B12 and libido

[JA Battle]

I just have to say this again, huge improvement with b12 I went from nothing to having sex almost daily. Doing jarrow 5000mcg daily

I am checking if I still need cialis.
I still have a major problem which is not able to reach orgasm easily.
—————————————
dr saya yesterday recommended I move to 20mg EOD “currently doing 75mg once a week”
as my SHBG is boarder line around 20, also to keep estradiol and prolactin stable.

also I need to stop donating and recover my ferritin/iron as it also help with libido.
—————————————
As for b6 still waiting for the second test results once available we discuss it.

This is amazing news! So glad you have found the joy of sex again my friend!!

 

[JA Battle]

I’m curious as to what your serum b12 level is during this time where your libido emerges. Nutritional component is not to be overlooked. There are so many men with adequate hormones on here that struggle with sex. It is likely nutrients. All of my hormones are at middle to high range yet libido is hit or miss for me.

 

[M.J]

I’m curious as to what your serum b12 level is during this time where your libido emerges. Nutritional component is not to be overlooked. There are so many men with adequate hormones on here that struggle with sex. It is likely nutrients. All of my hormones are at middle to high range yet libido is hit or miss for me.

I can’t really tell if it’s a range or simply because of just having the b12.
I was around 450 before I stopped it last time and went down to 306. During that time I felt nothing . As soon as I supplemented b12 again I felt the result the same day or next day.

 

[JA Battle]

I can’t really tell if it’s a range or simply because of just having the b12.
I was around 450 before I stopped it last time and went down to 306. During that time I felt nothing . As soon as I supplemented b12 again I felt the result the same day or next day.

Are you using the same mcg as before?

 

[M.J]

Are you using the same mcg as before?

Yes. Now I shifted to jarrow 5000mcg. When I was injecting 500mcg I felt nothing.
Has to be 5000mcg. Doing it once daily when I wake up.

 

[JA Battle]

Yes. Now I shifted to jarrow 5000mcg. When I was injecting 500mcg I felt nothing.
Has to be 5000mcg. Doing it once daily when I wake up.

Before you were using 5000mcg in a spray bottle orally if I remember?

 

[M.J]

Before you were using 5000mcg in a spray bottle orally if I remember?

Yes, it was in “ug” unit but equal to 5000mcg.
I did do some injection 500 but didn’t feel anything from them.

now with jarrow 5000 mcg, my libido is back.

 

[M.J]

Result came back for b6

I moved down from around 164 to 29.4

I don’t think those 10 days I stopped my previous b12 did this, I am more inclined toward wrong result.
But Just to be carful I will do another test maybe in another lab after sometime.
In any case my b6 is already high or in the high side. Yet I am not in any b6 supplement.

 

[MarcoFL]

I’m curious as to what your serum b12 level is during this time where your libido emerges. Nutritional component is not to be overlooked. There are so many men with adequate hormones on here that struggle with sex. It is likely nutrients. All of my hormones are at middle to high range yet libido is hit or miss for me.

One thing I had been told from my ND is that serum levels of B12 may not represent what is at the cellular level.

 

[MIP1950]

I can’t really tell if it’s a range or simply because of just having the b12.
I was around 450 before I stopped it last time and went down to 306. During that time I felt nothing . As soon as I supplemented b12 again I felt the result the same day or next day.

This is formerly @tropicaldaze1950 . As you recall, I was doing B12 shots(cyanocobalamin),1000 mcg, daily. Over time, I believe dopamine level returned to baseline(whatever it had been) and no longer saw improvement in libido and erections. As I've followed your posts, I'm considering trying 5000 mcg methylcobalamin, sublingual. I'm now doing weekly 100 mg test E, IM,(4 weeks) and experiencing some nocturnal erections 2 to 3 nights a week. Desire(libido) never really disappeared. Always horny. No fun, though, if you can't get it up. And my wife is experiencing worsening dementia. Life is a mess here, but I've got to keep working on myself. Continued success to you.

 

[M.J]

This is formerly @tropicaldaze1950 . As you recall, I was doing B12 shots(cyanocobalamin),1000 mcg, daily. Over time, I believe dopamine level returned to baseline(whatever it had been) and no longer saw improvement in libido and erections. As I've followed your posts, I'm considering trying 5000 mcg methylcobalamin, sublingual. I'm now doing weekly 100 mg test E, IM,(4 weeks) and experiencing some nocturnal erections 2 to 3 nights a week. Desire(libido) never really disappeared. Always horny. No fun, though, if you can't get it up. And my wife is experiencing worsening dementia. Life is a mess here, but I've got to keep working on myself. Continued success to you.

All th best for you and your wife, I am doing now 20mg Eod with 75 fsh and 500 hcg to increase FT, I shifted recently to this as advised by defy.

I tried 500 injections b12 felt nothing but at 5000 methylcobalamin it’s a game changer. If I want to describe my libido now compared to “the honeymoon period” I would say I am at 70%, before b12 I am ZERO.

when I was on b12 before I stopped it, I had some days where libido was more like 85% the urge to have sex was there like crazy.

 

[MIP1950]

All th best for you and your wife, I am doing now 20mg Eod with 75 fsh and 500 hcg to increase FT, I shifted recently to this as advices by defy.

I tried 500 injections b12 felt nothing but at 5000 methylcobalamin it’s a game changer. If I want to describe my libido now compared to “the honeymoon period” I would say I am at 70%, before b12 I am ZERO.

when I was on b12 before I stopped it, I had some days where libido was more like 85% the urge to have sex was there like crazy.

Thank you.

Because I have so many food/chemical sensitivities, I ordered methylcobalamin capsules/5000 mcg. I'll either open the capsule and take it sublingual or just swallow it. Most of the brands use xylitol, which comes from birch trees, to which I'm allergic or they use various forms of cellulose or other binders. I just try to minimize ingesting anything that does or might cause problems. Not easy and sometimes unavoidable with some medicines I take. Makes life interesting, LOL.

 

[ajax31]

Here's another reason to be skeptical of folic acid supplementation. The MTHFR crowd, in particular, who think they're doing themselves good by supplementing with methylfolate should take note.

Perspective: The High-Folate-Low-Vitamin B-12 Interaction Is a Novel Cause of Vitamin B-12 Depletion with a Specific Etiology-A Hypothesis - PubMed

Vitamin B-12 is a water-soluble vitamin that plays important roles in intermediary metabolism. Vitamin B-12 deficiency has many identifiable causes, including autoimmune and other gastrointestinal malabsorption disorders, dietary deficiency, and congenital defects in genes that are involved in...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Adv Nutrition
.2021 Oct 11

Perspective: The High-Folate-Low-Vitamin B-12 Interaction Is a Novel Cause of Vitamin B-12 Depletion with a Specific Etiology-A Hypothesis​

Jacob Selhub 1, Joshua W Miller 2, Aron M Troen 3, Joel B Mason 1, Paul F Jacques 1
Affiliations expand

• PMID: 34634124
• DOI: 10.1093/advances/nmab106

Abstract​

Vitamin B-12 is a water-soluble vitamin that plays important roles in intermediary metabolism. Vitamin B-12 deficiency has many identifiable causes, including autoimmune and other gastrointestinal malabsorption disorders, dietary deficiency, and congenital defects in genes that are involved in vitamin B-12 trafficking and functions. Another putative cause of vitamin B-12 deficiency is the high-folate-low vitamin B-12 interaction, first suspected as the cause for observed relapse and exacerbation of the neurological symptoms in patients with pernicious anemia who were prescribed high oral doses of folic acid. We propose that this interaction is real and represents a novel cause of vitamin B-12 depletion with specific etiology. We hypothesize that excessive intake of folic acid depletes serum holotranscobalamin (holoTC), thereby decreasing active vitamin B-12 in the circulation and limiting its availability for tissues. This effect is specific for holoTC and does not affect holohaptocorrin, the inert form of serum vitamin B-12. Depletion of holoTC by folic acid in individuals with already low vitamin B-12 status further compromises the availability of vitamin B-12 coenzymes to their respective enzymes, and consequently a more pronounced state of biochemical deficiency. This hypothesis is drawn from evidence of observational and intervention studies of vitamin B-12-deficient patients and epidemiological cohorts. The evidence also suggests that, in a depleted state, vitamin B-12 is diverted to the hematopoietic system or the kidney. This most likely reflects a selective response of tissues expressing folate receptors with high affinity for unmetabolized folic acid (UMFA; e.g., hematopoietic progenitors and renal tubules) compared with those tissues (e.g., liver) that only express the reduced folate carrier, which is universally expressed but has poor affinity for UMFA. The biochemical and physiological mechanisms underlying this interaction require elucidation to clarify its potential public health significance.

Keywords: folate; folic acid; holotranscobalamin; homocysteine; methylmalonic acid; pernicious anemia; vitamin B-12.

 

[MIP1950]

All th best for you and your wife, I am doing now 20mg Eod with 75 fsh and 500 hcg to increase FT, I shifted recently to this as advised by defy.

I tried 500 injections b12 felt nothing but at 5000 methylcobalamin it’s a game changer. If I want to describe my libido now compared to “the honeymoon period” I would say I am at 70%, before b12 I am ZERO.

when I was on b12 before I stopped it, I had some days where libido was more like 85% the urge to have sex was there like crazy.

Took my first dose of methylcobalamin, yesterday, opening the capsule putting the powder under my tongue for several minutes. That was mid afternoon. By evening,around 10, my libido was intense...but I had to literally put all my focus on getting hard in order to relieve myself, otherwise, getting to sleep would have been difficult.

 

[DixieWrecked]

Here's another reason to be skeptical of folic acid supplementation. The MTHFR crowd, in particular, who think they're doing themselves good by supplementing with methylfolate should take note.

Perspective: The High-Folate-Low-Vitamin B-12 Interaction Is a Novel Cause of Vitamin B-12 Depletion with a Specific Etiology-A Hypothesis - PubMed

Vitamin B-12 is a water-soluble vitamin that plays important roles in intermediary metabolism. Vitamin B-12 deficiency has many identifiable causes, including autoimmune and other gastrointestinal malabsorption disorders, dietary deficiency, and congenital defects in genes that are involved in...

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Adv Nutrition
.2021 Oct 11

Perspective: The High-Folate-Low-Vitamin B-12 Interaction Is a Novel Cause of Vitamin B-12 Depletion with a Specific Etiology-A Hypothesis​

Jacob Selhub 1, Joshua W Miller 2, Aron M Troen 3, Joel B Mason 1, Paul F Jacques 1
Affiliations expand

• PMID: 34634124
• DOI: 10.1093/advances/nmab106

Abstract​

Vitamin B-12 is a water-soluble vitamin that plays important roles in intermediary metabolism. Vitamin B-12 deficiency has many identifiable causes, including autoimmune and other gastrointestinal malabsorption disorders, dietary deficiency, and congenital defects in genes that are involved in vitamin B-12 trafficking and functions. Another putative cause of vitamin B-12 deficiency is the high-folate-low vitamin B-12 interaction, first suspected as the cause for observed relapse and exacerbation of the neurological symptoms in patients with pernicious anemia who were prescribed high oral doses of folic acid. We propose that this interaction is real and represents a novel cause of vitamin B-12 depletion with specific etiology. We hypothesize that excessive intake of folic acid depletes serum holotranscobalamin (holoTC), thereby decreasing active vitamin B-12 in the circulation and limiting its availability for tissues. This effect is specific for holoTC and does not affect holohaptocorrin, the inert form of serum vitamin B-12. Depletion of holoTC by folic acid in individuals with already low vitamin B-12 status further compromises the availability of vitamin B-12 coenzymes to their respective enzymes, and consequently a more pronounced state of biochemical deficiency. This hypothesis is drawn from evidence of observational and intervention studies of vitamin B-12-deficient patients and epidemiological cohorts. The evidence also suggests that, in a depleted state, vitamin B-12 is diverted to the hematopoietic system or the kidney. This most likely reflects a selective response of tissues expressing folate receptors with high affinity for unmetabolized folic acid (UMFA; e.g., hematopoietic progenitors and renal tubules) compared with those tissues (e.g., liver) that only express the reduced folate carrier, which is universally expressed but has poor affinity for UMFA. The biochemical and physiological mechanisms underlying this interaction require elucidation to clarify its potential public health significance.

Keywords: folate; folic acid; holotranscobalamin; homocysteine; methylmalonic acid; pernicious anemia; vitamin B-12.

This study suggests that folic acid is detrimental, not methylfolate. Good post. Thank you for sharing.

 

[Gman86]

Took my first dose of methylcobalamin, yesterday, opening the capsule putting the powder under my tongue for several minutes. That was mid afternoon. By evening,around 10, my libido was intense...but I had to literally put all my focus on getting hard in order to relieve myself, otherwise, getting to sleep would have been difficult.

What brand are u using? And what dose?

 

[Deleted member 16042]

Here's another reason to be skeptical of folic acid supplementation. The MTHFR crowd, in particular, who think they're doing themselves good by supplementing with methylfolate should take note.

I am not knowledgeable to know whether the end result of taking methylfolate ends in excess folic acid when metabolized, but there is nothing in that abstract that addresses methylfolate specifically.

The statement you highlighted and this statement: "in patients with pernicious anemia who were prescribed high oral doses of folic acid."

That is exactly part of the argument for methyl folate, against folic acid.

Please explain.

 

[ajax31]

I am not knowledgeable to know whether the end result of taking methylfolate ends in excess folic acid when metabolized, but there is nothing in that abstract that addresses methylfolate specifically.

The statement you highlighted and this statement: "in patients with pernicious anemia who were prescribed high oral doses of folic acid."

That is exactly part of the argument for methyl folate, against folic acid.

Please explain.

It doesn't matter if you're eating foods rich in folate, or taking a folic acid supplement - the body eventually converts it to the active form, methylfolate. In the B12 study I posted above, they don't mention methylfolate specifically, but I'm confident that a methylfolate supplement will have the same effect on the B12 transporter, holoTC, as folic acid.

There are people out there with MTHFR mutations who think it's a good idea to megadose methylfolate, which might be inducing a functional vitamin B12 deficiency.

I think large doses of folic acid OR methylfolate could negatively affect vitamin B12 activity.

Difference of Folate, Folic acid, Folinic acid & Methylfolate

What is the best form of folic acid to take. What's the difference between Folate, Folic acid, Folinic acid and Methylfolate.

essendonnaturalhealth.com.au

Folic acid is the synthetic form of folate that is often in supplements and in fortified foods such as cereals.

There is a gene, called MTHFR, that helps produce an enzyme that converts a portion of folate and folic acid into folinic acid. Folinic acid is then converted into the active form methylfolate, which is used by our cells to perform the functions mentioned above.

 

[MIP1950]

What brand are u using? And what dose?

Bought it on Amazon; Microingredients /5000 mcg methylcobalamin/360 capsules for $11 and change. I have Prime, so no shipping charge.

 

[Deleted member 16042]

I'm confident that a methylfolate supplement will have the same effect on the B12 transporter, holoTC, as folic acid.

Thanks, that statement and the megadosing aspect is the pertinent bit answering my question.

I have 1/2 the gene myself , but I don't take any kind of high dose of folate, rather get it from diet. and my level is fine. I can't consume high amounts of B vitamins as it is detrimental to my cancer, except B-12 for my anemia (Injected methylcobalamin), so the supplement arguments are moot for me personally.

I like your argument, potentially good rationalization. I won't specifically add this question to my list, but if it comes up in discussion anyway I'll report back. Next month I'll be seeing a hematology, anemia researcher who specializes in peculiar B-12 and folate problems related to anemia.