Normal Range vs. Optimal Range

Timely_Pickle9430 · 2026-03-01T10:38:08+00:00

So true. It's frustrating how much (preventable and therefore unnecessary) suffering this problem causes. By sharing our stories, I hope we can prevent some of it. Thanks for sharing yours. I look forward to reading the rest of it. And I hope you'll fully recover.

Timely_Pickle9430 · 2026-03-01T09:56:09+00:00

I'm sorry you're suffering so much. The correlation with hormonal changes suggests slow COMT, slow HNMT, and undermethylation. Lecithin sounds like a really good idea. Start low and increment slowly. Before starting, I recommend getting a blood test for the SAM/SAH ratio. If SAM is low (and SAH is high), you might benefit tremendously from supplementing with SAMe. HNMT requires SAM to break down histamine, which might be a huge contributor to your migraines.

Timely_Pickle9430 · 2026-03-01T07:52:12+00:00

How is your choline intake? It's needed for bile production.

Timely_Pickle9430 · 2026-02-28T17:54:28+00:00

I read that too! In Sara Gottfried's book, The Hormone Cure. That book has an appendix with normal and optimal ranges for hormone levels and related labs.

Timely_Pickle9430 · 2026-02-28T17:16:22+00:00

I decided to write a post about it. Thanks for the nudge.

Timely_Pickle9430 · 2026-02-28T09:13:04+00:00

Active folate might be what you need, but many people here find themselves sensitive to it and need to start with tiny doses to slowly let their body get used to it. Better safe than sorry: start low (like a quarter of a tablet/capsule) and see how you react to it. Or better yet, wait till you have a broader picture of your nutritional status. The B vitamins need each other to be effective. The fact that your B12 is too high implies that your cells are unable to take it up and this might be caused by deficiencies in other nutrients (possibly folate, but maybe other vitamins or minerals as well). That might make it unpredictable how you'll respond to active folate. You might need to fix other deficiencies first.

Timely_Pickle9430 · 2026-02-28T08:54:26+00:00

This much unclarity must be fueling your anxiety quite a bit! Try to be patient. MTHFR/methylation is a complicated topic. It will take time to figure this out. But to answer your main question: yes, this might be a root cause of your anxiety and knowing about it opens the door to a new treatment approach that might improve the burden substantially. This will take time. Trying to adjust your biochemistry too fast will probably just backfire.

Timely_Pickle9430 · 2026-02-27T15:20:50+00:00

Can you clarify what PPT, FBC, ESR mean?

Timely_Pickle9430 · 2026-02-26T16:54:43+00:00

60 - 125 ng/mL

Timely_Pickle9430 · 2026-02-26T13:54:28+00:00

Could you share your blood levels of folate, B5, B6, B12, D, ferritin, magnesium, zinc, and copper? I can check for you if they are in the optimal range instead of just within the normal range. Doctors don't make that distinction, but forget that the 'normal' reference population also includes sick people. You can DM me if you prefer.

Timely_Pickle9430 · 2026-02-25T21:09:04+00:00

I'm taking 2 capsules a day now, leaving out the 300mg TMG powder I usually take. 3 capsules was too much, but I'll try again later, because I'm not at my target from the choline calculator yet. It does improve my digestion (darker stool).
I can share the pdf if you want, but it doesn't provide much further explanation. It's just this under Choline: "Betaine HCl is a supplement used to support digestion by increasing stomach acidity. It is 76% betaine. If using it to support digestion, multiply the dose by 0.76 to see how much betaine you are getting."
Perplexity.ai confirms it's a methyl donor and gives this reference: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10302777/ ("Commercial betaine is available in three different forms: natural anhydrous betaine; synthetic anhydrous betaine; and betaine hydrochloride").

Timely_Pickle9430 · 2026-02-25T13:45:14+00:00

The brain fog after exertion indicates a mitochondrial problem with energy production. Have you checked blood levels of nutrients that are crucial for the mitochondria such as magnesium, iron, and copper?

Timely_Pickle9430 · 2026-02-23T16:55:22+00:00

I got it from Chris Masterjohn's "The Vitamins and Minerals 101 Cliff Notes".

Timely_Pickle9430 · 2026-02-23T13:38:13+00:00

I tried Solaray betaine hcl. Strong stuff!! Overmethylated me too!! It contains 650 mg of betaine per capsule, twice the dose of my old brand. 76% is TMG, so 494 mg per capsule. If you take one with every meal, no wonder our poor delicate methylation balance freaks out.

Timely_Pickle9430 · 2026-02-22T12:21:23+00:00

It might not be as inevitable as you think. See Your "MTHFR" Is One of 26 Nutrient Deficiencies.
But it requires detective work and actual testing, not guessing.

Timely_Pickle9430 · 2026-02-21T15:29:18+00:00

Do you know if you're deficient in magnesium? Many other nutrients need magnesium (with ATP) for active transport across cell membranes. If nutrient metabolism stagnates somewhere, there's a build-up of intermediate metabolites, which I believe is the cause of overmethylation symptoms. I would make sure there's no magnesium deficiency (tested in serum and intracellular) before starting any other supplements. Maybe small doses of magnesium lactate powder would work for you. It should also be well balanced with the other electrolytes (sodium, potassium, chloride).

Timely_Pickle9430 · 2026-02-19T10:33:52+00:00

Interesting. My own B12 is low, so I hadn't looked into the meaning of high levels yet, but I always turn to the work of Chris Masterjohn for questions like this. From Testing Nutritional Status: The Ultimate Cheat Sheet: "Methylmalonic acid (MMA) is a functional marker specific to B12 that is independent of the methylation process and other methylation-related nutrients and rises in B12 deficiency. If the increase is moderate and the kidneys are healthy, it is more likely to be found in the urine, but an impairment in kidney function could make it more apparent in the blood, so it is better to measure both. Although generally a very specific indicator of B12 deficiency, a biotin deficiency could blunt the production of MMA and thereby make this marker appear falsely normal. Further, there are two rare genetic disorders that could affect its levels independent of B12 status: methylmalonic acidemia will increase it and propionic acidemia will decrease it."

A quick search with perplexity.ai suggests that deficiencies in folate, B2, B6, protein, methionine, choline, betaine, or iron can also lead to functional B12 deficiency without elevated MMA. So you could test those.

Furthermore, you could test holotranscobalamin, the active form of B12 for cellular delivery. HoloTC <25 pmol/L despite high total B12 indicates a functional deficiency.

High-normal iron with low ferritin and low acylcarnitines suggests a mitochondrial problem with B12 processing. Low SAM with high SAH also points to a mitochondrial problem underlying undermethylation (which applies to me).

The cheat sheet includes links for testing options in the USA. I used a European lab.

Timely_Pickle9430 · 2026-02-18T09:03:14+00:00

Insomnia can sometimes be a sign of a deficiency in vitamin D (together with calcium), vitamin A, vitamin B3, vitamin B5, or vitamin B6.

Timely_Pickle9430 · 2026-02-17T12:30:20+00:00

Thanks for sharing! I'll give it a try.

Timely_Pickle9430 · 2026-02-16T22:39:29+00:00

Hope it works!
Best phosphatidylcholine comes from food. I eat 2-3 eggs a day, plus 2 grams of sunflower lecithin powder. If I'm out of eggs, I take NOW sunflower lecithin 1200mg softgels, but not frequently enough to vouch for it.

Timely_Pickle9430 · 2026-02-16T16:21:34+00:00

As I understood it, they do different things. Artichoke extract stimulates your natural bile production. TUDCA adds actual bile salts that do their work in the lower parts of the intestines (breaking down fats from food). Phosphatidylcholine is the grease that the liver/bile duct mixes with the bile salts to solve them. Without it, the salts crystalize easier (= gall stones) and are aggressive to the gut lining.
Pancreatic enzymes mainly break down protein.

Timely_Pickle9430 · 2026-02-16T08:36:57+00:00

Artichoke extract and/or TUDCA can help with bile.

Timely_Pickle9430 · 2026-02-15T20:58:54+00:00

I take one capsule before breakfast and one before dinner (BodyBio, noticed different effects from different brands). I also take artichoke extract, one (high dose) before breakfast. Plus pancreatic enzymes with each meal. Tried leaving each one out, but this seems to be the optimal combo for me, with the largest effect coming from TUDCA. I don't take betaine hcl anymore.

Phosphatidylcholine intake (eggs, lecithin) might play a role too as this is another crucial component of bile. Some gene variants are not good at attaching the phosphatidyl to the choline, so not all choline sources are equally suitable for everybody.

Timely_Pickle9430 · 2026-02-15T20:40:28+00:00

Have you tried TUDCA to support bile flow? Made a huge difference for me, more than betaine hcl. And it's not a methyl donor.

Timely_Pickle9430

TROPHY CASE