Help with B12 confusion

[whodathunkit]

@Enigmatic: Just throwing this out there...I have had ongoing bowel issues for some years now. Sometimes symptoms get better, sometimes worse. They got worse when starting Freddd's protocol. Low methylfolate really precipitates my symptoms.

My personal opinion is that it may have something to do with some epithelial healing due to long-term damage.

Should note that I've never been diagnosed with a bowel disease but have also never pursued a diagnosis. Known problems I have are severe uterine fibroids, which can impinge on everything in the abdominal cavity when they get large and are known to have an effect on the intestines/colon. Additionally, my diet was shite for the entirety of my adult life. I've also wondered a time or two if I might have diverticulitis.

Just saying by way of explaining what I mean by "damage" without actually being diagnosed with a bowel syndrome.

Early on in the protocol, radically increasing methylfolate helped a lot, per Freddd's paradoxical methylfolate deficiency theory.

I've now reduced my methylfolate because in general things have stabilized and it's expensive. LOL I still experience some bowel symptoms occasionally, but because I feel so much better in general on the protocol, I'm riding it out for now. I've seen an overall improvement in my bowels. It's been decades worth of damage so I don't expect it to be healed in six months. I'm fairly pleased with the improvement and hope to see resolution at some point in the future.

However, you should approach symptom resolution only in a way that YOU are comfortable with.

Good luck. Hope it gets better.

 

[DeGenesis]

If the problem is constipation, I have read that years of stretching your rectum (or further up) will desensitize it to where smaller stools that don't contain a lot of fiber will become difficult to pass. I squat on my toilet seat sometimes to counter this.

If the problem is diarrhea, already damaged mucosa is irritated by the passing stool, you are losing water from the epithelium (as you said), and if the stool is lose enough, unassimilated bile will act as a stimulant laxative.

That's a super over-simplification but it's pretty well what I think right now. I could write a 12 page essay on the etiology of constipation lol.

 

[Enigmatic]

Thanks @whodathunkit and @DeGenesis for the responses.

I'm not sure that I've had any damage. My last "inspection" I was told everything was very healthy and the gastro was very interested in how I'd resolved everything given I'd stopped the medication he insisted I need to be on for life.

When I started the protocol I made a mistake and ended up on too much Methyl Folate too soon and had side effects. I scaled it right back and saw good progress and had slowly been building up again but it would seem I'm still not getting enough.

I don't normally like making two changes at once but in this instance I felt I needed to. Watching what was going on I've seen a reaction after taking the Creon enzymes I'd been prescribed. This reaction was generally my symptoms being worse. This is the first change - I've stopped taking these for the time being.

My second change is that I've also applied more rigour to my timing and taking of Methyl Folate and given the dosage a nudge. I'm now taking one Solgar 800mcg tablet every 4 hours but will look to increase to 1mg soon as well. I've found other sources aside from here that have indicated Methyl Folate helps relieve symptoms but I need to find a dose right for me but accept it will be higher than what I've been on.

@DeGenesis I wish I did have a bit of constipation My symptoms are mostly pain/discomfort and "you will go RIGHT NOW" and some bleeding with an amount of mucus. This is partly what got me to thinking it was healing that could be involved in it being the mucosal lining being shed/replaced.

Worst first thing in the morning which may be as a result of going 8 hours or so without dosage and then stuff seems to settle down and improve after taking the first dose of the day.