pretty much. apparently next step is thinking about changing which antidepressant I'm on, which might involve titrating down and back up again, and I really really don't want to.
If you want some advice about a closely related medical thing, lmk, though I won't assume that you want advice or even that you don't already know about the other thing I'm thinking of.
I don't know which B vitamins you mean (possibly all), but the following applies to folic acid and B12: there is something called the MTFHR gene, in which about 10% of people have a mutation that makes us unable to metabolize those vitamins from food or supplements at all. I recently found out I'm one of the lucky 10%, and I'd never heard of this before in my life so I thought I'd mention it. There's also a large percentage of people who have a heterozygous version (the 10% is people with it as homozygeous) that reduces their ability to metabolize B vitamins (and possibly some other vitamins) though they can still get some benefit out of supplements.
For me, I have to take L-methylfolate (in the US, anyway, there's a prescription version that's expensive, and an OTC version that may or may not be as good, I'm not sure) for sure, which is what people with a working MTFHR gene turn folic acid into; I also inferred that it might be a good idea to take methylcobalamin (what people with a working MTFHR gene turn B12 into) given that my B12 levels also were low. (My psychiatrist was the one who clued me in -- she knew I was thinking about getting pregnant so obviously folic acid is important, but also, it turns out that for people on antidepressants and certain other mental health meds, not having enough bioavailable B vitamins makes it impossible for the meds to work right.) It's always hard to isolate one variable, but I've noticed a significant increase in my quality of mood and energy level since I started taking those two supplements.
FWIW, as of this year, my folic acid and B12 levels came back low but not *disastrously* low, before I went on the supplements. My Vitamin D was also borderline-low even though I've been supplementing that for a while.
Sorry if this is old info to you; if it's not, though, asking about getting tested might be worth it. here's one page I found about doing so in the UK (warning: a lot of the pages about MTFHR are pretty breathless and quacky but I think the issue is real despite the people out there who will attribute everything short of a broken toe to it.)
In fact I didn't know this, but (1) we've checked specific vitamin levels including folates, and (2) it's really obvious if I'm not getting enough B via my supplements because I start craving Marmite, so this is ~happily~ not going to be the problem for me.
I recognise I'm being impolitely terse here, for which apologies; this genuinely is interesting information to have and I will squirrel it away in case it can be useful to folk I know in future.
You've probably already investigated this, but have you noticed a pattern of depressive episodes around this time of year? I ask because I personally went at least five years of appalling crashes starting around the end of April before anyone brought the link between seasonal allergies and depression to my attention.
SAD plus January is usually worst for me. Allergies not notably playing up. Normally by this time of year I'm getting better and able to stay thinking about reducing to my summer meds dosage.
Gotcha -- I figured you'd probably be aware of it as a possibility, but on
the off-chance, and in case someone reading the comments had the same
pattern but hadn't caught it yet.
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Date: 2015-04-24 04:34 pm (UTC)If you want some advice about a closely related medical thing, lmk, though I won't assume that you want advice or even that you don't already know about the other thing I'm thinking of.
(no subject)
Date: 2015-04-24 04:36 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2015-04-24 04:47 pm (UTC)For me, I have to take L-methylfolate (in the US, anyway, there's a prescription version that's expensive, and an OTC version that may or may not be as good, I'm not sure) for sure, which is what people with a working MTFHR gene turn folic acid into; I also inferred that it might be a good idea to take methylcobalamin (what people with a working MTFHR gene turn B12 into) given that my B12 levels also were low. (My psychiatrist was the one who clued me in -- she knew I was thinking about getting pregnant so obviously folic acid is important, but also, it turns out that for people on antidepressants and certain other mental health meds, not having enough bioavailable B vitamins makes it impossible for the meds to work right.) It's always hard to isolate one variable, but I've noticed a significant increase in my quality of mood and energy level since I started taking those two supplements.
FWIW, as of this year, my folic acid and B12 levels came back low but not *disastrously* low, before I went on the supplements. My Vitamin D was also borderline-low even though I've been supplementing that for a while.
Sorry if this is old info to you; if it's not, though, asking about getting tested might be worth it. here's one page I found about doing so in the UK (warning: a lot of the pages about MTFHR are pretty breathless and quacky but I think the issue is real despite the people out there who will attribute everything short of a broken toe to it.)
(no subject)
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Date: 2015-04-25 12:15 am (UTC)You've probably already investigated this, but have you noticed a pattern of depressive episodes around this time of year? I ask because I personally went at least five years of appalling crashes starting around the end of April before anyone brought the link between seasonal allergies and depression to my attention.
(no subject)
Date: 2015-04-25 12:27 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2015-04-25 12:29 am (UTC)Gotcha -- I figured you'd probably be aware of it as a possibility, but on the off-chance, and in case someone reading the comments had the same pattern but hadn't caught it yet.
(no subject)
Date: 2015-04-25 07:44 pm (UTC)