whodathunkit
Senior Member
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@Johnmac, just to clarify: Freddd's theory basically says you get symptoms only when your body is getting enough methylfolate to get cellular processes/cellular healing started, but not enough to keep it going.
Therefore, cutting methylfolate completely *will* stop your symptoms, simply because you're not getting enough to get much if anything started. Nothing started, or only going at a very low rate promoted by co-factors like mB12 means fewer or no sides.
But when re-starting methylfolate, taking too little will put you back where you were when you stopped. Your body "uses up" methylfolate like a car uses gas...if you don't keep the fuel at an acceptable minimum level, everything stops. Not taking enough to keep things going at an appropriate rate will cause symptoms again.
The theory is that this is why radically increasing mfolate is helpful. It keeps your body supplied so all the metabolic processes that use methylfolate, that are suddenly being kickstarted after being dormant, can get enough "gas" to keep them going.
I analogize it to an 8-cylinder engine only running on two cylinders (I know that's probably not possible but bear with me for metaphorical purposes). If you go from functioning on two cylinders to four cylinders, that radically increases the amount of gas (methlyfolate) your engine (your body) needs to "go" (heal and function optimally). Increasing from four cylinders to six means you need still more gas, etc.
That's kind of what it was like for me, esp. in the beginning...it was like suddenly I had cylinders firing that had been basically dead for years. I got pretty sick, but giving myself more gas got me over the worst of it pretty quickly.
Just my $0.02, in case the clarification is helpful. I mention it because you seem to be thinking that reducing methylfolate is the way to go based on your symptom pattern. This is the paradoxical part of Freddd's theory...it seems intuitive that because your symptoms stop when you stop methylfolate, that stopping and drastically reducing is the best course of action. This may not be the case.
Good news is that after about 8-9 months of steady Freddd's protocol I'm pretty stable and getting better every day. I have reduced my methylfolate dosage to between 8mg to 16mg per day, down after five or more months of 30+mg/day. Some days I take 16mg if I seem to be having some symptoms due to stress or whatever, but most days I'm around 8mg. I anticipate as I heal more I will be able to reduce methylfolate to what a normal, healthy person should take for optimal health. My estimate for that is around 4mg. At any rate, that's probably the minimum I will ever take.
Point being, as I have healed, the amount of methylfolate I've needed to combat side effects from healing has gone down drastically. But only as I've gotten better, and I got worse and needed more before I got better and needed less.
Again, your choice of how to proceed. Just sayin'.
Therefore, cutting methylfolate completely *will* stop your symptoms, simply because you're not getting enough to get much if anything started. Nothing started, or only going at a very low rate promoted by co-factors like mB12 means fewer or no sides.
But when re-starting methylfolate, taking too little will put you back where you were when you stopped. Your body "uses up" methylfolate like a car uses gas...if you don't keep the fuel at an acceptable minimum level, everything stops. Not taking enough to keep things going at an appropriate rate will cause symptoms again.
The theory is that this is why radically increasing mfolate is helpful. It keeps your body supplied so all the metabolic processes that use methylfolate, that are suddenly being kickstarted after being dormant, can get enough "gas" to keep them going.
I analogize it to an 8-cylinder engine only running on two cylinders (I know that's probably not possible but bear with me for metaphorical purposes). If you go from functioning on two cylinders to four cylinders, that radically increases the amount of gas (methlyfolate) your engine (your body) needs to "go" (heal and function optimally). Increasing from four cylinders to six means you need still more gas, etc.
That's kind of what it was like for me, esp. in the beginning...it was like suddenly I had cylinders firing that had been basically dead for years. I got pretty sick, but giving myself more gas got me over the worst of it pretty quickly.
Just my $0.02, in case the clarification is helpful. I mention it because you seem to be thinking that reducing methylfolate is the way to go based on your symptom pattern. This is the paradoxical part of Freddd's theory...it seems intuitive that because your symptoms stop when you stop methylfolate, that stopping and drastically reducing is the best course of action. This may not be the case.
Good news is that after about 8-9 months of steady Freddd's protocol I'm pretty stable and getting better every day. I have reduced my methylfolate dosage to between 8mg to 16mg per day, down after five or more months of 30+mg/day. Some days I take 16mg if I seem to be having some symptoms due to stress or whatever, but most days I'm around 8mg. I anticipate as I heal more I will be able to reduce methylfolate to what a normal, healthy person should take for optimal health. My estimate for that is around 4mg. At any rate, that's probably the minimum I will ever take.
Point being, as I have healed, the amount of methylfolate I've needed to combat side effects from healing has gone down drastically. But only as I've gotten better, and I got worse and needed more before I got better and needed less.
Again, your choice of how to proceed. Just sayin'.
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