Vitamin Injections

Vitamin B12 helps our bodies produce healthy red blood cells that carry oxygenated blood around the body, and it ensures our central nervous system functions correctly, developing brain and nerve cells. A lack of B12 can result in low levels of circulating red blood cells or malformed, abnormally large cells that do not function correctly and cannot effectively circulate oxygenated blood around, leading to nerve damage.

Vitamin B12 is ingested mostly through eating animal-derived products, including red meat, offal, poultry, oily fish (e.g., salmon, tuna, and mackerel), shellfish, eggs, and dairy products. As an aid for vegetarian and vegan diets, B12 is often added by manufacturers to fortify cereals, bread, and plant-based milks. You can also find it in yeast-based spreads like Marmite.

Pernicious anaemia is a chronic condition caused by a dysregulation in the immune system, which prevents your stomach and gut from absorbing the vitamin B12 that you ingest with your food. It is the most common cause of vitamin B12 deficiency, but many people remain undiagnosed, despite having symptoms. Diagnosis is determined by blood testing.

Vitamin injections provide supplementation when you are not getting enough vitamins naturally from the food you ingest and are especially useful for people who struggle to absorb vitamins effectively through their gut, rendering them deficient.

Some people become naturally deficient in certain vitamins due to underlying medical conditions, like pernicious anaemia, Crohn’s or Celiac disease, certain medications, or post-weight-loss surgery, and others may have transiently low vitamin levels due to diet (including vegan, vegetarian, poor or restrictive diets), disordered eating, age (malabsorption is more common as you get older), or lifestyle factors.

To determine your suitability for vitamin injections, we will need to discuss your medical history, your lifestyle factors, including diet, any blood test results or NHS documentation that demonstrates a pre-existing deficiency or underlying condition, alongside outlining any symptoms which may indicate an undiagnosed deficiency.

Vitamin B12 is defined by four different types: methylcobalamin, adenosylcobalamin, cyanocobalamin, and hydroxocobalamin.

Methylcobalamin and adenosylcobalamin are found naturally in the food types previously mentioned and work together when absorbed in the gut to provide the necessary vitamin B12 for a healthy person.

There are only two types of prescription-only vitamin B12 medicines recommended by health authorities in the UK for treating Vitamin B12 deficiency. These are cyanocobalamin and hydroxocobalamin.

The body naturally converts cyanocobalamin to methylcobalamin and adenosylcobalamin so that it can be used in the same way as that ingested from food. If you look for vitamin B12 tablets in health food stores, or B12 added to fortify breads and cereals, it is usually cyanocobalamin because it is the cheapest form of vitamin B12. Similarly, as a prescription injection, it is the most cost-effective but requires a more regular injection schedule (once per month), which makes it inconvenient for most people.

At Forever Facial Aesthetics, we will discuss the best supplementation option for you during a thorough medical consultation, and we may recommend treatment with prescription hydroxocobalamin. Hydroxocobalamin is produced naturally by our gut bacteria when we digest food, making the synthetic version more easily absorbed and used by the body, and the most routinely recommended by healthcare professionals. It also stays in the body longer, only requiring repeat injection every three months.

If you have a diagnosed vitamin deficiency or transient low levels for other reasons, vitamin injections will supplement what you are not getting from your diet or are unable to absorb.

Restorative injections of vitamin B12, for example, can boost energy, mood and motivation, alleviate fatigue and lethargy, and improve overall wellness by addressing chronic symptoms. Those with a diagnosed vitamin B12 deficiency, such as pernicious anaemia, can benefit the most from regular vitamin injection therapy because the vitamin is delivered directly into the bloodstream and bypasses malabsorption in the gut.

Vitamin therapy injections are delivered intramuscularly. This is the type of injection that you may already be used to if you have experienced any vaccinations. You may or may not feel the delivery; most people find it has little to no pain, with perhaps just the sensation of a short, sharp scratch.

There is no risk of overdose with vitamin B12 injections, and they are unlikely to cause you harm. If, after treatment, you have excess B12 in your system, you may experience short-lived symptoms of tiredness, headaches, dizziness, or nausea, whilst your body metabolises it through your kidneys and excretes it through urine. This may also turn your urine pink.

If you have a vitamin deficiency and associated symptoms, you should start to notice improvements within a few days of the injections, with the alleviation of symptoms and improvements in your overall wellness, sense of well-being, and energy.

Depending on the specific vitamin supplementation regimen and deficiency, most vitamin therapy programmes require repeat injections every three months to maintain adequate levels and improve health-related symptoms. Our wellness specialist medical doctor will discuss the most appropriate schedule for you, depending on your symptoms and diagnosed deficiency.