Posted by Lao Tzu on June 7, 2008, at 18:03:59
Probably it's too soon to say whether N-acetyl-cysteine works for bipolar. It's only been about 2 and 1/5 weeks since I started. Could be working a little. I'm also taking such a low dose of acetyl-l-carnitine that I don't think that's it. I'm taking 1200mg of NAC per day and I think this may be helping, slowly but surely.
I've noticed that I tend to run low on energy in the afternoon, so I typically take some B1 and 1,000mg of Vitamin C. I've also just added 300mg of NAC with these in the afternoon, which seems to help me stay in a more positive state of mind. Today, I took 1 capsule of fish oil in the morning, which balances my mood, but I can't take more than 1 capsule in a day or I feel lethargic. So today, I thought, hmm, I have some Evening Primrose Oil and many sources say it is good to balance your Omega-3s and Omega-6s. EPO contains gamma-linoleic acid which is an omega-6 essential fatty acid. I actually took 2 capsules and that seemed a bit much because I've discovered that EPO can be somewhat energizing. So then I took my 300mg NAC (afternoon dose) after the EPO and I felt better, not too energized but not lethargic either. Could be a fluke, don't know yet, but I'm thinking that if you want a little more energy, EPO might be the way to go in addition to fish oils because I've found that my energy goes down whenever I take fish oils. The only thing I would suggest is not to take EPO and fish oil at the same time because I heard that they will compete for uptake in your tissues. So what I do is this: I take my B1, B5, vitamin C, NAC and acetyl-l-carnitine in the morning. I wait awhile to see if I'm moody and really need to take the fish oil. This seems to go well until the early afternoon when I have to take more B1 and vitamin C. I figure that's a good time to try a little EPO, then wait maybe a couple hours and then take my afternoon dose of NAC.
Note that I only take 300mg of NAC at any one time during the day because 600mg seems too much. I'm still getting 600mg during the day, just breaking it up into 300mg morning and afternoon. And then at bedtime I take an additional 600mg of NAC because I don't really care how it feels because I'm going to bed and would welcome anything that knocks me out.
Maybe as I start getting used to the ALCAR and NAC, I will be able to increase my dosages, but so far I would say the regimen is pretty good. I've learned you can't expect perfection from supplements, but I'll take pretty good. :)
poster:Lao Tzu
thread:833518
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20080326/msgs/833518.html