Folate deficiency

[Vrboska]

Good evening

My medicheck thyroide test failed to test Serum folate - (BC), but I got NHS resuls in blood test showing low reading of 2.9 ug/L 3.89 - 26.80ug/L . I am seeing GP soon but would be grateful for any advice about getting it back to normal appart from diet. I never had folate deficiency before.

Normal Serum vitamin B12 495 ng/L 180.00 - 999.00ng/L

Serum ferritin - (BC) - Normal 70 ug/L 30.00 - 400.00ug/L

Thank you.

[TiggerMe Ambassador]

Your GP will likely prescribe you folic acid but you'd be better off buying some methyl folate (Lamberts 400ug) for better uptake or take those for a couple of months and adding in a good B complex (Thorne Basic B or Iggenus Super B ) to help balance all of your B Vits and get your B12 nearer top of range

[Vrboska in reply to TiggerMe]

Thank you very much, What's the best quality supplier if you could recommend pls?

[TiggerMe Ambassador in reply to Vrboska]

I tend to just shop around for the best price as even the big brands can miss the mark by using excipients I avoid or not the best form of things, so it's a bit of a minefield, huge choice on Amazon or iHerb but you really need to read the small print

[helvella Administrator in reply to TiggerMe]

Don't miss that folinic acid is an option.

Personally, I know little about it but some of the Pernicious Anaemia Society folk use it.

[TiggerMe Ambassador in reply to helvella]

Oh... I know nothing about it 😬

Is that better for people avoiding the methyl form?

[TiggerMe Ambassador in reply to TiggerMe]

seekinghealth.com/blogs/edu...

[helvella Administrator in reply to TiggerMe]

One of the rare occasions that HU search actually does quite a good job:

healthunlocked.com/pasoc/se...

Whilst more expensive, a few people do seem to fine it suits them better than either folic acid or methylfolate.

[TiggerMe Ambassador in reply to helvella]

So from a quick read it seems methyl has best uptake and cheaper if tolerated followed by folinic acid... (So many caveats when recommending things 😵)

I don't know if there is any easy way to know if methyl is not going to suit people?

[helvella Administrator in reply to TiggerMe]

That is always the problem.

Some people do better, for example, on hydroxocobalamin than methylcobalamin but it is rarely mentioned in supplement form.

[Vrboska in reply to TiggerMe]

Thanks but I am beyond confused...

[TiggerMe Ambassador in reply to Vrboska]

I'm not surprised 🙃 be assured that any form is safe it is just that a few people find methyl forms can cause anxiety so then the folinic would be a better option.

Your GP won't be much help I'm afraid as they provide the cheapest (least effective) synthetic form which the body then needs to convert into folate which is the natural form 😬

[Vrboska in reply to TiggerMe]

Yes agree abt GP. I've already have mild anxity which is consequence of B vit dificiency what I found out, so will chat with pharmacists and follow kind advice and reading suggested here.

[bookish in reply to Vrboska]

Hi, whilst methyl forms of vitamins may cause feelings of anxiety or being'hyper' in some people, in others the methyl forms are needed to resolve those already-existent feelings. Best to start with a low dose and increase gradually as needed but also only change one thing at a time. For me, methylfolate was amazing and helped with anxiety (and a lot else), but I only needed a small dose. Prescribed doses of folic tend to be large, so best not stay on that for any longer than you can help. Cheers

[Vrboska in reply to bookish]

Many thanks. What dose you were on pls and what brand?

[bookish in reply to Vrboska]

I use Metabolics liquid methyltetrahydrofolate and started with just one drop, now using approx 500mcg in total but split into three doses during the day.

[Vrboska in reply to TiggerMe]

Thanks again, very helpfull. I was wondering what role is amabassador in our forum?

[TiggerMe Ambassador in reply to Vrboska]

You're welcome, the label is just to show I'm a regular and have been acknowledged to have a reasonable amount of experience to share, within the forum guidelines

[helvella Administrator in reply to TiggerMe]

I think this post is possibly the most recent good one. There's an old one explaining why folinic acid might be needed when taking methotrexate.

Another interesting folic/folinic acid paper just out

healthunlocked.com/pasoc/po...

[Vrboska in reply to helvella]

Thank you. I've never heard of ""folinic"""and sociaty, too many unknown facts...It's a bit scary without checking with GP;

[helvella Administrator in reply to Vrboska]

GPs will almost invariably advise or prescribe just folic acid. Which, for many, might be just fine.

[Vrboska]

Thank you very much.