I have heard things about the B12 shots that seem to be all good. I am wondering if it really a tangible thing or placebo (sp) or a combination of both?
What do you need it for? Members of the B-12 family such as cyano- and hydroxo-cobalamin are approved by the FDA for various uses, and so in the treatment of those cases, it has been proven to have a “tangible” effect (or else it would not have been approved), but I don’t know anything about off-label use of the drug.
No drug is ever all good; there are side effects, sensitivities and interactions with other drugs that could occur. B-12 is generally a very safe product, but I’d still recommend speaking to a doctor about taking it. Getting a prescription would also help ensure that the shots you would take were manufactured by an actual drug company, and not an unregulated “natural products” company.
If you have a vitamin B12 deficiency, taking it exogenously is typically indicated. If you don’t, whatever for? It’s a micronutrient used in a bare handful of reactions in your body as a cofactor, more won’t do anything.
People should also be aware that under normal circumstances, once someone’s body stores of vitamin B12 have been “restocked” (repleted), there’s enough to keep them supplied again for years. So, the practice of monthly, or even biweekly, injections of B12 is unnecessary at best and downright fraudulent at worst.
And, don’t forget: From an MDs perspective, what’s the major indication for B12 ijections? Answer: To pay the rent.
(I joke, I joke)
More seriously, there is absolutely no need (or unique benefit) to take B12 as an injection. So long as enough of it is given, more than enough B12 will be absorbed into the body if taken by mouth. Since B12 is cheap and generic, taking it in sufficient quantities (as a supplement) does not present a problem.
You always see online where the websites say that you can’t get B12 properly through pills. I know, I know, the horror stories on the web
LOL
I often wondered if it works.
I’m supposed to take a B12 injection every 3 months. My internist has been my physician for over twenty years and he is very reliable. I had a gastric by-pass eleven years ago and had to begin taking the injections occasionally then. It’s only been within the last year that I’ve had to increase the frequency.
I am unable to tell any difference in my energy level after having the injection. I am a hard case.
I used to see a doctor who specialized in weight loss and prescribed phentermine for me (I lost 60 pounds, btw). He offered weekly B12 shots. I would decline to get them because I wasn’t convinced that it really did anything. But the rationale is that it gives you energy. But a lot of his weight loss patients would get the shots.
If you are B12 deficient they can be very effective. If you have an adequate B12 level, I suspect that they would not be as useful. Your B12 level can easily be tested by a simple blood sample.
My nutritionist also told me this. I was told it wouldn’t do me any good to swallow B12 pills, but rather that I should get “sublingual B12” which you put under your tongue so that it can be absorbed via the blood vessels there.
I am a special case because of a rearranged digestive system that may not absorb nutrients well. However, after attending seminars on the subject, I believe normal people also absorb B12 better sublingually.
So yeah, injections are still not necessary. You can get the sublingual stuff for pretty cheap (though, some of the REALLY cheap stuff tastes like crap and it sits under your tongue for 20 minutes).
A doctor once gave me a B12 shot, and for the life of me I can’t remember why. I think he just wanted to make me feel like he was doing something.
I had a B-12 deficiency once that caused me some mild parasthesia- my legs and fingers went numb for a couple months. once properly diagnosed I had a single shot of b-12 and the symptoms went away within a day.
The story as I understand it is that you need to have a little B-12 in your system to properly metabolize it from food sources, so if you have any you’re fine, but if your supply totally peters out you can’t take anymore in from standard nutrition until you get a booster from a shot or whatever.
Parenteral B12 has traditionally been used for malabsorptive states–achlorhydria, e.g., and for its placebo effect to produce generalized wellness.
Depending on the patient, both can be effective; the use of B12 as a placebo is effective at several levels, including the treating clinician’s bottom line. 
Well, maybe not so much anymore–it screams quackery these days–but I think there was a time when B12 and similar “treatments” were used not only by charlatans, but by conscientious physicians aware that a placebo treatment can be very effective if the population being treated is carefully chosen. There is more than one little old lady out there who needs a disease and needs a treatment in order to compete with her bridge group and feel better about herself.