Health & Longevity

Florida Was Supposed to Fix Everything

Two years into retirement, moving to a 55+ community in Florida looked like the obvious next step. No state income tax, so their Social Security checks and retirement withdrawals went further than they ever did in California.

Margaret and Thomas standing in front of their new Florida home, garage open with their car and golf cart inside

Dr. Will Cole

Founder, LongevityRx · Functional Medicine · 5-minute read

Featured In

Equinox

Today

No more watching a chunk of every distribution disappear before it even hit their account. No more of Thomas's knees seizing up every time a cold front rolled through their old Sacramento neighborhood.

They ran the numbers the way most Californians their age eventually do. Property taxes that reset lower on a new Florida home.

A cost of living that lets their savings breathe instead of quietly shrinking. Friends from their old neighborhood who had already made the same move and would not stop talking about it.

They told themselves, and everyone else, that it was mostly about the weather, warmer climates were supposed to be easier on aging joints.

Add in the tax savings, and the decision felt practical, obvious, easy to explain at dinner parties.

That was the whole story, as far as they knew.

What neither of them realized yet was that the real story had nothing to do with the weather, or the taxes.

They picked a community straight out of a brochure. Golf carts humming down palm-lined paths before 8 a.m. Pickleball courts are full before breakfast.

Other neighbors heading out for water aerobics, and then in most evenings for happy hour and ending the night dancing.

“We'll fit right in,” Thomas said, only half-joking, the day they signed the paperwork.

They didn't. Not at first.

Margaret remembers their first neighborhood party. It felt good to be invited.

Margaret, Thomas, and two neighbors smiling together at a neighborhood party, holding glasses of wine

By 6:30, she felt disappointed in herself. Her feet ached. Her head felt like she was watching the party through glass.

She quietly asked Thomas if they could head home.

Thomas, who sat out two pickleball games that same week, blamed his knees and feeling exhausted himself.

Naturally, he was on board with heading home.

None of it felt unfamiliar, exactly. Margaret had been managing type 2 diabetes with metformin for years.

Thomas had his own daily heartburn pill, the kind you take without thinking about it, morning after morning after morning.

Between the two of them there was a small pharmacy on the kitchen counter.

A statin, a water pill for blood pressure, the metformin, the heartburn medication.

They'd assumed this was just what being over 65 felt like. Low energy.

Foggy thinking. Aches that came and went. Everyone they knew back in California felt roughly the same.

Except here, their neighbors didn't.

That was the part that genuinely confused her.

Diane, their 74 year old neighbor, on her third pickleball match of the morning, sharp as ever while also managing diabetes.

So was Diane's husband. So were half the people who'd danced past ten at the party Margaret and Thomas had left early from.

"How are you doing this?"

Margaret finally asked her, half out of breath just watching Diane finish a set. "What are you all doing that we're not?"

A kitchen counter with multiple prescription bottles, a weekly pill organizer, and a cup of coffee

The answer nobody's doctor had mentioned

Diane's answer wasn't a diet or some new workout. It was something a nurse practitioner in the community had explained to a small group of residents about a year earlier.

Some of the most commonly prescribed medications in America quietly use up the exact nutrients that keep energy steady, muscles calm, and minds clear.

Margaret went home and started reading, and what she found lined up uncomfortably well with what she and Thomas had both been feeling for years.

Metformin, the medication Margaret had taken every morning for over a decade, has one of the best-documented nutrient side effects in diabetes care.

19.1% of long-term metformin users

had low or borderline-low B12 at five years in the Diabetes Prevention Program Outcomes Study, one of the most rigorous long-term diabetes trials ever run. Roughly double the rate in the placebo group. Each additional year on metformin raised the odds of B12 deficiency by 13%.

Source: Diabetes Prevention Program Outcomes Study (DPPOS)

Thomas's daily heartburn pill had its own footnote.

A study published in JAMA found that people using acid-suppressing heartburn medications for two or more years had a 65% higher likelihood of B12 deficiency.

The Cleveland Clinic also notes that long-term use of these medications can lead to malabsorption of both B12 and magnesium, which it connects directly to muscle weakness, poor balance, and falls.

65% higher likelihood of B12 deficiency

in patients using acid-suppressing heartburn medications for two years or more, based on a nested case-control study of over 210,000 patients.

Source: Lam et al., JAMA, 2013

Statins and water pills had their own quiet costs too.

Statins work through a liver pathway that's also used to make CoQ10, the compound muscles use for cellular energy.

Diuretics flush magnesium and potassium out along with excess fluid.

Between the four medications sitting on their counter, Margaret realized she and Thomas were checking almost every box.

None of it meant the medications were wrong.

Margaret's metformin had kept her blood sugar in check for years.

Thomas's heartburn pill did what it was supposed to do. The problem was simpler and stranger than either of them expected.

Replacing what these medications quietly use up isn't really anyone's job. Doctors have a handful of minutes and bigger things to cover. The guidelines exist, but they live in places patients never read.

Why the drugstore bottle never seemed to help

A pharmacy supplement aisle lined with rows of vitamin and mineral bottles

Margaret had actually tried a B12 supplement once, years earlier.

"Nothing happened," she told Diane. "I gave up on it."

That, it turned out, was likely the form, not the idea.

Most drugstore B12 is cyanocobalamin, a form the body has to convert before it can use it.

A conversion that gets less efficient with age, especially as stomach acid naturally declines.

Then for magnesium, most use magnesium oxide, one of the cheapest and least absorbed forms available.

Diane and several others in the community had switched to something different:

A methylated multivitamin built around pre-activated B6, B12, and folate that skip that conversion step.

More importantly, the magnesium formula is an amino-acid-bound magnesium designed for the kind of absorption a drugstore bottle isn't built for.

Weeks later, after consistently taking this specific magnesium, she wasn't leaving parties early.

Thomas was back on the pickleball court more mornings than not.

The fog didn't lift all at once. It lifted the way most things do after 70.

Slowly, then noticeably, then it was just how they felt.

None of it happened by accident.

The specific forms Diane had pointed her toward weren't a drugstore fluke, they traced back to one functional medicine doctor's answer to a problem he'd watched for years.

Why these forms, specifically

For years, Dr. Will Cole watched patients do everything right.

Taking their metformin, their heartburn pill, their statin, exactly as prescribed.

Still, his patients were quietly running low on the nutrients those medications interact with.

Not because anyone did anything wrong. Because, as he puts it, nobody's job description includes putting back what a prescription uses up.

"The forms are the whole point. A 70 year old body shouldn't be asked to convert its vitamins before it can use them. We start with the finished form."

That's also why you won't find these exact formulas on a drugstore shelf next to a $9 bottle of magnesium oxide.

Those bottles are inexpensive because they use the cheapest available forms of these nutrients.

Cheap ingredients make a cheap price possible. They don't make an effective supplement.

MitoMultiply and Mag18 were built the opposite way.

MitoMultiply has pre-activated, methylated B vitamins that need no conversion.

Mag18 has amino-acid-bound forms of magnesium designed for the kind of absorption an aging digestive system can actually use.

The Medicine Cabinet Refill is the two formulas together: MitoMultiply in the morning, Mag18 at night.

One job. Put back what your prescriptions quietly use up, in forms your body doesn't have to fight to absorb.

Introducing The Medicine Cabinet Refill

Steady in 90 nights. Two formulas, four capsules, one job: put back what your prescriptions use up.

That is the entire protocol. It fits the two moments you already own: breakfast, and lights-out. No new pills at lunch, nothing to remember at odd hours. And this matters: most people notice the nights change first, often within the first week. That is the magnesium. The morning half works quieter and slower, and we will show you exactly what to expect and when.

MitoMultiply and Mag18 bottles, plus a free bonus of the first three chapters of Heal Your Cells

LongevityRx built the Refill for exactly the people on this page. MitoMultiply is methylated, pre-activated B vitamins built for how absorption works after 60, two capsules with breakfast. Mag18 is peptide-bound magnesium for the muscles that have been waking you at 2 a.m., two capsules before bed. Most people notice the nights change first, often within the first week.

Your order includes $212 in practical tools, free:

Your Order Includes:

The Medicine Cabinet Refill $134.91

FREE Personalized Drain Profile $49

FREE Doctor Visit Cheat Sheet $29

FREE First 7 Nights Plan $39

FREE Baseline Scorecard & Progress Tracker $47

FREE 90-Day What-to-Expect Calendar $19

FREE Label Decoder $17

FREE Quiet Nights Tracker $12

BONUS First Three Chapters of Heal Your Cells, by Dr. Will Cole & Dr. Josh Axe

Get $212 in FREE Added Value

The 90-Night Guarantee: score yourself tonight, take the Refill for 90 nights, score yourself again. If your own scorecard has not moved, every dollar comes back, you ship nothing, and you keep the tools. Your scorecard is the judge. Not us.

Why these two, and not what's already in your cabinet

MitoMultiply and Mag18, the two formulas in the Medicine Cabinet Refill

01

The Form Problem

Most multivitamins use cyanocobalamin for B12, a form the body has to convert before it can use it, a conversion that gets less efficient with age. Most magnesium is magnesium oxide, one of the cheapest and least absorbed forms on the shelf. Neither is wrong, exactly. They're just built for a young, efficient gut, not the one you have at 65 or 75.

02

MitoMultiply, Not a Standard Multivitamin

MitoMultiply uses pre-activated, methylated B6, folate, and B12, the finished form your cells actually use, so there's no conversion step to fall short on. It's rounded out with NADH for cellular energy, ellagic acid for mitochondrial-level antioxidant support, and rhodiola for stress and fatigue. Built for daily nutrient support, not for replacing what a prescription draws down.

03

Mag18, Not a Drugstore Magnesium

Mag18 uses 18 amino-acid-bound forms of magnesium, designed for the kind of absorption a $9 bottle of magnesium oxide isn't built for. Zinc, copper, selenium, chromium, and vitamins D3 and K2 round out the formula. Same mineral, a form your body doesn't have to fight to absorb.

04

One Job, Together

MitoMultiply in the morning, Mag18 at night. Two formulas built to put back what certain prescriptions quietly use up, in forms your body doesn't have to work to absorb.

About the Author

Dr. Will Cole, MD

Functional Medicine Practitioner

Dr. Will Cole is a leading functional medicine practitioner who works to find the root cause of fatigue, inflammation, and hormone imbalance. After reviewing thousands of genetic profiles in his clinic, he formulated MitoMultiply for Longevity Rx to give the body the methylated nutrients it can actually use.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why isn't B12 checked at a normal physical?+

The standard panel is built to catch disease markers your doctor is watching for at night, like your A1c, blood pressure, and kidney function. B12 is not part of that default panel. The American Diabetes Association's own Standards of Care say measurement should be considered for people on long-term metformin, but "considered" is easy to lose inside an eleven-minute visit unless someone asks for it directly.[1]

How common is B12 deficiency in people on metformin?+

In the Diabetes Prevention Program Outcomes Study, 19.1% of long-term metformin users had low or borderline-low B12 at five years, compared with 9.5% on placebo. By year thirteen, it was 20.3%, roughly one in five. Each additional year of use raised the odds of deficiency by 13%.[2]

What does low B12 actually feel like?+

It tends to show up slowly, which is part of the problem. Tiredness that gets filed under age. Tingling feet that get filed under diabetes. Foggy thinking that gets filed under getting older. These symptoms look exactly like what people already expect to feel in their 60s and 70s, which is why a test matters more than a guess.

Should I stop taking metformin?+

No. Metformin has decades of evidence behind it and has helped protect many people from the consequences of uncontrolled blood sugar. Nothing here suggests stopping or changing it. The point of this page is the nutrient it can quietly use up over time, not the medication's value. Never stop or change a prescription medication without consulting your healthcare provider.

What should I actually say to my doctor?+

Something as direct as: "I've been on metformin for years. Could we check my B12?" This is already inside the ADA's own published Standards of Care, so it is not an unusual request. Bringing a printed summary with citations can help keep the conversation short and specific.

Why does the form of B12 matter?+

Most drugstore B12 is cyanocobalamin, a form your body has to convert before it can use it, and that conversion slows with age. Methylated B12 arrives already in the active form, which is why it's used instead of cyanocobalamin in formulations built for this stage of life.[3]

What if my B12 test comes back normal?+

That's a genuinely good outcome, and the honest majority result: about four out of five long-term metformin users are not in the low range. A normal result means one less thing to wonder about. The point of testing is finding out which group you're in rather than guessing.

You Have Two Options From Here

Option one

Keep doing what you have been doing. Your metformin keeps working exactly as it should. The B12 test the ADA's own Standards of Care say should be considered stays unordered, and the tiredness, the tingling feet, or the foggy thinking that might actually be telling you something keep getting filed under age, diabetes, or just getting older instead.

Option two

Start tonight, and give your body back what your metformin has been quietly using up. Methylated B12 in the morning, peptide-bound magnesium at night, two capsules each. That's the whole routine. Most people notice their nights change first, often within the first week. Score yourself tonight, score yourself again in 90 nights, and if nothing has moved, the 90-Night Guarantee means every dollar comes back.

This offer is available for a limited time.

The Medicine Cabinet Refill

Steady in 90 nights. Two formulas, four capsules, one job: put back what your prescriptions use up.

That is the entire protocol. It fits the two moments you already own: breakfast, and lights-out. No new pills at lunch, nothing to remember at odd hours. And this matters: most people notice the nights change first, often within the first week. That is the magnesium. The morning half works quieter and slower, and we will show you exactly what to expect and when.

LongevityRx built the Refill for exactly the people on this page. MitoMultiply is methylated, pre-activated B vitamins built for how absorption works after 60, two capsules with breakfast. Mag18 is peptide-bound magnesium for the muscles that have been waking you at 2 a.m., two capsules before bed. Most people notice the nights change first, often within the first week.

Your order includes $212 in practical tools, free:

Your Order Includes:

The Medicine Cabinet Refill $134.91

FREE Personalized Drain Profile $49

FREE Doctor Visit Cheat Sheet $29

FREE First 7 Nights Plan $39

FREE Baseline Scorecard & Progress Tracker $47

FREE 90-Day What-to-Expect Calendar $19

FREE Label Decoder $17

FREE Quiet Nights Tracker $12

BONUS First Three Chapters of Heal Your Cells, by Dr. Will Cole & Dr. Josh Axe

Get $212 in FREE Added Value

The 90-Night Guarantee: score yourself tonight, take the Refill for 90 nights, score yourself again. If your own scorecard has not moved, every dollar comes back, you ship nothing, and you keep the tools. Your scorecard is the judge. Not us.

This isn't a reason to stop or change any prescription medication. Talk to your doctor first, especially if you're taking metformin, a PPI, a statin, or a diuretic.

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.

Margaret and Thomas are fictional characters created for illustrative purposes only. They are not actual customers, and any resemblance to real persons is coincidental. Their story is a dramatization and does not represent a guarantee, typical result, or claim about any individual outcome.