I take the ALA MAX cr (Xymogen brand) in the morning. It is 600mg, slow release. Later in the afteroon about 7 hours later, I take about 150-300mg of another brand. It can make me alert at night, so that is why I don't take at night.

As I understand it (subject to correction by the resident chemists), ALA consists of 2 versions of the molecule - a righthanded (R) and lefthanded (S).
Why the ratio comes out around 1:6 instead of 1:1, I have no idea unless perhaps the normal ratio of synthesizing ALA is 1:6.

Taking the two probably couldn't hurt, but it would be the same as taking 200 mg of RLA.

Doc

Regular RLA is not well absorbed we are learning.

If you mean RALA (the sodium stabilized variety)...they claim much higher absorption.

Of course measuring it in the serum of the blood, is only a general thing ... the lipoic acid whatever version, will get sucked up into the tissues, and not be in the serum anymore after a short time. I have not seen any test that reveals tissue levels.

I've seen serum levels duration for RALA at 2-3 hrs, and racemic mixed ALA delayed release at 4-6 hrs (from one study). Once the lipoic acid is in the tissue, that is all that matters because that is where it works, in the cells themselves.

There are some sites on the net that claim the inactive S version works against the R... but there is no proof of that.
Also one study on racemic showed lowering of thyroid hormones in rats. No studies yet on humans. No study for R only either.

So there remains some facts still missing. All you can do is watch your responses. I have noticed for myself, less cold intolerance this winter...than last. So perhaps that is from the lipoic I am using now. (Doctor's Best Stablized R)

I know you and I have a tendency to get a bit hyper when taking R-Lipoic and had reduced the mg's to 100mg a day. Are you now just dividing the dose and taking the R-Lipoic twice a day or just doing this occasionally?

(Gerry)

Yes, it is working divided up. Some afternoons I forget to take it...but I am averaging 5 times a week so far. I don't get that tense thing when dividing the dose over the day. I take it around 4pm way before dinner.

My biggest problem has been sleeping and pain. I tried Elavil in 10mg dose, and it seemed to work for a week, then stopped...then my blood sugar went up..and I found that some new studies show effects on blood sugar for diabetics (due to some neuroendocrine thing--unexplained further). So I stopped it and my sleeping became broken again.

Now I am doing L-tryptophan again, and I have to say...it is really nicely working. People on SSRIs or things like Cymbalta cannot do this, but since I am not medicated that way, and it has been over a month on Elavil for one week...I can safely do it. I had a bottle left over from last year of 500mg NOW brand. I finished that off and replaced it with Doctor's Best...and wouldn't you know it! It is dynamite! This is the 3rd supplement I've found better at Doctor's Best. Theanine, from Swanson's was disappointing, and now the R-lipoic, and tryptophan. The kitten and Weezie make alot of noise at night playing sometimes, and it also wakes hubby up. So we both are using the tryptophan with great success. In fact we even got equal hangovers from the new one! So I am breaking them in 1/2 so we get 250mg each. I have some empty taurine caps from Oreo which I saved and that is how I do it, for now.

My observations following a week of taking Doctores best RLA 200mg(suspended) and Acetyl L - Carnite 1000mg

Initially spaced out and hyper similar to lots of coffee, this has now abated.

The biggest change is the clearing of my brain fog. I was still having embarrassing moments of word recall and strange noises replacing words and to be honest this was starting to worry me. That has stopped also and Im very clear headed but will wait to see how it goes a few months down the track as Im skeptical that these supplements have helped so much in just 7 days , however Im not skeptical that the ALA (now switched to RLA) has helped immensely with the burning.

p.s is 1000 mg of the Acetyl L - Carnite the correct dose?

I agree. Both are great for the brain. With CFS and POTS, fog can be a problem. No problem at all now. I take one teaspoon of CarniClear. That is 2.5 grams.

Well, you know I believe the correct dose is the smallest dose required to obtain the desired results, but ya gotta start titrating from someplace. 1000 mg (500 twice a day) is what I was taking. I recall getting that figure from someplace here and elsewhere on the web.

Doc

When taking together, it is difficult to know which is doing what.

For me the acetyl carnitine seems to affect muscles more. It improves stamina for me. I used to use a gram a day when working out. When not working out 250mg is enough most days for me.

The RALA seems to do things in the brain and improve cognition and alertness.

If you stop the carnitine for a week or so, you might notice what it is doing for you. Carnitine is basically easily to tolerate, and the expense is what most people don't like about it. So keeping it as low as possible, helps with cash outlay issues. It has limited absorption in the GI tract so divide up large doses. If taken all at once, it may mostly be wasted.

My arthritis is flaring up this week, and that clouds my PN issues quite a bit. I don't know if it was a weather trigger or a mild viral attack of some kind. Today I seem better though. I've been on magnets and Aleve for most of the week. Also hitting the magnesium lotion more heavily too.

--in one dose of 100mg in the morning.

I haven't noticed any "charged up" feeling or effect, but I'm pretty charged up in the morning anyway; I've always been a morning person (notice when most of these posts get made).

I'm thinking of getting some 50mg bottles next time, though, and taking one in the morning and one in the evening. I do have some problems at times with feeling sleepy early in the evening, especially during the short days of winter, and especially if a large evening meal is consumed--I've assumed this is part of my insulin resistance/reactive hypoglycemia, as well as having a seasonal component. I can easily overcome the feeling if I have an evening tutoring appointment or something, but it may be worth the experiment with the R-lipoic.