How to decide which folate is best suited for you?

[copingup]

For the first time I had Jarrow's Methyl Folate 5-MTHF 400 mcg after breakfast followed by a quarter of Jarrow's 5mg B12 after 1 hour. This gave me a severe headache the whole day and by evening I could feel pain in right chest extending down to my right arm. I am continuing to take the b12 (started with small dose) but am very afraid to take quatrefolic again. I bought this folate thinking its the best in the market (4th gen) but my first day experience was not a good sign. How do I decide which folate is best for me? I am now even afraid to try metafolin.

 

[PeterPositive]

Starting with 400mcg right away is not a good idea, especially if you're sensitive and according to your reaction you are.

Try cutting the dose in 4 and take 100mcg instead. It's likely you won't have any issue and you could keep that dosage for some time before trying to increase it a little bit.

cheers

 

[copingup]

Thanks Peter. You are right. I should start with a low dose.
Jarrow's is a capsule and I will not be able to split it. For my next purchase, what factors should I consider before buying folate again. Or should I simply go for Solgar Metafolin 400mcg (and split one dose into 4) since it is most mentioned folate brand on this forum.

 

[ahmo]

@copingup You can open those capsules and pour out a bit. I do this with several things in capsules. Either dump a tiny amount directly into your gum line, or empty 1 cap into a few empties. I get these empties by opening some of my supps, the ones that aren't too bitter, into my mouth, saving the capsule. You can buy empty caps, but they tend to be pretty large.

I and a few others have found that methylfolate taken sublingually, or in gum line, is absorbed better than swallowing. I need significantly less now that I take it this way. On higher doses, this is a real financial bonus.

For your next purchase, clearly tablets are easier to split than capsules. iherb sells a few good pill splitters. These make splitting solgar tabs into 4 easy. Depends how you progress with small doses, which sounds as if you might need to continue low and slow, which size Solgar you buy. Get one that gives you what you want when divided into 4, eg 400mcg gives you 100mcg doses. Hope you find methylfolate as life-changing as I have.