advice on breaking accidental methyl trap

[Sidereal]

Potassium: 4.8

BE CAREFUL with potassium. Too much or too little can be a serious problem.

 

[SwanRonson]

BE CAREFUL with potassium. Too much or too little can be a serious problem.

Should I lay off the coconut water and plantains for a bit?

 

[Sidereal]

If your kidneys are functioning it should be very difficult to overdose on potassium from food sources but to be safe I would link in with the GP, tell him what you are doing and get a repeat blood test.

 

[SwanRonson]

If your kidneys are functioning it should be very difficult to overdose on potassium from food sources but to be safe I would link in with the GP, tell him what you are doing and get a repeat blood test.

Thanks. I've requested an appointment just now to talk things over with him.

The only out-of-range result on my bloodwork was vitamin D was low at around 25. Forgot to mention that.

The brain fog kind of came and went throughout the afternoon and evening yesterday, but I felt very good when I went to bed. But, when I woke up this morning I feel the fatigue and brain fog back (not as bad, but it's definitely present). That has been a pattern with this thing from the beginning. I always feel pretty good by bed time, but when I wake up it's like someone has hit the reset button during my sleep and I feel like crap again when I wake up.

The cycle:

Morning: lousy
Mid-morning: terrible
Afternoon: better but still crummy
Evening: getting better
Late evening: much better

That cycle has been pretty stable since the beginning. I can't make any sense out of it though. Does anyone else have a clue, or recognize a pattern like that?

Also, I'm wondering if I need to be taking niacin during this time? Recommendation.

 

[SwanRonson]

Just an update for anyone else in my situation: After pounding potassium foods/drinks for a few hours I was very excited yesterday morning, as I had mental clarity and felt like I had woken up from a 2 month long bad dream. But, it didn't last. The normalcy feeling faded after a few hours even though I was still consuming the potassium. And, upon waking up this morning I pretty much feel the same way as I did before (foggy - almost dizzy - like I'm in a tunnel, fatigue,insomnia - didn't sleep much at all last night).

It's depressing to have a glimpse of normalcy just to feel it slowly slip away. I'm sure that's a common refrain on this board.

I'm going to just stay off any supplements until at least Thursday to see if there is any improvement. If not, I'll try to start slow with the methyl protocol.

All of this came out of nowhere, so I was hoping it would self-correct. I guess time will tell.

 

[Gondwanaland]

Just a word of caution regarding coconut water... It sent me to the ER for being high in salicylates. It also contains sulfur and you have CBS issues. Try not to overdo it.

If you are not taking supplements, your potassium need probably isn't extreme right now.

Regarding lab tests, checking serum and urine values at the same time is very revealing (also RBC levels if possible). For instance, when high methylfolate accompanied by high coconut water knocked me down, I managed to convince my hematologist to ask for all 3 tests and my magnesium results were

Serum Mg 2.2 (1.6 - 2.3 mg/dL)
RBC Mg 5 (4.3 - 5.7 mg/dL)
Urine Mg 4.7 (7.3 - 12.2 mg/dL)

So I was Mg deficient and if only the serum result were available it would takme me more time to figure it out.

izzy

 

[SwanRonson]

Thank you for the information. I'll back off on it and try to just get potassium from the plantains. They taste good anyway.

What were your symptoms that sent you to the ER?

 

[Gondwanaland]

A mix of pre anaphylaxis (salicylate intolerance), magnesium deficiency, hypothyroidism onset and serotonin syndrome: breathlessness, restlessness, tight throat and lungs, dehydration.

At the ER they only measured my serum electrolytes and "everything looked normal". They said I had anxiety and sent me home.

I read you overdid with iodine in the past. When I took methylfolate I was overdoing with methylB12 for over a month and it depleted my iodine. MethylB12 and iodine are the both sides of the same coin, i.e. energy generation...

izzy

 

[SwanRonson]

Yes, I basically gave myself hyperthyroid by taking too much iodine daily over the course of about a year. I lost lots of weight and had tachycardia (resting rate was about 100). That was about a year ago.

That taught me a lesson about taking supplements without someone knowing about what I'm doing. That's why this latest episode is so frustrating. It was a doctor that told me to take the "folate" to begin with. And, I've told all 3 of the doctors i've seen so far that I was taking it daily and they never mentioned it as a possible cause.

 

[Gondwanaland]

At first I got hyperthyroid symptoms from taking methylB12 also, lost weight I couldn't afford to loose and now I am taking levothyroxine. I am actually amazed that the levothyroxine is making my auto antibodies go down

Edit: no doctor I saw understood anything from what I am saying.

 

[Gondwanaland]

BTW my goal right now is to reconstruct my thyroid, suppress the auto antibodies, supplement low dose iodine and restart methylation supps low and slow. I fell in love with methylB12

izzy

 

[SwanRonson]

People have said on this forum that taking methylfolate by itself will "use up" your b12. Do they mean it will deplete your total b12 number, or do they mean it will deplete bioavailable b12?

Since my most recent (10/22) b12 level was 582, it would seem that I have plenty of b12 in the blood, but perhaps there is a lack of co-factors that would be needed to make it bioavailable for use. Am I understanding that right? And if so, what would those co-factors be?

 

[sregan]

The cycle:

Morning: lousy
Mid-morning: terrible
Afternoon: better but still crummy
Evening: getting better
Late evening: much better

That cycle has been pretty stable since the beginning. I can't make any sense out of it though. Does anyone else have a clue, or recognize a pattern like that?

Yes I do, looks like a stress induced cortisol high morning response. Since you are feeling much better as the end of the day when your cortisol level drops. Same thing I experienced back when I was in my super stressed period. My daughter recently went through with her OCD onset.

If that's it you need to get this response down ASAP as it will (IMO) do a lot of damage if left unchecked. L-Glutamine is good as is Phosphatidyl Serine at reducing this. L-Glutamine will possibly raise Glutamate levels so keep an eye for that via symtoms. Take before bed. I'm betting the Phosphatidyl Serine will help tremendously. There are a few other supplements that can lower cortisol like Holy Basil and Beta Sitosterols. Vitamin C is supposed to also but I haven't seen that to be so personally.

 

[SwanRonson]

Yes I do, looks like a stress induced cortisol high morning response. Since you are feeling much better as the end of the day when your cortisol level drops. Same thing I experienced back when I was in my super stressed period. My daughter recently went through with her OCD onset.

If that's it you need to get this response down ASAP as it will (IMO) do a lot of damage if left unchecked. L-Glutamine is good as is Phosphatidyl Serine at reducing this. L-Glutamine will possibly raise Glutamate levels so keep an eye for that via symtoms. Take before bed. I'm betting the Phosphatidyl Serine will help tremendously. There are a few other supplements that can lower cortisol like Holy Basil and Beta Sitosterols. Vitamin C is supposed to also but I haven't seen that to be so personally.

That's very interesting about the L-Glutamine. I actually bought some L-Glutamine about 6 months ago as part of a plan I saw to help with chronic constipation. I took it three times, but each time had a very strong hypoglycemic response to it within 30 minutes so I stopped. The dosage was 5000mg.

With the Phosphatidyl Serine, is there a particular amount/brand you suggest? Any side-effects to watch out for? Just asking because I've never heard of it before. Thanks again so much for the help.

 

[SwanRonson]

And if it is morning high cortisol that could explain my elevated morning fasting glucose level which has crept up about 20 points.

 

[sregan]

That's very interesting about the L-Glutamine. I actually bought some L-Glutamine about 6 months ago as part of a plan I saw to help with chronic constipation. I took it three times, but each time had a very strong hypoglycemic response to it within 30 minutes so I stopped. The dosage was 5000mg.

With the Phosphatidyl Serine, is there a particular amount/brand you suggest? Any side-effects to watch out for? Just asking because I've never heard of it before. Thanks again so much for the help.

L-Glutamine is also something people take for GUT issues and it's supposed to an essential gut nutrient and helps repair damage. 5000 mg seems pretty high. I was thinking 1000 or 2000mg.

If you say that your glucose has gone up in the AM (hyperglycaemic?) but down after taking a large dose of L-Glutamine (hypoglycaemic?) that makes sense to me if cortisol is the causative factor (glucorticoid as it is).

So maybe try 1000mg before bed tonight and see if it helps?

As for the PS I would just pick a brand with a good rating. I usually get from iherb.com
It tends to be on the expensive side. Here is a $20 bottle of "Now" brand that should be fine

 

[SwanRonson]

Thank you for the recommendation. I'll pick some up today, and get a more easily divisible version of l-glutamine than i have and expirement tonight.

 

[Jado]

Thank you for the recommendation. I'll pick some up today, and get a more easily divisible version of l-glutamine than i have and expirement tonight.

Hey man, did you ever get your situation figured out?

 

[linusbert]

@SwanRonson can you update please?
me and probably @TinaT pretty much want to know how it developed.

 

[TinaT]

My Daughter also has ++ on Both COMT. Because of that you might need to be conscious of which type of B12 you take. COMT ++ is supposed to be more sensitive to methyl groups because they supposedly aren't processed at the normal rate so they accumulate. Also your processing of dopamine may be slow also.

Look for symptoms of overmethylation and keep an eye out. You might do better on HCBL instead of MCBL.

Your MAO ++ can indicate that you also don't process serotonin at lower than a normal rate. So that may accumulate. Something you should be aware of if you are ever to be prescribed an SSRI or serotonin boosting drug or likewise supplemens.

Your two MTRR +/- can indicate that you don't recycle B12 like you should and may need more than those without this mutation.
Also your CBS++ and +/- indicate you might have a sulfate pathway issue. You may react poorly to sulfur type foods (Onions, garlic, broccolli, cauliflower, etc). Something you might research while you are here on this site.

Would you mind sharing, if you know, where to get tested for those genes? I'm having a really bad time with methyl. I was going to try hydroxy but feeling very conflicted since it's not as effective for some people. And the methyl has been great for my B12 deficiency symptoms. Just terribl as far as more potassium inducing.

Thank you for any info!!