I take a lot of sick leave and don't want to push it too much.
That can be a consideration. I crashed like five times in a year with the "flu" from doing Freddd's protocol. But each time the acute part of the crash only lasted about a week, so I was able to go back to work, and within a few weeks I always felt better than I did before I crashed. I did wind up taking about 5 weeks off work that year, though. Luckily I had the PTO but I'm sure you're aware of how badly it sucks using up all your paid time off for actually being sick.
The confusion you're experiencing over how to proceed can stem in part from whether you're reading someone who advocates "low & slow" or if you're reading someone who advocates Freddd's "push through" strategy. Two different camps with two different outlooks. I'm a definite push-througher, within the caveat that we can only do what we can tolerate. Personally, I can tolerate being sick and pushing through a lot of symptoms if it "feels right". Self-awareness is a key...I can mostly tell the difference between a healing crisis that feels right and a reaction that means something's harming me. Then with Freddd's protocol, I was doubly encouraged when things started unfolding pretty much the way he said they would (increase in folate means you feel better for a short time, then get sick or more symptoms manifest, increasing while sick means getting better again, then more symptoms manifest, etc.). I was encouraged by the fact that the pattern I was experiencing seemed to fit what Freddd and others had experienced, as well. Other's mileage may vary. And if symptoms are intolerable, sometimes you just gotta stop. That happened to me with LCF. I had to stop it for a while and circle back around to it. It was months before I could really tolerate it and now it's one of my favorite supplements ever.
Yes i'll spend time reading and researching etc so I don't ask too much of you all.
Everyone likes to help but sometimes we don't have too much time. It's a shame to wait for an answer if it's already out there somewhere, probably not even buried that deep. I've come up on some real gems around here trying to figure out the answer to my own problems from what's already been written.
But the truth is it really helps you more if you get well-versed in what you're doing to yourself. The only way to do that is to read until you can't read any more. Then do it just a little bit more.
Again, good luck!