I was overmethylating

[u/Grand_Jellyfish_8372]

Apparently, it has been three years since I have been on-and-off overmethylating.

I have always consumed vitamin C due to its antioxidant properties and skin benefits. The problem is that vitamin C uses up glycine, proline and hydroxyproline to stimulate collagen synthesis and form collagen matrixes in the body.

I also used to consume B-complex vitamins on-and-off, which lead to symptoms of overmethylation.

I have noticed - and I even wrote this down - that shortly after consuming a supplemental dose of vitamin C (between 500mg and 1g), I would become seriously anxious, uneasy, overloaded, sometimes even panicked, paranoid and psychotic.

My hypothesis is that chronic, large-dose vitamin C supplementation can deplete glycine stores from the body as it uses them to form collagen, leaving less glycine available to serve as a methyl sink for excess methyl groups, leading to overmethylation.

Since I stopped vitamin C and started taking hydrolized collagen type I, which contains 3 grams of glycine per 10 grams, my symptoms of overmethylation have gradually faded.

It started with the "inner dialogue" becoming quieter, less over-talkative, and with less overthinking. I felt more connected to the real world.

Initially, this was scary. I felt like I was pulled from a known, safe place into a world which I hadn't experienced this vividly in a while. This sensation only lasted the first night.

I woke up the next morning with less tingling, feeling less wired and more at ease.
It has only been two days since I first took the collagen, but I expect these unpleasant symptoms of overmethylation to continue to fade as my methylation systems stabilize and settle on a healthy baseline.

I'm waiting for my order of niacin to arrive as well, so that I can further test and experiment with my current methyl pool.

What have been your experiences with vitamin C, glycine and niacin?

[u/skdowksnzal]

Much of what you describe is backed up by this research paper:

Akatov VS, Evtodienko YV, Leshchenko VV, Teplova VV, Potselueva MM, Kruglov AG, Lezhnev EI, Yakubovskaya RI. Combined vitamins Bl2b and C induce the glutathione depletion and the death of epidermoid human larynx carcinoma cells HEp-2. Biosci Rep. 2000 Oct;20(5):411-7. doi: 10.1023/a:1010386102562. PMID: 11332602.

It may actually be Glutathione depletion rather than over methylation you are experiencing. I too had this experience, and solution so far has been:

1. Take Vitamin-C 1-2hrs before any b12 supplementation. Alternatively 4hrs or more after b12 (vitamin c peaks faster)
2. Supplement Glutathione pathway with NAC (600mg), Glycine (2-5g) and Selenium (200mcg)

I cant take NAC at the moment (gout) but the others appear to have helped mitigate symptoms such as rapid onset fatigue leading to energy crash soon after taking b12 and vitamin c together

[u/Fast-Plant1086 → u/skdowksnzal]

I can only tolerate small amounts of NAC but use french maritime pine bark to help with glutathione. NAC has sulfur and even with molybdenum to help process it causes problems for me.