Need help- Methylation

[Luke1111]

Hi guys,

I have posted here before in the past regarding my condition.

To explain in short, I am 30 years of age and I developed OCD/anxiety at the age of 28. Prior to this I have also had adrenal fatigue and gastritis/ poor absorption.

My ocd began at the age of 28, before this i had never suffered from mental health problems in my life. I was also tested as low b12.

I've always had a feeling my ocd/anxiety coincided with something to do with my b12 depleting around the same time.

I tried methy b12 at first but this made my anxiety/ocd a 100 times worse- I was advised that I could potentially have a COMT gene or methylation issues given this reaction. My anxiety also responds well to NAC which would also suggest methylation.

A poster on this site recommended Hydroxy b12. After 1 or 2 weeks the improvement in my anxiety and ocd was astonishing and I couldn't believe it. My ocd literally disappeared and the anxiety with it. Over the coming weeks and months if my ocd crept in a bit all I would need to do was take more hydroxy b12. In the first week or so the b12 made me very emotional and caused some other weird symptoms but this went away after a week or 2 (possible nerve healing)?

Anyway... after 9 months feeling pretty good and ocd free. I decided it was time to go on a proper Adrenal Fatigue recovery plan. I took the usual vitamin c, magnesium etc along with a B-complex.

I took the b complex for around 6 weeks, around this mark i started to feel real anxiety and my ocd reappeared. The b complex had 800mg of Folinic acid in which I've come to realise is quite a lot. I've always felt in the past that folic acid has caused me issues also.

So I discontinued all supplements assuming it would be OK. But the symptoms lasted for months.

Fast forward to now (7 months later).

If I take just 1 tablet of hydroxy b12 now it makes me anxious, and my frontal lobe area feels like adrenaline is pumping through it. If I take Niacin it makes me feel better and a lot calmer.

I need to take b12 to get better, but any time i do now it feels like it revs something up...however in the past this never happened. It feels like the folinic acid has altered something in my chemistry.

The only positive I can take is that it is likely this has revealed I have some form of methylation issue.

But taking b12 does not have the same affect it did previously.

I am 100% certain b12 got rid of my ocd and anxiety. And I'm pretty sure taking the b complex with high amounts of folinic acid has done something. The fact that niacin helps now too kind of rubber stamps that something with my methylation isn't right.

I am in the UK so I can't use 23andme so I am finding an alternative.

Is there anyone on the board that could possibly identify what's happened here? And what would you recommend to get better?

Thanks,
Luke

 

[nerd]

Maybe this helps you. B12 is also currently discussed in this thread. Mary made a useful comment on potassium and referenced an older post about potassium supplementation with B12.

I intend to revise the underlying GD-MCB hypothesis soon in another post. COMT overactivation isn't uncommon with CFS/ME. Neither is the related methylation blockage that you explain. May I ask which metabolites of the methylation cycle you have been tested for? It doesn't have to be a genetically-inherited COMT overactivation. I also have a methylation blockage and don't have the genetic COMT condition.

Regarding anxiety, I think there are multiple factors. CFS/ME correlates with a lack of various neurotransmitters which can contribute to anxiety. COMT is related to these neurotransmitter pathways but it doesn't have to be the causality. Then, there is also glycolysis and oxidative stress that contribute, both of which correlate with CFS/ME as well. CFS/ME patients who have tachycardia probably have issues with calcium signaling as well, and calcium signaling affects anxiety (10.1016/j.biopha.2018.10.141). In this case, lithium might help alleviate these symptoms.

Regarding Niacin, you don't have to infer that it is the methylation cycle. Niacin plays a big role in a wide range of metabolic cycles, especially due to its significant role in the NADPH cycle which is connected to many other cycles.

23andme uses microarrays and you will have to have luck that all relevant SNPs are in their array. Full genome sequencing (FGS) is more expensive but it will be the only genome test you will ever need unless there are gaps in your specimen's sequencing. Dante Labs, Sequencing.com, and Nebula are some common direct FGS providers.

 

[Luke1111]

Maybe this helps you. B12 is also currently discussed in this thread. Mary made a useful comment on potassium and referenced an older post about potassium supplementation with B12.

I intend to revise the underlying GD-MCB hypothesis soon in another post. COMT overactivation isn't uncommon with CFS/ME. Neither is the related methylation blockage that you explain. May I ask which metabolites of the methylation cycle you have been tested for? It doesn't have to be a genetically-inherited COMT overactivation. I also have a methylation blockage and don't have the genetic COMT condition.

Regarding anxiety, I think there are multiple factors. CFS/ME correlates with a lack of various neurotransmitters which can contribute to anxiety. COMT is related to these neurotransmitter pathways but it doesn't have to be the causality. Then, there is also glycolysis and oxidative stress that contribute, both of which correlate with CFS/ME as well. CFS/ME patients who have tachycardia probably have issues with calcium signaling as well, and calcium signaling affects anxiety (10.1016/j.biopha.2018.10.141). In this case, lithium might help alleviate these symptoms.

Regarding Niacin, you don't have to infer that it is the methylation cycle. Niacin plays a big role in a wide range of metabolic cycles, especially due to its significant role in the NADPH cycle which is connected to many other cycles.

23andme uses microarrays and you will have to have luck that all relevant SNPs are in their array. Full genome sequencing (FGS) is more expensive but it will be the only genome test you will ever need unless there are gaps in your specimen's sequencing. Dante Labs, Sequencing.com, and Nebula are some common direct FGS providers.

Hi and thank you for your response, I have only seen this reply now after looking through my notifications.

I haven't been tested as of yet for Methylation, I'm looking for company based in the UK to do so.

My theory of having possible methylation issues comes from my b12 deficiency and how my anxiety started at this time.

The b12 worked very well in correcting my anxiety and helped a lot with brainfog. I have have paid for private testing and it was also revealed I had low b6.

After months of positivity I decided to take a b complex to help further. However the b complex made my anxiety much worse. It contained folic acid. Since taking that b complex anytime I take b12 I get a host of symptoms such as anxiety, my thoughts feel too quick, my head also feels like it is pulsating around my frontal lobe. It almost feels like something is starting up?

Before taking hydroxy b12 I took methylcobalamin and this again made my anxiety go through the roof like a 100x worse and it felt like my head was going to explode.

The only thing that helped was hydroxy b12, however since the b complex it now only gives me anxiety. To calm myself I use niacin as advised by someone here.

The combination of low b12 for a long time coupled with negative and positive reactions to methylcobalamin and niacin make me believe I do have some underlying methylation problem.

What do you think? Unsure of where to start really.

 

[nerd]

Before taking hydroxy b12 I took methylcobalamin and this again made my anxiety go through the roof like a 100x worse and it felt like my head was going to explode.

I'm curious. Did both B12 supplements have the same dosage? Because most B12 supplements are overdosed beyond any necessity. This isn't harmful, but in the short term, until the kidneys get rid of the excess, it can cause side effects.

To calm myself I use niacin as advised by someone here.

Niacin and Nicotinamid Riboside also have a calming effect on me.

Have you tried CBD against anxiety?

 

[Luke1111]

They were both 1mg and were sublingual. Only difference was one was hydroxy and one methylcobalamin.

The hydroxy that initially made me better now makes me feel the exact same way when I took the methylcobalamin.

It feels like the folic acid has changed something in my chemistry.

I have never tried, I could always use that, but at the moment I'm trying to get back to how I felt using the hydroxy b12 for the first time as I believe this is the main factor.

 

[nerd]

Have you tried NAC supplementation already?

 

[Luke1111]

Have you tried NAC supplementation already?

I have tried NAC in the past for my ocd. I found that it made me less compulsive. However the impact it made wasn't worth the money for the supplement.

I really need some to do a methylation panel. Otherwise I'm just guessing in the dark.

I do believe folic acid has done something. I was probably not absorbing b12 for many years before supplementing so I assuming some damage may have been done. I have gastritis which has caused the deficiency.

Thanks again for your replies

 

[Luke1111]

I have tried NAC in the past for my ocd. I found that it made me less compulsive. However the impact it made wasn't worth the money for the supplement.

I really need some to do a methylation panel. Otherwise I'm just guessing in the dark.

I do believe folic acid has done something. I was probably not absorbing b12 for many years before supplementing so I assuming some damage may have been done. I have gastritis which has caused the deficiency.

Thanks again for your replies

By damage, I mean just mean temporary down regulation of a few systems that should be reversible