I just surmised that I’m been over-methylating.  Serotonin and norephinephrine were lingering in my brain, causing chaos. I was feeling too good and then too low. This had to be linked to my disaster vacation – shingles, herpes spots, mosquito magnetism, eczema, black around my rings.

Depressed folks need more of these vital brain neurotransmitters. I needed less. A magical natural-treatment remedy doesn’t exist.

My friends who were instantaneously “healed” with methyl folate and methyl B12 were under-methylators.

Thus began my foray into hours of research. More hours of research. I read about SNPs – snips. I struck pay dirt. Seems there are other genes that may or may not be BFF with MTHFR. They include MAO and COMT. I have mutations in both.

With a COMT mutation, a person can’t tolerate methyl B12 well. Maybe. They usually do better with hydroxo B12 or adeno B12. After days of experimenting, my body loves adeno B12 – I get energy, my personality becomes perky. Minor irritations don’t exist. I can tolerate a very small amount of methyl B12 – 100 mcg. (Cyanocobalamin is the widely available form of B12, folks with methylation deficiencies can’t process it well. It’s a no-no.) I need to remind myself that what works today may not tomorrow. But I feel closer to my goal.

One highly-regarded website highly – oh, so highly – recommended taking small amounts of lithium to  help the body handle methyl B12. I tried it.. It didn’t work. i took 1 mg/day of lithium orotate for about a week. My personality was flat. I was constipated. The inner pounding and anxiety stopped. My eczema faded. My ring fingers stopped turning black. But I still couldn’t handle methyl B12.

Twenty years ago, I took lithium for a couple days.  My body swelled up and I felt so seasick that I sat in a chair and held on all day in order not to upchuck. After that,  my oh-so-wise doc put me on a daily big spoonful of fish oil, an aerobic exercise regime of 45 minutes 3 times a week, and banned cortisol-inducing foods like cookies, candy, pasta, bread, alcoholic beverages, caffeine. With this way brilliant formula, my anxiety stopped.

I’ve adhered to this simple formula for years, but the formula stopped working when I was over methylating. But I didn’t stop the formula. It’s super healthy and practical.

The COMT mutation can also cause quick startle and quick anxiety responses. That’s me. The MTHFR makes it hard to follow two conversations at once, or to engage in a conversation with background noise. Such as vocal music. This may be why being a mother was so challenging.

As far as I can research, no one has found the magic pill for the COMT mutation. But at least I know why some things never change.

Over methylation - Yikes.

The past 9 months have driven me crazy. Yes, I’ve had high energy, need less sleep, need way fewer naps. I’ve felt brilliant in social situations.

The downside is that I’ve been super irritable and breathtakingly anxious. I am so fortunate that my partner is patient and easily accepts my anxiety as “no-big-deal.” He handles my moods far better than I do.

When I’ve consulted my “healers” – my spiritual and medical intuitive and regular MDs who use the EAV biofeedback machines all told me to keep up the MTHFR and the methyl B12. In fact, they have suggested I take as much as 2800 mg MTHFR a day. This advice didn’t make sense considering my inner tension

Something was really “off.” And what was “off” was me. What could possibly be causing – all at the same time – a shingles outbreak near my lower rib cage, herpes and a mosquito attack? Since I had no idea what shingles was, I thought those bumps were bug or mosquito bites. When a bite happens, I use scotch tape. I put a piece of tape on the bite as a scratch inhibitor and to draw out the toxins. Whenever I feel irresistibly and unconsciously drawn to scratch, the tape creates a barrier. This works like magic. But let me tell you, those shingles hurt so much when I pulled off the tape. Ouch!!! So don’t put tape on shingles. Concurrently I had one or two herpes spots (which I haven’t had in over 30 years), and for some odd reason, I acquired about 30 mosquito bites all over my face and neck. (No one else got bit. Weird!) Towards the end of our Sedona vacation, I  was wearing many pieces of tape all over – well, all over everywhere. At the same time I was feeling super sexual. Fun and misery combined.

No matter what any expert said, something was way wrong. I seemed to be reacting to methylation in very “off” ways. I slowly cut back and the shingles and herpes retreated, then disappeared. The mosquito bites healed as they usually do. But it wasn’t until I went cold turkey – no MTHFR and no methyl B12 that the eczema vanished. Virtually overnight.

Did going off the methylation products hurt me in any way? I don’t think so.  My personality became a bit subdued and I was disoriented mentally, but I seemed fine. If I were to quick diagnose, which as we all know is a questionable practice,  I would say that I had worn myself out. My nervous system and my adrenals had worked overtime for perhaps 6-9 months. I was listless. I decided to simply let it be for a while.

Which lead me to consult with a new doc – a naturopath who after studying my genome print out from www.23andme.com, wrote a prescription for thyroid and suggested I return in 2 weeks. As if. He didn’t explain anything to me. He then handed me yet another food-restrictive diet. Again, no explanation. So much for visiting that doctor again.

He did get me thinking, though, so I found a homeopathic remedy in my drawer for Adrenal Support. It contains thyroidinum and I’ve been taking 10 drops 3 times daily. I’ve perked up a bit and am now ready to do some serious research and try to learn all I can about methylation, my personal genome and what it’s all about.