r/MTHFR Feb 03 '22

Learn About Your COMT Resource

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u/HalflingMelody T677T Feb 04 '22

My hematologist recommended B6, folate, and B12. I have yet to see whether this will get my homocysteine down to normal levels. But, mine is so high that I need at least a 65% reduction in it, and I'm not entirely sure that's possible. I saw somewhere that B vitamins can make a 20% difference. That's far from enough.

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u/IncreasinglyTrippy Feb 04 '22

Isn’t TMG (combined with B6 & B12) the main supplement for lowering homocysteine?

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u/HalflingMelody T677T Feb 04 '22

Not according to my hematologist. But perhaps there are different ways of approaching it.

A quick google search found this:

"Studies in healthy volunteers show that 6 g/d of betaine lowers plasma homocysteine concentrations by 5% to 20%."

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3610948/

and this:

"Betaine supplementation increased blood LDL cholesterol and triacylglycerol concentrations in healthy humans, which agrees with the limited previous data. The adverse effects on blood lipids may undo the potential benefits for cardiovascular health of betaine supplementation through homocysteine lowering."

whereas:

Folic acid supplementation does not seem to affect blood lipids and therefore remains the preferred treatment for lowering of blood homocysteine concentrations.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15916468/

So perhaps the side effects of TMG/Betaine are too problematic. And 5%-20% just isn't enough anyway. Maybe if I combined folate, B6, B12, and TMG it would get my level corrected. It'll take some experimentation. Thankfully, my PCP is perfectly happy to order blood tests to figure this out.