Happy new year!
I have been using for a while Solgar's methylcobalin "nuggets", which tastes good and seems effective.
http://www.iherb.com/Solgar-Sublingual-Methylcobalamin-Vitamin-B12-1000-mcg-60-Nuggets/10740#p=1&oos=1&disc=0&lc=en-US&w=solgar b12 sublingual&rc=82&sr=null&ic=1
I have read in Freddd's post and others that sublingual tablets should be dissolved very slowly (30-40 minutes) while Solgar's nuggets take 1 or 2 minutes max to fully vanish under the tongue.
I am wondering if this is a real problem and why Solgar would commercialize a product that might be ineffective. Personally I don't have evidence that it's less efficacious, I have also tried other brands that take much longer to dissolve and the "reaction" to the methyl b12 was very similar for the same dosage. 1000mcg used to make me nervous and jittery when I first started, and the effect was the same regardless the product's brand.
Now I am moving to higher dosages so I was wondering if, maybe, there's an absorption issue with fast dissolving tablets with higher dosages (2.5-5.0mg)
What is your experience?
Hi PeterPositive,
To start with, when I was hypersensitive to MeCbl, I could start feeling the initial onset of Enzymatic Therapy MeCbl in 5-10 minutes. The effect kept increasing as long as the tablet remained against the oral mucosa. If I spit it out in 10 minutes, the increase stopped in less than 5 minutes following that. If 45 ,minutes later, same thing, stopped in 5 minutes or less after removal. If 2 hours, increase as long as present until it just went away, then prompt cessation of increase. The quick dissolvers increased effect as long as it was there against the skin. If they didn't last 5 minutes, they didn't do a thing. It wasn't till later that I learned about the upper lip from an EMT.
I did a series of visual colorimetry tests comparing sublingual to injection. With that I was able to very close establish equivalence of absorbed dose. With the ENZY the rate of absorption was approximately 3% per 5 minutes for the first 45 minutes, falling to 2% per 5 minutes for the next 75 minutes. The 5mg tablets absorbed at the same percentage from the same area so absorption rate was also influenced by concentration Two tablets absorbed twice as much as 1 tablet. Smaller tablets appeared to be less efficient than larger tablets. The amount absorbed appears proportional to area, to at least some degree. Percentage absorbed by equal sized tablets appeared to be at about the same rate across multiple brands of the same concentration. The Anabol capsule emptied along the most of the lower dental arch appeared to be proportional to the area and the time. A thin layer though it didn't last as long appeared to be just as well absorbed as a thicker smaller area for longer
I ran a large series of absorption tests, thousands of repetitions of both sublingual and injection. Basically within a given physical and dosage size of tablet, the rate was reasonably consistent. At 45 minutes the rate of absorption was about 10-20%, averaging about 15%. At 2 hours, the rate was about 20-33% and typically about 25%. So 10 mg of 1mg tablets could absorb a visible in urine amount that matched an injection of 2.5mg and also by the effect. This was also matched by a dose of two 5mg tablets. This was all done while taking folic acid. Now it takes far more to be visible in my urine as I no longer have paradoxical folate deficiency. The effect was obvious with the first Metafolin tablet even though not out of insufficiency.
So, folate sufficiency influences serum halflife of B12 and may be a reliable test of folate status. However, it is unknown how this spread varies across people.
- With glutathione (methylblock) - < 0.5mg injected/absorbed visible
- With folinic acid - 1.5mg
- With folic acid - 2.5mg
- With 400mcg of Metafolin and folic acid and folate insufficiency evident, 4.4mg injected visible
- with 15mg of Metafolin and periodic insufficiency evident, 7 mg injected visible
- with 8mg of Metafolin and no trace of insufficiency evident, 20mg injected visible
All of these were also duplicated with sublingual doses with similar results.
However, I also found 1mg of Enzy to be more effective than any amount of any other brand other than Jarrow of that period. There is a qualitative aspect to various brands that is not reflected by absorption, especially CNS effectiveness.