It just means...SO MUCH!

                                      

I have this friend.  Her name is Paula and she is hilarious.  She is a Special Ed Teacher.  The amazing thing is that we both have the MTHFR gene mutation.  I, as I have mentioned before am Homozygous A1298C.  She is Compound Heterozygous.  That means she has a mutated copy of the A1298C variant as well as the C677t.  We have known each other for about 12 years.  As soon as I suspected I had the MTHFR mutation and started researching it, I knew she did too, because we have struggled with the same issues over the years. In fact, we both were seeing the same Naturopathic Doctor for a while.  So we both got tested and found out within about a month of each other that we had the MTHFR mutation.  We took a test at first to find out just our MTHFR status, and have since both taken the 23 and me test.  We are waiting for the results.  We did our tests on the same day and were texting each other back and forth, 

Me:  "Ok, I'm spitting now," 

Paula:  "Dude, I don't have enough spit.  I haven't drank anything all day!"  

It was hilarious.  We text each other every day.  Most of our conversations seem to be about how we slept.  I can't even begin to tell you how it has been to have someone walking beside me on this MTHFR journey.  Sharing the ups and downs, and just day to day stuff that nobody else would understand.  Like never ending conversations about supplements, foods, feeling like crap, Naturopathic Medicine, etc.  I'm not glad Paula has the mutation, but at the same time, I sort of am!  Paula understands completely the good days/bad days, the depression, the anxiety, the weirdness, overmethylating, detoxing, all of it.  When you have the MTHFR mutation, you feel like you are the only one on the planet who has it.  Having a friend with the same weird problems makes me feel not so weird.  We are trying to learn about histamine right now, and how to decalcify our Pineal Glands for better sleep.  Paula and I pick each other up on a regular basis.  We talk about everything.  Here is one of our text conversations:

Paula:  Came all the way to Whole Foods and the only zinc they have has copper in it!!!

Me:  Weird.

Paula:  Dumb.

Me:  Super dumb!  Do they have a Mercury supplement there as well?  LOL!

Paula:  Ha!  New name for this store.  WHOLE ASS.  HA.

Me:  LOL!!  Seriously laughing my head off over that one.  

 

Paula and I met when we both worked for the same non-profit agency, working with people with developmental disabilities.  Eventually we worked in the same program and Paula was like my boss.  We used to get paid for doing yoga, going on hikes, and identifying wild flowers  Well, Paula had to do a bunch more work because she was the boss and all, but you get the picture.  Paula said she had her 19th nervous breakdown when she worked there.  We got in trouble one time for discussing inappropriate subjects a little too loudly, in the break room.  And we used to "spring" this vagina picture on each other, when we least expected it.  It was SO FUNNY!  It was from some sort of training about personal safety.  One time I put it on Paula's computer keyboard, so when she pulled out the keyboard it was there.  I think she sent it in the mail to me one time!  She also got me a tiny pack of wooden "Stim-U-Dent" plaque removers and stuck a tiny version in the package. 

Paula and I have helped each other figure out so many things!  Like how to use Niacin for when you have taken too much of something that makes you methylate, like saltwater or Methyl B for instance.  One time Paula took too much Niacin which gave her a stomach ache.  Paula was like, "Can you take Niacin to counteract the Niacin?"  Haha, MTHFR humor ;)  I look forward to the day when we can look back and go, "Man! We were sure miserable back then!  Look how far we have come!!"

So Paula, if you read this, I am forever grateful to have you in my life.  To have someone to share this MTHFR journey with.  If I didn't have you around to help me figure things out, I just don't know what I would do.  It just means...SO MUCH!