Several years earlier I had developed some social anxiety and some slight seasonal depression (not severe at all, just would feel a little down in the winter, and never required treatment). It was never really a problem but I thought I would experiment with potential solutions (I was also bored, had nothing else going on, and was waiting to start a new job in the fall... I'm 23). I realize now that it wasn't anxiety - just a greater awareness of what was going on around me, which is a good thing. I came across methylation / Deplin in my research and encouraged the doctor to prescribe it. Big mistake.
OK, so sometimes being more aware of what is going on around you can naturally cause anxiety - completely understood! And the transition from being a student to working for a living is the first big transition most of us go through - the biggest career change of a life (I say now approaching retirement), and the one you have the least control over. I mean most of us get to choose our spouse. And for future reference, often some Vitamin D and/or a light box help many with seasonal depression (so does moving south, so you get more daylight in the winter.)
I went to bed last night thinking that some of what is going on may be caused by your supplements and it may be coincidental. I made some major mistakes attributing reactions to the wrong stimuli. So keep that in the back of your mind. Maybe you're undergoing some neurological changes that would have happened anyway. If it keeps not making sense, dig this possibility out again.
Have you had your SNPs done? The 23andMe test. I would have a better guess based on what those are. Since no major neuro symptoms in your history, probably not MTHFR A1298C +/+. So the Deplin could have spun, not the methylation cycle, but the biopterin cycle, which controls the neurotransmitter production. You were brain-fogged. I suppose that could have come from over-production or imbalance of neurotransmitters.
You don't mention any cardiovascular or peripheral neuropathy issues, but you're young and they can take twice your age to develop, so I can't rule out the possibility that you have MTRR A66G +/+. And it did make juices flow in your brain for a while. In that case, the methylation cycle is blocked from lack of B12 (I'm still talking your initial Deplin dose), and most of it goes to biopterin/ neurotransmitter. Funny you weren't anxious or depressed, but just brain fogged. And not extra sleepy or wired.
So, say that happened, if it did, the neurotransmitter cycle could be limited by the lack of SAMe and other methylation cycle products needed for the neurotransmitters. Then when you used the niacin, you were trippy but lost affect and "thrill" which I will take as adrenaline. To me, this could be neurotransmitter-related, but also adrenal, which you might overlook at your own peril. (The spinning room can be low cortisol, too.) And then continued cognitive decline.
Are you vegan? If you used up your essential amino acids (tryptophan in particular) when you spun the biopterin cycle, you'd have little to make precursors when you started taking B12 (thus supplying the methylation products. It would take a while to get them back. Well, this is getting to be a really wild story. And a tight band around the head is often too much Vitamin B6, which you aren't even taking. (But sometimes that happens - ask
@AndyPandy or
@PennyIA)
Bottom line, I think there are needs in your body that aren't being met, and the doses you took just threw a wrench in the works. There are substrates and enzymes, and they are out of whack. Maybe that's because of SNPs keeping some of the biochemical pathway gates open just a little. Maybe it's because you don't have the substrates (proteins mostly) for them to work on.
I realize you may not have health insurance (waiting for a job) and probably don't have much money (waiting for a job), so testing may not be very practical. If you have insurance, though, it would be worth getting tested, and we can work on what to test later. I would love to see an amino acid panel on you. So, you can continue to be your own lab rat, also. But with the problems you've encountered so far, I think you know to proceed with caution. So, what to try without testing?
First, see
@caledonia 's signature page and take the Start Low and Go Slow to heart.
Second, check out the sources of essential amino acids at this post:
http://forums.phoenixrising.me/index.php?threads/taurine-confusion.33886/#post-525779
and be sure you are getting good sources of all the amino acids your body can't make. (This is why tryptophan is so important in the diet while tyrosine is not, for most people.)
Third, without labs or SNPs, what proteins, cofactors (mostly minerals) and enzymes (mostly vitamins) to add is going to be trial and error. Spend a week or so on essential amino acids in your diet first. Then I would add small amounts, and one at a time, of the following:
- Tryptophan (500 mg or less, or maybe work up to that over a week) - after one dose, see what happens. If nothing or good, give it time. Look for increased interest in life, but it may be delayed until you get some of the rest going
- Magnesium (200 mg or less, maybe work up to 400 mg) or take Epsom salt baths.
- Vitamin D (not much until you can get tested, maybe just the RDA?)
- A good active-B multi, like Jarrow B Right. Maybe take a fraction to begin with.
- A sublingual methylB12 (maybe just crumbs to begin with - what sticks to a toothpick drawn through a crushed tablet)
- Look at the simplified methylation protocol that @sregan described and maybe work into it.
That is more than enough to get you started thinking. And while you may experience some immediate results, just go slow with low doses. Please don't do anything just because I say you might or that I would. I have made plenty of mistakes, and probably added to that list on this page. Hoping your job will have insurance benefits and that you'll have someone good to work with.
You asked:
Are there any possible problems that could occur if I took, sat 500 mcg MB12 a day and NO Methylfolate? So, can MB12 cause its own form of trapping or is there no b12-trap?[\quote]
I can envision a situation where this would be all that a person needs to be healthy, and another where it makes a person very sick. 500 mcg of MB12 is very little (I usually see tablets of 1000-5000 mcg). It's going to depend on whether it depletes your methylfolate, in which case it could cause low serotonin, low dopamine, and all the disinterest in life that accompanies them.
If you do end up getting tests, I would also look at cortisol and sex hormones. I know you're young, but if for some reason your testosterone levels dropped (as mine did - went to undetectable) it might explain some of the ongoing mental/neurological issues. That feeling that nothing really matters.
I can't tell from your symptoms if your B6 is high (tight band headache) or low (lack of affect, confusion). I would hate to suggest much supplementation if it's high, but if it's low, it will not correct itself. Look for P5P if you do supplement, because if (like me) you can't convert it, it does no good (and how would you know unless like me, you were taking it and still testing deficient?)
Best of luck with your rebounding health!