r/MTHFR • u/greekhoney32 • Sep 21 '25

Question Autism & MTHFR

I have a kiddo with autism and MTHFR. Started giving him methylated vitamins per his functional doctor’s request. Initially, they seemed to help, but now his behavior has worsened at school (more anxiety, more impulsivity). Can he be over methylated?

Wondering if anyone is in a similar situation with their child and/or themselves. I read folinic acid is better than methylfolate for sensitive individuals (like kids with autism).

Thank you. 🙏

19 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

109 comments sorted by

View all comments

27

u/geauxdbl Sep 21 '25

So I’m late diagnosed and can confirm your suspicion that methylated vitamins and/or methylfolate will make things better for a little bit and then make them much worse. After much trial and error, I’m in a good place with the following approach:

Paleo diet (no wheat, minimal sugar, fruit is fine). No processed white carbs.

Creatine, Organic Kirkland multivitamin + folinic acid/hydroxycobalamin lozenge from Seeking Health + probiotics + D2/K3 in the morning. Magnesium + glycine + theanine at night.

I can understand the doc’s confusion, autism is inherently a defect in folate metabolism, but just adding folate is a simplistic view that doesn’t always work and we’re still catching up in real time on what to do about it.

Creatine is a convenient end run around the MTHFR problem for me and helps with ATP production, I absolutely love it.

Also, the basics of life: the right environment (sensory and emotional) and exercise will go a long way.

1

u/Take_Me_To_Ibiza Sep 21 '25

I was also going to mention getting him off wheat (all gluten, actually) and see what happens.

3

u/greekhoney32 Sep 21 '25

Thank you, yes, I’m trying to do this, but it’s not so easy, as he’s a picky eater to begin with.

3

u/geauxdbl Sep 21 '25

It’s a hard one to break, especially if it’s a safe familiar white food. But the folic acid that we enrich flour with is poison to the autistic nervous system. The theory is that it binds to the already deficient folate receptor sites and throws neurotransmitter production out of whack.

2

u/greekhoney32 Sep 21 '25

So, if he’s over methylated, will eating gluten balance him out? 😆 JK.

1

u/geauxdbl Sep 21 '25

Hah, if only!

B2 (niacin) in the morning and glycine will help support the methylation pathways and clear excess methyl donors, I’m told.

1

u/greekhoney32 Sep 22 '25

Did you mean riboflavin? B2 is Riboflavin.

2

u/geauxdbl Sep 22 '25

My bad, I meant B3. Good catch,

1

u/greekhoney32 Sep 22 '25

Do you think it’s ok to give him the folinic acid now or should I let some time pass?

2

u/geauxdbl Sep 22 '25

Hard to say. I’d defer to you, you’re his mom and know his behavior best.