How Quickly Does a B12 Shot Work?

B12 shots have the advantage of being injected intramuscular, meaning they work almost instantaneously. The purpose of a B12 shot is to correct any underlying B12 deficiency and increase your energy and metabolism. As soon as the injection process is complete, the B12 shot is working. After that, it’s a matter of how quickly your body can utilize the resource once it has it.

B12 Shots are Just One Way to Get the Nutrients You Need, but it is Fast and Effective 

When addressing vitamin deficiency, a common therapy is oral vitamins. Whether you have a natural deficiency or your diet lacks a certain nutrient, adding a vitamin supplement to your eating routine is a way to counteract this deficiency. However, even if you get all your necessary vitamins and minerals from your diet, there’s no guarantee that your body is absorbing them effectively. 

The most common form of vitamin absorption happens through the process of digestion. After we eat, food is broken down in the stomach and we begin absorbing the nutrients in the food. This process starts in the stomach, but also continues into the intestines. Depending on the food consumed and numerous other factors, this process can take anywhere from minutes to days.

However, we don’t always have time to wait for our body to properly stock up on vitamins like B12. Maybe you need to recover quickly from an illness that depleted your B12 reserves or have recently discovered you have a B12 deficiency that is impacting your quality of life. B12 shots are a fast and effective alternative to digestive vitamin absorption.

Is a B12 Shot Faster than Taking a B12 Vitamin?

Like other ingested nutrients, a B12 vitamin has to be broken down during the digestion process before the vitamin can be distributed throughout the body. A B12 vitamin is a compact way to get nutrients, but it still has the time delay associated with absorbing vitamins from food.

B12 shots bypass the process of digestion. A B12 shot is able to work more quickly than an oral supplement because it is injected directly into the bloodstream and can immediately be distributed throughout the body. For severe B12 deficiencies, this makes a B12 shot a more effective manner of therapy . 

When Will I See the Results of My B12 Shot?

Unfortunately, there’s no one size fits all when it comes to B12 shots. Even among individuals with deficiencies, there are too many variables to give a simple time frame. Patients with more severe deficiencies will require more sessions than patients with less serious deficiencies. In the broad scheme of things, improvements should be noticed within 24 to 72 hours of a B12 shot. 

In simpler terms, B12 shots will produce results faster than B12 oral supplements. 

Why You Should Choose a B12 Shot Over an Oral Supplement

Settling for an over the counter B12 supplement may seem like an easy way to fight your B12 deficiency, but B12 shots are a faster and equally effective way of meeting your B12 quota. B12 shots immediately start working as the nutrients are injected directly into the bloodstream. This bypasses the process of digestion and guarantees efficacy for patients who have difficulty absorbing nutrients through the stomach. B12 shots have a headstart over oral supplements, which means patients see results sooner than individuals who rely on vitamin absorption through digestion. 

For faster and effective B12 absorption, B12 shots are superior.