Re: Alpha Lipoic Acid: Pros and Cons?

[Guest guest]

From http://lassesen.com/cfids/supplements/alpha-lipoic_acid.htm

High dosages may result in intracerebral hemorrhage

gastrointestinal side effects (at 1200 mg/day)

altered thyroid

hormone function

Ken Lassesen,.

[Guest guest]

Dan I know that ALA can move mercury around the body if you have mercury poisoning. It makes some people with mercury amalgams v sick

[infections] Alpha Lipoic Acid: Pros and Cons?

I'm contemplating adding alpha-lipoic acid to my arsenal of supplements -- hoping it will help recycle the vitamin C I'm taking for my gingivitis and overall poor healing problems.I've read some negatives on ALA though, but couldn't find them while doing a search.Is anyone taking ALA, and/or do you know anything about the pros and cons of alpha-lipoic acid?I'd appreciate any feedback!Dan

[Guest guest]

I have some on order.

I will let you know how I get on with it

>

> I'm contemplating adding alpha-lipoic acid to my arsenal of

> supplements -- hoping it will help recycle the vitamin C I'm taking

> for my gingivitis and overall poor healing problems.

>

> I've read some negatives on ALA though, but couldn't find them

> while doing a search.

>

> Is anyone taking ALA, and/or do you know anything about the

> pros and cons of alpha-lipoic acid?

>

> I'd appreciate any feedback!

>

> Dan

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Dan, I've been taking ALA for 3-4 years but can only tolerate about

200 mg/day. When I first started taking it, I couldn't handle more

than 100mg/day. It caused a significant increase in my pain levels

at first, dissipating over time.

It has a beneficial effect on maintaining my weight, but the most

noticeable benefits for me have been for my gums, skin, and hair. I

think I have to admit that I mostly take it as beauty aid!

I don't know why it increased my pain (muscles, joints) so much at

first and at higher doses, but if my experience is a possibility for

others, I'd suggest starting out with a lower dose than recommended

on the bottles I've purchased (TwinLabs). 250 mg bid was miserable!

Val

> I'm contemplating adding alpha-lipoic acid to my arsenal of

> supplements -- hoping it will help recycle the vitamin C I'm

taking

> for my gingivitis and overall poor healing problems.

>

> I've read some negatives on ALA though, but couldn't find them

> while doing a search.

>

> Is anyone taking ALA, and/or do you know anything about the

> pros and cons of alpha-lipoic acid?

>

> I'd appreciate any feedback!

>

> Dan

[Guest guest]

Dan and Val

I use the reduced form of lipoic acid, it is considered more

effective in insulin resistance/blood sugar control so may have be

even better for use in weight control. I have read that the redcuced

LA is the best form of lipoic acid to take for a variety of reasons

and only half the dose of ALA is required.

There have been concerns raised over both R/ALA and N Acetyl Cysteine

when there are high levels of heavy metals in the body, especially

the mercury in dental amalgams; the advice seems to be to keep the

doses of both these amino acids fairly low and to assist the detoxing

with other agents as well. I use RLA, NAC, Se, vits C and E to raise

my glutathione since the whey products do not suit me (dairy

intolerant).

Cheers, Tansy

>

> Dan, I've been taking ALA for 3-4 years but can only tolerate about

> 200 mg/day. When I first started taking it, I couldn't handle more

> than 100mg/day. It caused a significant increase in my pain levels

> at first, dissipating over time.

>

> It has a beneficial effect on maintaining my weight, but the most

> noticeable benefits for me have been for my gums, skin, and hair.

I

> think I have to admit that I mostly take it as beauty aid!

>

> I don't know why it increased my pain (muscles, joints) so much at

> first and at higher doses, but if my experience is a possibility

for

> others, I'd suggest starting out with a lower dose than recommended

> on the bottles I've purchased (TwinLabs). 250 mg bid was miserable!

>

> Val

>

> > I'm contemplating adding alpha-lipoic acid to my arsenal of

> > supplements -- hoping it will help recycle the vitamin C I'm

> taking

> > for my gingivitis and overall poor healing problems.

> >

> > I've read some negatives on ALA though, but couldn't find them

> > while doing a search.

> >

> > Is anyone taking ALA, and/or do you know anything about the

> > pros and cons of alpha-lipoic acid?

> >

> > I'd appreciate any feedback!

> >

> > Dan

[Guest guest]

Hi,

I'm a serious group lurker. I have enough trouble just keeping up

with reading all the CFIDS/Lyme groups, I am not well enough to

contribute much.

I have taken ALA on and off for about a year. Just recently purchased

some R-Dihydro Lipoic Acid from LEF and will experiment with that a

bit. I take it as a " master " antioxidant and to increase glutathione

as I have a genetic anomaly (according to a genovations test) that

keeps me from producing enough in the liver. I have not had any

problems with taking it, which is unusal for me. I tend to have

headaches or GI disturbances with most drugs and supplements I try.

I just today ran across the following abstact on pubmed that

concerned me about using ALA for people with low T3.

1: Arzneimittelforschung. 1991 Dec;41(12):1294-8.

Related Articles, Links

Effect of alpha-lipoic acid on the peripheral conversion of thyroxine

to triiodothyronine and on serum lipid-, protein- and glucose levels.

Segermann J, Hotze A, Ulrich H, Rao GS.

Institute of Clinical Biochemistry, University of Bonn, Fed. Rep. of

Germany.

The influence of alpha-lipoic acid (LA, thioctic acid, CAS 62-46-4)

on thyroid hormone metabolism and serum lipid-, protein- and glucose

levels was investigated. In the first setup of experiments

administration of LA together with thyroxine (T4) for 9 days

suppressed the T4 induced increase of T3 generation by 56%. This

suppression was similar to that affected by 6-propylthiouracil (54%).

LA or T4 alone did not affect the cholesterol level, but together

they led to a reduction. LA decreased the triglyceride level by 45%;

the decrease induced by T4 or LA plus T4 was not significant. Total

protein and albumin levels decreased by LA plus T4 treatment when

compared to the LA control. The slight increase in glucose level by

LA or T4 alone was not observed when they were administered together.

In the second setup of experiments the administration of T4 for 22

days increased the serum T3 level 3-fold. When LA was combined with

T4 and the treatment continued, the T3 production decreased by 22%.

T4 reduced cholesterol level by 30%, and LA plus T4 further reduced

it by 47%. The triglycerides were not affected. A moderate decrease

in total protein was observed after treatment with T4 plus LA; T4 and

LA plus T4 decreased the albumin level. The decrease in serum glucose

by T4 recovers by LA treatment. These results demonstrate that LA

interferes with the production of T3 from T4 when it is co-

administered with T4. The elevated level of T3, after T4

administration, is reduced by treatment with LA.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED

AT 250 WORDS)

PMID: 1815532 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

Keep in mind that a quick pubmed search doesn't show any

corroborating studies nor could I get the full report to evaluate

this info. Even the abstact is truncated.

As I understand it, most of the conversion of T4 to T3 occurs in the

liver so it may be the effect of ALA on liver function that causes

this. Could ALA be contraindicated in pts with low T3? Could ALA be

useful for pts that supplement with thyroid and have low to mid range

T4 and high T3?

A million thanks to those of you that moderate and post. Both this

and the original I & I are extremely valuable groups.

>

> I'm contemplating adding alpha-lipoic acid to my arsenal of

> supplements -- hoping it will help recycle the vitamin C I'm taking

> for my gingivitis and overall poor healing problems.

>

> I've read some negatives on ALA though, but couldn't find them

> while doing a search.

>

> Is anyone taking ALA, and/or do you know anything about the

> pros and cons of alpha-lipoic acid?

>

> I'd appreciate any feedback!

>

> Dan