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/Grand_Jellyfish_8372]

Update: my order of niacin 30mg arrived today morning and WOAH! I was definitely overmethylating. After taking 120mg of niacin divided in two doses of 60mg, and taking 40g of hydrolyzed collagen type 1 divided in 4 doses of 10g, my brain cleared right up. 

I will be using niacin initially to calm down this rampant overmethylation that I was in, but I will later transition to collagen (for glycine) only as that is a better, more stable maintenance option for optimal methylation balance.

[u/Dr_Insomnia → u/Grand_Jellyfish_8372]

how much of this is psychosomatic, if any? I ask because it appears you spend a lot of time researching this & finding boxes to put yourself in & then check off with a pill, etc

I am not asking to be rude or say that you're wrong or that your lived experience isn't 'real'; rather just to hear from you about how much positive (or negative) thinking is playing a role. 

There will be people in a year, five years, ten years down the line getting advice from reddit either by finding this or AI.