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deplin alternative

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fibrodude84

Senior Member
Messages
191
Insurance won't cover Deplin and I don't want to swallow 15 pills a day.

What is the highest methyl folate supplement on the market? This stinks because I have the mutation but they won't care. Maybe I'll see if they cover Enlyte which also has methylfolate.
 
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Valentijn

Senior Member
Messages
15,786
fibrodude84 said:
Insurance won't cover Deplin and I don't want to swallow 15 pills a day.

What is the highest methyl folate supplement on the market? This stinks because I have the mutation but they won't care. Maybe I'll see if they cover Enlyte which also has methylfolate.
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If you have MTHFR C677T +/+, a normal dose (400-800 mcg) of an active folate or a diet high in vegetables will compensate for it completely. Megadosing for it shouldn't be necessary, and I haven't seen any indication that it offers any added benefit.
 
ahmo

ahmo

Senior Member
Messages
4,805
Location
Northcoast NSW, Australia
@fibrodude84 I've been able to cut my folate dose by 2/3 by taking it sublingually (actually in lower gum) instead of swallowing it. I also take my PM dose in my footbath, and if I'm in the midst of coffee enemas, take the midday dose in the water enema at the end. All these delivery methods work equally, far more effective than swallowing. I've gone from 15mg to 5mg. I had some difficulties when switching to this method initially, because of too much folate being hard on my adrenals.

I've also had to completely eliminate green veggies, because I've found that the veg folate (folinic) blocks folate uptake for me. Before I understood this, and when I was still swallowing the capsules, I was up to 25mg Mfolate. Eliminating the green veg brought my needs down to 15mg. My adrenals and my bank balance are very happy to now be on the 5mg/day dose.
 
PeterPositive

PeterPositive

Senior Member
Messages
1,426
ahmo said:
@fibrodude84 I've been able to cut my folate dose by 2/3 by taking it sublingually (actually in lower gum) instead of swallowing it.
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Ah! This is interesting.
I have mentioned several times that when I tried sublingual methyl-folate (800-1000mcg) I found it overwhelming and had to go back to Metafolin, of which I take 1600-2000mcg/day.

Interesting to see I am not the only one who has found a difference between oral and sublingual... this makes sense to me.

From a purely objective point of view (e.g. lab tests) I have no evidence that the sublingual was indeed more effective. Might be a coincidence but my homocysteine level raised during the period of time in which I was on sublingual methylfolate. Curious, eh?

cheers
 
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fibrodude84

Senior Member
Messages
191
Valentijn said:
If you have MTHFR C677T +/+, a normal dose (400-800 mcg) of an active folate or a diet high in vegetables will compensate for it completely. Megadosing for it shouldn't be necessary, and I haven't seen any indication that it offers any added benefit.
Click to expand...

I have the mutation but was hoping the Deplin due to the high dose would help with depression. I understand a low dose may be sufficient for proper methylation but it probably won't help the depression.
 
caledonia

caledonia

Senior Member
Messages
4,610
Location
Where the land is hilly and they eat hot chili
You shouldn't need mega doses for it to help depression. If you're methylating properly, you should be creating enough neurotransmitters for it to work.

The issue is with only treating one SNP, MTHFR, by taking mega doses of methylfolate. This can create either methyl trapping or B12 depletion, both of which will make you worse. You need to treat the whole methylation cycle.

For depression, there also may be other factors, such as gut issues creating malabsorption, toxic metals such as mercury or lead, thyroid issues, etc. All of these impact methylation or are a result of not methylating properly. But they may need to be addressed separately.
 
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fibrodude84

Senior Member
Messages
191
Yeah its all so confusing. I have malabsorption due to IBD. I actually feel more depressed on Deplin but finally have a little more energy. I am so desperate to get better as you all are too. I feel like finally I might be onto something.
 
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