Vitamin Injections

B12 is an essential B vitamin found in fish, meat, eggs, shellfish and dairy. Some people genetically do not have the ability to  convert certain B vitamins (including B12) into their active form. 

Methylcobalamin is the active form of B12, allowing your body to utilize it easily. Dietary and oral supplementation are the most common ways of achieving adequate B12 levels, but this can be challenging for certain individuals depending on their diet, intestinal health, ability to convert to active forms and other health conditions. 

Benefits of B12 are extensive: from mood and nerve health to cardiovascular, eye, skin and liver health.

Some signs of vitamin B12 deficiency:

• Anemia (megaloblastic)
• Gastrointestinal lesions
• Poor nerve health
• Numbness/tingling sensation
• Memory loss, disorientation
• Weakness
• Personality and mood changes (including depression, dementia)
• Difficulty waking

Some risks for  B12 deficiency:

• Vegetarian, vegan or low animal product diets
• Aging
• Males
• Caucasian and Latin American descent
• Malabsorption issues
• Pregnancy
• Alcoholism
• Small bowel resection or stomach surgery

Vitamin D is an essential fat-soluble vitamin. Sources of vitamin D are fish, eggs, and fortified foods. We are able to make vitamin D with sunlight exposure to our skin, hence the nickname "the sunshine vitamin". 

However, here in Canada we are truly the north, which makes getting adequate vitamin D from sun exposure difficult without risking our skin health. If you were born and raised in Canada and have not been supplementing there is a very good chance that you are deficient. 

Benefits of adequate vitamin D are also extensive and include bone/teeth, hormone, mood, skin, immune, lung, metabolic, cardiovascular, liver and kidney health.

Some signs of vitamin D deficiency:

• Depressed or seasonal depression
• Autism
• Poor immune health
• Osteoporosis
• Hypertension
• Muscle pain
• Diabetes mellitus type 2 or poor glucose regulation

Some risks of vitamin D deficiency:

• Living in Canada or northern US states
• Lack of UVB exposure
• Gut inflammation
• Malabsorption issues
• Kidney disease
• Obesity

*Please note that recent (within 6 months) lab results of vitamin D status need to be reviewed or completed prior to injection. Unless you have a condition affecting your vitamin D, OHIP does not cover the costs for testing vitamin D status. Lab requisitions are available through your ND and have a lab fee.