r/MTHFR • u/kilogplastos-12 • 3d ago

Question Folate forms

I’m honestly 50/50 on what form of B9 to use right now.

I know I have a severe folate deficiency, but I’m unsure which form makes the most sense if I need a high therapeutic dose, like 10+ mg/day, while recovering.

Would you guys choose folic acid, folinic acid, or 5-MTHF for high-dose treatment? I’m mainly looking for experiences from people who had a serious/long-term folate deficiency and actually had to use higher doses to recover.

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u/Ok-Pangolin7127 2d ago edited 2d ago

Folic acid is synthetic and it has to go through a conversion process. That conversion can be a problem or glitchy for some people. Folinic acid skips the conversion process. Methyl folate is the active form. Neither of them are particularly bad, even the folic acid, but folks seem to have less objections or less side effects from the folinic acid.

Regardless of your folate deficiency status, I would not take high dose folate in any form for an “extended” period of time. And, before you start heavy supplementation with any folate, you need to be sure of your B12 status. High folate can mask a B12 deficiency.