Vitamins are vital, and we should always take more, right? Everyone needs to get a minimum amount of vitamin B12. But taking too much vitamin B12 can make your acne worse, and even trigger breakouts when you have clear skin. On the other hand, certain acne medications can cause a deficiency of vitamin B12 that leads to pernicious anemia, without administration of additional B12. Vitamin B12 has the most complex chemical structure of all the vitamins. It consists of an organic molecule organized around a central atom of cobalt. There are three forms of B12 the body can use, all of them known as cobalamin, after the cobalt in the vitamin. Cyanocobalamin is the form of B12 found in supplements. It is used in supplements because it is easy to make, and the body can easily convert it into the methylcobalamin and 5-deoxyadenosyl cobalamin it actually uses in enzymes. One of the enzymes the body makes with vitamin B12 is involved in detoxifying a substance called homocysteine. The other of the enzymes of the body makes with vitamin B12 is essential for the production of hemoglobin, the iron-rich protein that the blood uses to transport oxygen.
Without enough vitamin B12, it is possible to develop a form of anemia known as pernicious anemia, in which the body has enough iron but cannot use it to make hemoglobin for red blood cells. Some people who use retinoid drugs for acne need B12 injections to prevent high homocysteine. Retinoid drugs applied directly to the skin, such as topical tretinoin and Renova, don’t have this effect. Retinoid drugs taken as a pill, however, can interfere with the action of an enzyme called cystathionine-beta-synthase. This enzyme converts homocysteine, which can inflame arteries, into a harmless form. Taking more B12 compensates for the poor performance of the enzyme and helps prevent cardiovascular complications. Just one injection usually is enough. Many people who get vitamin B12 injections for pernicious anemia, on the other hand, break out in a very particular kind of acne. Injections of vitamin B12 don’t cause one or two pimples to break out. Injections of vitamin B12 often cause massive numbers of identical pimples to break out all over the face.
It is easy to identify this kind of acne as due to vitamin injections because all the pimples will look the same. If you need vitamin B12 injections, however, you are almost certainly taking them to correct a condition that is even more serious than acne. The good news about vitamin B12 excess and acne is that the blemishes go away about two weeks after the last B12 injection, even if you do not do anything to treat them. If you have brown, black, or Asian skin, you will probably get a better long-term result if you do nothing for acne caused by B12 injections, because most acne treatments for blemishes that are this extensive will leave brown spotting on the skin. The amount of vitamin B12 you get in a “complete B” vitamin supplement is not enough to make your skin out. Neither is it enough to treat pernicious anemia (that requires injections), but it will help prevent both high homocysteine and pernicious anemia. If you are not using any oral medications for treating acne, you do not need extra B12 for fighting acne.
Nonetheless, there are many situations in which taking supplemental vitamin B12 is a very good idea. If you take a proton pump inhibitor such as lansoprazole (Prevacid) or omeprazole (Prilosec), the drugs may reduce the amount of acid in your stomach to the point it cannot release vitamin B12 from food, although there is enough stomach acid to dissolve vitamin B12 from supplements. Deficiency conditions usually take several years to develop. The H2-receptor antagonists such as cimetidine (Tagamet), famotidine (Pepsid), and ranitidine (Zantac) can also interfere with the release of vitamin B12 from food, but their effects are not as severe. The diabetes medication metformin (Glucophage, Glucophage XR) binds vitamin B12 to calcium. If you use metformin, as tens of millions of type 2 diabetics do every day, then taking your vitamin B12 supplement within two hours before or after eating dairy products will not do you any good. And taking the antibiotic Neomycin by mouth can also interfere with the absorption of vitamin B12.
There is no evidence that creams and lotions or any other kind of topical skin care products containing vitamin B12 have any special value in treating acne. There is a little evidence that vitamin B12 creams may help psoriasis. There is also a product that contains an anti-irritant known as licochalcone with vitamin B12 for treating eczema in children, although the product is currently only available in Thailand. A study done about 30 years ago found that vitamin B12 is involved in the immune system’s response to staph infections, but no follow-up research confirmed the initial observations. On the other hand, there is no evidence that creams or lotions or any other kind of topical skin care products containing vitamin B12 make acne worse. There is no reason to reject a product because it contains vitamin B12, but there is no reason to buy it, either. You can spend a lot of time looking for special products that don’t really work all that well. Or you can spend far less time and far less money (less than $100 for 9 different products that work together) for an acne-fighting system offered with a money-back guarantee such as Exposed Skin Care.
The Internet is littered with tales of people claiming to have overdosed on vitamin B12, or saying that they suffered various unpleasant symptoms as a result of taking B12 supplements. But the fact is, vitamin B12 is not toxic. If you’re an average, healthy person, you don’t need to worry about negative consequences from taking B12. Vitamin B12 Is Not Toxic Some vitamins are dangerous in large quantities. For example, too much vitamin A will kill you (which is why you should never eat polar bear liver!), and high concentrations of vitamins D, E and K are also harmful. But these vitamins are fat-soluble, so they build up inside your body. Vitamin B12 is not fat-soluble; So any excess B12 in your body is simply excreted out in urine. There have been various scientific studies where test subjects were given extremely high doses of vitamin B12 (often several thousand times the RDA) for extended periods of time (months or years). None of this research suggested that these large quantities of B12 were in any way dangerous – there were no adverse effects.
Hydroxocobalamin (a vitamer of B12) is used to treat cyanide poisoning, most commonly as a result of smoke inhalation. This is generally done by intravenously administering 5mg of B12 (the RDA is 2.4mcg!), and the procedure is sometimes repeated less than an hour afterwards. There would be no reason for anyone to ever take more than this amount of B12, and it doesn’t harm the patients – in fact it often saves their lives. Many national health authorities don’t bother giving an upper limit to the amount of vitamin B12 that is safe to take, because as far as anyone knows, there is no upper limit. The US Food and Nutrition Board is just one of many national organisations that take this approach. The quantities of B12 found in food are tiny compared to what you can find in B12 supplements, so there’s certainly no risk of overdosing from your diet alone. Basically, unless you take more B12 than scientists have ever even considered, you won’t overdose. And even if you did take more, you’d probably still be fine.
Despite not being toxic, it is possible to be allergic to vitamin B12 (or cobalt, a key building block of B12). However, it should be pointed out that vitamin allergies are exceptionally rare. If you have an allergic reaction to a dietary supplement, the chances are that it’s not a vitamin causing the problem, but a different ingredient. Either way, you should seek treatment immediately. For the unfortunate few who are allergic to B12, symptoms may include: Vitamin B12 is known to interact with a number of different medications – you can take a look at our article on medical interactions for more information. You should also be wary of taking B12 supplements if you suffer from any of these conditions: The B12 Deficiency Alternative The point is that you shouldn’t be put off taking B12 supplements by the risk of overdose, toxicity or allergic reactions. Unless you fall into one of the very small and well-defined categories outlined above, you have absolutely nothing to fear.