Questions about Methylation

[Sarah94]

I have seen "overmethylation" mentioned in a few threads and I want to ask what is it? How would you know if you were "overmethylating"?

I am taking transdermal B12 (methylcobalamin) spray which I bought from Dr Myhill's online shop. She recommends 5-10 sprays daily. I'm currently on 6 sprays. I started at 1 and have been increasing dose very slowly. It works great for me, lots of positive effects, I just have to take a lot of potassium as it does seem to increase my need for potassium. I want to increase my dose to increase the positive effects of it, but I am wary of the possibility of "overmethylating". Especially as Myhill's recommended dose is rather large - each spray delivers 1mg of B12, so 10 sprays would be 10mg of B12! However she claims that only 6% of it is absorbed transdermally (so that would mean I'm currently getting 360mcg daily, and would get 600mcg from her max dose) - but I have no proof that she is right about that! I might be absorbing much more, in which case I don't want to "overmethylate"....

I'm not taking any methylfolate, am quite wary about doing so as I've seen in some threads on here that some people have had quite bad negative reactions to it

 

[Sarah94]

Further questions about methylation:

As I explained above, I am extremely wary about taking methylfolate. But I also don't want to get low on folate and have negative symptoms from that - how would I know if I was getting low on folate?

I know this stuff is discussed on lots of threads but I've found it difficult to understand as I am severe and can't read lots of threads discussing the technicalities of it.

Another question is that Freddd seems to think that glutathione precursors like NAC shouldn't be taken as they can cause a "methyl trap" and folate deficiency. I've been taking NAC for the last few months, is there any reason I should stop?

I had another question but I forgot it

 

[Sarah94]

Oops unclear wording in my last post. Regarding folate, I meant "I don't want to get low on folate as that could potentially cause other problems - how would I know if I was getting low in folate?"

 

[Pyrrhus]

Many people mean different things when they use the term “methylation”, so don’t feel bad for being confused. It’s a confused situation.

The simplest definition refers to the blood concentration of Adenosyl-methionine, also known as AdoMet or SAMe. This AdoMet is the main “methyl donor” that the body uses to carry out many different important “methylation” reactions in the body. Without sufficient AdoMet, the body can not carry out important metabolic functions.

When the blood concentration of AdoMet is too low, one might be tempted to say the body is ”undermethylated”. However, there is no scientific definition for “undermethylated”.

Conversely, when the blood concentration of AdoMet is very high, one might be tempted to say the body is “overmethylated”. However, there is no scientific research on the effects of a high AdoMet blood concentration.

Folate and B12 are both needed for the proper generation and utilization of AdoMet. This is why folate and B12 supplements are commonly used to correct low AdoMet levels. This is also why low folate or low B12 can lead to low AdoMet.

To correct low AdoMet, you would have to take both folate and B12. You would also have to take other B vitamins, especially the “pyridoxal-5’-phosphate” form of vitamin B6. Methylfolate is the best form of folate. Hydroxo-B12 or methyl-B12 are good forms of B12.

Note that many people experience horrible start-up effects when they first try to correct low AdoMet. These horrible start-up effects appear to be perfectly normal and tend to go away over time. This is just an unfortunate reality of proper supplementation. People use all sorts of terms to describe these start-up effects, from “detox” to “herx”, to many other words.

So you would definitely want to consider taking methylfolate if you are going to do B12 supplementation. And yes, this may make you feel like crap at first, but that’s normal. One way to try to tolerate the crap is to stop the B12, and slowly try introducing small doses of methylfolate. Maybe try one dose of 400mcg methylfolate the first week, then take a 400mcg dose on two separate days in the second week, and so on until you are taking the methylfolate every day, without any negative effects. This process might take months. Finally, you would slowly reintroduce the B12. And don’t forget to consider taking all the other B vitamins!

As for glutathione, glutathione is an incredibly important molecule that protects your body from harmful oxidative stress, helps the liver to detoxify chemicals, and is needed for the body to convert vitamin B12 from one form to another as needed. So, glutathione should definitely help in the process of correcting low AdoMet.

Hope this helps.