hb8847
Senior Member
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After taking a methyl-B12 & methylfolate supplement (Cytoplan's Methyl Factors - contents: 1000 methyl-B12, 800 Methylfolate, TMG & B6) for 3 months straight I think I am chronically overmethylating.
I stopped it over 2 months ago now and am still dealing with all the side effects you hear about - anxiety, insomnia, bloating, diarrhoea, aching joints, headaches, muscle spasms, depression, and a weird sort of tingling sensation running through my body. I suspect some of this might also be caused by inflammation.
I have read most of Ben Lynch's site and have tried all the usual supplements to calm this down.
Niacinamide seems to do very little - even at high doses of up to 2000mg - as do electrolytes. Glutathione seems to worsen things, as does glycine. Vegetables seem to do the same, in particular they worsen the bloating and insomnia. Meat ups my inflammation and anxiety. Due to food intolerances I can't even consider grains or gluten. Curcurmin capsules haven't helped with inflammation. And my histamine intolerance rules out most fruit and nuts (the latter of which is also high in methyl-donors folate and methionine).
One thing that does seem to settle things down somewhat is if I stop eating entirely for 2 or 3 days, but this isn't a permanent solution and once I start eating again all the symptoms begin to fire up.
I have a theory as to what's going on. If you think any of the following is likely/unlikely please do comment.
The bloating in particular makes me think I've got a huge excess of Methylfolate in my system. I suspect I didn't require as much of that as I did of B12. (In fact, I have taken B12 on its own before and didn't experience nearly as bad inflammation symptoms, the fact I didn't do so this time around was probably a mistake and for reasons I explain below).
Vegetables contain lots of folate, and if they're causing me to bloat it would appear to me to be because I already have a large excess of it? I suspect the issue with meat is that it contains methionine which further spurs on overmethylation. Meat is also directly inflammatory.
Unfortunately that doesn't leave me with much in the way of dietary solutions, so I'm hoping that someone here might have experienced something similar and knows how I might be able to get over this hurdle.
Like I said nothing so far apart from a complete 48hr food fast seems to calm this down. The past few weeks I've been on vegetables alone, and things don't seem to be getting much better. Veg is anti-inflammatory, so to me it seems the only way it could be prolonging things is if I were still overmethylating and the veg is contributing to it.
There are some things I'm considering, like starting the B12 again on it's own in the hope that it "soaks up" some of the excess folate - is this viable? Or sensible? The last thing I want to do is worsen the methylation & inflammation and so I'm pretty wary about this option, hence why I'm bringing it up here first.
Any help or advice with any of this would be amazing, frankly I'm at a bit of a loss. Also feel free to ask any questions. I know this is a long post, but I've added some of my backstory below for clarity.
Bit of backstory:
Prior to supplementing with B12 & Folate I had a severe problem with food intolerances (as well as CFS and cognitive symptoms - see my introductory post for more). It got to the point where I couldn't eat anything at all without getting intense brain fog.
Eventually I found a doctor who suspected this might be an autoimmune problem related to B12. I began taking the aforementioned Cytoplan Methyl Factors supplement on his advice and this immediately changed everything - it was like a switch was flicked inside me and from ingesting the first capsule suddenly the reactions to foods was gone, most significantly the brain fog.
This made me (and the doctor) think the B12 was very significant in my health issues. I've since taken a 23andme genetic test which confirms this.
The problem was, in spite of the Cytoplan supplement I wasn't getting entirely better. I still had bad underlying CFS and the supplement seemed to be worsening my aches and pains, as well as cognitive symptoms such as despondency. But all of this was preferable to the food intolerance and brain fog, so I persisted.
Then suddenly after about a month of this I drastically improved. I went from being practically bed-bound to having much more energy, I was singing, I was motivated. Considering the state I'd been in the previous week (and preceding 5 years) this change was CRAZY, and my family were all shocked.
This lasted about 5 days.
Gradually I began to notice other problems - very rapid thoughts, like my brain was firing uncontrolled, and a growing anxiety to the verge of panic. I was also beginning to bloat significantly, to the point where my stomach was like a balloon ready to pop. This culminated at the end of the week in a severe panic attack with numbness and tingling through my extremities.
I urgently got in touch with the doctor who suggested I was "overmethylating". I immediately came off the Methyl Factors supplement and over the course of about 3 weeks these symptoms slowly died down.
The state I was then left in, while not completely cured from my CFS and cognitive symptoms, was SIGNIFICANTLY better than I had been before. Not just the food tolerance, but I was focused, more active. Something significant had clearly occurred. But I was also wary of the Methyl Factors supplement - occasionally I would try it again in very small doses and the bloating and anxiety would come rushing back. So - perhaps foolishly - I stopped it for good.
After about a month of feeling better, I then gradually started to decline again. My food intolerances slowly returned, as did my cognitive and physical symptoms. For some reason I didn't put two and two together with the Methyl Factors supplement - initially I had a fever and thought it might have been that.
Eventually it became too significant to ignore and I decided to repeat everything I'd previously done that had helped - that meant getting back on the Methyl Factors. Again it immediately fixed the brain fog and food intolerances, although again it caused side effects like bloating, despondency and anxiety. This time though I was so concerned about a relapse I just continued to take it regardless, relentlessly, for about 3 months non stop.
Eventually again the side effects became too significant to ignore. This was early May of this year. I wasn't getting brain fog or food intolerances, but I was despondent, depressed, highly fatigued, aching in my joints, dizzy, anxious, and had a mixture of diarrhoea and stomach pain.
Since then I've been in largely the same state. Nothing I do seems to be able to calm these symptoms down, safe for a complete food fast. I have considered that I might be back to undermethylating, although seeing as I'm not getting the brain fog (and I'm getting all the usual stuff like bloating, anxiety, insomnia) I tend to think I'm more likely to be over- rather than under-.
Again, any questions or comments on this or my wider health issues I'm more than happy to answer. Thanks so much for reading.
Hugo.
I stopped it over 2 months ago now and am still dealing with all the side effects you hear about - anxiety, insomnia, bloating, diarrhoea, aching joints, headaches, muscle spasms, depression, and a weird sort of tingling sensation running through my body. I suspect some of this might also be caused by inflammation.
I have read most of Ben Lynch's site and have tried all the usual supplements to calm this down.
Niacinamide seems to do very little - even at high doses of up to 2000mg - as do electrolytes. Glutathione seems to worsen things, as does glycine. Vegetables seem to do the same, in particular they worsen the bloating and insomnia. Meat ups my inflammation and anxiety. Due to food intolerances I can't even consider grains or gluten. Curcurmin capsules haven't helped with inflammation. And my histamine intolerance rules out most fruit and nuts (the latter of which is also high in methyl-donors folate and methionine).
One thing that does seem to settle things down somewhat is if I stop eating entirely for 2 or 3 days, but this isn't a permanent solution and once I start eating again all the symptoms begin to fire up.
I have a theory as to what's going on. If you think any of the following is likely/unlikely please do comment.
The bloating in particular makes me think I've got a huge excess of Methylfolate in my system. I suspect I didn't require as much of that as I did of B12. (In fact, I have taken B12 on its own before and didn't experience nearly as bad inflammation symptoms, the fact I didn't do so this time around was probably a mistake and for reasons I explain below).
Vegetables contain lots of folate, and if they're causing me to bloat it would appear to me to be because I already have a large excess of it? I suspect the issue with meat is that it contains methionine which further spurs on overmethylation. Meat is also directly inflammatory.
Unfortunately that doesn't leave me with much in the way of dietary solutions, so I'm hoping that someone here might have experienced something similar and knows how I might be able to get over this hurdle.
Like I said nothing so far apart from a complete 48hr food fast seems to calm this down. The past few weeks I've been on vegetables alone, and things don't seem to be getting much better. Veg is anti-inflammatory, so to me it seems the only way it could be prolonging things is if I were still overmethylating and the veg is contributing to it.
There are some things I'm considering, like starting the B12 again on it's own in the hope that it "soaks up" some of the excess folate - is this viable? Or sensible? The last thing I want to do is worsen the methylation & inflammation and so I'm pretty wary about this option, hence why I'm bringing it up here first.
Any help or advice with any of this would be amazing, frankly I'm at a bit of a loss. Also feel free to ask any questions. I know this is a long post, but I've added some of my backstory below for clarity.
Bit of backstory:
Prior to supplementing with B12 & Folate I had a severe problem with food intolerances (as well as CFS and cognitive symptoms - see my introductory post for more). It got to the point where I couldn't eat anything at all without getting intense brain fog.
Eventually I found a doctor who suspected this might be an autoimmune problem related to B12. I began taking the aforementioned Cytoplan Methyl Factors supplement on his advice and this immediately changed everything - it was like a switch was flicked inside me and from ingesting the first capsule suddenly the reactions to foods was gone, most significantly the brain fog.
This made me (and the doctor) think the B12 was very significant in my health issues. I've since taken a 23andme genetic test which confirms this.
The problem was, in spite of the Cytoplan supplement I wasn't getting entirely better. I still had bad underlying CFS and the supplement seemed to be worsening my aches and pains, as well as cognitive symptoms such as despondency. But all of this was preferable to the food intolerance and brain fog, so I persisted.
Then suddenly after about a month of this I drastically improved. I went from being practically bed-bound to having much more energy, I was singing, I was motivated. Considering the state I'd been in the previous week (and preceding 5 years) this change was CRAZY, and my family were all shocked.
This lasted about 5 days.
Gradually I began to notice other problems - very rapid thoughts, like my brain was firing uncontrolled, and a growing anxiety to the verge of panic. I was also beginning to bloat significantly, to the point where my stomach was like a balloon ready to pop. This culminated at the end of the week in a severe panic attack with numbness and tingling through my extremities.
I urgently got in touch with the doctor who suggested I was "overmethylating". I immediately came off the Methyl Factors supplement and over the course of about 3 weeks these symptoms slowly died down.
The state I was then left in, while not completely cured from my CFS and cognitive symptoms, was SIGNIFICANTLY better than I had been before. Not just the food tolerance, but I was focused, more active. Something significant had clearly occurred. But I was also wary of the Methyl Factors supplement - occasionally I would try it again in very small doses and the bloating and anxiety would come rushing back. So - perhaps foolishly - I stopped it for good.
After about a month of feeling better, I then gradually started to decline again. My food intolerances slowly returned, as did my cognitive and physical symptoms. For some reason I didn't put two and two together with the Methyl Factors supplement - initially I had a fever and thought it might have been that.
Eventually it became too significant to ignore and I decided to repeat everything I'd previously done that had helped - that meant getting back on the Methyl Factors. Again it immediately fixed the brain fog and food intolerances, although again it caused side effects like bloating, despondency and anxiety. This time though I was so concerned about a relapse I just continued to take it regardless, relentlessly, for about 3 months non stop.
Eventually again the side effects became too significant to ignore. This was early May of this year. I wasn't getting brain fog or food intolerances, but I was despondent, depressed, highly fatigued, aching in my joints, dizzy, anxious, and had a mixture of diarrhoea and stomach pain.
Since then I've been in largely the same state. Nothing I do seems to be able to calm these symptoms down, safe for a complete food fast. I have considered that I might be back to undermethylating, although seeing as I'm not getting the brain fog (and I'm getting all the usual stuff like bloating, anxiety, insomnia) I tend to think I'm more likely to be over- rather than under-.
Again, any questions or comments on this or my wider health issues I'm more than happy to answer. Thanks so much for reading.
Hugo.