, says registered nutritionist Lauri Wright, PhD, a national spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.