Yes, ditch the folic acid. Freddd's information labels hydroxyB12 as basically a starvation work-around for the body, something that's fundamentally inefficient and not up to the job. When I finally asked Freddd about increasing levels, he suggested increasing 100-200mcg every day or 2. I followed this advice, at times increasing by 300mcg when I shifted from a 200mc to my next size, 500mcg. Initially I had a bottle of Solgar 800mcg tabs, which I cut into 4x 200mcg. I eventually added 1000mcg (1mg) caps. As I've used up that bottle of 800mcg tabs, my smaller doses now come from splitting 1000mcg tabs into quarters, so I'll be increasing by .250mg, instead of .200mg.
It took me a long time to work out that hair loss is one of my early signs. It seems so bizarre, from one day to the next to have a brush full of hair. I now know that it's indeed that rapid, even finding a handful of hair at one time during the day, and not at another time. A year ago I lost a massive amount of hair, believing it was detox. Not so. The other symptoms for me were, as Freddd has found, epithelial/skin related. For a time I was getting recurring blood blisters in my mouth. These have stopped. I get acne and pimples around my hairline and neck, which increase unless I add more folate, and then recede. Again, this can be rapid, from day to day. This is how I've been deciding to increase folate.
When I increase folate, I sometimes get other symptoms, relatively immediately. This tends to be weepy eyes, something like breathlessness, tho not severe, and what Freddd correctly calls euphoria. I've generally only recognized this euphoria/hyper feeling after the fact. In one case I posted what seemed to me, even at the time, to be a rather finger-wagging response to a forum post. A few hours later I realized the connection.
The other day I'd increased folate and began feeling restless, and then an intense itching in the web between my fingers. I popped a B12 and it was immediately relieved. Magic!
Be sure to have K+ available. Again, as per Freddd's findings, when I decreased my other B vits to a very small dose, instead of the very large doses I'd been using, my K+ needs dropped radically. Thankfully. I think the K+ need can come from either B12 or folate, not totally sure here. For me, it's indicated by breathlessness, rapid heart, a feeling of 'weirdness', restless. I know I wrote that those were the symptoms I get w/ increasing folate, cured by adding B12. I haven't had to increase my K+ doses for a long time. Maybe correcting it with >B12 has done the trick.
As my levels began to rise I definitely experienced more endurance. It's hard now to differentiate the ways I'm improving. Initially I was set to really increase my exercise, but Freddd cautioned that healing is not the same as rehabilitation, that rehab would take another year. So I've been careful not to push. But I no longer have any pains in my arms, I can type as long as I'd like. My remaining frozen shoulders have resolved, although whether this is due to methylation or detox of metals, I can't gauge. I frequently find myself surprised to find no tremulousness in my hands or body, because it was so frequently there. No longer. My feeling of well being far outstrips my ability to be in the world or do things. This is fine, because it was my inner state that was the worst disaster before. But those improvements also include my gluten-free GAPS diet and supplementing for pyroluria, MTHFR.
In a way, I'd say my biggest improvement since starting this protocol is my stability. For the 8.5 years before stumbling onto the GAPS diet, I lurched from crisis. So it's taken all these components, noted above, to overcome that. Now, I feel so normal, in spite of my limitations, it's clear that my methylation is working for the first time in my life. As I come to understand my genetic profile, I see how I've always struggled under the burden of not enough B12 and folate. Oh Yes...Sleep! This is clearly from the protocol. I have normal sleep for the first time in my life. I've always had difficulty getting to sleep and returning to sleep if I awaken. Form episodic to chronic w/ the ME/CFS. No more. Amazing!
And, after 2 years of relying on the wonderful benefits of adrenal and hypothalamus glandulars (along w/ pituitary and thymus), I've now been able to decrease those from twice to once a day.
I'm posting a link from phoenixrising member Eric who has created this wonderful FAQ version of Freddd's Protocol. Also, I strongly suggest you learn self-testing for supps. This has been invaluable for me. Posting link to a vid recommended by pr member Critterina. cheers, ahmo
http://howirecovered.com/active-b12-therapy-faq/
Self-testing http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Ex59wHLk3Q0
