Start

Low and Go Slow

How to Be Safe on a Methylation Protocol

By Caledonia
1-21-2014

ME/CFS patients are notoriously very sensitive to medicines and supplements. Its
common to have adverse reactions, or to only be able to tolerate small doses.
Newbies are especially prone to taking too large of doses or going too fast. The
following explains how to manage such sensitivity.

Start Low and Go Slow

Whenever you start a new medicine or supplement, it is suggested to practice Start
Low and Go Slow.

This means starting with very small doses, much less than a normal dose, such as
1/8 of pill. That way, if you're going to have an adverse reaction, it will only be 1/8
as bad.

Start one new supplement at a time, and wait a few days to make sure you're
tolerating it.

Only increase doses if you're tolerating supplements. If you're not tolerating a
supplement, then stop for several days and let everything clear out. Do not try to
push through. Then restart at a much lower dose, such as half of the previous dose.
If the same thing happens, stop and let the symptoms clear out, then restart with a
smaller dose. Repeat as necessary. This is called Trial and Error.

You might be surprised that a supplement you thought you couldnt tolerate at all is
ok at smaller doses. Or you might find out that no matter how tiny the dose is, this
supplement is not for you.

Heavy Metal Detoxification

If youre feeling flu-like body and joint aches, cold, and extra tired, this could be a
sign of metal detox. This is actually good because it means your methylation
supplements are working. However, its uncomfortable, and the best thing is to
reduce supplementation lower so you dont feel bad. Dont worry, the metals will
still be coming out, just at a level you can tolerate. You can try skipping days, such as
supplementing only 2 days a week, to give the metals a chance to come out.
Depending on your load, metal detox could take many months, so patience is in
order.

At some point, youll be able to tolerate higher doses of supplements. This is a sign
the metals are out or your detox capacity has increased. You can also do before and
after metal testing to get a gauge of how things are going. This is a good test, and
also the same one used by Dr. Amy Yasko:
http://www.integrativepsychiatry.net/urine_toxic_essential_element_doctors_data.
html

Overmethylation

Its highly likely, even if youre being careful, youll end up overdoing it, which will
cause overmethylation. For this reason, I suggest not starting methylation until you
have some nicotinic acid on hand.

If you get yourself into an overmethylation situation, stop all methyl supplements
and let everything clear out. The methylation cycle can continue cranking on its
own for quite some time (days, weeks, or months), so to get immediate relief, take
50-100mcg of a slow release nicotinic acid form of niacin. Now* is a good brand.
This will soak up methyl groups and stop the reaction.

Niacin typically comes in a 500mg pill, so do not take the whole pill. Only take 1/10
to 1/5 of a pill (50 to 100mg). Depending on how much youre overmethylated, you
may have to dose every four hours, or four times a day for several days or longer.
Ben Lynch also mentions dosing every to hour.

If you get a flushing reaction, its harmless and will go away after awhile. If youre
getting too much flushing, try cutting back on the dose size or frequency.

Potassium Deficiency (Hypokalemia)

When you start methylation supplements, its highly likely that your body will start
using up a lot more potassium. Rich Van Konynenburg thought that this was due to
cell rebuilding. This seems to be particular to ME/CFS patients, perhaps because
theyre so debilitated. Since ME/CFS patients are typically depleted in intracellular
potassium, they will quickly go into deficiency. Since potassium regulates muscles,
including the heart, this can become dangerous.

While potassium is found in a lot of foods, it may be impossible to get enough
potassium from food sources into the cells where its needed. For this reason, I
suggest having some NOW* Potassium Gluconate Powder or the equivalent on hand
before starting methylation.

Low potassium symptoms Ive run into are: waking up in the middle of the night
with a pounding heartbeat, hot and sweaty, feeling a bit anxious and nauseous and
ringing in the ears. Sometimes its difficult to tell low potassium symptoms from low

magnesium symptoms, such as twitchy feet. However, the need for the other
electrolytes should remain the same, with only potassium needing to be increased.

Keep a Symptom Journal

Start a symptom journal. I use the calendar template in Microsoft Word for this.
Record when you started a supplement, how much you're taking, and when or how
often youre taking it. Note any reaction, good, bad or indifferent, and changes in
how youre feeling in general, such as pain levels, brain fog, energy, activity levels, or
sleep. Going back and reviewing your journal over time can tell you what's working
and what isn't.

Self Muscle Testing

I use self muscle testing extensively to determine if supplements are good or bad to
take and also to determine doses. While its not 100% accurate, it is quite good, and
cuts down on the time spent on Trial and Error and adverse reactions. There are
many videos on Youtube that show how to do this, and it's not hard to learn.

My favorite tutorial is this one by Mystic Mandy. Dont worry about the New Age
sound of it, there is a scientific basis.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ex59wHLk3Q0

Once your methylation cycle starts improving, you may need to cut back on doses of
some of your old supplements or medicines, or even discontinue them altogether.
This can happen quite rapidly. Doing muscle testing often (like every time before
you take something) can alert you to this and help you avoid an adverse reaction. Of
course, you should consult with your doctor before discontinuing any medications.

Having to cut back on something is a great indicator that methylation treatment is
working, and that different parts of your body are improving, so be sure to note this
in your journal too.

How to divide supplements

1. Powder in a capsule you can buy empty gel capsules at the health food
store. Now* is a good brand. Ive found the easiest way is to divide things in
halves. Its easy to eyeball what one half is. If you divide again, you get ,
then again is 1/8, then again is 1/16 and so on. The smallest Ive ever had to
divide anything is 1/256, which is a spec of powder so tiny you can barely
see it.

If I do have to divide things that small, I dont have the energy and
concentration to make up 256 capsules all at once. What I do is make up a

batch of say, 1/16 pills, and label them as such. Then when I need new pills, I
subdivide one of those down to 1/256.
2. Liquid if the liquid is water soluble, use water to cut it down. If its oil
soluble, use a food grade oil, such as olive oil. Use amber eye dropper bottles
to store diluted versions of the supplement. A 1 or 2 oz bottle is fine. You can
get those online at Amazon. Label the bottle so you know whats in it, and
what the dilution is. It can also be helpful to write your dilution formula on
the label so you dont have to recompute it every time you make a new batch.

Heres an example of how to divide 1000mcg of liquid sublingual

methylcobalmin down to 1mcg. Take eyedropper bottle #1 and put one drop
(1000mcg) of methylcobalamin into it. Now add 10* drops of water to it. As
1000/10 = 100, now each drop is 100mcg.

Then take eyedropper bottle #2 and put one of the 100mcg drops into it.
Now add 100* drops of water. As 100/100 = 1, now each drop is 1mcg.

You could simply add 1000* drops of water to 1 drop of methylcobalamin,
but I have enough trouble counting accurately to 100, so I prefer the above
method.

*For the math geeks out there, technically, you would subtract one drop of
water to compensate for the methylcobalamin drop, but its close enough,
and 10, 100 or 1000 is much easier to compute and remember.
3. Tablet if youre having trouble dividing the tablet into equal size pieces,
simply crush it into a powder, and put the powder into an empty gel capsule.
Then subdivide using the Powder in a Capsule method.

Anti-Depressants and other Psychiatric Medicines

As doctors hand out these powerful drugs like candy, a lot of us are on these for
mental health and other reasons. Mental health issues, pain, sleep issues and other
problems for which doctors prescribe psych drugs are often caused by methylation
problems. So as your methylation improves, you may no longer need your psych
drugs. Psych drugs are a special case because you need to taper off them slowly.

If you wish to cut back on a psych med, especially an SSRI or SNRI, youll need to be
extremely cautious. The taper schedule given to you by your doctor may be way too
fast, causing a delayed withdrawal syndrome, which can be extremely severe.

This happened to me after trying to taper from Zoloft the first time. My symptoms
were delayed for 6 months, and then they hit like a ton of bricks. It took me the

better part of a year to figure out that a) the problems I was having were even due to
the drug, and b) reinstate the drug and get back to normal.

Doctors are unaware of this, and will diagnose you with a new psychiatric illness,
when its actually the drug that caused the problem. This will result in them
increasing your old drug or giving you new drugs - the opposite of what you want.

The proper way to taper is no more than 10% of your previous dose no faster than
every 3-6 weeks. Note, that this is not the same as decreasing by 10% of the original
dose. The dose should become progressively smaller and smaller each time you
reduce. And, yes, it may take you a couple of years to get off your drugs, but it is
possible, and many people, even if poly-drugged for many years, are doing it
successfully. For more information, visit the Paxil Progress forum.
http://www.paxilprogress.org/forums/

I believe it is possible to taper from psych drugs and also be doing methylation
simultaneously I have been doing both for a year successfully - but again you need
to be extremely cautious and not go too fast with either one. Im the only person I
know of doing this right now, so if you decide to do this, youll be a pioneer and
probably on your own without support from doctors or the Paxil Progress forum.


How to Divide a Psych Drug

If you need to divide a psych drug, try Brassmonkeys method.
http://www.paxilprogress.org/forums/showthread.php?t=57147

The Gemini 20 Scale mentioned is available from Amazon.




*I just noticed I mentioned NOW brand products several times in this document. I
dont have any affiliation with the company or make any money from mentioning
them. All vitamins are not created equal, so thats the reason I have mentioned a
specific brand.