فولک ایسڈ · folic acid, vitamin B9, L-methylfolate
Mixed evidence
Best evidence is as an add-on when an antidepressant is only half working.
This is information, not medical advice. This page is information, not medical advice. Nothing here is a prescription, a diagnosis or a recommendation to take anything, and none of it replaces a doctor who knows your history. Supplements are not harmless because they are natural: they interact with prescription medicines, some are unsafe in pregnancy, and a few can cause real damage. Talk to a doctor or pharmacist before starting anything here, especially if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, under 18, have a liver, kidney or heart condition, or take any regular medication. Never stop a prescribed antidepressant to try a supplement instead.
A B vitamin in leafy greens, pulses and liver, needed to build the chemical messengers your brain runs on.
Not an established treatment on its own. The more interesting evidence is as an addition to an antidepressant that is partly working, where L-methylfolate improved response in some trials. Results are not uniform and the better-designed studies are more modest than the marketing.
Add-on trials used L-methylfolate at 7.5 to 15 mg daily, far above the folic acid in a multivitamin. A conversation with whoever prescribes your antidepressant.
Recorded because a person who has decided to try something will find a number somewhere, and a forum's number is worse than a trial's. It is not a recommendation, and the right amount for you depends on things only a doctor who knows your history can weigh.
Can mask a B12 deficiency while nerve damage continues. Get B12 checked alongside. Interacts with methotrexate and some epilepsy medicines.
Cheap and everywhere, already prescribed routinely in pregnancy. If you are or might become pregnant, take it as your doctor advises for reasons unrelated to mood.
Tell your doctor or pharmacist about everything else you take, prescription and herbal both. If you are pregnant, breastfeeding, under 18, or have a liver, kidney, heart or thyroid condition, ask first. And if what brought you here is that you have been feeling low or frightened for weeks, that deserves more than a supplement — ask us anything, anonymously, or talk to us on WhatsApp.