After reading Dr. Jane Sadler's post about a physician friend of hers having a bit of trouble getting Vitamin B-12 injectable for her patients, (click here to read it) we made a few uh-oh-can-this-be? phone calls.
I talked to pharmacist Gary Hancock at Doughtery's Pharmacy in Preston Royal. He was very helpful, as everyone there tends to be. He said there was a bit of a shortage a few months ago, but now their shelves are full.
"As far as our inventory, we're in good shape," Gary told me.
During the 40 years (FORTY YEARS!) he's been a pharmacist, he only remembers one shortage. It was a few months ago and has since been resolved.
Here's what he said about the vitamin: "B-12 is a vitamin we don't store in our bodies," he said. "A lot of older people don't absorb it properly; they end up with the injection route to be sure it gets in their system.
"Most people think of it as tied to their energy level. It doesn't give them a buzz, just a sense of well-being, and most of us just want to feel normal."
According to the Office of Dietary Supplements, good food sources for Vitamin B-12 include certain breakfast cereals, fish and cheeseburgers (I kid you not).
The No. 1 source? Clams.
Maybe I've just been looking the wrong places, but that's the first time I've ever seen clams as a good source for something — other than clam chowder, of course.
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