Anencephaly

[etgoldsmithParticipant February 19, 2014 at 12:24 am Post count: 2]

#3324

I am wondering what if anything I should do….My first pregnancy ended at 5 months as she had had anencephaly. Subsequently, the specialist OB put me on 4,000 micrograms (that is not a typo) a day…which I took for 5 years out of extreme fear from my experience. I since then had 2 early miscarriages and now 2 healthy children. When I heard Dr. Jackson’s interview on a podcast about this condition, my interest was peaked. I stopped taking folic acid after my 2nd child was born and now am fearful of the harm it might of caused (especially cancer). My family history includes a lot of people with bipolar disorder or other anxiety/depression disorders. (I also recently became aware of pyroluria and I fit the questionnaire almost completely. The reason I mention this is the strong family history of mental illness).
So, wondering if I should take action to be tested. What it could mean for me? Definitely would love to figure out anything that would help my girls in the future navigate their genetics. Also worry about cancer for me (several early deaths in my immediate family also due to this.)
Also, my brother has high anxiety bipolar disorder etc….wondering how this all could affect neurotransmitters.
Hope that is clear and sorry for all the tangents.

[etgoldsmithParticipant February 19, 2014 at 12:33 am Post count: 2]

#3330

I should have said 4000 micrograms of folic acid. thanks

[IstvanParticipant February 21, 2014 at 1:47 am Post count: 136]

#3339

Folic is different from folate. If MTHFR is truly expressing, you will have a hard time converting folic into folate and when a doctor tests your folic acid levels they will be really high. This is a sign you are not converting folic into folate. Unmetabolized folic acid can lead to things like colon cancer and renal failure. So if MTHFR is expressing folic should be avoided and folate should be given since we have problems converting it. A doctor can also check your whole serum FOLATE levels which is different from FOLIC. Folate is found in leafy greens, beans, eggs and berries. Organic forms are best. Even the eggs today that are not organic seem to be extremely unhealthy and do not have the proper folate/choline ratios. Folate is readily available. Most likely now a few thousand vitamin companies have caught on to this and are now using 5MTHF folate instead of folic.

Yes folate deficiency can cause depression. COMT can cause anxiety, MAO A can cause depression, DAO can cause mental health issues. There are so many factors. Many of us are doing our 23andme and finding practitioners who understand this. We have many at MTHFR Support on the find a practitioner page and several do phone and/or skype including Dr. Tim Jackson. He now has a website up. http://www.drtimjackson.com.

Sterling

[Cynthia SmithParticipant February 23, 2014 at 5:05 am Post count: 206]

#3345

Sterling is correct. I would like to add that folic acid is water soluble, so clears quickly. Its the ongoing exposure to folic acid that is a problem. Your girls have long sinced clear any folic acid exposure. Just make sure that they stay away from cereals that have been sprayed with folic acid.
Please do the 23andMe test and then run results through Sterlings App to get the data. From there, you can make informed decisions.
Many of us in this biz have family members with mental illness and have studied extensively as a result. CHoose a Practitioner to work with to get best results.
Cynthia

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