This is topic Alpha Lipoic Acid Dosage (among other things) in forum Medical Questions at LymeNet Flash.


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Posted by sparklyholiday (Member # 42456) on :
 
What dose do you guys take? ALA was in the list of items my doc told me to take but I don't recall her telling me how much.

I've been taking 200 in the morning.. but when I google it, I see a range from 100-600...

I know it's a great antioxident... is that how it helps? Clears up the free radicals that the lyme makes?
 
Posted by Judie (Member # 38323) on :
 
Oh, and I was told ALAmax by Xymogen was best by a couple people on the forum (but it's expensive).
 
Posted by Carmen (Member # 42391) on :
 
Ive been on 600 mg a day for years. It is beneficial to the liver to help keep it detoxed and it will also help break up bad estrogens. Because I am on bio identical hormone replacement my doc or that insists that I take it.
200 mg is a pittance. R-Alpha Lipoic Acid is suppose to be the best form according to the famous nutritional doctor Jonathan Wright (who does not treat lyme)
 
Posted by OtterJ (Member # 30701) on :
 
I take just 100 mgs of R Lipoic Acid for the glutithione support. I also take N acetylcisteine, or NAS with the RLA.
 
Posted by Mama2six (Member # 38069) on :
 
My Dr. has me taking 300 mg of alpha liporic acid 2x a day. This and NAC (600mg 2x a day) were what changed when I finally pulled out of my epic 2 1/2 month long herx (where I could hardly sit up the ENTIRE time) at the start of treatment.

I have not dared to try coming off these too supplements... we had tried SO many things and NO results at all... then suddenly my Dr. pulled me off all that we were already trying and put me on these 2 things and I was feeling some better within a week. (!)

Not that it is a cure-all for everyone... but I thought I'd share how it helped me. (I also have a mthfr defect, which I am sure is connected.)
 
Posted by ukcarry (Member # 18147) on :
 
I used to use R Lipoic acid, the stronger form, for peripheral neuropathy and think that it was quite successful.

However, Andrew Cutler, the chelation man, cautions against using it if you have a heavy metal problem except in small doses at frequent intervals throughout 24 hours: otherwise he believes that it mobilises without carrying metals out of the body.

After i had taken a high dose for quite a while (i think it was 300 RLA, equivalent to 600 ALA, I did find that i had a copper/zinc imbalance (too much copper) and, reading what Cutler had to say made sense of that, though i have forgotten the reasoning!! Just to caution people if they are not sure that RLA/ALA is helping them.
 
Posted by sparklyholiday (Member # 42456) on :
 
Thanks guys! Seems like there's all kinds of information out there!

Curious... what's chelation? I.E. I see "Chelated" on my magnesium bottle... is that the same that you guys refer to chelating in the body?

I don't know if I have any metal issues...
 
Posted by Anthropologista (Member # 35483) on :
 
My husband has no problem with 200mg of regular ALA, but starts shaking and feeling unwell when he takes ALAmax, which is supposed to be the Cadillac of ALA!

ALAmax has 600 mg of controlled release ALA + Biotin. He has 2 different snps of the MTHFR gene mutation, but I haven't heard of Biotin being a problem with this. Anyone else have a bad reaction to ALAmax?

I've read that regular ALA can chelate metals, then dump them in bad places (like the brain) unless you keep taking it every 4 hrs or so. Which is presumably why ALAmax is controlled release. Anyone have any insight on this? It would be nice to be able to use this great detox agent.
 
Posted by Anthropologista (Member # 35483) on :
 
Sparkly, I think that "chelated" on the magnesium bottle means that heavy metals have been removed from it.
 
Posted by Anthropologista (Member # 35483) on :
 
Interesting what you say about ALA possibly producing a copper/zinc imbalance, ukcarry.
 
Posted by sparklyholiday (Member # 42456) on :
 
quote:
Originally posted by Anthropologista:
Sparkly, I think that "chelated" on the magnesium bottle means that heavy metals have been removed from it.

Aha, thank you! :-) So chelated magnesium would be good... :-)
 
Posted by ukcarry (Member # 18147) on :
 
Sparklyholiday (name sounds good!), by 'chelation' in this context, I meant that Andrew C is a bit of a guru when it comes to getting heavy metals like mercury and lead safely out of your system.

Some things we eat or take can mobilise these heavy metals that are stored in our tissues and organs without escorting them out of the body (ie mainly when we use the bathroom).
It follows then that the metals can recirculate in the body.

A good chelator has chemical properties that bind to metals so that they shouldn't be recirculated in the body. Andrew C argues that ALA mobilses heavy metals in the body effectively, but should be taken in relatively small doses every 3 or 4 hours, including in the night, to avoid metals recirculating. This could be a concern, he warns, if people have high levels of mercury, for example, and are taking only one high dose of Ala per day.
 
Posted by sparklyholiday (Member # 42456) on :
 
ukcarry - so if you do not have an over abudnance of heavy metals in your body, then the ala wouldn't cause a problem taken just once or twice/day? (versus every few hours)
 
Posted by Carmen (Member # 42391) on :
 
If you are moving metals you need to be on chlorella. If the metals are moving eventually they go through the liver and get dumped into the intestine for elimination. this is where they often get reabsorbed. Chlorella will pick them up and take them out. I think Dr K says 2 grams a day divided am and pm... some people take much more.
 
Posted by ukcarry (Member # 18147) on :
 
I would think so, Sparklyholiday, but I am not an expert on ALA..........have you been tested at all for heavy metals?
 
Posted by sparklyholiday (Member # 42456) on :
 
Thanks Carmen!

No, ukcarry, I haven't... I don't actually know if I have any or not... I was merely asking the question to make sure I understood the concept. LOL :-)
 


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