@ahmo
Yes, exactly. Sulfites and ammonia are two different problems that are often lumped together, and there is some reason for this: For people with autism or ME, both excessive sulfur and ammonia would result from increased CBS activity (methionine, cysteine, and taurine are all amino acids that contain sulfur.) And because most of us are deficient in active B6, taking b6--or potentially b2, which plays a role in recycling b6--would increase CBS activity beyond what it would otherwise have been. So for most of us, taking B6 will increase both ammonia and sulfites. I should also point out that taking B6 will increase ammonia entirely apart from the CBS enzyme, as B6 is necessary for any transamination reaction, which is part of breaking down amino acids to produce energy.
In terms of CBS C699T mutation, my current understanding (Thank you Kimsie for
this post) is that CBS C699T is still regulated like the wild-type (normal) enzyme. I am guessing this means that when active B6 is rationed, CBS C699T gets a larger share, whereas when we have enough active B6, CBS C699T will act much the same as the wild-type, ie stopping or slowing down when methionine gets low. I think that, once we truly get better, we will be able to forget about CBS, sulfites, and ammonia entirely.
*Knock on wood* but I have effectively eliminated 95% of sulfur and ammonia issues. For ammonia, I take both raw and cooked and cooled potato starch after every meal--
here is my post about that, but I will say that I can eat as much protein as I like, and today I started taking high doses of active B6 (heading towards 100 mg/day)...so here is hoping I won't have to eat my words in a day or two! But in any case, the difference will be from 95% to 100% fixed on that front. Oh, and I did not emphasize it in that post, but there is at least some chance that taking a spoonful of psilium husk powder is an important part of it as well.
Sulfur issues have been resolved for nearly a year: I take 1500 mcg molybdenum per day, and that does it for me. Strangely, I think the thread (on phoenixrising) I read about this on seems to be gone... but one important thing I got from it (other than my dose) was that molybdenum does seem to cause initial fatigue that wears off over maybe two weeks as you continue taking it, so you may want to increase gradually. Although if you are already taking some, I suspect the reaction won't be as long-lasting. Fatigue isn't the only side-effect I have seen, but it is the one that I distinctly remember being a healthy (though uncomfortable) side-effect. For what it is worth, I have been taking this dose for nearly a year, and my last hair mineral analysis put me at about the 55th percentile for molybdenum, so I think my dosing has been fairly healthy for me. The other interesting note is that 1500 mcg seems to be about the right dose for me regardless of whether I eat high sulfur foods or not. I do recall some people reporting differently, though.
Not to scare you off, but if you choose to take high amounts of Mo do be careful, and if you experience an adverse reaction other than increased fatigue, maybe take some time to check it out. Since it worked so well for me, I haven't done a lot of research on this, but I do recall that it was an issue for some people.
Best of Luck Ahmo
