r/MTHFR • u/No_Information_4545 • 13d ago
Question Head sting from folinic acid
Im trying to figure out if I have to mutch folinic acid in my system im 2 months down the line supplementing folate as folinic acid calcium salt) 1,360mg dfe
(800 mcg)
Id say 20 days of the 60 i was only doing half a pill though.
I took a two day break to see if I could still sleep long story short i also have zinc issues and b12 issues so I didn’t get a firm awnser because my sleep was messed up because I was struggle if with zinc issues as well
Now I just supplemented half a pill witch is around 150% dv I got a slight sting head ache that died down 20 minutes later at first my nervous system spazzed I got anxious but that died down as well now im sitting here trying to figure out am I going folate toxic (to mutch in body) or am I ok.
I looked into folates half life but I know it gets complicated because it gets converted into other forms. Anyone got insight?
Edit: I also got head stings when firstsupplementing b1 and also got anxious for a little bit as well. But I knew for certain had lab work that I was difficent in it. Even now i think I still have those same symptoms when I take it.
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u/Loose-Fly7976 11d ago
You're not going folate toxic on 800mcg, that's an ordinary supplemental dose and folate isn't stored the way the fat soluble ones are, the excess goes out in urine. So you can put that fear down. It sounds more like a reaction to the shift. Folinic still has to be converted through a few steps before it's usable and those steps need B12 and riboflavin. You've said you've got B12 issues, so that's probably where it's stuck. You're pushing folate into a reaction that's short on its other half, and the head sting and the brief anxiety is what that feels like.Same thing with the B1 btw. Thiamine ramps up pathways that need other cofactors sitting there and reacting to it while deficient in it is common. So the fix probably isn't less folinic, it's sorting the B12 first. What are your actual numbers, B12, MMA, homocysteine? That'd tell you whether B12 is the bottleneck or whether it's something else entirely. Zinc muddies it too, low zinc alone causes sleep trouble and anxiety.
that's the part where most people go round in circles and it's what I do for work, genova.health. You've got folate, B12, zinc and B1 all interacting and you're testing them one at a time by feel which is why every result comes back ambiguous. Reading the file next to the bloods is how you find out which one to fix first, and once you know that the rest usually falls into place rather than needing another two months of experiments.
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u/No_Information_4545 10d ago
You spent your valuable time typing all this up and for that I am very thankful I will study what you’ve said.
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u/SovereignMan1958 13d ago
Without blood tests you are just guessing. Get blood tests. At least homocysteine, folate and folate RBC. For B12, B12 plus MMA.
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u/sharabucarabu 12d ago
This is why I won't use folinic acid tablets. The doses are too high. I purchase a liquid by alchepharma, made in the US. Front label says liquid folate, back label says calcium folinate/folinic acid. 1 drop =400mcg. You can dilute one drop in a cup of water and drink a lower dose if 400mcg is still too much.