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Whats a good GABA supplement ... trying to address my COMTs++ ...?

Bansaw

Senior Member
Messages
521
So my doctor (who has just written a book on Methylation) has gotten around to prescribing me some supplements. She said that mt two COMTs++ are difficult to address but I was reading somewhere that GABA, Lithium orotate and Magnesium citrate some people are using that to some affect.

My question is, what brand of GABA is considered the most effective, and good brand for Lithium and Magnesium too?

Here's what else she has me on:
Ammonia Scavenger (capsule has Yucca root, L-Orthanine, L-Citruline, L-Lysine HCl, Alpha-Ketoglutatate, Golden Larch and Vitamin B6.) And I must admit I think its helping with my PEM somewhat. But at $40 for 90 caps I think its more expensive than it needs to be.
Adeno B12 Lozenge 3000mcg p/day
L-Argenine (1,500mg AM) / L-Lysine (3000mg PM)
Emulsified Vit D

Someone commented I might need Methyl B12 too according to my SNPs.....?
 
Last edited:

alice111

Senior Member
Messages
397
Location
Canada
I have had good success with hollisticheal gala balance, and complimentary prescriptions lithium orotate! They have bothy been incredibly helpful. Good luck! :)
 

Bansaw

Senior Member
Messages
521
I have had good success with hollisticheal gala balance, and complimentary prescriptions lithium orotate! They have bothy been incredibly helpful. Good luck! :)
What brand of Lithium do you use, and what dose and timing? Do you take it at exactly the same time as the GABA, and at what time in the day do you take them?
 

alice111

Senior Member
Messages
397
Location
Canada
What brand of Lithium do you use, and what dose and timing? Do you take it at exactly the same time as the GABA, and at what time in the day do you take them?

This is the brand of lithium. I started with a sprinkle and have worked my way up to a full cap. I take it everyday with dinner.
http://www.cpmedical.net/lithium-orotate.html

The gaba I don't always take the same dose everyday, but mostly half a capsule in the evening. I sometimes increase this or take early if I am feeling anxious, or wound up.

Hope that helps!
 

caledonia

Senior Member
PharmaGABA worked well for me.
I don't know if there's that much difference in lithium brands. Yasko suggests keeping the dose very small, like 2.5mg.
Vinco's magnesium glycinate powder, dissolved in water works well for me.

I believe that MTRR A66G is the major SNP for MTRR (off the top of my head, so don't shoot me if I'm wrong). In that case, you would want some B12 containing methyl groups (hydroxycobalamin or methylcobalamin). Yasko suggests hydroxy and adenosyl for your COMT/VDR taq combo. Methylcobalamin may cause mood swings.
 

Bansaw

Senior Member
Messages
521
PharmaGABA worked well for me.
I don't know if there's that much difference in lithium brands. Yasko suggests keeping the dose very small, like 2.5mg.
Vinco's magnesium glycinate powder, dissolved in water works well for me.

I believe that MTRR A66G is the major SNP for MTRR (off the top of my head, so don't shoot me if I'm wrong). In that case, you would want some B12 containing methyl groups (hydroxycobalamin or methylcobalamin). Yasko suggests hydroxy and adenosyl for your COMT/VDR taq combo. Methylcobalamin may cause mood swings.

Thanks Caledonia. I am taking Emulsified Vit D for my VDRTaq as well. I am also taking now Adeno B12. Someone else said I should be taking Methyl B12 along with Adeno.

I had a look at a blog post of yours and it has a section on healing the gut. My doc gave me a gut healing protocol. Well for SIBO actually. I am already taking Zypan but she has put me on:
Biotics ADP - Emulsified Oil of Oregano
Saccharomyces boulardii
Bromelain CLA - a biofilm disruptor


So, about a month of that, then I hit the probiotics heavily.

I know I have low absorption as my minerals have all tested low and other factors seem to point to that as well. But I do seem to absorb well things like bulk amino acid powder, sublingual, teas, tinctures etc. Probably capsules and pills I don't do so well with.

Any comments on any of the above?
 

caledonia

Senior Member
Thanks Caledonia. I am taking Emulsified Vit D for my VDRTaq as well. I am also taking now Adeno B12. Someone else said I should be taking Methyl B12 along with Adeno.

I had a look at a blog post of yours and it has a section on healing the gut. My doc gave me a gut healing protocol. Well for SIBO actually. I am already taking Zypan but she has put me on:
Biotics ADP - Emulsified Oil of Oregano
Saccharomyces boulardii
Bromelain CLA - a biofilm disruptor


So, about a month of that, then I hit the probiotics heavily.

I know I have low absorption as my minerals have all tested low and other factors seem to point to that as well. But I do seem to absorb well things like bulk amino acid powder, sublingual, teas, tinctures etc. Probably capsules and pills I don't do so well with.

Any comments on any of the above?

In general, people should take the following combinations:
methylcobalamin + adenosylcobalamin
hydroxycobalamin + adenosylcobalmin
hydroxycobalamin (converts to methylcobalamin + adenosylcobalamin)

Adenosyl helps with energy, so if you have ME - this is definitely a plus. You need methylcobalamin or hydroxycobalamin (converts to methyl + adenosyl) to get methyl groups to create methylation.

However, people with COMT mutations have problems with having too many methyl groups causing mood swings (sometimes bad enough to put you in the hospital). So it's best to start with hydroxycobalamin, which since the body has to convert it first, it goes in slower and is less likely to cause mood swings than methylcobalamin.

So an analogy - hydroxy would be like eating a brown rice (a complex carb), and methyl would be like eating rice syrup (a refined carb).

Some people with COMT are lucky and can tolerate methylcobalamin just fine. Whatever you do, have some niacin on hand to dampen things down in case you get a bad reaction. You only need 50-100mg. I have all this stuff in my documents (see my signature link below).

=-=-==-=
Gut program:
Zypan - digestive enzymes
Biotics ADP - Emulsified Oil of Oregano - candida killer
Saccharomyces boulardii
- a yeast which is considered to be a probiotic
Bromelain CLA
- enzymes plus essential fatty acid often used for the gut (CLA is in coconut oil)

I don't see anything to help heal the stomach lining from leaky gut caused by candida (usually glutamine).

I'm assuming you've removed gluten, dairy, soy, GMOs, sugar etc. from your diet.
 

Bansaw

Senior Member
Messages
521
I don't see anything to help heal the stomach lining from leaky gut caused by candida (usually glutamine).
I'm assuming you've removed gluten, dairy, soy, GMOs, sugar etc. from your diet.
Thanks, just before you replied I started a separate thread on biofilm disruptors.
I appreciate your info. I'll take it to my doctor. She's just written a book on Methylation so I'm hoping for big things from her.
I have taken Methyl B12 before but it didn't have too much affect on mood I think. My moods are pretty flatlined, neither filled with joy or depressed. Somewhere in the middle all the time.
I did pick up Rickettsia Mooseri in Africa and thats a bit like Lymes (not quite as bad) but that apparently can form biofilm in the gut.
I might do Bormelain CLA with something else to make sure that biofilm is well and truly tackled.
 

caledonia

Senior Member
Once you take a GABA supplement, does your body make less of it, and do you have to take more and more of the GABA supp to acheive the initial effectiveness?

I was taking gobs of GABA at one point. I didn't have any problems starting or stopping the GABA. I don't think there is a negative feedback loop for GABA.

I did feel an initial calming effect when I first took it, which soon wore off, but overall I remained less anxious, so I don't count that as becoming ineffective. I think a lot of people experience that and they think the supplement stops working.

Note that I was supplementing at three or four times a day, whatever the maximum amount is.
 

TheChosenOne

Senior Member
Messages
209
I'm taking GABA in combination with magnesium citrate. It works fairly well with regards to anxiety.
I recently started to take lithium orotate (10 mg). I feel like it is way more effective than GABA.