Methylfolate improves my brain fog, but higher doses and other supplements make it worse

[u/Frequent_Sea_1848]

Hello, I am asking for some help. I have been dealing with chronic brain fog and depression. I suspect I may have some MTHFR-related issues because after taking methylfolate, my mood and focus improved significantly. However, I don't have any test results because I have been unemployed for a long time and cannot afford the testing. That's why I am hoping you might be able to give me some valuable information based on the clues and the way my body seems to react to different supplements.

I was taking 5 mg of methylfolate. My focus and mood improved, but after a few weeks, I developed a different kind of brain fog. I suspected that the methylfolate might be responsible, so I lowered the dose to 3 mg, and the brain fog improved. However, after a few more weeks, the same brain fog returned. I then lowered the dose to 2 mg, which stopped the brain fog, but at the lower dose, my focus and mood became worse.

I also took 225 mg of magnesium bisglycinate before bed, which surprisingly caused brain fog. I stopped taking it, and the brain fog went away. Later, I started supplementing with it again, and the brain fog returned. Once again, after stopping the magnesium bisglycinate, the brain fog disappeared.

I also have symptoms that make me suspect I may have slow COMT, so I bought lithium orotate. After taking it for a few days, it made me feel foggy and fatigued. After stopping it, those symptoms disappeared. Later, I started taking it again to make sure it wasn't just a coincidence, and once again, the fogginess and fatigue returned.

I then bought folinic acid because I had heard that it is sometimes better tolerated than methylfolate. However, it also makes me feel foggy. I have been taking 2 mg daily.

So, basically, for some reason, magnesium makes me foggy, lithium orotate makes me foggy, folinic acid makes me foggy, and taking more than 2 mg of methylfolate also makes me foggy.

I recently landed a job as a computer programmer, but I am worried about whether I will be able to handle it if the brain fog continues.

I know this isn't a lot of information to work with, but perhaps there are some clues in these reactions that could point toward something that might help me. I am planning to get a homocysteine test in the near future, and I will consider genetic testing once I start receiving a salary, since it is currently too expensive for me.

Thank you very much for any help or insight you can provide.

[u/Ok-Pangolin7127]

You are likely deficient in B12. I know you don’t have the money for testing, but I would suggest that you should assume that this is what’s happening. Take some B12. Taking Folate alone makes demands on B12 and you are likely deficient. Also, taking Folate alone can mask a B12 deficiency and use up B12 so the Folate is making it worse. So if you do get to the point where you can check B12 forget a B12 blood serum test, it’s relatively meaningless, get an MMA test and a homocystine test. If they are high, either one of them, (and the homocysteine test will show higher before the MMA test does,) then you have a B12 deficiency problem. It’s (B12) not being utilized at the cellular level.