Vitamin B12 and exhaustion have a long history together. For decades, some doctors have administered monthly vitamin B12 shots to patients complaining of exhaustion. Other physicians say giving vitamin B12 shots for exhaustion is the same thing as giving a placebo; that only people with pernicious anemia actually need-or benefit from-vitamin B12 shots. They say that any relief people get from exhaustion by taking vitamin B12 shots is purely psychosomatic. As it turns out, they are dead wrong.
Vitamin B12 often helps exhaustion, especially when the exhaustion is caused by anemia. Not only can vitamin B12 deficiency cause anemia which leads to exhaustion, but it can also make iron deficiency anemia worse. In iron deficiency anemia, you cannot make enough red blood cells. In vitamin B12 deficiency, the red blood cells that you do make are large and misshapen. In both cases, the anemia contributes to exhaustion.
Exhaustion can also be caused by chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia. Although serum (blood) levels of vitamin B12 are usually normal in these syndromes, the level of vitamin B12 in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) may be low. Exhaustion may occur because the lack of vitamin B12 in CSF may interfere with normal function of the neurotransmitters serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine. Neurotransmitter imbalances can cause depression and exhaustion.
For years, doctors gave people vitamin B12 injections for exhaustion. Normally, we get vitamin B12 in our food, from meat and meat products. Since we usually get vitamin B12 in food, you would think you could take a vitamin B12 pill for exhaustion.
The problem is that we humans absorb only a small portion of the vitamin B12 we consume, and some people cannot absorb enough to prevent exhaustion. Some people do not have the ability to absorb vitamin B12 at all. Most of us lose that ability as we grow older, and other factors may also interfere with our ability to absorb vitamin B12. So, taking a vitamin B12 pill may not help your exhaustion.
Some people recommend taking vitamin B12 sublingually (under the tongue) to treat exhaustion. However, sublingual vitamin B12 does not seem to help exhaustion any more than vitamin B12 pills.
There is another proven effective way to take vitamin B12 for exhaustion. The B12 Patch is a new product that delivers vitamin B12 directly into your bloodstream through your skin. It is an easy, painless way to take vitamin B12 for exhaustion.
