Newsletter 2026-10Aug

B12d Newsletter (August 2026): registered as a serial, ISSN 2732-5539

If you don’t want any more newsletters, click click here to unsubscribe. If you would like a friend to start receiving this letter, please ask them to email notifications@b12d.org with the subject NEWSLETTER SIGNUP.

Important Disclaimer Please be aware that:

• Speakers share their own opinions and findings.
• You may hear different or even conflicting opinions from different speakers.
• Please use your own judgment when considering the information.
• Many of our speakers have a professional interest in Vitamin B12, such as running clinics or selling products. The most knowledgeable people often work in this field.
• B12d does not endorse any speaker’s services, but they are available to you.

All times are UK time (we’re now in Daylight Savings Time ie Summer Time).

Monday, August 10th 2026, at 7:00 PM UK UTCAnnie Barr MBE – The Folate issue and why it’s important

The UK laid legislation in November 2024 mandating folic acid fortification of non-wholemeal wheat flour, coming fully into force in December 2026. This aligns with countries like USA and Canada, which have fortified flour with folic acid for decades. In any case, some flour in UK has been being fortified already.

We have concerns that this might not be in patients’ best interests.

Annie Barr would like to host an interactive session where she can provide a bit of background and then we can discuss the pros and cons of folic acid supplements, of fortifying flour, and of legislation to require it, and help B12d.org to have a position on the topic.

Please Join the Zoom Meeting on:

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85372412068?pwd=d7rE106lT3Y5TnpzPbEFnbv5IeNi0i.1&jst=2

Next Speaker

Our next speaker, which is likely to be November, will be Dr Asim  Naviq. His special interest is how the mechanisms and biochemistry of nutrient defiencies cause different clinical symptoms (which makes it complicated to diagnose) and interplays with hormonal, mechanical, stress, and environmental toxins. The talk will be clinically focussed which suits our audience.

Help Change B12 care in the UK

The B12 Alliance enables all the main Vitamin B12 charities to work together. We’re grateful for the excellent work that everyone did to create and publish NG239 Vitamin B12 deficiency in over 16s: diagnosis and management, but we’re also concerned that GPs and other doctors aren’t following these guidelines. We are concerned about the economic and social losses to UK because NHS fails to treat people with a simple and low cost supplement, and won’t support us to inject at home. We want to see more research, because we think the findings will show the huge difference it will make.

It’s been nearly 20 years since our last parliamentary reception.

Could you ask your MP to attend? Follow the link to the page where you can find out more and lobby them.

Website: www.B12d.org

Our website is still growing and we’re developing the priorities for what we want to be front and centre. With the sheer amount of information, it wasn’t always easy to find things.

If your favourite page is missing, please let us know and we’ll work on updating to a current version.

The website tells a story, so when you’re feeling brain fog you can still follow it. It’s like when you’re reading Dr. Chandy’s book, we suggest you connect with the people (by reading the case studies) before diving into the main text. We are taking a similar approach with the website. You will be able to explore symptoms and personal experiences first. Then, you can delve deeper into the information if you choose.

Dr. Chandy’s book is available on the website (for FREE) in several formats:

• Individual chapters
• A complete download

To subscribe to this newsletter, please email me with the subject line “NEWSLETTER SIGNUP“.

B12d Symptom Checker

You can download the protocol for diagnosis and treatment, the symptom checker, and Dr. Chandy’s book here:

• Protocol for diagnosis and treatment: http://www.b12d.org/protocoltreatment
• Symptom checker: https://b12d.org/symptoms–checker–print/
• Chandy’s book: www.b12d.org/book The online Symptoms Checker is BACK!

You can enter your symptoms online and get an immediate calculation of your likelihood for B12 deficiency. This is not a medical test, but it does give you the evidence to go to your doctor and say you want to start treatment (and you can print out a copy of your results marked with the date and time). Try it out on https://b12d.org/symptoms–checker/ and tell us what you think!

This currently doesn’t store anything. If you want to keep your history, check your symptoms every day (or every week) and print a copy (to PDF if you prefer). We’re still exploring how to keep your symptoms information secure so as to save it.

NICE Guidelines NG239 – Vitamin B12 deficiency in over 16s:diagnosis and management

These new (March 2023) guidelines are a major milestone for the diagnosis and treatment of B12 deficiency. NICE is the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (I know it should be NIHCE but it isn’t) and is the top authority in England for issuing guidelines. The Scottish body (SIGN) also uses NICE guidelines where they haven’t issued a separate one.

There are a number of summaries of what NG239 means by eminent doctors, this one is quite a popular one https://www.pulsetoday.co.uk/clinical–feature/clinical–areas/gastroenterologyobesity/what–gps–need–to–know–about–nices–vitamin–b12–deficiency–guidance/ .

In brief:

• The NICE guidelines highlight that B12 deficiency is widespread and can come about from a number of different factors, and the cause (in broad terms) is important in determining the treatment
• Symptoms are a key diagnosis tool. Blood tests have significant margin for interpretation, but the general principle is “if in doubt, start treatment”
• B12 injections IM should be the default (the person is unable to absorb or process B12) unless it is obvious that the person has too little B12 in their diet, in which case either advice on diet or supplements are appropriate.

Social Media Groups – Our WhatsApp Group

We are a community. In addition to our in-person gatherings, we also have online communities. 

We have a WhatsApp, B12d.org Charity Support Group.  

Join our new WhatsApp group here: https://chat.whatsapp.com/KaJ917o7e7n1ycXWT1pAWn  

There are also three Facebook groups connected to B12 deficiency: 

• B12 Deficiency – functional, neurological and autoimmune
• B12 Support Group
• International B12 Deficiency Support Group

Please remember not to share private medical details on Facebook or WhatsApp. These communities are primarily for support, not medical advice. There are NHS and private doctors and functional medicine practitioners in each group, but they act on their own experience. Note that lots of experts by experience (fellow sufferers) who can give you their own experience. Everyone is different and responds in our own unique ways, so what works for one person might not work for you. 

Where Can I Get B12 Injections in the UK?

We no longer supply B12 for injection.

It is becoming more difficult to obtain B12 for injection. Some people have had success with suppliers in Germany (especially when using PayPal and ensuring the delivery address matches the PayPal address). Note if one supplier doesn’t have stock, it’s worth checking others, because different ones have stock at different times. There are a number of suppliers – check the Social Media groups especially WhatsApp.

Another option in the UK (which also ships to the USA) is Oxford Biosciences. They offer a dry powder that needs to be mixed with saline. It works the same as pre-mixed injections. Oxford Biosciences can ship the powder worldwide. You can call them to request sterile saline, if they have it available.

For oral B12, there are many sources, including Amazon and Holland & Barrett. We recommend considering methylcobalamin and adenosylcobalamin (often sold as dibencozide). However, many people do well with cyanocobalamin.

If you want an assessment and injections, let us know as there are a few clinics able to offer this, for a fee of course since this is not funded by NHS. One of these is https://www.abhealthhub.com/, run by one of our own Trustees Annie Barr MBE. We don’t get anything from you using her hubs, but if we’re going to tell you where to find help, then it makes sense to recommend someone we know so well.

Donations

If you would like to help the charity with a donation or a standing order, please make it to

“B12d” at TSB Bank 77-29-07 18833068, or use the link https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=XFHFAQKKAU5NQ.  We’re continuing to develop our website and creating more materials to inform doctors and patients, and we still send out books via the Doctor Book Scheme (see below).  Your donations have enabled us to produce the videos from our guest speakers, and we want to build the symptoms checker.  This would mean that your queries go into a proper process where we can check your recorded symptoms in the symptom checker and your previous questions and answers and more easily send information sheets.

Doctor Book Scheme

UK-based clinicians can request a copy of the book “Vitamin B12 Deficiency in Clinical Practice” by Dr Chandy and myself in physical (printed) form by sending an email to notifications@b12d.org subject line BOOK, including your POSTAL ADDRESS (surprising how many people miss this off – I can’t send you a copy if I don’t know where to send it!), name, and a number in case Amazon need to contact you about the delivery.

You can download an electronic copy of the book from www.b12d.org/book, either in individual chapters or the whole book. This is free of charge for anybody and everybody.

You can purchase a printed physical copy from Amazon (all their worldwide sites). Black and white version https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vitamin–B12–deficiency–clinicalpractice/dp/1097697452/ at around £6.30, colour version

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vitamin–Deficiency–Clinical–Practice–colour/dp/109678291X/ for £24. When reading the book, start by reading the case studies and get to know the people before reading the text. It’s designed as a medical textbook to be a little heavy, even for an expert patient.

We don’t make any profit on the book (that’s why we don’t know the exact price – it depends what it costs Amazon to print on that day), so feel free to download instead of buying a printed version. It is a huge book, so if you prefer a paper copy, it’s likely to be cheaper to buy from Amazon than print on your home or work printer.

Sincerely

Hugo, Susan, and the Trustees

B12 Deficiency Support Group (registered as charity 1146432)

Horden, Co Durham, UK http://www.b12d.org

Email our expert patients to ask about your specific symptoms notifications@b12d.net

Data Privacy and your right to receive or not receive newsletters

You are receiving this newsletter because you opted to receive our monthly newsletter.  You can change this at any time: click this link to send an email to me. Or click here to unsubscribe.

You can also close your membership on our website.  Please be aware that this will mean you won’t be able to check your symptoms.

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We use your name, address, and email to send you this email (if you have opted in to receive the email).  We may also use symptom data anonymously to understand more about B12 and its progression.

We may, at some point in the future, develop a complete CRM which will use your data to provide more comprehensive support. We will keep you informed as this progresses.