If you have been suffering from Vitamin B12 deficiency for quite some time, you might look for the treatment options. Modern medicines come in various forms of delivery and one of them is the transdermal patch. These patches are commonly available for a host of diseases. They are around for a long time and hence, scientists are constantly researching on them.
Such transdermal patches are in use to treat B12 deficiencies and ailments that arise from it. This medicine delivery is easy and takes very little time and effort to treat the disease. They are famous because they are non-invasive. Primarily, this is a great incentive for those who cannot take injections.
Though the popularity of B12 patches is growing, there are some side effects too, which we should know.
- Nursing or breastfeeding women should not go for the B12 patches. These B12 supplements are not going to be of help to women.
- Patches of B12 may interfere with other drugs if you are already consuming medicines containing Proton Pump inhibitors, Metformin or other medicine that are used for treating diabetes and others.
- People with skin issues like eczema may find it irritating to wear this patch. So, they should rather not use it.
- Blood clotting is one of the side effects of such patch delivery.
- Diarrhea is also quite a prominent side effect.
- Anxiety, Heart failure and low potassium levels in the blood can be caused by using Vitamin B12 transdermal patches.
Use of Patches in Present Times
The transdermal patch industry is shrinking in size, and it has already gone from $4.6 billion in the year 2013 to earn only $2.9 billion in 2017. There are researches going on in this field and the ways to use them more effectively.
Today, the patches are found effective in reducing the homocysteine levels, diabetes and more. Research is carried out in this field to see if the patches can treat cancer completely or other chronic issues too. In fact, on studying women suffering from depression, around 27% of them had Vitamin B12 deficiency. So there are scientists working on various ways to get relief to the people through traditional medicines and patches.
Can one have too much of Vitamin B12? Will there be a possibility of B12 overdose? It is impossible to have any problem when the dose is a little more. However, with excessive usage, yes it becomes difficult to absorb. While a few brands of patch manufacturers may create waterproof patches, most are not so. These patches should not be stored in the bathroom or even in places getting excess heat or cold. Just like the two sides of a coin, the market size of these patches is shrinking for specific brands.
