Re: Alpha Lipoic Acid

[Guest guest]

I'm a firm believer in alpha lipoic acid. i take 600 mgs a day and I am very

sure it is helping me. who knows it may even slow the progression down. i

don't know for sure but my last family doctor (he moved darnit) was really good

about vitamins and minerals. I started on a low dose then worked up to 600 a day

in about 3 weeks.

Cathleen

[Guest guest]

Cathleen, can you please be more specific for me in HOW the ALA is

helping you? Like does it help you walk? Are you less fatigued? Can you

exercise more? Can you be in your feet more? If you have tremors, does

it help suppress them? Do you take it in the morning or evening? Do you

take it with food? Does your doctor (the one you have now) know you take

it and what are his comments? What was the " low dose " you started to

take? Do you experience/or have you experienced any adverse effects from

it? Do you mean it has for sure slowed your progression down - do your

EMG/NCV studies show this? What do you do NOW that you didn't do BEFORE

you started taking it? Thank you.

~ Gretchen

Ramblinrose83@... wrote:

>

> I'm a firm believer in alpha lipoic acid. i take 600 mgs a day and I am very

> sure it is helping me. who knows it may even slow the progression down.

[Guest guest]

Yes, i've been taking Alpha Liporic Acid along with CQ 10,

B12,E,C for the last 2 years, i believe they help.

Mike

*** Mike, can you be more specific for me on exactly HOW the

ALA, CQ10 and B12 help you? Less fatigue? More energy? Are you

able to walk farther, exercise regularly, be more active, etc?

What about standing for long periods, or an increase in muscle strength?

Were these recommended by your doctor or did you just self-

iniate? Do you keep your doctor informed as to how these help

you and does your doctor do any tests related to nerves and

muscles and the supplements?

~ Gretchen

[Guest guest]

Alpha Lipoic Acid should help a bit. My suggestion is to give it about three

weeks for your body to absorb the vitamins. If you see no change, do a little

experiment: get off of both for a few days then try ala alone for a while then

the CoQ10. The thing about these vitamins (as well as any herb or vitamin), what

may work for one may not work for the other. It's always a bit of an

experiment...

Is this your personal experience with CMT, ?

[Guest guest]

first of all I noticed the pain levels in my feet were less since taking the

ALA. At night my feet would hurt and twitch so bad i would wake up with

bruises from kicking myself in my sleep , hubby woke up bruise on occasion. I

am

walking a longer distance now than before, my neurologist at one point thought I

was about a year away from a wheel chair. i can walk longer and i am not as

tired. i still get drop foot and fall occasionally but now with braces that

is better. my tremors come and go so I am not sure jhow ALA is helping that. I

take my pill midmorning with a snack, about 10:30am. whe I started the ALA

i was on 100 mgs a day now I am at 600. I am at a level now where I feel i can

do more, i still get tired but boy i can do more before I get tired. I have

had no side asffects from it, which my doctor said could include upset stomach,

being gittery and /or more pain some where else, like feet better hands

worse. so far so good.my last EMG showed no change and i had bee having big

changes

every year for 4 years. I am stnading longer periods of time, i am hiking ( i

have managed to hike 3 miles) that was impossible before, my hands are still

numb and i burn them cooking however I have more movement and I am back to

crocheting. I am thankful my doctor had the good sense not to rely on

precription drug only that gave me relief but this ALA has enhanced my life.

Cathleen

[Guest guest]

Rob,

I took 100mg of Alpha Lipoc Acid and did not find it of any help but plan to

continue. I heard that it was in a trial for diabetic neuropathy. They used

IV's and injected it into the veins and there was improvement. Also, I read

that 800 mg would have to be the dose to show any change. I have not checked it

out with my doctor yet.

Jeanann

[Guest guest]

Just found this online:

Mayo Clinic in Rochester

Monday, April 07, 2003

Antioxidant Alpha Lipoic Acid (ALA) Significantly Improves Symptoms of Diabetic

Neuropathy

ROCHESTER, Minn. -- A collaborative study between Mayo Clinic and a medical

center

in Russia found that alpha lipoic acid (ALA) significantly and rapidly reduces

the

frequency and severity of symptoms of the most common kind of diabetic

neuropathy. Symptoms decreased include burning and sharply cutting pain,

prickling

sensations and numbness.

The findings appear in the March 2003 issue of Diabetes Care, http://

care.diabetesjournals.org/.

" There appears to be a rather large effect on the pain of diabetic neuropathy

with

ALA, " says Dyck, M.D., Mayo Clinic neurologist and peripheral nerve

specialist.

" The magnitude of the change is considerable. We also found some improvement in

neurologic signs and nerve conduction. We were surprised by the magnitude and

the

rapidity of the response. "

When patients were given ALA, also known as thioctic acid, the researchers

found

statistically significant improvement in the symptoms of diabetic sensorimotor

polyneuropathy (DSPN) damage to multiple nerves caused by diabetes. The

researchers measured improvement by a total symptom score, a summation of the

presence, severity and duration of burning and sharply cutting pain, prickling

sensations and numbness. The patients who took ALA saw a 5.7-point total symptom

score improvement from the start of the trial, while those who took placebo, an

inactive substance, only improved 1.8 points. ALA produced no unfavorable side

effects in the patients taking this substance.

" It's very safe, " says Dr. Dyck. " There have been no known complications. "

The alternatives for managing the symptoms of DSPN -- narcotics, analgesics or

antiepileptic drugs -- are less than ideal, according to Dr. Dyck.

" Most people can't work while on narcotics, and there's the concern about

habituation, " says Dr. Dyck. " If you take analgesics, you can get kind of

dopey. "

Dr. Dyck says that the intravenous ALA preparation at the dosage he studied is

not

available to U.S. physicians. It is available in oral form and in smaller doses

in drug

stores.

" I think it's a promising lead for the future, in that antioxidants may be

implicated in

the cause of diabetic neuropathy, and ALA might conceivably be a preventative or

interventative, " says Dr. Dyck. " It may well be worthwhile for treatment, but

I'd rather

patients with diabetic neuropathy not go out swallowing large amounts of this

drug

yet. It isn't Food and Drug Administration-approved for this purpose. "

Dr. Dyck adds that a large, multi-center trial of oral ALA is under way. " We

should

see what the further data show before we give this widely to patients with

diabetic

neuropathy, " says Dr. Dyck.

Mayo Clinic physicians Dr. Dyck, Low, M.D., and Litchy, M.D.,

were

involved in the design and helped oversee the phase 3 study, which included 120

type 1 or 2 diabetic patients, ages 18-74, with DSPN. The study was conducted at

the

Russian Medical Academy for Advanced Studies in Moscow. After hospital

admission,

patients were randomized, or selected by chance, to receive either ALA or a

placebo

in 14 intravenous doses over three weeks, following one week in which all

participants received placebo. The study was double-blinded, thus neither

patients

nor investigators knew which patients received each substance. The researchers

then

measured the severity and constancy of each patient's symptoms of burning and

sharply cutting pain, prickling sensations and numbness. Trial participants'

progress

was measured by written surveys in addition to testing nerve conduction,

function of

the autonomic nervous system function and sensation.

If the drug proved effective in this trial, the researchers also wanted to find

out why

it worked. They found that ALA improves the nerve function damaged by chronic

hyperglycemia, or the condition when patients' blood sugars consistently are not

under proper control.

" It is known that ALA is a very strong antioxidant, " says Dr. Dyck. " High

glucose in

diabetes leaves trace chemicals harmful to cells -- that process is called

oxidative

stress. If you burn something in the oven, it leaves soot. Similarly, in

disease, there is

`soot,' and there are mechanisms that relieve `soot.' Antioxidants promote

getting rid

of oxidative stress products.

" Oxidative stress is known to be implicated in many disease processes,

including

diabetic neuropathy, " he adds. " If nerve fibers partially degenerate, you get

pain and

prickling and other symptoms of diabetic neuropathy. "

Since 1959, physicians in Germany have treated diabetic neuropathy with ALA.

However, there was insufficient research evidence to warrant its use, Dr. Dyck

says.

The manufacturer of ALA, a German company called Viatris Inc. (formerly ASTA

Medica, Inc.), approached Dr. Dyck and other physicians about conducting

clinical

trials with this supplement to test its effectiveness in alleviating diabetic

neuropathy.

Diabetic neuropathy may compromise a person's quality of life. Previous

studies

have shown that patients with this syndrome may become depressed or anxious and

may have trouble with work, social obligations, sleep and other daily

activities.

Although regulating patients' blood-sugar levels is the ideal way to prevent

diabetic

neuropathy, physicians have recognized that not all patients can or will control

their

blood sugars to the needed degree, according to Dr. Dyck. Some patients do not

monitor their glucose levels or use their insulin injections or pumps often

enough.

For other patients, such as type 1 diabetics, blood sugars may fluctuate wildly

and

prove difficult to control tightly.

According to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney

Diseases

(NIDDK), 11.1 million people in the United States have been diagnosed with

diabetes,

while an estimated 5.9 million more remain undiagnosed. NIDDK estimates that of

these, 50 percent experience some type of neuropathy.

Copeland

507-284-5005 (days)

507-284-2511 (evenings)

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MayoClinic.com (www.mayoclinic.com) is available as a resource for your health

stories.

[Guest guest]

I also take alpha lipoic under the guidance of my neurologist. I am not sure

how this stuff works but I doubt it could hurt me and I now take 800 mgs less

Neurontin a day.

Cathleen

[Guest guest]

Joana,

Keep looking for it on Vitacost - it is there. I have been purchasing it for

awhile now. It is a combination capsule. Starts out with COQ10; Alpha Lipoic

Acid, then Al-Carnitine. All three in one capsule. When I get a chance I will

look it up again and send you any more info that will help you find it.

June