Tag neurological

Learning about Folate and Cobalamin

SpoonfulofDiva Leave a comment

It’s been several months now, and I’m going to start sharing with you the really awesome part of my life. I’ve not needed prescriptions, and I’m tackling Mast Cell Activation, Fibromyalgia, Interstitial Cystitis, and all the other junk that goes along with these nasty things Naturally. Recently, my friend and I were discussing the importance of Folate (Methylfolate) and Cobalamin (Vit B12).

“Vitamin B12 deficiency is more prevalent in the elderly and can develop as a result of malnutrition, malabsorption, chronic alcoholism, and chronic use of common medications (e.g. metformin, PPI, methotrexate) along with other causes. A wide spectrum of hematological and neuropsychiatric manifestations exist with the most common being Megaloblastic anemia and subacute combined degeneration, respectively. The mechanisms leading to the manifestations specific to these two organ systems are thought to be different. The severity of neuropsychiatric presentation is reported to be inversely proportional to that of hematological presentation, thus making it uncommon for both to be readily apparent simultaneously, ” states the PUBMED website.

What does that mean for us? Cobalamin (Vitamin B12) deficiency can impact many different factors in our lifestyles just from neurological to neuropsychiatric by themselves. Cobalamin is very important when dealing with pain and varying symptoms in Fibromyalgia Syndrome (FS).

“Vitamin B12 (VB) is a necessary vitamin for routine cell activity and metabolism. A deficiency in VB causes symptoms that are also frequently observed in FS, such as weakness, fatigue, general muscle pain, and sleep disturbances. Interestingly, subnormal VB levels may cause these symptoms. Previous studies have reported that FS patients have similar VB levels to healthy individuals. VD deficiency was associated with fatigue and generalized pain. VD deficiency is seen much more often in females than males, and FS is usually seen in females,” states the Sciendo website.

What makes it interesting to know is that Cobalamin deficiency can be caused by medications such as anti-seizure medications, and H2 histamine antagonists. These are medications such as gabapentenoids, and heartburn prevention medications and histamine blockers. These are medications that are regularly taken by Fibromyalgia patients.

“VB deficiency could disrupt methionine synthesis enzyme activity and cause nerve demyelination. Demyelination of the nerves causes a decrease in the pain threshold and general body pain in patients. There is a strong relationship between VB levels and general body pain, and most patients’ pain symptoms may decrease with VB supplementation,” states the Sciendo website.

Knowing that FS also includes a high occurrence of patients that also have small fiber neuropathy and that with a cobalamin (VB) deficiency can cause nerve demyelination makes it blatantly obvious that it can actually contribute to our pain receptor dysfunction.

Folate can be found in leafy green veggies like kale. OldieFan/Pixabay

So along with co-morbid conditions like IBS and various other conditions than can create a malabsorption problem, I started searching out the best way to get the most out of my vitamin supplementation. That was looking at methylated versions of what I was taking. Methylated, Liposomal, and Liquid is to get the most out of your vitamins and ensuring that you are getting what you are taking.

Let’s discuss a little bit about folate, and how this works. Folate works in conjunction with Cobalamin (VB) for energy metabolism, and cell function and repair. What is interesting to know is that folic acid, which was created and added to food sources, does not metabolize correctly and can be stored, to actually block the folate pathways, which can cause a folate deficiency.

“Food fortification and increased vitamin intake have led to higher folic acid (FA) consumption by pregnant women, and some studies have suggested that buildup of unmetabolized folic acid may have negative effects on folate pathways. Recent studies have suggested that unconverted folic acid may affect folate pathways by interfering with folate-dependent enzymes and metabolism. Folate deficiency during pregnancy has been associated with developmental abnormalities such as neural tube defects in the fetus and autism spectrum disorders in children. These disorders can be prevented and treated with high-dose vitamin B9. Folate receptor antibodies are significantly associated with the disruption of brain development in the fetus and function in later life. Folate is actively transported to the fetus, and this transport can be blocked by an antibody against the folate receptor. Folate receptor antibodies are significantly associated with neural tube pregnancy and autism spectrum disorders, and folinic acid treatment in the latter condition has shown improvement in core behavioral deficits along with normalizing the CSF folate status. ,” states the MDPI website.

What is more interesting that if those pathways are now blocked with unused and unprocessed folic acid, we no longer can methylate and do DNA repair. The need to take a methylated version of Folate known as Methylfolate, is the only way to “skip” over the blockage of built-up folic acid so our bodies can get the proper micronutrients. During that methylation process of folate, it uses cobalamin (VB) to help detoxify, methylate, and open back up our pathways for proper DNA repair.

“Folate is a water-soluble B vitamin that plays a critical role in nucleic acid biosynthesis, DNA repair, and methylation. Adequate folate intake is vital for cell division and homeostasis because folate coenzymes play essential roles in nucleic acid synthesis, methionine regeneration, and the shuttling, oxidation, and reduction of one-carbon units required for normal metabolism and regulation. Low folate status is associated with elevated plasma Hcy, which are both risk factors for cardiovascular disease, stroke, megaloblastic anemia, neural tube defects (NTDs; congenital malformation of the fetus), depression, Alzheimer’s disease, and tumors,” states the National Library of Medicine website.

Using methylfolate or (5-MTHF) is the optimal supplementation especially in people that have MTHFR gene mutations.

“5-MTHF has many advantages over folic acid as a supplement. 5-MTHF participates directly in one-carbon metabolism without activation. Thus, 5-MTHF supplements should bypass the limitation of low DHFR activity and the decreased efficiency caused by several common polymorphisms of MTHFR and other enzymes. Unlike folic acid, data suggest that 5-MTHF will not mask vitamin B12 deficiency. 5-MTHF is also more effective than folic acid supplementation in improving folate status. Studies on the safety, tolerability, and retention rates of 5-MTHF/5-MTHF-Ca have suggested that 5-MTHF-Ca is a safe alternative to folic acid as a source of folate and may be particularly advantageous for individuals with MTHFR defects, who could have difficulty processing folic acid from supplements or fortified foods,” states the National Library of Medicine website.

What has been found and published is that B12/Folate can actually benefit Fibromyalgia patients as found in the following study.

“Dose-response relationship and long-lasting effects of B12/folic acid support a true positive response in the studied group of patients with ME/fibromyalgia. It’s important to be alert on co-existing thyroid dysfunction, and we suspect a risk of counteracting interference between B12/folic acid and certain opioid analgesics and other drugs that have to be demethylated as part of their metabolism,” states the Plos One website.

What have I personally experienced? That when I stopped my prescription medications, and I discovered this information. I started Methylfolate and a methylated version of B Complex together, and things have changed drastically for me. Since they are water soluble vitamins, I take them 3 times a day. What my body doesn’t use disposes of them. Knowing that I had already been taking H2 antagonists because of my mast cell activation and different allergic type reactions, I knew that I was already B12 deficient. This didn’t even include the short period of type that I was on gabapentenoids, in all hopes and purposes of stopping the pain. I’m not entirely pain free, but I did notice that my brain fog dissipated, and I felt my arms and legs “tingle” knowing that essentially it started repairing my nerve endings right away.

I may sound like a broken record if you’ve read through my blog, but I’m telling you that I don’t regret it, and I highly suggest you try this first. I also supplement with a methylated Triple Magnesium for optimal muscle health and regeneration along with Vitamin D supplement as well. I’m not the only one either, my mother and sister are in the same boat as me, and we are all improving so greatly. I cannot recommend it enough.

If you found this and read it all the way through. Thank you and congratulations. It’s the first step in your wellness. Always remember, I’m not a doctor, I’m a patient, living this life. I have no affiliation with medical field or the product companies that I use but I am an Amazon Affiliate for the soul purpose of generating a small income if you choose to order from the links provided on the products that I personally use. This is to assist in keeping up the blog, and to give my readers the convenience of finding them quickly. As always, please speak with your primary and pharmacist before adding anything or taking away anything from your regimen. –Wellness Wishes from Your Author!

Methylfolate

Methylated Vitamin B Complex

Triple Magnesium

Vitamin D

Brain Fog, Memory Loss: Memories and how to keep them…

SpoonfulofDiva 3 Comments

Why Neurogenesis and taking notes are so very important.

“But I love it!” The boy is grasping his paper tube roll with all his might. It is now his prized possession. Kids are hilarious, you can buy them a $50 toy but they would rather play with the boxes they came in, or latch onto the wrapping paper tube that supplied the paper you wrapped said present in.

One of our dearest friends gifted our little man with a wrapping paper tube. This was now his only source of fun. Also, a source of annoyance and bacteria. Talking into the tube, shouting at people, using it as a megaphone of sorts. Poking people, using it as a cane, just like “Dr. House” on the television. Sticking it in muddy floorboard water in the vehicle on the trip home and licking it like an ice cream cone. Arguing that now he needs to SLEEP with it. Arguing he wants to take it everywhere with him, oh to be four again.

ANECDOTE NOTEBOOK

These are memories that would have been forever lost for me had I not written them down. Also a habit that once I formed it, I continued to do even when I was sick. They are scattered about in notebooks, stored in files on my NOTE on my phone, and various other places. Had I not formed this habit early on, I wouldn’t be able to supply you with the valuable history and information in how I navigated my chronic illness and beat my death date of 5 years. It’s been an entire YEAR from the date I was supposed to meet my demise.

I also began a log of sorts for my kids when I was given the approximation, I only got a few pages in for both of kids at home, logging memories for them that I had scattered about, until I “forgot” about that project. In hopes that if I did meet my demise, that they would have cherished memories I had written down in my own handwriting for them to keep forever. Out of all the advice I can give you parents, I pray that you listen to me on this. If you are not doing that, I beg of you to do it now, because as the old adage goes, “TOMORROW IS NEVER PROMISED.”

Yep, this is my brain, with all the black voids.

The really cool part is, I had enough gumption to keep a running list of medications, and supplements I was managing, and a list of all my doctors, neatly typed on a few sheets of paper stapled and attached to any new business cards or information I had to add to the list in my “drug purse” at all times, to take everywhere with me. This came in handy for a few ER visits, and every doctor visit I had to attend by myself, when there wasn’t a caretaker with me. It would have also been even handier had I been totally incapable of doing anything or communicating at all. **Another piece of advice for you or your loved ones if you are suffering from chronic, systemic, or fatal illness. ** My goal was to stay alive long enough, to figure it out, even if no one could do it for me. I had given up a lot of hope that anyone was going to be able to save my life before my demise, so with what little energy I had, I put all my effort into figuring out my body for myself, with my regular practitioner along for the ride. (His file on me cannot even fit in a 4-inch binder.)

Solidly I can contribute my survival on my desperate need to figure out the answers that no one seemed to be able to give me. They could placate symptoms with a ton of different drugs, but I wasn’t okay with dying, not yet. Neat little fact for the ones who don’t personally know me, I was in the automotive field for years, I have a mechanical engineering type frame of mind. If there is one thing I know for certain, there has to be a CORE issue to what was causing ALL of these issues, and even with the MRIs it still took me two years to conclude, that first and foremost my brain damage, could wholly be my issue. A friend in the medical field mentioned to me once that they had read, scientists had figured out how to regenerate brain matter. Shortly after there was another friend who birthed a son. No one knew until he started walking that something wasn’t “quite right” he had a limp. Several tests later and an MRI shown that the frontal cortex of his left brain was entirely missing, he was born that way. However, funny thing, nothing else seemed to be wrong, his brain started to rewire itself around what he was born with. If you need a sign, that was the sign I needed to not give up. I went to work researching like a mad woman, and I had the attention span of a gnat, and the big words confused me, most of it didn’t make sense, but when something did click, you bet your ass, I was taking notes on it until I came to a conclusion or a dead end, or I found a supplement to TRY to see if it would get me anywhere. I REFUSED to listen, I REFUSED to submit to a fate that I did not want, and here I am.

One thing I had to be careful about supplements was not falling for all the combination supplements out there. I had Interstitial Cystitis, I had to be very choosy about the things I put in my body, as to not aggravate my bladder. Funny thing, my bladder was the source of my heartburn, but it was also the source of my asthma. I VERY rarely ever have to use my MONTEKULAST (but I still keep it on hand, just in case) or my rescue inhaler in nearly four years. Even through the pandemic, I didn’t even need it when I got the second strain, my symptoms were very mild and short lived. I always choose supplements which I know the composition inside and out, and trust me, my feeds were blowing up with “miracle” supplements for everything. It seems so much easier to take ONE PILL, right? Nope, not this girl who’s allergic to ALL THE BULLSHIT.

My focus became figuring out how to repair my nervous system and create neurogenesis. (Or at least simulate it.) Again, I’m not a doctor, and I won’t even know until probably next year whether or not I really did anything to the white matter that is missing in that thick skull of mine. However, I do know, that I am a100% a functioning human compared to where I was at in 2019. I still do have massive migraines and headaches from time to time (I like to think that it’s just brain matter growing back, I don’t care if it’s denial. I’m stubborn). Mast Cell Activation will be a thing forever as far as I know. I still have fibromyalgia (at times) it keeps getting less and less though, Interstitial Cystitis may be something I will have forever, and a little neuropathy, I am able to navigate all of these successfully without outside help of prescription medications, and I’m damn proud of that. I’m here TODAY in the process of writing a book, a blog, and teach others there is HOPE, and you don’t always have to submit to placating yourself with a bunch of crazy medications the doctors hand you if you don’t really have to or want to. My favorite part of all of it, I can read and understand, and REMEMBER everything except TWO years, where I have to almost rely solely on most of my notes. MIND OVER MATTER PEOPLE!!! Quite literally, I have more mind than matter, I believe. Ha!

“NEUROGENESIS – DEFINITION

the birth of new neurons. Although most neurogenesis occurs before birth, it is also recognized to continue into adulthood in at least two areas: the hippocampus and the subventricular zone.”

https://neuroscientificallychallenged.com/glossary/neurogenesis

I plead insanity…Cytokine Storm Mania

SpoonfulofDiva Leave a comment

My kids can vouch for me.

Being chronically ill is likened to being traumatized all over again. On top of being a survivor of previous abusive situations, I likened my situation to triggering all of the above all at once. With Mast Cell Activation your body goes into a cytokine storm. When I mentioned being allergic to your bullshit, my bullshit, stress, and all the other junk in between, I wasn’t kidding. It’s true.

Your body has a response mechanism to cytokine storms, and once your mast cells are activated, no matter the mitigating factor, it activates my mast cells as well. Stress me out, and I lose my shit. If my body is in critical attack, I literally lose my shit… sometimes I forget everything, need to sleep, or scream. I really have no control over it. Other times I hyper react, overthink, and literally drive everyone nuts around me talking about a subject matter three or four times until they’re bored. It’s essentially like having ADHD mixed with a good dose of memory loss.

Most of my life it’s been contributed to me being annoying, obnoxious, crazy. Well essentially, I do go crazy a little. When my body is in crisis at the ER, sometimes I can black out and say things I don’t even know I have said. One critical time, the resident doctor feared even coming into the room to talk to me even before I was released.

I had went to an outdoor wedding that day, and I was just not feeling right. My husband and I had left a little early, and I went home to change clothes. Something was brewing and I couldn’t put my finger on it at that moment. I was going to the garage, and had told my husband, I needed to go to the hospital. I made it to the landing in that garage, and bam, total neurological shut down. I could speak, but I couldn’t open my eyes, I couldn’t move my body, arms and legs totally dysfunctional. My caretaker and husband tag teamed picking me up and sort of dragging me to the truck to get me to the hospital. I am ever so grateful for the wonderful family I have in my life.

That was my life changing moment in the ER. My body was overcome by mold and yeast, I was literally foaming at the mouth, the thrush was so bad in my mouth. I had taken 30 Benadryl to keep me alive, because who can freaking afford an EPI Pen at those kinds of prices, and then still have to go to the ER anyway?! It’s highway robbery to try and save your life. I was in anaphylactic shock, and I needed help.

My husband took me to the nearest ER and they stuck me directly in a Covid wing, my body had went into neurological shut down, I seized in their waiting room while checking in, yet they stuck me in a COVID wing! I was furious. As soon as my legs could work again (I’m assuming from ingesting all the Benadryl), I got up out of that bed and told the whole staff to, “Go fuck yourselves.” Not my proudest moment, because they called security and threatened to call the police until they got the IV start out of my arm. I promptly had my husband drive me to the next nearest ER.

That moment was when I really freaked out the resident doctor, and my husband really doesn’t tell me much other than, he said, “You got MEAN.” I had blacked out. The paresthesia in my veins was so bad at that point, that it took them four hours to get the IV in, and when I did “come to life” again, I was confused but not surprised they had me strapped to the bed. The turning point, I had full function of my brain again, for the first time in years, my body fully functioning like normal. I wanted to see the man who listened, and administered the treatment that saved my life that day! It took a GRAND amount of pleading with the nurses “I’m nice again, I promise.” Sheepishly the doctor came in to receive the “thank you” that he so very much deserved and appreciated, then I told him my story, and he told me to write the book.

Apparently, the mold and yeasts had taken over my body! When they Iv’d an antifungal through my veins, everything miraculously came back to me! I don’t knock the medical field in anyway shape or form, but I am a product of being mistreated over and over again, and when I say, “You can fire your doctor!” I damn well mean it! Find the ones who are in the field and ask why they started it in the first place, TO HELP PEOPLE. You treat that first appointment like you are interviewing them. Unless you are in a position you can’t advocate for yourself, NEVER RELENT to just letting them do whatever. FIGHT for yourself and your needs! However, I suggest you do it as nicely as possible. My mother-in-law always told me, “You can catch more bees with honey, than you can with vinegar.” She’s not wrong.

That day was the day, I realized, that there was SOMETHING in my Garage, that was a PROBLEM, and I set out to find why! After all, I had suffered seizures in there, and a concussion… it was time to figure out why my body had neurological problems with my own home.