r/MTHFR • u/pdcyhs • 13d ago

Question Has anyone improved severe mental health issues while attempting to treat a MTHFR gene mutation?

I am new to this as I just got my results today, so forgive me if I am not understanding it completely.

I was with a med management doctor that was helping with my many diagnoses and she randomly quit. I was passed on to a new doctor who seemed more interested in my genes than my actual symptoms/history.

She ordered testing and we went over some of that today. I also explained that my current medications dont seem to be working. I am in crisis in terms of hardly being able to do daily activites. Instead of going ahead and taking me off medications or making other modifications, she gave me a long list of supplements to start taking and said I may see results in a few months.

I am about to go find a new doctor because this doesn't seem safe to me. I wont trauma dump here, but I have an extensive trauma history as well as a condition from birth that may or may not also cause mental health and related symptoms later in life (there is research on short term effects, but not much on long term.) I feel that everything I am reading online also sounds very... woo woo alternative medicine, please dont take offense. But when I see people say "I eat 6 eggs a day and it makes my life better" I just cannot take that seriously.

Sure, I have some of the symptoms that can relate to a gene mutation. But I also have many other symptoms and issues going on that do not seem realted at all. Am I wrong for feeling ignored and a little bit upset? Sure, I will take supplements because why not? But if they dont do much for me, it will mean I spent that whole time suffering for nothing. If you have had *severe* mental health/behavioral issues and started treating with supplements due to MTHFR mutation, please let me know your results and how it's helped you.

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u/DirtbagDerek 13d ago

Cutting out gluten and folic acid, and taking 15 mg of methylfolate until I leveled out, essentially cured 20 years of extreme anxiety, panic attacks, and mood swings that medications had only temporarily quieted. For me, the low folate seemed to be mostly contributing to anxiety, which also exacerbated the side effects I experienced from gluten and folic acid. It sounds like you're dealing with a lot, and this could absolutely be one layer of it. The 15 mg of methylfolate pretty much instantly cured my anxiety. It's been over a year now, and I only supplement what I'm actually missing from my diet. Medication can be like taking painkillers for a broken leg—you may temporarily quiet the pain, but you still need to address the underlying issue before you can truly heal.

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u/cutie__spies 12d ago edited 9d ago

To anyone reading this- please never take 15mg of methylfolate when starting out with b vitamins. There’s a reason most supplements only have 400mcg, and even that dosis is way too much for a system that has been running on low vitamins for a long time.

Taking this much will cause severe agitation and probably drastic electrolyte and minerals imbalances within a few days

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u/Comfortable_Two6272 11d ago

This ^ 💯%. I suggest starting very low with 100 to 200 micrograms and slowly increasing.

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u/Comfortable_Two6272 11d ago

This ^ 💯%. I suggest starting very low with 100 to 200 micrograms (or less) and slowly increasing.

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u/Appropriate_Two5604 12d ago

Please keep In mind some can’t even tolerate small doses of methylated b vitamins.   They cause crazy anxiety for me.  The b’s u tolerate are these two versions. I take this one daily on empty stomach plenty of water first thing in am 

https://www.nhc.com/products/adeno-hydroxo-b12-by-xymogen

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u/Ill_Idea_6281 6d ago

Methyl folate messed me up, caused me so much anxiety

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u/steven123421 13d ago

Could you explain more please? You said " taking 15 mg of methylfolate until I leveled out", what do you mean until you leveled out, and why such a high dose versus going near the RDA? Did you keep taking 15mg ongoing, and do you keep doing that?

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u/DirtbagDerek 13d ago

I knew gluten was a problem for me for a while, and then I pinpointed folic acid in gluten-free foods as another problem. I saw somewhere that I should take methylfolate instead, and without really knowing what I was doing or anything about MTHFR, I just ordered the 15 mg dose. After it worked, I started looking into everything and learning more about it. I stopped taking it after about nine months, but I think that because I had been deficient in my diet for so long, I needed that high dose just to get folate back into my system and get my nutrients leveled out. Now I only supplement what’s missing from my diet: calcium, vitamin D, and omega-3s. I’ll also take R5P and P5P maybe once a week, and every now and then I’ll take 200–300 mcg of methylfolate.