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Took too much Folate and b12, Niacin not stopping the madness..

Messages
99
For 5 days I went straight into taking 5000mcg methyl b12 and 15mg, yes 15mg folate.
I jumped the gun big time and have been reading up on why this is a bad idea over these last 2 days.

I feel like my brain is exploding, its mentally hard to exist right now yet slightly easier than yesterday when i first stopped taking the supplements, i assume im creating too many neurotransmitters, anxiety is horrific and theres deep depressive feelings amongst it.

I read that 50mg Niacin should calm things down and mop up methyl groups. Ive taken 10 x50mg over the course of today and its not working, why wouldnt it?

Ive done this before and never made the connection to the folate and b12, I know from experience that what im feeling will go back to baseline in about 5 days if i dont take any b12 and folate but why isnt the Niacin trick working? do i simply need more?
 

Oberon

Senior Member
Messages
214
Have you cut out all the supplements completely? When this happened to me the Niacin made things worse and let to severely depressive thoughts so be careful with taking too much Niacin if you're sensitive.

I know how difficult this is, but you will make it out of it, it will just unfortunately take longer than you might like.

I will also suggest at your own risk to try a lower dose of B12 to see if it will calm your depressive thoughts. This has helped me in the past when I've taken Niacin and reacted poorly. Make sure the dose is much much lower at first in case you have a negative reaction.

Try Potassium and Magnesium like Gondwanaland said.

I'm sorry you're going through this and know how tough it is first hand. Unfortunately you are learning the hard way, as many others have here that methylation supplements are not as safe as the internet says they are and can lead to some bad reactions.
 

Mary

Moderator Resource
Messages
17,321
Location
Southern California
@jack blogs - have you read any of Freddd's posts where he talks about the importance of potassium when taking methylation supplements? Here are a couple of links which you should look at, if you are not familiar with this issue. Low potassium can cause depression, although for me the first and most severe symptom was severe fatigue, and also had some muscle cramping.

http://forums.phoenixrising.me/inde...ded-in-methylation-treatmt.18670/#post-291422
http://forums.phoenixrising.me/index.php?threads/warning-low-potassium-is-dangerous.14410/
 
Messages
1,478
@jack blogs Just to give you an idea of scale ...I use potassium gluconate tablets 200g 3x daily for heart palpitations etc and magnesium oxide 2x 400g plus 20 sprays of subdermal magnesium chloride spray (50% solution) daily. That is not enough magnesium for me so I also have 2 Epsom salts baths a week to top up.

We are all different but hopefully this helps ...give you an idea of options? I don't take nearly as much folate as you do (3x400mcg) but take more b12. With your current problem I would start with looking at the magnesium for sure and take the potassium with care (the above dose I take is well within your Rda). An alternative to tablets for potassium would be potato crisps (chips if you are American). Dark chocolate pumpkin seeds, almonds are all reasonable sources of magnesium. Diet is always best for minerals if you can stomach it.
 
Messages
99
Have you cut out all the supplements completely? When this happened to me the Niacin made things worse and let to severely depressive thoughts so be careful with taking too much Niacin if you're sensitive.

I know how difficult this is, but you will make it out of it, it will just unfortunately take longer than you might like.

I will also suggest at your own risk to try a lower dose of B12 to see if it will calm your depressive thoughts. This has helped me in the past when I've taken Niacin and reacted poorly. Make sure the dose is much much lower at first in case you have a negative reaction.

Try Potassium and Magnesium like Gondwanaland said.

I'm sorry you're going through this and know how tough it is first hand. Unfortunately you are learning the hard way, as many others have here that methylation supplements are not as safe as the internet says they are and can lead to some bad reactions.
Thanks

"methylation supplements are not as safe as the internet says they are"

Aint that the truth!

Ive been here before and never made the connection that it was folate and b12 doing this to me, yet im looking back over the last 6 months and this happens everytime I make a start on a supplement plan.

Anxiety has gotten less and less as each day has passed since stopping, today is better in the anxiety sense but the depression is tough, life is dark and painful. I took a lot of Niacin yesterday, going to stay away from it and wait for things to balance out naturally.

Unfortunately will take a while for my Potassium and Mag to arrive.

Ive been here 4 times in 6 months and never made the connection! posting on this forum was one of the best things I did because when someone suggested it could be the B vitamins and folate it made me consider something I was led to believe wasnt possible. I thought taken big doses of b12 and folate wouldnt be a problem because they are vitamins.
A few websites out there led me down the garden path in this sense.
 
Messages
99
@jack blogs - have you read any of Freddd's posts where he talks about the importance of potassium when taking methylation supplements? Here are a couple of links which you should look at, if you are not familiar with this issue. Low potassium can cause depression, although for me the first and most severe symptom was severe fatigue, and also had some muscle cramping.

http://forums.phoenixrising.me/inde...ded-in-methylation-treatmt.18670/#post-291422
http://forums.phoenixrising.me/index.php?threads/warning-low-potassium-is-dangerous.14410/


"As methylation starts up, no ifs ands or buts typically, in a day or less with the active protocol, when those symptoms hit on the 3rd day typically or a little later, it's virtually always potassium." - Freddd

Yup, it always starts on day 3 for me, always.

More-than-severe anxiety
Depression
Diarrhea
No appetite
feel borderline-psychotic, asked a family member to leave my flat as i felt like punching them just for walking past me, it irritated me THAT much.

From what ive been reading most of us are deficient in potassium to begin with, nevermind while going through methylation.
 

Mary

Moderator Resource
Messages
17,321
Location
Southern California
From what ive been reading most of us are deficient in potassium to begin with, nevermind while going through methylation.

If you read the post by richvank which I linked above, you'll see that he talks about this exact issue - we do tend to be low in intracellular potassium despite normal serum levels and then methylation can make it even worse as cells start to divide more rapidly and potassium needs can increase quite suddenly.

I had to titrate up to 1000 mg of potassium (over a couple of days) before my symptoms abated. And then discovered I had to keep taking this, it's been some 6 or 7 years now, but it's fine, it keeps low potassium symptoms at bay. I also drink low-sodium V8 - very high in potassium and low in sugar and calories. I also realized I had had these symptoms before I even started methylfolate, only I never knew what they were until I read Freddd's posts and started taking methylfolate.

So I think an easy way to find out if low potassium is an issue for you is to get some low-sodium V8 and drink several glasses during the day - if you start to feel better, I think you'll have your answer and then you may decide (or not) to add in a potassium supplement. I do well with potassium gluconate. Or whatever high potassium foods you like - just make sure you take enough. One banana won't do it for most people.

If you do start a supplement, don't start with a huge amount all at once - it takes a while for your body to adjust, so titrating up gradually in divided smaller doses while you find what works for you is best. I currently usually take 200 mg 4 x a day (even 200 before bed as I used to get cramping in the middle of the night) Some people have to take more, some less; the daily RDA is 4500 mg.