Nerve Support

What this is. A B-vitamin and herb blend taken for nerve comfort, particularly tingling or discomfort in hands and feet.

1.2 mg of thiamine, 1.7 mg of vitamin B6 and 3 mcg of vitamin B12 in one capsule. Those are ordinary everyday amounts — about what an adult is advised to get in a day — and they are nowhere near the high-dose B12 regimens people associate with nerve health. The front of the bottle says so, and so does this page.

What you are actually getting, per 1 capsule

• Thiamine (vitamin B1, form not stated on the panel) — 1.2 mg
• Vitamin B6 (form not stated on the panel) — 1.7 mg
• Vitamin B12 (as methylcobalamin) — 3 mcg

That is the entire formula: three B vitamins in one capsule. The B12 form is stated, which is useful. The thiamine line gives no form at all, so whether it is thiamine hydrochloride, thiamine mononitrate or benfotiamine is not stated, and those are not interchangeable — benfotiamine in particular is the form used in most of the research people associate with this category.

Worth knowing before you buy

Put the numbers next to the reference intakes. The adult RDA is about 1.2 mg for thiamine, 1.3 mg to 1.7 mg for B6 depending on age, and 2.4 mcg for B12. This capsule gives 1.2 mg, 1.7 mg and 3 mcg. In other words it is a day's worth — the same order of amount you would get from a basic multivitamin, or from eating.

That matters because of what the name on the bottle leads people to expect. The high-dose B12 people have heard about in connection with nerves is typically 1,000 mcg, by mouth or by injection, given for a diagnosed B12 deficiency and followed up with blood tests. This is 3 mcg. It is a few hundred times smaller, and it will not correct a deficiency.

The other ingredients people look for in a nerve formula are not here either. No alpha-lipoic acid, no benfotiamine, no acetyl-L-carnitine, no wider B-complex. Three vitamins, at everyday amounts.

If you have numbness, tingling, burning or weakness, that is worth a doctor's appointment rather than a supplement. Those symptoms have a long list of causes, several of them treatable, and the ones involving B12 are found with a blood test. A 3 mcg capsule is not a way of finding out which you have.

What it is: three B vitamins at ordinary daily amounts, cheaply. What it is not: a high-dose B12 product, and not something that should be standing in for a diagnosis.

How to take it

One capsule a day with water. Thirty capsules in the bottle, so one a day is 30 days.

Other ingredients

The panel we have does not carry an other-ingredients line, so we cannot tell you what the capsule shell is made of. Gelatin shells are animal-derived and are not suitable for vegetarians or vegans; cellulose and HPMC shells are. We are not going to guess which this is — if it matters to you, read the physical bottle before you take it. No allergen is declared on the panel, which is not the same as there being none.

Cautions

At these amounts there is very little to flag, which is itself the point. Two things worth saying anyway. Vitamin B6 interacts with levodopa taken without carbidopa, and with phenytoin; 1.7 mg is a small amount, but mention it to your pharmacist if you take either. And if you take metformin or a long-term proton pump inhibitor such as omeprazole, both of which reduce B12 absorption, 3 mcg is unlikely to be enough to make up the difference — that is a conversation for your doctor, with a blood test behind it. Taken over long periods, B6 in the hundreds of milligrams can itself cause nerve damage, which is why high-strength B6 products carry warnings; this one is nowhere near that territory. Keep out of the reach of children. Do not use if the safety seal is damaged or missing. Store in a cool, dry place. Do not exceed the recommended dose. If you are pregnant, nursing, under 18, taking prescription medication or living with a medical condition, speak to your doctor or pharmacist before starting this or any supplement.

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.