A 2013 article says vitamin B12 and Folic Acid (B9) can help treat Negative Symptoms... How come we never talk about this in this forum?

Unclehenry · September 29, 2019, 2:55pm

Here’s the article

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Randomized multicenter investigation of folate plus vitamin B12 supplementation in schizophrenia.

JL Roffman, JS Lamberti, E Achtyes, EA Macklin, GC Galendez, LH Raeke, NJ Silverstein, JW Smoller, M Hill and DC Goff, JAMA psychiatry, May 2013

More effective treatments are needed for negative symptoms of schizophrenia, which are typically chronic, disabling, and costly. Negative symptoms have previously been associated with reduced blood folate levels, especially among patients with low-functioning variants in genes that regulate folate metabolism, suggesting the potential utility of folate supplementation.To determine whether folic acid plus vitamin B12 supplementation reduces negative symptoms of schizophrenia and whether functional variants in folate-related genes influence treatment response.Parallel-group, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial of 16 weeks of treatment with 2 mg of folic acid and 400 μg of vitamin B12.Three community mental health centers affiliated with academic medical centers in the United States.Outpatients with chronic schizophrenia who were psychiatrically stable but displayed persistent symptoms despite antipsychotic treatment. Eligible patients were 18 to 68 years old, were treated with an antipsychotic agent for 6 months or more at a stable dose for 6 weeks or more, and scored 60 or more on the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale.One hundred forty subjects were randomized to receive daily oral folic acid plus vitamin B12 or placebo.Change in negative symptoms (Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms [SANS]), as well as positive and total symptoms (Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale).Folate plus vitamin B12 improved negative symptoms significantly compared with placebo (group difference, -0.33 change in SANS score per week; 95% CI, -0.62 to -0.05) when genotype was taken into account but not when genotype was excluded. An interaction of the 484C>T variant of FOLH1 (rs202676) with treatment was observed (P = .02), where only patients homozygous for the 484T allele demonstrated significantly greater benefit with active treatment (-0.59 change in SANS score per week; 95% CI, -0.99 to -0.18). In parallel, we observed an inverse relationship between red blood cell folate concentration at baseline and 484C allele load (P = .03), which persisted until 8 weeks of treatment. Change in positive and total symptoms did not differ between treatment groups.Folate plus vitamin B12 supplementation can improve negative symptoms of schizophrenia, but treatment response is influenced by genetic variation in folate absorption. These findings support a personalized medicine approach for the treatment of negative symptoms.clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00611806.

I’ve been taking B12 and Folic Acid for about a week and a half and I think I’m feeling better. Negative Symptoms have been really bothering me for the past 3 months.

everhopeful · September 29, 2019, 3:02pm

Good find.

But 2mg of folic acid is way over the recommended and possibly safe limit. If you’re taking more than 400ug you should only do so under the supervision of a doctor.

Edit: It also only helps a sub group who have a genetic problem absorbing folic acid.

Yellowdiamond · September 29, 2019, 3:37pm

Do it affect cognition?

Unclehenry · September 29, 2019, 4:47pm

Sorry to say @Yellowdiamond but No. B12 and Folic Acid were not recommended to treat cognitive symptoms.

everhopeful · September 29, 2019, 5:06pm

@Unclehenry if you’re not on abilify then you could try a supplement called NAC. That’s supposed to help with negatives.

I tried it and it interacted in a pretty bad way with abilify.

DNA · September 29, 2019, 6:16pm

It’s super hard to deal with negative symptoms. It’s a symptom of SZ that is made only worse by anti-psychotics.

The only things that help negative symptoms are anti depressants and stimulants.

Anti depressants because they release serotonin and make you happy, therefore motivated to do stuff.

Stimulants because they give you a temporary boost of energy.

Nothing else will help, trust me.

far_cry0 · September 29, 2019, 6:57pm

@Mr.Dre @everhopeful I am sure u know about Yokukansan . It was posted couple of years ago…

How useful Yokukansan is…??

its a chinese and japanese herb…
Or its just a placebo…!!

DNA · September 30, 2019, 9:03am

Never heard about that herb @far_cry0.