MTHFR commonly causes pyrroluria, a disorder that hinders the body's ability to transform folate (vitamin B9) into methylfolate. Something that without sufficient levels in the brain, can cause depression, anxiety, and other health complications. When proper folate levels are restored to normal, anxiety and depression will be decreased by about 80% within about three weeks.
Everyone experiences anxiety differently. The symptoms range from mild feelings of an upset stomach and fast heartbeat to feeling completely out of control, experiencing nightmares, panic attacks and dark thoughts you can’t control. A general feeling of fear and worry, troubled sleep, poor concentration and restlessness are also common6.
When things go south, anxiety can turn into full-fledged anxiety attacks. These often build up slowly and look very similar to panic attacks. People dealing with anxiety attacks can feel faint or dizzy, experience shortness of breath, dry mouth, sweating and chills, feel distressed, experience severe apprehension and worry, restlessness, fear and numbness or tingling6.
These are all serious symptoms that affect the quality of our lives. It’s important that we have a plan to tackle anxiety symptoms.
B-vitamins show promise in treating depression and anxiety, especially if it’s associated with MTHFR mutations. Studies show that appropriate levels of methylcobalamin (vitamin B12), methylfolate and SAMe help with mental health by normalizing MTHFR conversion activities in our bodies4. SAMe (S-adenosyl-L-methionine) is a compound in the body that is often added to help manage anxiety symptoms5. Taking methylfolate helps the body make more SAMe.