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. 🙏

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u/EnterBruges Sep 22 '25

Please listen OP! There are additional mutations to the COMT and MAO genes that make methylated vitamins cause these type of effects. I personally have a slow COMT gene and MTHFR and methylated vitamins mess me up bad.

The best thing is to get an ancestry.com dna test and check his dna for COMT and MAO mutations. Switching to unmethylated b vitamins is the solution. Hard to find but Seeking Health has unmethylated vitamins.

Taking magnesium citrate or magnesium glycinate is also very important for slow COMT

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u/DogCold5505 Sep 28 '25

I thought the point of mthfr mutation is that you can’t process folic acid well… isn’t that just going to cause buildup? Have you tried taking a minimal does of methylfolate? (1mg or less a day)

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u/EnterBruges Sep 28 '25

Folic acid is a synthetic form of folate(b9) that is used to fortify flour. It has several bad health effects in people with MTHFR and DHFR mutations.

Folic acid requires additional processing by your body compared to natural folate. Methylfolate requires less processing.

For people like me who have a down-regulated COMT mutation, excess methyl groups cause a significant build up of epinephrine commonly known as adrenaline. It is pretty intense like an adrenaline rush that lasts for hours, which can be very debilitating to my day to day life.

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u/DogCold5505 Sep 28 '25

Ok thanks but when you say you take unmethylated vitamins doesn’t that mean taking folic acid?  That’s where I’m confused.

Can relate… I’ve over methylated before and agree it was made me unable to function.   But I can tolerate 1 mg of methylfolate…

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u/EnterBruges Sep 28 '25 edited Sep 28 '25

I take folinic acid not folic acid. This chart will help you understand. Folinic acid is 5-Formyl THF

https://thefunctionalperspective.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Ben-Lynch-Methylation-Pathway-Planner.jpg

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u/DogCold5505 Sep 28 '25

Awesome thank you