B12 and NAD in a pharmacy, not a group chat

B12 matters for red blood cells and for nerves. Genuine deficiency causes fatigue, pins and needles, mouth soreness, poor balance, low mood and, left long enough, nerve damage that does not fully reverse.

People at higher risk: vegans and long-term vegetarians, anyone on long-term acid-suppressing medicine or metformin, people after weight-loss surgery, people with coeliac or inflammatory bowel disease, and older adults who absorb it less well.

Injections exist because absorption through the gut is the usual problem. When they are appropriate, they work well.

Tiredness has a long list of causes and B12 is only one of them. Iron, thyroid, blood sugar, sleep apnoea, depression and simple under-eating account for far more of it on this coast than B12 does.

Injecting B12 before testing also makes the test unreadable afterwards, which can mask a diagnosis that mattered — including some anaemias where treating with the wrong one is genuinely unhelpful. If you have not had bloods recently, we will send you for them first. That is not us being difficult.

NAD+ is a coenzyme every cell uses in energy metabolism. Infusions and injections are marketed hard for energy, focus, ageing and recovery, and the honest position is that the human evidence for those claims is early and thin.

We will not tell you it treats a disease, reverses ageing or replaces sleep. If you want to try it, you should do it knowing exactly that, with someone who is not pretending otherwise.

Registered product with a checked batch and expiry. Correct storage. Single-use needles and sharps disposal. Someone who asks about bleeding disorders, blood thinners, pregnancy, allergies and what else you are taking. A record of the dose and date. Somewhere to sit if you feel faint, and a plan if you react.

None of that is present when a vial arrives by courier and a friend does it in a kitchen.

Numbness, pins and needles that are spreading, balance problems, breathlessness, chest pain or severe fatigue need a doctor, not a vitamin.

Otherwise: book a pharmacist consult or WhatsApp us and we will tell you what the service involves, what we need from you first, and whether you actually need it.