Ten years ago, you were able to order B12 self-injection kits online, and inject in the comfort of your home. We ourselves were selling such kits, which were lifesavers for many patients. This changed with new American regulations, limiting the selling of injectables and needles without a prescription from a physician.
This wouldn’t be a problem if doctors would prescribe daily B12 shots for patients who needed them. Daily doses are necessary, yet we have many readers who complain of only being able to obtain an injection every few weeks or months. There is a tragic lack of knowledge among doctors when it comes to B12 deficiency, as discussed in our book The B12 Deficiency Survival Handbook, or in Sally Pacholok’s excellent Could It Be B12?.
Not only that, but often the form of B12 that these patients get is either cyanocobalamin or hydroxycobalamin. The former contains a cyanide molecule that the body has to detoxify. The latter is better, but we recommend methylcobalamin, as it includes a methyl group and directly aids in lowering homocysteine levels and in fixing nerve damage, two issues often faced by pernicious anemia and B12 deficiency patients.
All of this is causing great pain to people who suffer from pernicious anemia or another type of gastric B12 malabsorption. These people would otherwise rely on the availability of daily B12 shots to counter their inability to absorb B12 through the gut.
The solution?
Build Your Own B12 Injection Kit
We found a way around the problem, and that is creating your own self-administered B12 injection kits. There are a number of benefits to it:
- Cost. It ends up much cheaper, as you can spend as little as a few dollars per shot, compared to hundreds of dollars at private clinics. Even before these new regulations, B12 injection kits were sold for $350 or more.
- Quality. By controlling the ingredients, you can ensure it contains no preservatives or additives – such as carboxymethyl cellulose (cellulose gum) and mannitol – as many pre-packaged B12 injection kits did. Also, you can ensure the quality of the B12 itself by choosing to buy from a pharmaceutical-grade source.
- Availability. This way, you can have as many B12 shots as you need, prescription-free. You’ll no longer have to argue with your doctor, or suffer the degeneration of nerve-related symptoms, because your requests for more shots go ignored.
Here’s how you can build your vitamin B12 injection kit:
1. Order Injectable B12 In Dry Form
Of course, the core part of your vitamin B12 self-injection kit is the actual B12. There’s nothing in the new regulations that prevents the selling of B12 without needles.
You’ll want to ensure the B12 comes from a high-grade lab, and adheres to strict sterility and potency tests. You’ll also want to ensure it is 100% pure B12 – no additives or preservatives whatsoever. These can lead to side effects or reactions that you may then associate with the B12 itself, even though B12 has nothing to do with them.
Also, you’ll want to get the methylcobalamin form of B12, because it is superior. It reduces homocysteine directly, and has distinct nerve-repairing properties.
If you can’t find injectable methyl-B12 anywhere, you can order it from us. We have partnered with a lab in England that offers pure, pharma-grade methylcobalamin B12, guaranteeing sterility and efficacy. You can order it here:
2. Mix It With Saline
Next, you’ll want to get saline (sodium chloride, 0.9%). This is simply salt mixed in sterile water in a concentration of 0.9%. For example, a 10g solution contains 0.09g of salt. This concentration closely resembles the amount of salt in our body fluids.
Back when companies could still offer B12 injection kits, they almost all used sterile water. But if you read the research, you will see that methyl B12 is best absorbed when dissolved in saline. Why use water? Saline is cheap enough.
Another issue is pain. Several studies have shown that injections dissolved in saline are less painful than those dissolved in water because the body’s natural salinity more closely matches that of saline, eliminating the need to equalize salinity levels.
So, for your B12 injection home kit, we suggest dissolving your B12 in saline.
If you can’t find injectable saline, we now offer it as well. You can order 12 small 10ml ampules (a year-long supply for our B12 vials), for $35. Order through this link:
3. Inject With Insulin Needles or a Needless Injector
Our vitamin B12 injection kits wouldn’t be complete without a way to inject the B12 and saline solution. You can do this either through the good old traditional needle, or through a more modern, needle-free injection device.
If you choose to go with needles, you can use any insulin syringes, which will all allow you to inject the B12 solution subcutaneously (into fat tissue). This delivery method is generally pain-free, as the short needle avoids major blood vessels. Subcutaneous delivery allows for a slow and sustained release from the tissue, with a proven track record of efficient methylcobalamin B12 delivery. On the other hand, you can use a needle-free injection device to get rid of the fear factor entirely.
Follow the three steps above and you’ll have the best B12 injection kit you could get your hands on. It will contain no preservatives or additives, be painless and easy to self-administer at home, and all without breaking the bank.
Good luck.