Vitamin B12 Tablets Hurt!

[Courtb]

I don't want to be a jerk, but a couple of the comments are ridiculous. I too am allergic to B12, because I'm allergic to cobalt. The people who here who have previously commented (the ones that have cobalt allergy) are not making it up. It is a very serious and rare allergy, and they know what they are talking about. It's not preservatives, it's not certain types of cobalt, it's all cobalt. Yes it makes us break out, get rashes, eczema, stomach issues, and unfortunately anaphylactic reactions. Its in blue dye, metals, plastic, dust, cement, our water supply, most food, and it sucks. If you eat food high in b12, you are eating food high in cobalt. So instead of second guessing and throwing bull. Get educated. Just because you didn't know about cobalt allergy doesn't mean it doesn't exist. If I eat things with high b12/cobalt, I can be sick for days like I have extreme food poisoning, and everything that goes with it. Doesn't mean I was dead at birth. It's definitely beyond dermatitis. If we touch it, eat it, or inject it, we will have a reaction. Period.

[Galixie]

Ever since I first heard about cobalt allergies, I've always had the impression that they were kind of tragic. I remember someone from the PAS forum who had that along with pernicious anemia and it just sounded like a horrible death sentence when I heard about it. But that case was kind of extreme because she was already low in B12 and had no possible way of correcting it.

Getting back to S_J_L's issue with the supplements; Assuming you don't have a cobalt allergy, you could try foods that are high in B12. The original treatment for pernicious anemia (back in the 1930's) was to eat large quantities of basically raw liver. Or try a supplement with a different formulation. It is possible to be allergic to any component in a supplement. Last year I discovered I was allergic to something in an over the counter supplement, but to this day I have no idea which component.

Allergies can develop at any age.