[mrsD]

You can certainly try the dibencozide. It can't hurt.

You can skip the methylB12 on the days you take the other.

V8 vegetable juice is also high in potassium. 800mg in 12oz.
Cantaloupe has 1400mg in 1/2 melon!

[julleri]

Originally Posted by mrsD

You can certainly try the dibencozide. It can't hurt.

You can skip the methylB12 on the days you take the other.

V8 vegetable juice is also high in potassium. 800mg in 12oz.
Cantaloupe has 1400mg in 1/2 melon!

Thanks MrsD,

I will do that for a while then, see how I feel - alternate days, 5000mcg methylb12 one day, 3000mcg dibencozide the next day, so on and so forth. These are the two active forms of B12 our body uses/needs. No need for cyano or hydrxo (why do these even exist anymore?).

Question about methylfolate. Something I need? Every blood test I've had shows very high folate (probably masked my b12 deficiency for so long that I didn't know I had it). If it's high, do you think I'd need methylfolate at all? I see my dibencozide (from Country life) comes with folic acid (not much I don't think), but I know folic acid is different than methylfolate.

I no longer take my multivitamin due to the extra b6 and folic acid it has. This is what I currently take:

3 fish oil pills a day (omega 3s) at 1200mg/each pill
2 vitamin D pills a day (as D3) at 2000 IUs each - total of 4000 IUs a day
5000 mcg methylb12 a day
will incorporate the dibencozide everyother day and skip the methylb12 on days I take this.

Should be good for now. No more multivitamins, unless I could find a good multi that has no Bs in it... not sure I can find that.

Any thoughts on niacinamide as a natural anxiolytic? I've read that Valium was actually modeled after niacin as niacin (as niacinamide) has some natural anxiolytic affects. I also read too much niacinamide can cause liver problems, though, so you have to stay below like 2g or something.

Thanks!

[mrsD]

I think if you improve magnesium, you will be less tense.

Theanine is far better for anxiety I think overall. It also helps PN.

If you search it here you will find some discussions. One has a recommendation from Dr. Blaylock's newsletter.

There is another product for anxiety that I believe works well, called PharmaGaba.

I use it now also... since we had a family emergency here and it really helped me. I bought mine on Amazon.com and use the capsules. The chewable form is more expensive.

The blood test for folate does not separate out active methyl and inactive folic acid. If you are not a methylator, and have the MTHFR mutation, you might need the methylfolate. It wouldn't hurt to try 800mcg a day for a short time to see how you react to it. A non-methylator could have folic acid build up in the blood because of the loss of methylation capability.
When taking methylfolate, it is best to avoid all folic acid products.

[julleri]

Originally Posted by mrsD

I think if you improve magnesium, you will be less tense.

Theanine is far better for anxiety I think overall. It also helps PN.

If you search it here you will find some discussions. One has a recommendation from Dr. Blaylock's newsletter.

There is another product for anxiety that I believe works well, called PharmaGaba.

I use it now also... since we had a family emergency here and it really helped me. I bought mine on Amazon.com and use the capsules. The chewable form is more expensive.

The blood test for folate does not separate out active methyl and inactive folic acid. If you are not a methylator, and have the MTHFR mutation, you might need the methylfolate. It wouldn't hurt to try 800mcg a day for a short time to see how you react to it. A non-methylator could have folic acid build up in the blood because of the loss of methylation capability.
When taking methylfolate, it is best to avoid all folic acid products.

Ah, thank you MrsD!

When you say it is best to avoid all folic acid products while taking methylfolate, do you think the small amount of folic acid in the Country Life dibencozide would present a problem? It's 200mcg. I'm not even sure why they put that in there? What does folic acid have to do with dibencozide, or B12 in general in that matter?

[mrsD]

There are papers on the net that postulate that folic acid competes with methylfolate at the blood brain barrier.

That is why avoiding folic acid would give a cleaner result in trying the methylfolate at all.

There is folic acid in our food you know...in US many food products are fortified with it.

[julleri]

Originally Posted by mrsD

There is folic acid in our food you know...in US many food products are fortified with it.

That's right! I remember the doctor who found my B12 deficiency told me that. Our foods are fortified with it. Too bad our foods aren't fortified with methylb12. Although I don't think that would work. If people lack IF, they wouldn't be able to use it anyway.

It's a shame that brand I have has folic acid in it. But, whatever. I'll continue to take it. I don't think it can hurt.

Thanks again for all your advice!

[karsten]

Originally Posted by julleri

Ah, thank you MrsD!

When you say it is best to avoid all folic acid products while taking methylfolate, do you think the small amount of folic acid in the Country Life dibencozide would present a problem? It's 200mcg. I'm not even sure why they put that in there? What does folic acid have to do with dibencozide, or B12 in general in that matter?

I found myself asking this same question several months back. I have used Country Life dibencozide for quite some time, but I didn't want the folic acid that went with it.

I have worked hard trying to just take methylfolate in lieu of folic acid which appears in many foods and supplements.

I found this B complex which works very well for me:

Douglas labs B complex with Metafolin

http://www.douglaslabs.com/pdf/pds/200765.pdf

I take this once a day along with vitamin C, D3 and and gamma E. It provides a suitable dose of methyfolate along with the B vitamins in good forms. I do take additional B12 than what this product has but it does contain methyl B12 (not B12 cobalamin) which is a bonus.

[julleri]

... numb patch of skin on my left leg. It's on the side of my thigh. I don't know quite how long it's been numb. I'd say at least 4 months, maybe longer. I don't know if it's spreading or not, either.

Question is - can this be from low B12? I've had a host of unusual neuropsychiatric stuff going on with me. The neurologist I saw (the most recent, and the one I liked better of the two I saw) didn't say anything of it, but I did give him a LONG, as he put it "laundry list that could not be any one thing." He was also well aware of my B12 issue and knows how my levels are back up. Also said doesn't think I have a neurological disease. So, it must be B12? Can a deficiency in this vitamin cause numb patches of skin? Will it get better over time, or could it be a permanent patch of "dead nerves"?

I realize we aren't doctors. Just wondering if anyone would know or had something similar. I'm thinking it's from the B12...

Thank you!

[karsten]

Originally Posted by julleri

... numb patch of skin on my left leg. It's on the side of my thigh. I don't know quite how long it's been numb. I'd say at least 4 months, maybe longer. I don't know if it's spreading or not, either.

Question is - can this be from low B12? I've had a host of unusual neuropsychiatric stuff going on with me. The neurologist I saw (the most recent, and the one I liked better of the two I saw) didn't say anything of it, but I did give him a LONG, as he put it "laundry list that could not be any one thing." He was also well aware of my B12 issue and knows how my levels are back up. Also said doesn't think I have a neurological disease. So, it must be B12? Can a deficiency in this vitamin cause numb patches of skin? Will it get better over time, or could it be a permanent patch of "dead nerves"?

I realize we aren't doctors. Just wondering if anyone would know or had something similar. I'm thinking it's from the B12...

Thank you!

I'm sure my primary cause of PN was due to nutritional defiencies caused by taking prilosec for over a decade. Prilosec can cause drops in B12, folate, magnesium, iron and calcium. Now after stopping the prilosec and taking these nutrients I've been slowly on the mend.

I have a recent story about a numb patchy area on my right thigh. I was working on a new raised vegetable garden this Spring and did a lot of heavy lifting, digging, etc. I built it into a hill to get better drainage than my old spot. After 3 days of hard work I was finished. Right about that time I noticed a moderately numb patch of skin on my right thigh. Went to the chiro and he adjusted my sore back. Now about 6 weeks later it is about 30% better. I 'm virtually certain the cause is a compressed nerve. Seems like I have had more compression issues since being diagnosed with PN. Quite often I wake up in the morning with numb fingers due to lying in a certain position for too long. I stand up and it goes away literally in seconds.

Patchy numbness is scary, but in my case I know the reason was too much stress on my back lifting stone and dirt. Nerve compression might be something to think about in your case.

[julleri]

Originally Posted by karsten

I found myself asking this same question several months back. I have used Country Life dibencozide for quite some time, but I didn't want the folic acid that went with it.

I have worked hard trying to just take methylfolate in lieu of folic acid which appears in many foods and supplements.

I found this B complex which works very well for me:

Douglas labs B complex with Metafolin

http://www.douglaslabs.com/pdf/pds/200765.pdf

I take this once a day along with vitamin C, D3 and and gamma E. It provides a suitable dose of methyfolate along with the B vitamins in good forms. I do take additional B12 than what this product has but it does contain methyl B12 (not B12 cobalamin) which is a bonus.

Thank you! Have only used the Country Life dibencozide with folic acid for about a week now, but so far I like it! My appetite has been very strong this week. I don't know if it's from the dibencozide itself, from having been on methylB12 for almost three months now (not quite, but getting close), or if it's from increased activity lately.

I do worry about folate sometimes, not as much as I worried about B12 though. My folate always tests high, but as Mrs D says, this doesn't say if the folate in my blood is building up because it's not being utilized properly or what % is methylated folate or folic acid, unable to be methylated.

I remember posting a while back about how my homocysteine is low. MrsD remarked that that's a good sign that I'm properly methylating these vitamins.

Regarding B supplements in general, I can't really take a B complex. At least not at this point in my life. Coming off antidepressants has left my nervous system in an uproar, and Bs can be super stimulating in general. I had a hard enough time getting on B12 due to the high energy and swinging in the beginning. Also I am concerned about my recent B6 test which was high. As a result I'm not taking any multivitamin, which is a shame because I do like the "insurance" of multivitamins. I wish I could find one that doesn't contain the Bs! That way I could individually take the Bs I want to take and need to take (even though it would be a pain and possibly a lot of pills).

This is all I take now:

Fish oil pills (3 @ 1200 mg/ea)/ day (for the Omega 3)
Vitamin D3 (2 @ 2000 IU/ea)/day (for vitamin D deficiency - yikes!)
Vitamin B12 (every other day alternate between 5000mcg methyl and 3000mcg adenosyl/dibencozide w/200mg folic acid) - sublinguals on empty stomach under the tongue then wash down with water.
Sometimes I take 1000mg of biotin (B7) every few days or so, as an extra kick for hair/nails and energy
I've considered looking into niacinamide (b3) but am gonna leave that on the back burner for now.

I know my thiamine (B1) level is "good" (first, not-so-friendly neurologist tested that and I got a phone confirmation that it's in range). Don't know my B2, niacin (B3), B5. B6 was high. B7 (don't know/doesn't matter), Folate is always high, B12 "high" (last tested 1844! - am happy with this, though, thanks to advice of MrsD and others I read on here). These Bs seem hard to regulate!