Estrogen affects the way that your body processes neurotransmitters, i.e. those molecules that signal within your brain and skew it towards different “modes” of cognition and function. With regards to sleep, specifically, estrogen reduces

One of the more common mistakes made by people with estrogen dominance is taking DIM by itself (and note that this can include postmenopausal women on HRT/Hormone Replacement Therapy).

Hello all. Dr. Malek here. Because I’m aware that this article has the potential to be highly inflammatory, I have to caveat as follows:

1. I have directly treated more B6 toxic patients than nearly any other doctor/provider in the world.

2. I am an allopathic MD, i.e. a “normal” doctor. I’m not a chiropractor (though I have much respect for them) nor an ND, NP, healthfluencer, or anything else.

…

“You can’t take magnesium glycinate with slow COMT.”

I’ve personally encountered some skepticism, like the above, regarding magnesium glycinate and Slow COMT, namely that magnesium glycinate can actually worsen Slow COMT symptoms.

In this world of oil and steel, man is useful only insofar as he can fan the flames.

Recently, the FDA under the Trump administration took an initial step towards officially recognizing potential harms of Tylenol (acetaminophen, also called Paracetamol) supplementation during pregnancy.

The claim is that Tylenol has the potential to increase the risk of autism in the children of pregnant mothers who use it.

Boswellia is derived from the resin of a tree that's common through certain parts of Asia and Africa. People commonly use it for inflammatory issues, but I'm going to try to address whether this herb has any use and or harm for people with slow COMT variants specifically.

Even doses of vitamin B6 as low as 2 mg per day—commonly found in multivitamins—have triggered severe nerve symptoms in genetically or metabolically susceptible individuals. This article walks through the science, symptoms, and lab patterns behind B6 overload without high-dose supplementation.

Can You Get B6 Toxicity Without Supplements? And what causes it?

Yes, you can. B6 toxicity without supplements occurs when plasma pyridoxal-5′-phosphate (PLP) rises due to impaired metabolism, poor clearance, cofactor imbalances, subtle genetic deficits, insidious overconsumption, and more. And it’s much more common than most clinicians realize. This often leads to symptoms like tingling, anxiety, or autonomic dysfunction, even in the absence of any direct B6 supplement use. Here’s what causes it and what to do about it:

Vitamin B6 is everywhere—multivitamins, B-complexes, prenatal supplements, even hydration powders. It’s recommended for everything from PMS to anxiety to neuropathy. But for a growing number of people, it’s making things worse.

Burning feet, vivid dreams, facial tension, and inexplicable panic episodes aren’t random—they’re often early signs of B6 overload. This isn’t a simple case of “too much of a good thing.” It’s a genuine biochemical derailment that can mimic everything from MCAS to mold illness.

In this article, I’ll walk you through the actual physiology of B6 sensitivity—why standard blood tests are misleading, why P5P (i.e. PLP) often worsens symptoms, and what it really takes to recover. This is for the people who were told B6 was safe and now cannot sleep, think, or feel like themselves.

~ Dr. Malek

Dear Slow COMTer,

The goal of this roadmap is to give you the most direct, straightforward, actionable slow COMT plan possible.

If you've already run genetic testing (like 23andMe or AncestryDNA), you may want to confirm that you're carrying the COMT V158M variant, especially the homozygous (Val/Val) or heterozygous (Val/Met) form, though the latter is less of a concern unless you have symptoms associated with slow COMT.

This roadmap assumes you do, and that you’ve either seen classic symptoms

Cataracts are Ubiquitous, But Not Inevitable

Cataracts are, by far, the number one cause of blindness globally.

According to the World Health Organization, around 94 million people are affected by cataracts, and in the USA, around 70% of people over age 75 have cataracts.

Getting cataracts is extremely likely. But this overwhelming likelihood does not mean that one must resign oneself to such inevitability. It is possible to delay (and sometimes prevent—over the course of a normal human lifespan) significant cataract development.

But doing so requires targeted effort (and I do mean real effort), far beyond the usual “wear sunglasses and hope for the best.”

70–80% of pregnant women experience the nausea and/or vomiting of morning sickness, with the severe form—hyperemesis gravidarum—affecting as many as 1 in 50.

B6 is very commonly prescribed worldwide for such morning sickness. It’s considered by many doctors and regulatory agencies to be the first-line agent, often prescribed as a mixed B6 + doxylamine and in dosages often up to 100 mg per day total.

ACOG, for example—a major medical regulatory agency—recommends 10-25 mg B6 three to four times daily, taking you close to that 100 mg per day.

That’s a lot of B6.