There are many mental health traits and symptoms that are present in people with over methylation. Some of these include:
Improvement after folate therapy
Adverse reaction to SSRI medications
Artistic and musical abilities
nervous legs such as restlessness and pacing
Hyperactivity
Low sex drive
Sleep disorders
High anxiety and panic attacks
Underachievement in school
High pain tolerance
Adverse reaction to methyl donors such as SAMe and Methionine
Non-competitive
Food and chemical sensitivities
Estrogen Intolerance
Improvement after Benzodiazepines
No seasonal allergies
Overmethylated people have high-anxiety depression that worsens after SSRI treatment.
Abram Hoffer used folic acid therapy in his practice. Overmethylated people thrive on folic acid, where undermethylated patients get worse.
Overmethylated people thrive on folic acid because folic acid increases the gene expression of transporters. This actually causes a reduction of the activity of dopamine and serotonin.
Folic acid and methyl produce opposite effects on neurotransmission.
Folic acid is a serotonin reuptake enhancer. Methionine and SAMe are serotonin reuptake inhibitors.
Over methylators have to be careful of methyl vitamins. Check your multivitamins to see if they include any methylated vitamins.
Treatment
There are many other nutrients that can help treat over methylation such as folate or folic acid. These include niacin, non-methylated B12, B6, and zinc. Others include choline, DMAE, and manganese. Antioxidants to include are vitamin C and vitamin E.
A side note is to avoid supplements such as tryptophan, 5-HTP phenylalanine, tyrosine, copper, and inositol when treating over methylation. Dosages of folic acid are at least 2mg daily to combat depression and other mental health conditions associated with low folate levels.
Another side note is that you may try supplementing with folinic acid if you can tolerate it. It seems to be an easier and more tolerated form of folate that can cross the blood-brain barrier more effectively than folic acid. This can mean lower dosages of folate that will be needed for your nutrient therapy.
If you’re ready for testing there’s an easy way to go about it. Visit mytelemedicine and connect with a nutritionist today. You will want to order a histamine panel test. A CBC test is also recommended to check your vitamin levels. As well as a pyrrole test if you want to cover your bases.
References:
- Fabbri C, et al. (2014). Genetics and epigenetics of psychiatric diseases. Neural Plast, 2014:463784.
- Rabinowitz D, et al. (2016). Methylation-related genetic variants in psychiatric disorders: A review of the recent literature. Am J Med Genet B Neuropsychiatr Genet, 171(2):137-59.
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