PatchMD is Bunk

A few years ago, during a period when I wasn't taking my vitamins consistently because I was having a lot of pain and nausea, a number of my lab values dropped significantly... and that was just with several months of inconsistency, so if these patches were worthless, I have absolutely no doubt that more than just my B12 would have dropped.

So, although I understand (and share) Chulbert's concern/question, I absolutely reject the idea that these are a complete fraud and useless.  I am also not the only one on here who has been taking them and had lab work come back just fine.

Helpful.  Thanks, Lora.

I am with you on that...

I wouldn't immediately call them a fraud, or flat-out deny their effectiveness, without further research.

My best guess (haven't had a chance to look it up) is that the 20g amount might be an EQUIVALENT to the amount your body would absorb were the pills taken orally. Transdermal delivery avoids absorption in the stomach and maybe elimination in the liver, so I would guess you need a lower physical amount of the active medication.

Off the top of my head, I believe this is the case with the birth control patch (Ortho Evra) vs. the pill (Ortho Tri Cyclen) in regards to the amount of hormones physically included in the medication.

If that's the case, then there should probably be some sort of note to that effect. But I wouldn't be surprised if there's some sort of measurement/equivalency difference for skin vs. oral.

I have considered the possibility of dose-equivalency.  However, that is a very specific claim and I didn't find any such wording on their website.

To the contrary, they specifically state "dose per serving" on their nutritional panel.

Even the small Antmen weight as much as the real guy - he was just smaller.. 

And could hit just as hard as the full sized guy. Can't argue with that science!

Absolutely. 

This is the claim that the phoney-baloney protein powder people make. They say 5 grams of their crap are absorbed sooooooo much better than whey, that it is equivalent to 25 grams of protein. In their case, it's just outright fraud. And we have no idea if the vitamin patch pele are even making this claim, obviously.

The difference in that situation, though, is that the protein drink is still undergoing the same absorption mechanism.  There are many studies showing that transdermal absorption is more effective than oral absorption for certain drugs.