Hello again everybody,
I've posted a lot over the past year, and I'd be immensely grateful if, once again, people could be kind enough to share their wisdom.
Quick background, I don't have ME, I have Aspergers Syndrome and a history of depression, OCD, anxiety and anger. I was born Vegan and always tried to follow a healthy diet. I had very bad streptococcus as a baby and almost died from it, and other cases as a child which led me to question whether I had PANDAS.
I've tried a lot of things this past year. I'm not sure what's helping or not as I tend to take a lot of things at the same time and still trying to figure out what causes what reaction. I take 1000 mcg of Mb12 every day, Vegan D3, for the past 3 weeks 1200 mg of NAC, and for maybe 6 of the past 8 weeks, around a tablespoon of glycine everyday (the last two due to suspected PANDAS). I also take 2 teaspoons of turmeric every day, morning and night, which makes my tongue buzz! lol.
Last year I tried GABA (no effect), Inositol (too expensive), and at Christmas I started with 5-htp, 50mg seemed to do nothing, at 200 I felt like my life and my mind was changing, I felt happier than I ever remember feeling, calmer, less OCD, more at peace with everyone, forgiving... and then after 2/3 weeks it stopped even while I was still taking it (maybe I was just enjoying the Christmas holidays!). I abandoned the turmeric at the time thinking the 5-htp was the miracle cure, but then the effects wore off. My 5-htp ran out and I'm now on the glycine, the NAC and the turmeric but I don't have that happy feeling. Actually, I feel like I'm getting more depressed. So I'm assuming the glycine and NAC is not helping.
Recently I finished my Masters Degree, which required working 60-80 hours a week because I also work full time whilst writing a 60,000 thesis. I have lived off espresso for years, but recently cut right down and I have noticed on days I don't drink coffee I feel very flat, miserable, motivationless, like, what's the point to anything? Espresso seems to get me out of this, but hypes me up so much, I can't just drink espresso for nothing! lol. Recently a freind recommended an enhanced rhodiola complex, which seemed to really cut out my anxiety, in 15 minutes even, and increase my motivation. It had 25mg of L-tyrosine in it.
Anyway, so basically, I have recently been suspecting I am low on both serotonin and dopamine for some reason. I have approached things from the angle of, ok, well I will take things that increase my serotonin and dopamine then.
Recently I spoke to a Vegan friend of mine whose Vegan boyfriend overcame ME by supplementing with MB12, B6 and folate. We suspect he too has Aspergers. I spoke to her because I often take B-Right by Jarrow, just half, because I react really badly to too much B6 and so does my dad. But that half a pill gives me 200mg of folate. Whenever I take that pill, my potassium seems to tank and I need a crazy amount of it to make the cramping/joint aches go away. I spoke to my friend and she found an article by someone who seems to be quoting Dr. Walsh, which said that undermethylators should not take folate or folic acid as it soaks up methyl groups and exacerbates undermethylation. I thought here on pheonix rising folate was an essential part of the B-12 methylation protocol? This woman also says that Vegan diets high in folate can exacerbate depression in undermethylators, and that we should avoid folate-rich foods like spinach (that I eat every day) etc. and increase methionine. Is this true?? I thought folate deficiency was a cause of depression? Not folate excess...?
I googled a list of methyl donors and found that a lot of them, such as turmeric, coffee, Mb12 are the only things I would say really improve my mood. So I am wondering now if I should take more of the other methyl donors, like Carnitine, SAMe, TMG... I don't even know what these are!! I read somewhere the problem with undermethylation is in the receptors, so even if you are consuming enough serotonin producing foods etc, the serotonin etc. won't be picked up. If I increase the methylation, will I no longer need things like 5-htp/Inositol (assuming I need them) or dopamine? I am so confused...!
I am getting quite nervous about taking so many supplements without understanding their effects on my brain. I'd be really grateful if somebody could help me clarify this.
Another query I have is whether i should be taking adenoB12 aswell as Mb12?
Thank you so much everybody, as always, and I hope you all have a great weekend.
I've posted a lot over the past year, and I'd be immensely grateful if, once again, people could be kind enough to share their wisdom.
Quick background, I don't have ME, I have Aspergers Syndrome and a history of depression, OCD, anxiety and anger. I was born Vegan and always tried to follow a healthy diet. I had very bad streptococcus as a baby and almost died from it, and other cases as a child which led me to question whether I had PANDAS.
I've tried a lot of things this past year. I'm not sure what's helping or not as I tend to take a lot of things at the same time and still trying to figure out what causes what reaction. I take 1000 mcg of Mb12 every day, Vegan D3, for the past 3 weeks 1200 mg of NAC, and for maybe 6 of the past 8 weeks, around a tablespoon of glycine everyday (the last two due to suspected PANDAS). I also take 2 teaspoons of turmeric every day, morning and night, which makes my tongue buzz! lol.
Last year I tried GABA (no effect), Inositol (too expensive), and at Christmas I started with 5-htp, 50mg seemed to do nothing, at 200 I felt like my life and my mind was changing, I felt happier than I ever remember feeling, calmer, less OCD, more at peace with everyone, forgiving... and then after 2/3 weeks it stopped even while I was still taking it (maybe I was just enjoying the Christmas holidays!). I abandoned the turmeric at the time thinking the 5-htp was the miracle cure, but then the effects wore off. My 5-htp ran out and I'm now on the glycine, the NAC and the turmeric but I don't have that happy feeling. Actually, I feel like I'm getting more depressed. So I'm assuming the glycine and NAC is not helping.
Recently I finished my Masters Degree, which required working 60-80 hours a week because I also work full time whilst writing a 60,000 thesis. I have lived off espresso for years, but recently cut right down and I have noticed on days I don't drink coffee I feel very flat, miserable, motivationless, like, what's the point to anything? Espresso seems to get me out of this, but hypes me up so much, I can't just drink espresso for nothing! lol. Recently a freind recommended an enhanced rhodiola complex, which seemed to really cut out my anxiety, in 15 minutes even, and increase my motivation. It had 25mg of L-tyrosine in it.
Anyway, so basically, I have recently been suspecting I am low on both serotonin and dopamine for some reason. I have approached things from the angle of, ok, well I will take things that increase my serotonin and dopamine then.
Recently I spoke to a Vegan friend of mine whose Vegan boyfriend overcame ME by supplementing with MB12, B6 and folate. We suspect he too has Aspergers. I spoke to her because I often take B-Right by Jarrow, just half, because I react really badly to too much B6 and so does my dad. But that half a pill gives me 200mg of folate. Whenever I take that pill, my potassium seems to tank and I need a crazy amount of it to make the cramping/joint aches go away. I spoke to my friend and she found an article by someone who seems to be quoting Dr. Walsh, which said that undermethylators should not take folate or folic acid as it soaks up methyl groups and exacerbates undermethylation. I thought here on pheonix rising folate was an essential part of the B-12 methylation protocol? This woman also says that Vegan diets high in folate can exacerbate depression in undermethylators, and that we should avoid folate-rich foods like spinach (that I eat every day) etc. and increase methionine. Is this true?? I thought folate deficiency was a cause of depression? Not folate excess...?
I googled a list of methyl donors and found that a lot of them, such as turmeric, coffee, Mb12 are the only things I would say really improve my mood. So I am wondering now if I should take more of the other methyl donors, like Carnitine, SAMe, TMG... I don't even know what these are!! I read somewhere the problem with undermethylation is in the receptors, so even if you are consuming enough serotonin producing foods etc, the serotonin etc. won't be picked up. If I increase the methylation, will I no longer need things like 5-htp/Inositol (assuming I need them) or dopamine? I am so confused...!
I am getting quite nervous about taking so many supplements without understanding their effects on my brain. I'd be really grateful if somebody could help me clarify this.
Another query I have is whether i should be taking adenoB12 aswell as Mb12?
Thank you so much everybody, as always, and I hope you all have a great weekend.