Can you use insulin syringe for B12 injections

Q: How big is the needle for a B12 shot?

Needle length is usually 1–1½, 22–25 gauge, but a longer or shorter needle may be needed depending on the patients weight. Note: An alternate site for IM injection in adults is the anterolateral thigh muscle.

For B12 I think intramuscular injections are preferred, and that's what doctors and nurses will do if you get injected at a clinic. But subcutaneous (into fat) is often done instead by patients at home, since it's a lot easier.

I inject a very high dose hydroxoB12 intramuscularly, twice per week. Mine comes in glass phials with necks that snap off, so I have to use a green filtered drawing needle to get it out of the phial. Then I use the big blue needles (1 inch long, 23 gauge) to inject it into a thigh muscle.

Basically it has to be done on the outer half of the upper leg. The higher and farther out it is, the less it hurts. It can also be done on the outer upper arm, but that only really works if you have someone else to do the injecting.

The one problem with IM injecting is that you might hit a blood vessel instead of a muscle. Usually you can draw the plunger back slightly to see if blood is coming into the syringe, but the B12 is already dark red so you just can't tell. I usually only hit a blood vessel once every couple months anyhow. It bleeds a lot for a minute or so after removing the needle (similar to when having blood drawn for testing), and the B12 is released into the body faster than is optimal, but otherwise it's not a big deal.

Índice Show

What type of syringe is used for B12 injections?
Can I use insulin syringe for subcutaneous injection?
How big is the needle for a B12 shot?
What is the best way to inject vitamin B12?

lnester7 said:

For those of u that inject yourself the b12, how do you do it?
-Type of b12,
-Needle type
-Place in body where you inject
yourself?

I have read people use insulin needles buy do you use the instramuscular b12 liquid, or some special b12 made for that needles?

Tx,
7

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Hi Inester7,

I use 5/16" (short needle) 31 gauge insulin syringes. I use the 1ml. Since I wrap the vial and the syringe in foil, I use the 1ml syringe for 1/2ml of 20mg/ml fluid. The shaft of the plunger has a notch in it such that when it is at the edge of the barrel it is at the 0.5ml level. I can draw by feel. MeCbl is damaged quickly by light, photolyticaly breaking down to some level of HyCbl in equilibrium solution with AquaCbl. This gives me acne type lesions within 2-3 days after it starts. AdoCbl breaks down even faster from light, and even in the fridge. I have never found it to be stable enough to use for injection. In one country it is available for injection it comes as dry crystals in the vial and a vial of saline, and it is mixed on the spot and instructions to discard after 5 days. The solution for IM or SC is the same.

The IM protocol originated with docs injecting CyCbl (which back in the 50s was broken down to typically about 35% HyCbl - H2OCbl). The always did IM. With an inactive cobalamin if there is an advantage to slowing down absorption, I've never heard of it. An IM injection of B12 is typically 100% absorbed in 30 minutes. Then the serum half life is 20-50 minutes, slowing down to 4.9 hours serum half life at 12 hours and to 12.9 hours half life from 12 to 48 hours. By 48 hours the B12 injected is 99% or more excreted, typically unchanged except when cyanide and a few other items are in the body. All this is from a collection of studies that did half life studies, usually as part of other studies. Numbers vary a little but not significantly. The 20-50 minutes range gets most of the variability seen between studies.

The subcutaneous use of MeCbl was, as far as I know, originated, or popularized, by Dr Neubrander for autism to make each injection last longer for the specifically MeCbl and/or AdoCbl deficient, find that MeCbl only lasts a short while. Symptoms can come back in 1-3 days after injection. For those of us with specific CNS cobalamin deficiencies as is characteristic of CFS, FMS, MS. Parkinson's, ALS, Supra Nuclear Palsy and others may do so because it is either difficult to get it into the CSF or is removed to quickly or both, an IM injection may last only 2 hours whereas for some a 15mg SC injection will work for 12 hours, or 10mg SC injection working for 8 hours. With my 3x 10mg per day it releases as about 1.25mg/hr, like a 1.25mg IM injection each hour. That maintains my serum level at an estimated minimum of 100,000pg/ml, which is what I need to keep my neurology from breaking down very rapidly. That is what it takes to penetrate the BBB by diffusion it would appear. This comes from Japanese studies with 50mg doses. They did not look for the minimum threshold dose.

So how you do the injection can make it more effective for some people.

Munis said:

Hi,

From where do you get these high dose injections?

In my country max dose available is 1.5 mg. MeCob injections.

So multiple injection a day is the only option.

Click to expand...

I am prescribed the type, amount and frequency. It is mixed at 20 mg/ml, There is no standard product that is easy to order. It is all custom mixed making it expensive and difficult to obtain.

I did large series of injection trials ranging from 1mg to 100mg (that was multiple injections. What I found was that maximum body effectiveness was reached between 1mg SC and about 3mg SC. Then at 6 mg SC injection no additional response. At 7.5mg there was a sudden onset of CNS B12 deficiency symptoms response. If you don't get that second set of effects at about 7.5mg SC there is no point or reason to use it. It is expensive. I don't like giving myself all those shots. Yuck. There was no additional effectiveness at anything beyond 7.5mg. If I take 7.5 I need 4x per day. At 3x I need 10mg/injection. I know some who can do great on 2x15mg. That is a matter of serum halflife and diffusion from injection site speeds. Good luck

What type of syringe is used for B12 injections?

A prescription is required from a physician for either pre-filled syringes of Methylcobalamin B12 or a re-injectable vial shipped with 30 or more single-use 1” SQ syringes.

Can I use insulin syringe for subcutaneous injection?

RECOMMENDATION: When preparing low-molecular weight heparins for subcutaneous injection, the following are always recommended: Use the prescribed size of insulin syringe (e.g. 30 units, 50 units, 100 units) Verify the correct concentration of LMWH based on the order for home.

How big is the needle for a B12 shot?

Needle length is usually 1"–1½", 22–25 gauge, but a longer or shorter needle may be needed depending on the patient's weight. Note: An alternate site for IM injection in adults is the anterolateral thigh muscle.

What is the best way to inject vitamin B12?

Use the thumb and pointer finger of your non-dominant hand to pinch the skin at the injection location. Hold the syringe like a pencil in your dominant hand at a 90-degree angle to the B12 injection site, and insert the needle into the skin until you feel “a little pop,” a sign you've reached subcutaneous tissue.