Can you get Lipoplex / B12 shots for home use?

July 29, 2013 8:55 PM

Where can I find b12 shots to administer at home?

I'm really sick of paying $70 every time I want to go get a B12 or Lipoplex shot from the beauty spa. Seems like a whole lot of money for something that is very easy and cheap to do on one's own body. I know how to give shots, and I remember at one point seeing them online, but I can't seem to find the link now. Where can I buy this product?

posted by JJkiss to Health & Fitness (11 answers total)

These are not going to be available over-the-counter from any reputable source in the U.S..
posted by killdevil at 9:06 PM on July 29, 2013

I was given a B12 prescription after a nasty case of mononucleosis/chronic fatigue. The doctor gave me a bunch of disposable IM needles, and a prescription which I filled at the drug store (super cheap). My friend (who was a vet) had to administer it because I couldn't really properly shoot the needle into my own hip/butt.

I have no clue what Lipoplex is or why B12 would be administered at a beauty spa but hopefully this helps - I'm not really sure it's a good idea to be taking the stuff for kicks, though. I stopped when I felt 'back to regular awesome me' again.
posted by destructive cactus at 9:25 PM on July 29, 2013

Best answer: If you can get them at the spa, I guess you don't need a prescription for them in your area so try asking at your local pharmacy. You'll probably want a multi-dose vial (generic, as opposed to brand name), some syringes with 23 ga needles, disposable alcohol wipes, and a sharps bin for safe disposal of the syringes/needles.

Hope that helps. Also agree with the other answers that you might want to see a doc and/or get some blood work done.
posted by benign at 9:42 PM on July 29, 2013 [1 favorite]

Very-high-dose oral B12 has been shown to be equivalent to intramuscular.

http://fampra.oxfordjournals.org/content/23/3/279
posted by sanderman at 9:46 PM on July 29, 2013 [2 favorites]

Hm sounds like a shady business in that case. Here (in Ontario), you do not need a prescription, and can get all the necessary stuff by asking a pharmacist, which is why I mentioned it. IIRC you only need a prescription here if you want something stronger than 1000 ug/cc.
posted by benign at 10:27 PM on July 29, 2013

I take B12 by injection in the US for medical reasons. The IM solution is available by prescription only, or at least that's the only way I've been able to get it. I haven't been able to get a multidose vial in the past two years at all. Also, a lot of chain pharmacies don't even carry IM needles, and will look at you with horror and creeping disgust if you ask for them.
posted by Nomyte at 10:31 PM on July 29, 2013

Mg grandmother has had a prescription of B12 for years. Her doc writes the script and she gets the vial and syringes from the pharmacy. So in the US all you need is a prescription from a medical professional who has diagnosed you with the need for B12 shots as opposed to pills or sublingual solution.

That being said, why are you getting B12 from the spa and have you tried OTC first?
posted by MultiFaceted at 10:57 PM on July 29, 2013

I was on B12 injections for several years due to a macrocytic anemia, apparently the result of 15 years of Dilantin. Then I moved across the country and couldn't afford blood tests and had a hard time getting the B12/Rubramin. A friend told me her doctor told her to get it from a health food store in a sublingual form - he said it's just as effective as the shots, is absorbed immediately when dissolved under the tongue, and ..... ta da .... no more needles!

I've taken two little cherry-flavored tablets under the tongue twice a week for years now. Don't know if there's an actual connection or not, but I did have my blood levels checked a couple of years ago and my B12 was in normal range (when I began the injections, the normal range was something like 300-900 and my B12 was less than 50).

I knew an old country physician once who "doctored" many nursing-home residents and every one of his patients was on B12. He said the ability to absorb and utilize B12 from the diet (nursing home diet, even??!) diminished with age and the lack of adequate B12 was directly responsible for much of old-age fuzzy brain problems, neuropathy, confusion and fatigue. I'm not any health food/supplement/vitamin fanatic, but I'm convinced that old doctor knew what he was talking about.
posted by aryma at 11:32 PM on July 29, 2013

Aren't B12 intra-muscular injections? That is a little different than just sticking a needle in somewhere. My wife has Type I diabetes and thus has given herself 1000s of shots over the years. However, when she needed a week of B12 recently she elected to have the nurse do it because she doubted her ability to properly place the needle.
posted by COD at 4:43 AM on July 30, 2013

Have you considered eating eggs or buying supplements?

Self-medicating pretty much anything with needles carries a fairly warranted stigma.
posted by oceanjesse at 5:03 AM on July 30, 2013 [1 favorite]

Do you need a b-12 supplement, or are you buying Lipoplex injections as some sort of weight-loss thing? Those don't just have B-12 in them, they have all sorts of other crap, including things that might not be safe.

If you actually need a real B-12 injection, go talk to your doctor. If you're deficient, despite taking oral supplements, you might want to get tested for pernicious anemia.
posted by inertia at 8:53 AM on July 30, 2013