MTHFR - a possible reason for my suffering?

[AlexDAK43]

Hi. Sorry for my english. For 5 years I suffer from these symptoms:

1. Chronic fatigue
2. Brain fog, derealization
3. Anxiety, depression
4. IBS-D
5. Light, sound sensitivity
6. Afterimages, visual snow
7. Constant ringing in ears, tinnitus
8. High blood pressure
9. Gas, bloating
10. Hair loss
11. Weight loss
12. Feeling my heart beats in my head
13. Panic attacks
14. Lots of dreams at night, restless sleep
15. Stuffy nose

My fatigue is mental. It’s hard for me to speak to people, to think, but at the same time I can run and ride my biсycle (but not so easy as before). I don’t know if this condition is chronic fatigue syndrome. I found, many people on this forum have these symptoms.

I made a lot of blood work, and the only thing I found was high billirubin (I have Gilberts syndrome), high cholesterol and low vitamin D (11.8). Docs prescribed me antidepressants and tranquilizers, but I had side effects. They say, I need to reduce my anxiety level, to get my symptoms subside.

After 3 years of psychotherapy and healthy lifestile I had some progress. Now I have normal blood pressure, no panic attacks, less derealization, my ibs is gone after starting gluten free diet.

I tried different supplements: 5htp, GABA, St. Johns wort, B6, valerian root. And after 1-2 day after taking any of these I have one side effect - insomnia and agitation. Even when I washed my nose every day and began to breath easily, after 3 days I have to stop because of terrible insomnia.

So, 2 weeks ago I had a complex genetic test for celiac. Celiac genes are negative, but found I have MTHFR 667c homozygous mutation. After that I tested my homocysteine level and it was 22, when the maximum limit is 12. After that, I’v tried Thorne 5-MTHF 0.3 mg (I took 1/3 of 1mg capsule) and after 3 days i’ve got insomnia again. My anxiety got better, but I can’t function because of strong insomnia (hard to fall asleep, restless sleep with lots of vivid dreams).
Do you have any thoughts about these supplements, nose breathing, MTHFR and insomnia connection?

 

[sregan]

You might do well on the SMP protocol listed here. Especially since your homocysteine is high and you have the MTHFR 667 mutation. You should read up on it: click here
and here is some info on methylation click here (all from AHMO's signature)

I might suspect the 5HPT or the St. Johns could be causing your insomnia. The others you listed, from my experience, shouldn't be as suspect.

 

[Helen]

Hi Alex,

I can´t answer your question but I guess that supplementating to get your homocysteine down and your vitamin D level up would have a positive impact on your health.
As the first dosage of methylfolate caused problems with insomnia, it could be a good idea to try this methylfolate.
http://www.holisticheal.com/methylmate-b-nutritional-supplement.html

Every drop contains only 67 mcg of methylfolate so with this product, you can raise the dose very slowly. A high homocysteine could also reflect a vitamin B12 and B6 deficiency so you should keep an eye on these too.

A psychiatrist friend told me about his great success with vitamin D supplementation for depressions. Many of his patients need to get a high vitamin D value (but below upper reference range) before the symptoms of depression are gone. Hopefully a normal vitamin D level will help you.

A high colesterol is connected to untreated hypothyroidism. Maybe that could be something to consider if you haven´t got another explanation to that lab result.

 

[ahmo]

Hi Alex. Despite your celiac gene testing I'd suggest you temporarily remove gluten and dairy to see if this makes any change to your symptoms. Even a week is long enough to see if any of your symptoms change. Also gluten cross-reactive foods. it's worth a try. Also, I'm linking a questionnaire for pyroluria. If you score high, there's a handful of minerals, vitamin that could make a big change for you.

http://blog.primohealthcoach.com/blog/bid/79586/18-Gluten-Cross-Reactive-Foods

http://www.hputest.nl/evraag.htm Online questionnaire to suspect pyroluria

 

[AlexDAK43]

Hi. Two weeks ago I started to take methylfolate and methylB12 (without p5p). My first dose was 1/8 of 800 mcg methylfolate and 1/8 of 1mg methylB12 a day. On the second day after starting I felt wonderful, my depression lifted and I had more energy. At the same time I had a good sleep, what was very rare before after taking any vitamins. But this effect lasted only for 2 days. I slowly increased doses of mb6 and mfolate to 1/6 and then to 1/4, but felf almost nothing. Also I take 5 potassium 99mg pills a day. I tried to add adeno b12 with no effect. I think I must wait until I slowly increase my doses for 800 mcg folate and 1 mg of b6.

Now I am 6 months on gluten free diet. It really helps a lot with ibs and a little with light and sound sensitivity. Also I made a full thyroid check (t3, t4, free t4, free t4, anti-tpo), all is ok. There is no much gene tests in my country, I made all tests I found, connected to folate metabolism:
MTHFR 667 C>T (Ala222Val) +/+
MTHFR 1298 A>C (Glu429Ala) -/-
MTR 2756 A>G (Asp919Gly) -/-
MTRR 66 A>G (Ile22Met) -/+

 

[AlexDAK43]

Hi. I am taking methyl b12 with methylfolate for 3 months now. I really feel better. My energy level is better, I have less sound and light sensitivity. Afterimages are almost gone and I don't have stuffy nose anymore. Also I sleep better. I thing if I'll take more dose, I can get better result. My current dose is 1/4 of 1 mg methylB12 and 1/4 of 800 mcg methylfolate. If I take more I become too agitated and get insomnia. Now I try to raise my dose very slowly.