#mthfr

Why are you trying to convince everyone single woman that a gene polymorphism that 50% of the population has is the reason they have health issues

My lymph nodes feel puffy, my nose feels dry and inflamed, my joints feel tired and loose, my head hurts, and I am very exhausted.

Maybe brining myself in hot salt and turning myself into human soup will help. Maybe it won’t.

Maybe I’ll fall asleep and drown. That’ll solve all the problems.

If I die, this’ll be a very awkward last post.

I have Major Depressive Disorder among other things and I do not recall a time in my life where I was not depressed and extremely tired. Meds help, but left me with low-key depression instead of stay-in-bed-for-months depression.

My dad was poking around on a science news site a couple of weeks ago and because he knows my siblings and I are freakishly flexible (I can pull both shoulders out of socket. The idea of a dislocated shoulder is meaningless.) he sent me info on a gene mutation that impairs your ability to convert folate into its active version methylfolate, so he told me to try out a methylfolate supplement. I've been on it for over 2 weeks and my dad, the husband, and the siblings are shocked at how much more active I am after taking this supplement.

The quick diagnostic test to see if this may help is to make a number 4 sign with your thumb and see if your thumb goes to the edge of your hand or further.

There is a "medical food" called Deplin that is prescribed as a drug that is added to your medication regimen to help boost its effectiveness. Deplin is methylfolate. The therapeutic dosages for MDD are 7.5mg and 15mg, with the higher dosage being more effective in clinical studies.

I'm telling you all this to say this OTC supplement that you can buy in therapeutic dosages is actually working for me. And this mutation apparently occurs in 30 to 40% of the population. Like, I'm now able to go to my demanding job for 8 hours and then do some low-key exercise afterwards on the daily. Two weeks ago, I probably would have just laughed at you if you'd suggested the same thing.

I sat through an online class from Trichy Nutrition on how the MTHFR gene affects trichotillomania.

The T mutation of MTHFR causes under-methylation; that is, a decline in the ability to convert methylene from an inactive form into a useful, active form. People with one copy of this gene have increased occurrences of body focused repetitive behaviors (BFRBs) and are more prone to depression, OCD, ADHD, autoimmune disorders, hormone imbalances, and a whole host of other problems. People with two copies of the T gene can't convert B vitamins into useful forms at all, and have to have their B vitamins pre-converted.

I upped my intake from 350mg to 700mg buffered (has some calcium) berberine/evening, and I don't have full body vibration sensations upon going to sleep/waking up that I've come to associate with B vitamin malabsorption and my ligaments don't hurt or fall out of place (zinc absorption)

however

I have more gut pain, like a scraped knee inside my abdomen while digesting

so uh

Did you know that uv exposure degrades folate (the stuff what you don’t have enough of to begin with who’s lack of makes you feel like you’re dying a lot)?!?

Once again, I got super tired. Like, all the time. Woke up, just stayed in bed. Went to bed early, didn't sleep, just lay there. Slept erratically. Wasn't hungry-- perked up some when I ate, but not much and not for long, so entire meals frequently got skipped.

And that sounds like burnout and depression, right? My circumstances certainly would support that.

Except I have major depression already, and what I've been dealing with doesn't feel like that.

Depressive episodes tend to feel shrouded by gray. The color drains out of the world, nothing tastes like anything, music is just noise. It's like wandering through a deep fog.

In deep depression, I can technically do tasks, but I tend to have to build myself up to get started.

This wasn't like that.

There was no ashen haze. I could make myself do stuff, I was just tired while I did it. I was pissy about weird things, and just kind of disoriented and unfocused.

And then: duh.

See, I have a genetic inability to process folic acid (Vitamin B9) properly. Without the specific supplements I take, I barely manage to glean any of it out of my diet. Aaand I'd run out of supplements at the tail end of last year, and the one store I knew that carries Methylfolate was always out when I dropped by.

So, some symptoms of a folic acid (B9) deficiency:

Anemia-- despite being overweight, even when I'm eating red meat. Without the folic acid, I'm not able to actually get all the things I need out of the food I'm eating.

Extreme fatigue -- I'm talking get home, flop into bed, barely trudge out again by morning

Dizziness

Irritability

Memory loss

Difficulty concentrating

Confusion -- you know, all those symptoms that can be summed up by "huh, I guess I was more tired than I thought"

As I've got a uterus, this tends to hit peak shittiness in the week before my period, which I like to peevishly think of as double anemia. That's when it goes from "bleh" to completely untenable.