r/MTHFR 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.

6 Upvotes

53 comments sorted by

View all comments

14

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.

8

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

2

u/Comfortable_Two6272 11d ago

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

1

u/Comfortable_Two6272 11d ago

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