fourcatmom Posted December 6, 2015 Share Posted December 6, 2015 So I posted a few days ago about an appointment that we had this week where the doctor prescribed Deplin 15 for my 13 yo which as I understand it is folic acid. She is being treated for ongoing symptoms from TBI and depression from the TBI. She started taking this on Tuesday. Yesterday she laid in bed all day and said she didn't feel good. Today she woke up late and within a few minutes I could tell she felt worse then she had the day before. She is very irritable, whiny, she said her legs are numb and her head is numb. She said inside her head it feels numb and she keeps hitting her forehead. Not a great way to help a headache though. She has an upset stomach and doesn't want to eat. I was looking online and it said that a typical teen needed about 400 mcg of folic acid. The pill she is taking is 15 mg which is about 15,000 mcg. That's a big difference. I called the advice nurse and finally talked to the on call doctor. She said she should probably be on about 1mg not 15. So we headed to urgent care to get her folic acid levels checked. Just wondering if anyone has any experience with this. TIA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wapiti Posted December 6, 2015 Share Posted December 6, 2015 (edited) Some people do better with a non-synthetic version of B12, e.g. methylcobalamin rather than cyanocobalamin. Some people do better with a lower dose, maybe a quarter of a sublingual tablet rather than the whole. Some people do better when combining with 5-MTHF. Some people do better with hydroxycobalamin. Methylation questions can get complicated very quickly. Is there a MTHFR mutation in the mix? I'd probably stop the B12 until you get more guidance. IIRC, niacin can mop up excess methyl groups due to too much B12 supplementation, though typical niacin capsules may be bigger than needed as well. Just something you might look into, to help right now. Edited December 6, 2015 by wapiti Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan C. Posted December 6, 2015 Share Posted December 6, 2015 If you don't convert folic acid to the usable form, then any amount isn't good. Folate is what your body can use without converting. If you google "don't convert folic acid" many articles will come up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sassenach Posted December 6, 2015 Share Posted December 6, 2015 I took 10k mg during early pregnancy with my last 2 kids, because my second was born with a midline birth defect. I don't think it's something you can OD on. I thought the body just disposed of the excess. I don't get the urgent care visit. Why not just have you discontinue until you can clarify the dosage? I would stop the FA and see if she feels better. Then, there's always a chance that she caught a virus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourcatmom Posted December 6, 2015 Author Share Posted December 6, 2015 Thanks. They did blood work to check her folic acid levels and yes from they said you can have too much. If the number comes back high she will have to go into the ER to have an IV and it flushed. She stopped taking the meds Thursday night and she was worse today. Yes, it might be something else but when I called the advice nurse they were concerned enough to have me talk to the on call doctor who then wanted to her to go in. Perhaps just because she has had ongoing medical problems this year and to be on the safe side. Thanks for the info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted December 6, 2015 Share Posted December 6, 2015 :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted December 6, 2015 Share Posted December 6, 2015 So I posted a few days ago about an appointment that we had this week where the doctor prescribed Deplin 15 for my 13 yo which as I understand it is folic acid. She is being treated for ongoing symptoms from TBI and depression from the TBI. She started taking this on Tuesday. Yesterday she laid in bed all day and said she didn't feel good. Today she woke up late and within a few minutes I could tell she felt worse then she had the day before. She is very irritable, whiny, she said her legs are numb and her head is numb. She said inside her head it feels numb and she keeps hitting her forehead. Not a great way to help a headache though. She has an upset stomach and doesn't want to eat. I was looking online and it said that a typical teen needed about 400 mcg of folic acid. The pill she is taking is 15 mg which is about 15,000 mcg. That's a big difference. I called the advice nurse and finally talked to the on call doctor. She said she should probably be on about 1mg not 15. So we headed to urgent care to get her folic acid levels checked. Just wondering if anyone has any experience with this. TIA deplin is NOT folic acid!!!! it is in the family of folates. technically - it is the rx form of methyltetrahydrofolate. mthf is a natural folate. - folic acid is 100% synthetic. if you have a mthf mutation, stay away from folic acid. the receptors will suck it up - but can't use it very well and it can leave a person deficent. (folinic acid is the natural equivalent. you can also buy it otc. i use amazon.) has she even had a genetic workup to determine if she has a mthf mutation? no one should ever start out at 15mg. go to thorne (the only otc brand my ND trusts for mthf. i buy off amzon, same price everywhere.), and get 1mg. then start slowly building up. they also have a 5mg. if a person's methylation cycle is underactive, they can do alot of detoxing if they get too much mthf at a time. so, always always always start slowly. btw: my 10 yo has been on 15mg of deplin for several years. for his weight - 30 mg is considered a safe dose. along with the deplin, he took folinic acid. they aren't they same thing. he does start showing signs of not tolerating it around 21 mgs. amazing the difference, and he only has one mutation. I have a pretty low tolerance, and have only been extremely slowly trying to up my dose (and have had to go back down a few times.) - and I'm homozygous for mthf. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted December 6, 2015 Share Posted December 6, 2015 mthf (deplin rx) is one of those things where drs are starting to read about it, and want to jump on the bandwagon. I trust my son's ND. I no longer trust my own dr. she put me on 15mg - and when I became symptomatic, told me to just stop. well, cold turkey can cause it's own problems . . . . and I simply focused on the advice I've had from my son's ND over the years. works much better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fourcatmom Posted December 6, 2015 Author Share Posted December 6, 2015 (edited) Okay, well now I am pretty overwhelmed. A lot of this info I can't even process right now. I am so exhausted I really can't make sense of this right now. I will come back tomorrow and try again. Thanks for the advice though. What was the point of doing a folate / folic acid blood test? They also checked her Vit B12. Edited December 6, 2015 by fourcatmom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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