When trying to lose weight, vitamin B12 injections can give you energy to help you burn more calories. If combined with lipotropic amino acid agents, vitamin B12 shots can be an important ingredient in getting your weight down to a healthy place. Vitamin B12 shots, as administered by Simply Slim in Bethesda, MD, Falls Church, VA, or Tysons Corner, VA, affect everyone differently, so it’s critical you have a customized plan just for you.
How Long Do Vitamin B12 Injections Stay In the Body?
Variable Longevity
The truth is that no one reacts to vitamin B12 shots in the same exact way. For this reason, it’s not possible to give an exact time frame for how long these injections will stay in your body. It also depends on how frequently you’re receiving the shots, since this can affect the amount of vitamin B12 in your body. If the body properly uses B12, studies show it can stay in the body for up to five years.
Of course, the vitamin B12 shots themselves do not stay in the body for five years. The vitamin is more quickly absorbed when administered in injection format, but this is also what makes it so effective for weight loss. Research has shown that between 50% and 98% of injected vitamin B12 is found in the urine 48 hours after it is administered. This means that after 24 hours, up to nearly half of the injected vitamin B12 had been absorbed.
Factors that Affect How Long Vitamin B12 Shots Stay In the Body
No Vitamin B12 Deficiency
If you don’t have a vitamin B12 deficiency, most of the vitamin B12 you get through your injection will be absorbed and eliminated quickly through your urine. This accounts for the people in the research that found 98% of their injected vitamin B12 in their urine 48 hours after it was administered. The people who found closer to 50% in their urine probably had a slight vitamin B12 deficiency, and some of the vitamin was stored for later use.
In terms of weight loss, if you have a vitamin B12 deficiency, which is likely, you will lose some of the vitamin B12 shot in the first 48 hours, but at least 50% of it will be stored in your liver. This means you can feel the effects of the vitamin B12 shot for up to a month. This is why many people receive their vitamin B12 shots monthly; however, for some patients, it’s more beneficial to receive them weekly.
Lifestyle Factors
Studies indicate that your diet and medication use can affect how long vitamin B12 stays in the body. If you drink alcohol, you will be using more vitamin B12 than those who abstain. In fact, vitamin B12 has been shown to accelerate alcohol hangover recovery, so if you drink alcohol, you may benefit from additional vitamin B12 shots for reasons not related to weight loss. Folic acid has also been shown to decrease vitamin B12 levels as well.
Medical Disorders
People who have liver disorders often have difficulty storing vitamin B12, so it is quickly absorbed into the body rather than stored for later use. People with normal liver function store 50% of their vitamin B12 in their liver, so if your liver is not functioning properly, you may need more vitamin B12 shots than those whose livers are working as designed. Fortunately, you cannot overdose on vitamin B12, as it is water-soluble, so adding more is not harmful.
Additionally, if your gastrointestinal tract does not function normally, as with celiac disease or Crohn’s disease, you may have trouble absorbing or releasing vitamin B12, which will affect the levels in your body and how long the vitamin stays there. You might also have fewer cells in your stomach necessary to absorb B12 if you’ve had gastrointestinal or weight loss surgery. These are also situations where you may need more injections than usual.
Age
Studies show that people who are over the age of 50 may struggle to store vitamin B12 due to a decrease in the production of stomach acid and inflammation of the stomach. Additionally, the lack of stomach acid increases the amount of bacteria that use B12, making less of the vitamin available for the body to use. Therefore, to maintain healthy levels of vitamin B12 in your body and you’re older, you’ll likely need additional injections more often.
Symptoms of Low Vitamin B12 Levels
You can tell if your vitamin B12 levels start to taper off or become low if you start feeling any of the following symptoms.
- Low energy
- Fatigue
- Memory issues
- Confusion
- Headaches
- Fogginess
- Moodiness
- Weakness
- Anemia
Using these symptoms as a guide, you can determine when your vitamin B12 shot needs to be repeated. Discuss your symptoms with your provider to ensure they understand how vitamin B12 affects you. They may recommend you receive shots more frequently or that you increase your dosage. Additionally, when you use lipotropic and lipoplex injections with vitamin B12, as we do, you could see even better results without more sessions.
Contact Us Today
Using vitamin B12 for weight loss can be very effective, particularly when combined with lipotropic injections and a diet and exercise program. We can develop a customized weight loss program designed for your needs. Contact the experts at Simply Slim in Bethesda, MD, Falls Church, VA, or Tysons Corner, VA to schedule your consultation today and start your weight loss journey.