B12 Low feratin and MTHFR

[Mfarrington]

Hi my name is Melissa I am 45 have hypothyroid, Hashimotos try my best to eat GF and avoid dairy and soy. I eat very healthy. I was just diagnosed with compound heterozygous MTHFR. I always ha e lie ferratin levels, at one point they were a 6 but last tiMe I checked they were 30. I have developed breathlessness that has me panicked. I read B12 and feratin issues can cause this. I tested my B12 and it is just under 500. My doctor said I do not have B12 deficiency but they also do not know anything about MTHFR and methylated folate and B12.

I have myself so worked up and do t k ow what to do... I feel like this is ruining my life.feel worse when moving around... best when lying down m. I do not have extreme exhaustion.

Feeling scared and overwhelmed advice would be much appreciated. Thank you in advance.

[Gambit62 Administrator]

MTHFR is the gene that controls the MTHFR process - it tends to impact more on folate than B12 to the appoint where its unlikely that compound heterozygous variants would have a significant effect on how much B12 you need for processes to run properly.

Ferritin is one measure of iron status and usually a good one but you need to look at a full iron profile to really be sure of iron status.

Iron makes your red blood cells smaller than normal - meaning they can't carry as much oxygen from lungs to cells. B12 and folate deficiency make your red blood cells larger and rounder than normal. This means that the ratio between surface are and volume is much lower which makes them less efficient at transferring oxygen from lungs to cells. Both scenarios will cause breathlessness ... but breathlessness is also a symptom of a number of other conditions.

It is possible to have both macrocytic and microcytic anaemia - which would usually show up as a high variation in the width of red blood cells - RDW.

Do you have the results of a full blood count?

[fbirder]

Despite what you might read on certain websites, there is no evidence that so-called compound heterozygous MTHFR mutations have any effect on health. If it did then it would be quite noticeable because about 2 billion people have it.