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Sorry for the late reply @erinnnrisinggg - yes, I find that I too need to continue taking lots of potassium, mostly as coconut water. No question it helps. I'm still taking niacin occasionally too.
To give an update - over 3 months since stopping all supps and I'm stil in the process of a full recovery but not quite there yet. More and more moments of feeling "normal" - even entire days - and the lows are nowhere near as bad as before.
However, I still feel like I'm missing something here. After three months with no supps I would expect to not just be recovered, but so far beyond this episode that I don't even have to think about it anymore. Clearly, though, something went really wrong with my attempt at self treating methylation. My suspicion originally was it was my unusually high ratio of adb12 to mb12 - about 4 to 1. I'm starting to lean towards that conclusion again.
Basically, I was doing totally fine until adb12. And then there were a bunch of weird reactions, but I pushed through and they seemed to go away. I kept upping it until I was taking the whole 8.6mg every other day (so let's say 4 per day), vs only around 1 mg daily of mb12. I knew this was not the norm, but I had my reservations about high dose mb12 and was under the impression that adb 12 was totally safe, but in retrospect this may have been a huge mistake. And since I was doing other things at the same time - more folate, and then the gym - I attributed the extreme fatigue to the latter. But reviewing it in my mind, I remember some fatigue coming on just in the first few weeks of adb12. And I was taking the megadose of adb12 for about 2.5-3 months before my symptoms got so bad I had to cut back and then just stop everything . So maybe I messed something up, and my body is still trying to repair itself.
I'm not sure what to do next. This is just a theory, and besides, I do seem to be getting better just by taking potassium and no methylation supps. But on the other hand, something has always felt "off" about my recovery and I'm wondering if it really was as simple as too much adb12 and not enough mb12. I could try taking a lowish dose of mb12 again (1mg) and see if it helps - I did fine at that dose before - or try something else, like more niacin, or just wait it out. I'm not sure. Opinions welcome, as always.
@jnwp did your methylation protocol possibly induce other nutrient deficiencies? I know freddd talked about potassium as one of the major ones but he also mentioned that other deficiencies pop up along the way for different people (vitamin D, zinc, copper, etc.). In one of his posts, he does give a list of the most likely candidates for deficiency and what some of the symptoms might be. I can't find that post but I found a different one that listed these as important to take along side the protocol:
"A, C (minimum 5000mg), D, E, magnesium, zinc, calcium, selenium, chromium, trace minerals, lecithin (or variants), omega3 oils are all needed before starting the active b12 and folate.” A deficiency in any of these can prevent the protocol from being effective."
Potassium was the biggest issue for me but I also think some other deficiencies popped up (I'm on a multi-mineral now because I suspect zinc, selenium, and chromium were important for me). AdB12 caused one of the biggest potassium drops I have experienced thus far!! I was pounding coconut waters and popping potassium in preparation and I still ended up needing an IV.
I'm working with a Naturopathic Doctor who specializes in genetics right now and he doesn't add in methylation supplements until about 6 to 9 months of working with people. He finds that adding methylation supplements too soon can cause a lot of problems (exacerbating existing inflammation, electrolyte imbalances like potassium, and more ... Ben Lynch has a good writeup of poor reactions to methylfolate). So he works with the patients to reduce inflammation and get the body to a good strong state first and then he adds in things like B12 and methylfolate. Of course, the frustrating thing is that many of us don't get that awesome boost of energy until we're on B12 and folate .... but I'm doing well enough without them for now. I eat beef liver a few times a week to keep up a modest amount of B12 and my energy is okay enough (i.e. I get enough work done to afford my supplements, but don't have much of a social life). I'll keep posting about my experience and let you know if I have any success.