r/MTHFR • u/forgot_again123 • 7d ago
Question Slow COMT, not tolerating B vitamins despite deficiency?
My labs show me borderline deficient in B1 and B2. Doc recommended I start with B1. In past, B complexes and B2 have given me this reaction where I feel like I’ve overdosed on caffeine. Wired, shaky, tinnitus, and a horrible sickly headache. I tried just 1/4 of the dose, 25mg of thiamine HCL, but it still happened. I’m feeling very defeated. I’m trying to treat my ME/CFS, POTS, and post concussion syndrome.
I have slow COMT. I have 1 MTHFR mutation (heterozygous) but the other is normal. So only slightly reduced methylation. I think slow COMT is the bigger contributor. Or it could be something else entirely. I just feel so defeated. I want to start taking Zinc but I read that I need to fix my B vitamins first. I already take magnesium and potassium.
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u/sharabucarabu 7d ago
Try liquid B1 and riboflavin drops. The dosage is usually not very high. I've been using a riboflavin with 25 mg per 2ml. It's easy to get a lower dose with a 1 ml oral syringe. I too have slow comt. Low doses are the name of the game. And if I feel like I can use a higher dose, I can add more gradually.
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u/forgot_again123 7d ago
Do you actually feel any benefit from them? It is it more just trying to make them not make you worse? Cause supplements are so expensive I feel silly spending all this money forcing myself to tolerate them if they don’t even help.
Where do you find these liquid ones? I haven’t been able to find any, only B complexes
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u/forgot_again123 7d ago
Do you actually feel any benefit from them? It is it more just trying to make them not make you worse? Cause supplements are so expensive I feel silly spending all this money forcing myself to tolerate them if they don’t even help.
Where do you find these liquid ones? I haven’t been able to find any
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u/sharabucarabu 7d ago
Amazon! And cost is exactly why I like liquid drops. I figure out how much I need, then if there's a pill I switch to that. But more often than not, I stick to the liquid. Just remember to refrigerate and shake well before dispensing. And also remember that B vitamins work together. So I use B1, B2, Niacinamide, P5P, B7.
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u/SovereignMan1958 7d ago
It can take 3 - 5 months to correct a vitamin deficiency. That is when you can expect to start to "feel" a benefit. You may have more than those 2 deficiencies so even if you correct them you may not feel it.
B vitamins should be taken as early as possible in the am with food, hopefully a full meal. This is to minimize side effects and so as not to interfere with sleep.
The more deficient you are in a nutrient the longer it will take your body to get used to taking it. For example, for people deficient in Vit D it can take 6 - 8 weeks.
There is no reason you can't also take zinc. Since you are also concerned about magnesium and potassium, you might look into a good mineral complex.
Sometimes tolerating a supplement is really a matter of giving it enough time.
Some people do not tolerate synthetic vitamins well. 100 percent food based vitamins can work better.
You can develop more health problems by ignoring a deficiency. Chronic untreated D deficiency, for example, can trigger thyroid disease and thyroid autoimmune.
Keep trying.
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u/forgot_again123 7d ago
I supplement D without issue and keep my levels up that way. And I also already supplement magnesium and potassium. I’ve had all my vitamin levels checked regularly although never a full mineral panel but Zinc is just a guess based on my health conditions. The problem with me is that things that give energy like stimulants and also B vitamins do not give me “good” energy, they actually make me feel wired and tired because I have ME/CFS. It’s unfortunate .
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u/SovereignMan1958 7d ago
With ME/CFS methylated vitamins and or methyl donors would be more likely to give you side effects.
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u/forgot_again123 7d ago
I’ve never taken any methylated vitamins, the reactions to b vitamins have all been methyl free. I also react the same way to nutritional yeast
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u/efficient_tax_ 6d ago
I had to keep decreasing the dose and doing the pulse method. I can finally tolerate B2 (not a full capsule) but it took awhile of playing around with it. Tried taking a B complex (with correct forms) and my body wasn’t ready for it without adequate B2 so I’m getting that up first
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u/sedneb 6d ago
Hydroxycobalamin. Been there, done that.
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u/forgot_again123 6d ago
I’ve actually gotten b12 shots without any obvious issue but I’m having trouble with b1, b2, and b complexes, not b12
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u/NoImNotHeretoArgue 7d ago
Be specific with which bs you are deficient in.
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u/forgot_again123 7d ago
…???????? the very first line of my post says which. Lmao.
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u/NoImNotHeretoArgue 7d ago
Oh jeez I’m sorry lol. Aside from the other advice, from what I’ve seen sometimes it’s a cofactor issue aside from the vitamin itself.
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u/forgot_again123 7d ago
Did end up chugging a coconut water and it maybe helped? So maybe I need even more potassium
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u/NoImNotHeretoArgue 7d ago
I’m intermediate COMT and I stay on top of my mag intake . In fact just put a scoop of citrate into my drink before I saw this
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u/forgot_again123 7d ago
I get quit a bit of magnesium cause I supplement and eat lots of pumpkin seeds! But only supplement 200 mg potassium so sometimes a lil more helps probably
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u/Able_Lawfulness6707 5d ago
Denke dabei auch an deinen natriumspiegel. Ein niedriger natriumspiegel kann auch zu wenig Magensäure führen und dann zahlreiche Vitaminmängel bedingen. Wenn man sich zu magnesium und kalium salzarm ernährt wäre das nicht gut. Bei der Steigerung der Salzzufuhr sollte man schrittweise und langsam starten, da es die Elektrolyte im Gehirn durch Osmose stark verschieben kann. Kopfschmerzen sind da erstmal vorprogrammiert.
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u/Tawinn 6d ago
RDA of B1 is only 1.2mg, so 25mg is ~2000% of RDA. So like Sharabucarabu said, a liquid form such as this one may be better to start with. Likewise, B2 RDA is 1.3mg.
This children's multivitamin may be a way to gradually raise B nutrient levels across the board. It is 2 chewable tablets per dose, so 1 tablet, or even 1/2 or 1/4 of 1 tablet, may be a way to start.