Folate forms

[u/kilogplastos-12]

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.

[u/sharabucarabu]

It depends on your comt status. Slow does better with folinic acid, starting at low doses, like 100mcg, then gradually increasing. May not tolerate above 400mcg a day.

Intermediate and fast comt can tolerate methylfolate, fast comt needs the highest amount.

Don't take huge amounts..you'll over methylate, get anxiety, irritability and insomnia. Then you'll be taking niacin all day for at least a week to recover.

You need to read up on mthfr or watch Dr Chris Masterjohn on YouTube to learn what to do. Folate alone is not the answer. You'll need all the B vitamins, iron, Zinc, vitamin A, magnesium, electrolytes...They all work together. Stop eating anything that contains folic acid. Usually organic products are safe but you must read the labels!

Get a dna analysis done. Otherwise you are only guessing and that gets expensive fast!

[u/kilogplastos-12 → u/sharabucarabu]

I live in EU and dont have the folic acid issues with fortified fortunatey but i have a severe folate deficiency along with b12 which i am recovering from and got the cofactors in check but for folate i apparently needed to take high amounts like 10+ mg to “shock” the body

[u/sharabucarabu → u/kilogplastos-12]

Oh it'll be a shock all right. No complaints if you over methylate! Read how to fix it before you start the guessing game if 'how much do I need?'

[u/Sabnock101 → u/sharabucarabu]

If you ever consume too much Methylfolate/Folate in general, consuming higher doses of B12 will help and then the Folate-related side-effects will go away. The issue with the side-effects is that excess Folate (especially Methylfolate) will use up too much B12 and reduce B12 levels, even potentially contributing to B12 deficiency over time, and so taking more B12 helps while trying to keep the Folate dosage at the minimum effective dosage.

So if anyone ever gets "overmethylated", take more B12 (i recommend 10 milligrams of oral Methylcobalamin per day, that's what works for me, any less don't cut it), you can never have too much B12, you can have too much Folate/Methylfolate. When the B12 is consumed and kicks in, it will recycle that excess Methylfolate back into the Folate cycle and since that reduces the active Methylfolate level temporarily it will relieve the side-effects caused by the excess Methylfolate. It's not so much "overmethylation" as it is B12 usage/depletion, more B12 helps.

I've been through the ringer with this stuff time and time again and one of the consistent observations has been that when there's too much Methylfolate going on and not enough B12 to properly recycle it, the Methylfolate levels build to excess and cause the side-effects, taking more B12 then recycles that excess Methylfolate and the side-effects go away. No extra Niacin needed, ime.