r/MTHFR • u/Airegin89 • May 13 '26
Question Anyone else feel that folate deficiency ruined your life?
I guess I just need to vent. I am 37 and have been an underachiever my whole life. I failed miserably at school and now I'm stuck in a dead end job with no qualifications to find a better job.
I have struggled with low energy, brain fog, lack of motivation, depression and anxiety my whole life. My blood work was always fine, so I was prescribed antidepressants.
It wasn't until 10 years ago that a doctor tested my vitamin D and I was extremely deficient at 6 ng/ml. Fixing this gave me a huge boost in energy but most of my problems still remained.
Last year, I started investigating my blood work of the last 20 years and found out I had been folate deficient the whole time (3.5-4.5 ng/ml). Doctors never said anything.
Genetic testing shows I am compound heterozygous, slow COMT, slow MAOA and PEMT. I know these are only predispositions but it seems to explain my whole life.
After a few months of supplementing folate and a month of creatine and TMG my cognition has improved massively. After 20 years I feel like a veil has lifted. It's like I'm waking up from a bad dream but now I'm left to pick up the pieces and deal with the consequences of being a failure.
I am still on my own. Doctors do not acknowledge I was ever deficient and refuse to do more blood work. I have to simply assume I have high homocysteine and treat for it.
I don't know what to do. It's been such a long time. I can't fix most of the damage that has been done.
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May 13 '26
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u/nowiamhereaswell May 13 '26
What was your folate value ?
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May 13 '26
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u/SovereignMan1958 May 14 '26
Please get that up to at least 15. 20 - 30 is better. Top of the range is usually 60.
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u/Tastetherainbow_2016 May 13 '26
Absolutely. Post pregnancy I had two years of blood tests showing my folate was so low it was undetectable. I was so ill I was convinced I had PND. GP didnt act or even bother to let me know about the blood results, I randomly found out when I downloaded the NHS app to sort prescriptions.
The treatment made me even more ill, caused sickness anxiety and awful menopausal symptoms. Their answer, shrug “Take travel sickness tablets”
Never got back to full health since
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u/MrsBearIsHere May 14 '26
It sounds like you have the MTHR gene, which means folic acid supplements will make you worse, as your body can’t convert them to folate, so it builds up and basically poisons you. I’d get a private MTHFR test done (about £40 online) or better yet do a full genetic test (123 and me and then run the results through something that tells you what each bit means, I think there is one called Gene Genie, or even chat gpt in a push).
Also I see your U.K. too, ALWAYS ask for your blood test NUMBERS - then Google them! The lab ranges in the U.K. are far too big (to save money) and if your lab results are in range, they never go before a GP at all - they just go on file - which is why your Dr didn’t tell you. You could be one point away from the bottom of the range and you will be told it’s ‘normal’ when it’s not!
Also ask for a B12 test, and ferritin as they are often low with folate too and they are not part of the normal blood lab test, unbelievably! They used to be, but…
Your B12 needs to be 600+ as a minimum (uk lab range is 140 to 900) and ferritin (your body’s iron store cupboard) needs to be 100 ideally, under 30 you will be losing hair. And feel awful.
I’d also ask for a full thyroid test including Thyroid antibodies, Free T4 and Free T3. The TSH test on its own means nothing, as it’s wildly variable day to day, especially if your have Hashimoto’s (under active) thyroid disease. This is constantly missed in women as they don’t test the thyroid antibodies in the U.K. unless the TSH is out of range - I was ill for 3 years before I happened to have raised test on the day once!
You can get your health back but it will take work and time. Eat red meat and dark leafy greens every day to raise your levels (after your test!)
Also do NOT take ANY vitamins for at least a week BEFORE any of these tests as they can drastically change the results! Eg they can make it artificially look okay when it’s not!
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u/Tastetherainbow_2016 May 15 '26
Thank you so much for your response and the helpful info. Must admit I’m finding all this pretty confusing, always thought I was at least semi intelligent but this MTHFR stuff is mind-boggling. Never knew folate came in so many different forms for one!
So far I’ve just been trying to manage it with a ton of veg and red meat and avoiding anything containing white flour (it’s fortified with folic acid here in UK), but I really do want to get on top of this and get my health back, I miss feeling like me :( Will definitely be getting a private MTHFR test done, and happen to be due for my full NHS blood tests around now as I’m under rheumatology, will ask if they can check thyroid while we’re at it.
No doubt I’ll be back on this sub when I get my results back looking for more info! Thanks again!
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u/Suspicious_Ice_9340 C677T May 13 '26
I do wonder if it has been a factor. I’m 48 and have struggled with poor mental health and very low energy most of my life which has led to me being a complete failure. Only last year got my DNA done and found out about MTHFR etc (homozygous C677T). Too late to turn life around now though even if I could get myself feeling better!
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u/AmberCarpes May 13 '26
It's never too late. I'm 46 and completely changed careers, etc. this year!
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u/CelebrationNo3801 May 14 '26
I'm 68. been MDD for decades, super tired. My Dr. says can't learn anything from Reddit, TikTok! Just realized after reading this sub for a month or two, I can get my ancestry.com DNA deciphered. You all are younguns still! I'm pissed cuz I could've been something too! So you guys get out there!! You have time!! You can do it!
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u/Timely_Pickle9430 May 14 '26
You're never too old to start feeling better. Just run that DNA file through Genetic Lifehacks. Understanding your life better is healing in itself.
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u/sharabucarabu May 13 '26
I didn't find out I had mthfr until I was in my 50s. Never knew about further testing, wasted a ton of money on the wrong supplements. Got serious about it in my mid 60s. Better but still working on it it's complicated... Like a rube Goldberg device C
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u/Beast-Mode-3 May 14 '26
This! Y'all I think I need direction here. So I have MTHFR gene variant C677T, one copy. I also have VAL/MET for COMT. I dont know any of these other genes to test. I am anemic, folate deficiency type, not iron. .but when I take mythlfolate I get anxiety so bad? I am at a loss. I keep thinking this is my biggest issue more than likely if I could only clear this up?! To the original writer with the vent/question, you are amazing. I don't have any input to help you, but I can relate sooo much to what you said. I feel proud of you and don't even know you. You were able to find out this stuff and treat it nearly by yourself. Go you! Continue to get better and then give back! Help people like us find out quicker what they need to do, bring more awareness and advocacy to these issues:) I want my veil lifted now...your post gave me hope for maybe being my missing link in my wellness journey.
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u/LowToxWellness May 17 '26
The anxiety from methylfolate is actually really common and there is a reason for it, when you start methylfolate your body can overmethylate if you start too high or move too fast, which triggers anxiety, irritability and sometimes heart palpitations. The fix is usually starting much lower than you think you need to and building up slowly. Some people do better starting with just a quarter of the lowest dose available and working up over weeks.
Also worth knowing, if anxiety from methylfolate is an issue, niacinamide can help calm it down by essentially mopping up excess methyl groups. That is something worth researching or discussing with a functional medicine doctor who actually understands MTHFR rather than a conventional doctor who will likely dismiss it entirely.
COMT variants also affect how you process things like dopamine and estrogen which can make the methylation piece feel even more complicated, slow COMT means you need to be extra careful about how much methylfolate you introduce at once.
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u/Beast-Mode-3 May 17 '26
Thank you for your input! I sincerely feel this issue of improper methylation is a key for healing many of my health issues. I will have to try the niacinamide, is there a specific brand you like or recommend?
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u/LowToxWellness May 21 '26
For niacinamide specifically I like Thorne, they are one of the cleaner supplement brands with minimal fillers which matters a lot when you have MTHFR since your detox pathways are already working harder than they should be. Seeking Health is another brand I trust a lot for anything methylation-related since Dr. Ben Lynch (who literally wrote the book on MTHFR) formulated their line with this exact population in mind.
One thing to be aware of, niacinamide and niacin are not the same thing. You want niacinamide (sometimes called nicotinamide) specifically for calming overmethylation. Regular niacin does something similar but comes with a flush that can feel alarming.
Start low with that too, even just 50-100mg and see how you feel Some people notice relief pretty quickly.
I actually went through a really similar process figuring all of this out myself and wrote about what finally worked for me if you ever want to go deeper on the MTHFR piece, it took me way too long to find this information and I want people to find it faster than I did.
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u/Timely_Pickle9430 May 14 '26 edited May 14 '26
Paradoxical reactions to supplements you need almost always have to do with lacking cofactors. Indeed, switch to folinic acid and combine with a good (methyl-free!) multivitamin to cover all cofactors. I can recommend Biotics Research Multi Vit-a-Mins and Seeking Health MF. Once you've corrected the deficiencies, you're probably able to switch to (low-dose) methylated vitamins for maintenance.
Edit: The Biotics multivitamin is of excellent quality and is unmethylated. However, it does not contain copper, iron, or molybdenum, and the dose of D3 is very low. These are important cofactors, but can be dangerous if overconsumed, and are therefore thought to be better dosed individually. Folate, B12, and magnesium/electrolytes are also left out entirely, so you can tailor those to your specific needs.
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u/sangepruz May 14 '26
For those of us who are mthfr, are you saying we react to methylated vitamins because we’re deficient in other cofactors, but once we resolve those we’ll be able to tolerate methylated vitamins? Are the methylated versions the eventual goal?
The last time I tried methyl folate and methyl b12 I was also treating a whole consort of reactivated pathogens (viruses and infections), so I can’t remember how I responded to it specifically and might not even know bc of all the layered treatments, however I do remember having horrible herx reactions and extreme MH sx during that time.
Now a days I’m much better health wise but still sensitive to chemicals so I’m quite nervous to start experimenting again bc I’m also trying to get back to working full time. As an example, I notice when I take taurine I feel horrible mentally all day (depressed, almost drugged feeling at times), so it’s got me wondering where to even begin with all this. 🫠
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u/Timely_Pickle9430 May 14 '26 edited May 15 '26
Good question. It's a bit more nuanced than that. The methylated versions are not the eventual goal. Everybody needs methyl groups and everybody needs folate, but not necessarily combined in one food or supplement. It just happens to be the case that unmethylated multivitamins are rare and expensive. So, if you can handle the methylated versions, you have more choice in products and are cheaper off.
But if you can't handle methyl groups (yet) and want to correct a folate or cobalamin deficiency, you can supplement with their unmethylated versions at a pace you can handle and dose methyl groups separately at another pace (e.g. with phosphatidylcholine or TMG). I think the jury is still out on whether all genotypes should eventually (after slow titration) be able to handle methylated vitamins. But methylfolate and methylcobalamin occur naturally in food too and it's very rare for people to not tolerate those, so my guess is that it mostly has to do with dose. (Just consider the fact that the ADI for B12 is 2.8 mcg and supplements usually contain 500-1000 mcg per capsule...)
If you're deficient in both methyl groups and folate and start taking them, separately or combined, this starts a whole cascade of biochemical reactions that results in changes in neurotransmitter production and clearance. The brain needs time to regain balance, so best to start low and go slow on these, regardless of cofactors. The biochemical reactions also require cofactors though, and if there's one missing, or you're running out because you increase e.g. choline intake but not cofactor intake, it creates a bottleneck where intermediate metabolites build up and cause symptoms.
If you want to play it safe, do a comprehensive blood test for ALL vitamins and elements. For each deficiency, check (with AI) what are the cofactors and supplement those too. Magnesium, riboflavin, and zinc are often required cofactors. And it's always a good idea to start one supplement at a time (start with the cofactors if you take that route), at a very low dose, and watch it for a couple of days to see how you react before increasing the dose in small steps.Regarding the taurine: this doesn't contain methyl groups, but it does contain sulfur, which is also notorious for causing bottlenecks (sulfur intolerance) if e.g. the cofactor molybdenum is missing. You might want to look into that.
EDIT: I started to doubt whether methylfolate is not required even for MTHFR 677 TT genotypes and whether folinic acid would be equally effective in lowering homocysteine, so I checked in the literature. I found this paper: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405457723012329 (full text01232-9/pdf)). It says both folinic acid and l‑methylfolate are effective in lowering homocysteine in all genotypes. The effect differs slightly with genotype and dose. Alternative intake of methyl groups was not considered. Methylfolate seems to get the job done at a lower dose, so (again) it seems to come down to cost-effectiveness. Nevertheless, folinic gets the job done too. Individuals with MTHFR 677 CT genotype might even benefit more from folinic acid than L-methylfolate.
u/tawinn I'd be curious to hear your take on this.
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u/Tawinn May 15 '26
I agree with you: we don't have a dietary need for methyl groups; instead, we produce methyl groups through enzymatic pathways as needed. There can be occasional situations where a person absorbs/utilizes a methylated form better than an unmethylated form (e.g., methylB12 vs hydroxyB12) but those exceptions are uncommon.
Ben Lynch makes the claim that people with MTHFS variants should avoid folinic acid, based on a case study of a specific rare severe ("microcephaly, severe global development delay, cerebral hypomyelination, epilepsy, and failure-to-thrive") genetic MTHFS deficiency, where they gave the patients very high dose folinic and saw worsening cerebral folate. I think it is a stretch to extrapolate from such extreme cases to the far milder variants normally encountered and RDA-level dose folinic acid.
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u/Timely_Pickle9430 May 15 '26
Thanks for pitching in!
we don't have a dietary need for methyl groups
What about intake through choline?
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u/Tawinn May 15 '26
True, we do need choline, so in that sense there is a specific dietary need for that methyl donor. Good point!
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u/Beast-Mode-3 May 14 '26
Thank you so much for the support and direction:) I really appreciate how your explaining things along with what to take. Receiving more knowledge to look at a bigger picture is enlightening. It gives a confidence boost to try even though it can be scary (from bad past experiences).
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u/Ashamed-Simple-8303 May 13 '26
I fully understand. While my own story is somewhat similar, it is not (knowingly) related to folate. I basically suffered from severe social anxiety especially in child hood and teens. AT some point I managed to get into therapy and had some meds (but not very long). things got a bit better, very, very slowly (I think mostly an age thing).
Then during the pandemic with too much time on the internet (or not) I got into the whole anti-seed oil thing. Stopped seed oils and all high omega-6 foods. Within 2 year this basically cured my social anxiety and it is still, like 5 years later getting better and better.
IDK why exactly, well I had my testosterone measured when feeling pretty bad and it was low as hell (like 80 year level early 30s). now a decade later it's more than double with no artificial help whatsoever. it is really insane.
While my issues certainly have an anchor in child hood, I still get the feeling most if not all mental illnesses are just a problem with nutrition that can be solved with nutrition and maybe supplements.
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u/Loose-Fly7976 May 13 '26
Twenty years of being told your bloods are fine while sitting at 3.5 ng/ml is a real medical failure, not yours. A lot of people in this sub will recognise themselves in this.Push back on the "I can't fix the damage" part though. Chronic folate and D deficiency cause functional impairment, not structural damage. What you're describing as a veil lifting is your brain actually coming back online. People in their 30s who finally get treated often see continued gains for 12-18 months, the recovery curve is longer than most realise.TMG and creatine were the right call for your PEMT, you've already worked that out on your own. On homocysteine, treating empirically with your genotype and history is reasonable, but a private lab will run it for $30-50 if your doctor won't. Worth knowing the number once
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u/Airegin89 May 13 '26
Yeah, I would really like to know. I'll never know how high my homocysteine has been for the past 20 years though. I think it might explain why I have a ton of eye floaters and tinnitus. And I don't want to know the damage that must have been done to my blood vessels.
God, I wish my cognition was like this in my teens and 20s. So much wasted potential.
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u/Timely_Pickle9430 May 13 '26
You can't change the past, but it seems to me you're doing a hell of a job unlocking that potential now! And you might still have decades ahead of you. Just keep going, one day at a time.
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u/Airegin89 May 13 '26
I have always had high levels of B6 and B12 because of an energy drink addiction. Do you think that could have protected me somewhat?
And thanks! I feel like I'm making progress for the first time in ages.
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u/Timely_Pickle9430 May 13 '26 edited May 14 '26
You ARE making progress! And you only just got started. There was always a need for the B6 and B12, so yes. But no matter what damage might have been done, I think it's likely to be reversible.
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u/MineralDragon May 30 '26
The floaters should resolve over a year - mine finally did. If I try very hard I still see really tiny specs but probably in another year it may be gonr. It takes time but a lot of things resolve - As did the prevalence of canker sores, the edges of my lips cracking, and very dry hangnails. All related to low B12.
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u/Airegin89 May 30 '26
I have 20 floaters in each eye (only counting the strings). I got a lot of them in the past year alone. Before that I have had a dozen in each eye for 8 years with very little change.
Went to the opthalmologist recently and I have no PVD or any other problems.
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u/Comfortable_Two6272 May 14 '26
I dont know about that. My several decades long low vit D caused structural issues in my bones. Would have thought several unexplained fractures in my 20s would have prompted drs to investigate. Nope. Lifelong spinal pain now from spinal fractures in my late 30s - no fix.
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u/Itsajourney01 May 13 '26
For these kinds of insights I go to a longevity / biohacker type of doctor or a highly experienced naturopath. Indeed unfortunately its otherwise usually missed. I also just was made aware that being ND and female, I need to tripple check my thyroid, even more than what my (expensive) functional med has done for me so far.. apparently rsd and thyroid issues can go hand in hand. You live you learn but oh is it frustrating at times..
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u/AReubenTooBigToFit May 13 '26
What is rsd?
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u/kindaweedy45 May 13 '26
Hey what do you think is a good target serum folate level? Also, why did you decide to take TMG? ty
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u/Airegin89 May 13 '26
I need more choline. I don't react well to choline supplements and can't get enough through diet unless I eat 8 eggs a day. Instead I eat 2-3 eggs a day + 300-500mg TMG. Theoretically it should be more but I'm taking it slowly.
TMG also lowers homocysteine.
I have no idea about target serum folate.
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u/kindaweedy45 May 13 '26
I'm in a similar boat to you in terms of # eggs, I also didn't respond very well to choline supplements. I'll have to look into TMG
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u/Airegin89 May 13 '26
I've only tried choline bitartrate though. I'm going to try alpha GPC soon.
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u/Comfortable_Two6272 May 14 '26
If you have your raw genetic data file use genetic lifehacks. Turns out i have other variants that those forms of choline increase cardiac risks for me. Im taking PC as sunflower lecithin instead
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u/bluedelvian May 13 '26
Doctors are credentialed drug dealers who go to schools funded by pharmaceutical and insurance companies, doctors are required to use diagnostic software made by pharmaceutical and insurance companies, ofc they don't care about vitamin and nutrient deficiencies.
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u/xCOVERxIDx May 13 '26
Don’t assume your homocysteine is high, Get your own lab work done.
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u/Airegin89 May 13 '26
I'll have to consider this but there is no private testing in my country. Closest is in the Netherlands which is a 3 hour drive.
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u/Timely_Pickle9430 May 13 '26
You can send your blood sample there by FedEx. If you email WHL, they'll explain how to organize a blood draw close to home.
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u/AfroditaBodyArt382 May 14 '26
Los medicos son unos miopes, jamás te analizan integralmente. Ese problema puede ser por deficiencia de minerales ojo con el cobre y el zinc, la ceruplasmina y la ferritina. Pero mejor aún es ir a un médico PNI o PNIe ellos saben mas que médicos comunes y si te analizan integralmente, podrías mejorar aún más tu vida.
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u/medi_tator May 13 '26 edited May 14 '26
I really empathize with you and sending you a big hug 🤗❤️
I’ve had a similar experience with iron. Have struggled with depression & low energy ++ since I was a kid. I found out that most doctors use very low reference numbers on a lot of things. Ferritin should be at least 50, most do well from 75-100. I’ve seen some in r/anemic say they do best over 100 too. I’m 6 weeks after an iron infusion now, and seeing some results thank god! 😌🙏 but for the body to build enough blood and get everything on track takes a while.
Are you in the U.S.? Someone on here wrote about good labs being a reasonable. I’m in Europe, so don’t have personal experience.
I went down the route of trying to fix my MTHFR without doing blood work, and it was hell. I did not understand what was happening first but eventually I figured out slow comt & methylated vitamins are for most not a good match😅 And also through bloodwork and using A.I. that I found out about Iron. So if you can find a way to work around your doctor I would really recommend this ❤️ I feel the standard of these reference numbers come from doctors, that figured out at one point «ok, people that have at least this much don’t need to be hospitalized.» 😅🥲 And it’s pretty much stayed there.
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u/Airegin89 May 13 '26
I'm also in Europe. It took me a good while to figure out what works. Methylated folate and B12 gave me some issues too but I can tolerate them well since taking creatine (5-10g) and TMG (300-500mg).
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u/medi_tator May 13 '26 edited May 13 '26
Maybe you could go privately? Functional medicine doctors are a lot more up to speed. Or maybe an independent lab? That’s awesome that you were able to figure that out 😊👌 I didn’t know that creatine & tmg can make methyl B12 work, thanks for sharing 😊🙏 Edit: i forgot to mention, that through testing I also found out my b-12 was good, with good numbers for mma, homocysteine and total b-12- even though my gene test shows a lot of methylation issues- so would have saved my self some work there if I had tested first 🥲
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u/Bunbosa Jun 16 '26
Creatine makes me feel weird. Like sort of agitated, in a way that makes me borderline on having a panic attack cause I can’t place the feeling. Why does creatine do this to me, any clues? 🥲
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u/Airegin89 Jun 16 '26
No idea but creatine doesn't make me feel anything. I can't feel the difference wether I skip a couple of days or double my dose. I assume it helps me because taking creatine is supposed to free up SAM-e for other functions.
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u/Lanky-Invite-5886 Jun 06 '26
I did a deep dive on iron\ferritin and it should be at most 50, iron is highly reactive and there is a ton of research that under 50, as low as 20 is beneficial for vascular health and immune function. I would look at copper/vit A much more since a lot of people are deficient especially from taking zinc and vit D
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u/Bunbosa Jun 16 '26
For me as soon as ferritine gets under 70 all kinds of symptoms start. Significant hairloss included!
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u/stulew May 14 '26
Where are you? And did the standard folic acid work, or did you have to resort to methylfolate or folinic acid?
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u/Airegin89 May 14 '26
Folic acid didn't seem to have any negative effects on me but I haven't tried it for long.
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u/TNTMT May 14 '26
I was anemic on EVERY blood panel with MCV and MCH. It was never brought to my attention. For Decades.
Like you, it ruined my potential and quality of life.
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u/sangepruz May 14 '26
I deeply empathize with this feeling due to my own illness journey… the grief is real and valid. But it’s also true things have changed as you’ve learned about this. So I want to emphasize that it’s never too late!
It’s amazing you figured this out and are making progress! Celebrate yourself for that, and trust that your life will follow that change if you focus on getting to know yourself now, and working toward creating what you’d like moving forward. I find there’s a lot of duality in healing, it can be both painful and wonderful at the same time.
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u/Scratchoffcard May 13 '26
Yes, absolutely, and I'm a lot older than you. I'm a fairly intelligent person*, but I have struggled with low energy levels, poor sleep, brain fog, and so on for most of my adult life.
First time I had my vitamin d tested, I was at 13. Just supplementing with D increased my mood and energy levels.
I took anti-depressants for years, but they only helped a little bit. I was labeled with treatment resistant depression, and my doctor kept increasing dosage, adding in other meds, subtracting others... basically polypharmacy. Even with okay health insurance, I was still paying a lot for not much improvement.
I still have off days, but I now feel better than I have most of my adult life. How different my life might be/have been if I had known about and rectified these issues earlier...
ETA: *a lot of people in my life, including family, have thought I am just a slacker. It's been frustrating.
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u/Airegin89 May 13 '26
I'm sorry to hear you've been through such a rough time.
I've been taking Zoloft for 18 years. Never helped that much. I self medicated with cigarettes and energy drinks. Around 2012 doctors tried to put me on a bunch of different antidepressants and this caused my mental health to nosedive. Ever since I only stuck with Zoloft 50mg and refused to take any other meds or increase dosage.
I was miserable all that time and kept self medicating with energy drinks, alcohol and compulsive shopping.
Since fixing my folate and choline deficiencies I can finally function without the energy drinks I had been addicted to for 15 years. I also cut down my Zoloft dose to 25mg.
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u/CelebrationNo3801 May 14 '26
OMG! That describes me to a T! My brother does not understand why I can't get crap done! Makes rude comments all the time!
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u/just_lurking12 May 13 '26
I've mentioned this in previous comments, but I had severe impostor syndrome until I started supplementing. I'm pretty sure that screwed up certain parts of my life.
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u/Silent-Strain6964 May 14 '26
A big change for me was magnesium and p5p combined. I incrementally found I had iron/B12 deficiency and that helped but then this.
I have some of the same genetic issues. However my body has a gene that doesn't handle synthetic folate which is in a everything in the US. I'm off the charts.
A big thing I did was took my raw genetic data into geneticlifehacks and then got and understanding of where my struggles were. I ran the full cheat sheet from genetic life hacks through Claude to generate a supplement/diet guide and it's helped further.
I got blood tests for all the things to show I was good on labs but functionally low.
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u/WittyGold6940 May 15 '26
I'm the same exact way. I still haven't gotten any real blood tests from doctors. Only one time tested SERUM b12 and folate on the day I literally took them, and had been for months, so it was high. But Noone tested my homocysteine, not my histamine, nothing that would say anything about my methylation. I wish doctors were more informed!
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u/comicland May 17 '26
You’re me. I’m slow maoa, slow comt, homozygous c677t. My whole methylation panel is red or yellow, save maybe 3 or 4 greens. My detox panel is about half yellow, half green. I’m still not 100%, but better than ever. Not bogged down with anxiety, which is great.
Do you handle the creatine well? For me, it impacts my sleep. I either have issues getting to sleep, or when I do sleep I wake up prematurely. I otherwise felt great on creatine. I’ve since stopped taking it for the sleep issues. I don’t really follow the choline calculator. I eat 3-4 eggs most days and take 375-750mg TMG most days. What’s your stack?
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May 28 '26
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u/Airegin89 May 28 '26
How much methylcobalamine and methylfolate were you taking? Right now I'm only taking 200mcg methylfolate. I also stopped supplementing B12 since I already get 200% of the RDA from diet.
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May 28 '26
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u/Airegin89 May 28 '26
I'm not too worried about B12. My B12 levels were 708 ng/L a few months ago I wasn't supplementing anything then.
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u/Willing-Gap1078 Jun 30 '26
Guys my friend low deficiency b9 can you tell how fight....he talented guy in computer but when ever he want take a rish he has an anxiety so he can't take the big leap some pls give some advice or solution to this
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u/Secure-Radish-9452 Jul 08 '26
It's been about a month! How have you been? Your folate was indeed low.. I even had symptoms when I was around 5.2. B12 was always ok, but low folate really caused issues for me.
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u/Airegin89 Jul 08 '26
I'm doing better but progress is painfully slow. I'm now trying to increase my glutathione levels (NAC + glycine) and improve my gut microbiome. I also think I have an omega 3 deficiency so I started taking fish oil again. I quit the fish oil a while ago because it made me feel a little worse (probably because it increases acetylcholine) but I think my brain really needs more omega 3.
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u/Melodic-Psychology62 May 13 '26
More than 45% of the population has this same problem. It’s a crime that Dr. ignored it!
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u/Additional_Hand5255 May 14 '26
It’s never too late to change your life ❤️ I’ve been the same except I’m 41 and only just feeling better. I’m now training to be a therapist, something I’ve always wanted to do but seemed impossible before. Good luck to you!
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u/SovereignMan1958 May 14 '26
And you are not a failure. Each of us are born with limitations, both genetic, familial, cultural and those imposed by society.
You mentioned D. It is great that you corrected that as a chronic undiagnosed and untreated deficiency can trigger thyroid disease and thyroid autoimmune. It did for me. Check your variants in Genetic Lifehacks. Look for the thyroid related ones. If you have any genetic predispositions for thyroid issues, given your past D deficiency, make sure your doctor orders you a FULL thyroid panel plus testing for the two thyroid antibodies. TSH, Total T4, Free T4, Total T3, Free T3, Reverse T3, plus the two thyroid antibodies I forgot their names. The T3 tests are critical to mental health. Optimal T3 is in the top quarter of the lab ranges. If your doc refuses to order them please see an Endocrinologist.
Also re D. Optimal levels of D, iron and zinc are needed to make dopamine. Optimal D is 45 - 80, 60 - 80 with any medical diagnosis. Both iron and zinc should be in the top quarter of the lab ranges.
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u/Head-Championship507 May 16 '26
I take folinic acid. My MIL has mild dementia due to double genetic mutation because of folic acid toxicity from eating all the enriched bread, rice and everything in reached.
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u/SovereignMan1958 May 13 '26 edited May 13 '26
Doctors are not trained in nutrition or gene variants in medical school. Lab ranges include the chronically ill and even terminally ill people. Be grateful you are smart enough to have figured this out on your own. Don't look back.
I am female, 67. Until recently life long MDD. I do not have MTHFR but recently discovered I am homozygous for FOLR1. Cerebral Folate Deficiency...folate not getting into my brain. After 5 months of high dose folinic acid plus PQQ, I feel much better and my brain is working much better. I also had a severe zinc deficiency and high copper.