Various forms of folic acid, which one to use?

I am going through my 23andMe results and I have A1298C heterozygous mutation. Although that just means that the enzyme is working 70% of its activity, I would still like to fix it.

I have been using Folinic Acid (www.sourcenaturals.com/products/GP1872/) but now I learned that it is actually used in chemotherapy for potentiation of chemotherapeutic agents. I am still confused if its not form of folic acid and if I am getting any from it.

AFAIK now, L-MTHF (Metafolin) is the form I need to use. I welcome suggestions of brands to use. Although Metafolin is Merck brand, sold by Solgar and others. Those who have used it, I welcome more information.

Meanwhile, if there is any comprehensive article that talks about different forms of folic acid, it will be great to read.

Thanks in advance.

Hmm i would be interested in recommendations as well as im about to embark on folate supplementation in the active form. I have a homozygous mutation.
I would be interested in sublingual form recommendations so that i can bypass the GI tract...

Here is a sublingual b-12 and folic acid I found on amazon

L-Methylfolate 5 -- L-5-MTHF as Quatrefolic® (5 mg per capsule) - [90 Vegan Capsules]
http://amzn.com/B00B6RFGFU

Are these the right formulations?

How can you tell if it's synthetic?

PK,
I know you have some MTHFR mutation so you need the perfect form, like Metagenics Folapro, costs ~$27 but I wonder how is Solgar Metafolin for general use?
www.amazon.com/Solgar-Folate-Metafolin-800-tablets/dp/B001LR2RVQ

PK... Thank you so much your knowledge is invaluable :)

Thanks PK,

PK's post on this issue are indeed very useful but I have observed that the admin is not very keen on sticking the posts. I wanted to make stickies and wrote to admin, never received a reply.

Is the prescription form also synthetic?

PK... I plan on purchasing the Metagenics folapro. I know you mentioned about also needed to take B-12 with it. I get monthly B-12 injections. Is that sufficient or should I switch to a sublingual? If so should it be Methyl B-12? Also, what doses to start with? I am getting blood work in about a week to see where my levels are if that is helpful. I was also considering getting the tesing done from 23andMe. Is having a test like that going to give me more information to go on or is it not necessary if I make this switch in supplementation? Thank you for any thoughts and suggestions!

No Cyanocobalamin!! Methyl, adenosyl, hydrox.. I like taking b vits daily. When you get injections you excrete most of the excess of the next few days.. You are probably over methylated with shots, but dont the have cofactors to keep your levels up the rest of the month.

23andme can give you more info. But plan on also getting homocysteine and ammonia blood tests to make sense if if you are having issues around any mutations. Organic acids test and urine amino acids tests can also be helpful as well as spectra cell. You can take a bunch of b12 and have high serum levels of b12 and folate, but if you don't have enough lithium (oat) and magnesium in your red blood cells (spectra cell) your body isn't using any of it because its not making it into the cell. However, then you kinda go down a test hole.. First step, 6 weeks on lmethyl and b12 then you can explore other issues. If you find you have homozygous CBS mutations you might alo want to address that concurrently by trialling diet mod/thiol restriction. Also, ndufs7/8, ATP and cox6 mutations need support with things like ubiquinol, b-2 ( bioactive form), b5(pantheoic acid), l carnitine.. Maybe other stuff.

Something interesting, there was just a study about synthetic folic acid activating oncogenes / cancer cells. Another reason not to take it. Ideally, we would get our folate from food.. But we have messed up guts and need help with Lmthf.

PK.....Thank you for giving me a direction to go in. I want to make sure I am understanding you right. Hold off on testing for now and see how I do for 6 weeks on daily doses of lmethyl and b-12. What dose of each should I be taking? Other than the 23andme testing do I need a doctor to order the other tests you mentioned or can I do those somewhere online too?

Deltaforce...... I was deficient in B-12 and the GI thought I may not absorb it orally. My initial numbers were around 300. After the loading doses of daily then weekly then monthly my numbers went into the 600's. I have been on monthly for about 6 months and am getting checked next week to see where my numbers are now. I don't think I had homocysteine and methylmalonic acid levels checked. Although I know at one time he did a lot of blood work. I will have to call the office and see if they did it then. Could it be that now my flare is better that I can now absorb folate and b-12 from foods? I do know I was tested for folate and was deficient in that too. I don't remember my numbers though.

Thank You :)

No more B-12 shots for me! I just ordered the Life Extension Optimized Folate and Jarrow formula Methyl b-12 :) thank you PK for helping me narrow it down. I ordered from Amazon. The price was better and I got free shipping. You might want to check it out.

I just got my labs back and fount out my b-12 is 817 Folic Acid 31 Vit D. 47.5 Mag 1.9 Iron 45 but my iron sat is low.

Should I still supplement with MethylB-12 and Lmethylfolate? The doctor's office said I should stop the folic acid? Should I focus on food sources of foliate instead until the level goes down? Is my low saturation iron level due to the high folic acid? Are my number a sign of being over methylated?