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.