I just read the links. This is very interesting indeed and certainly worth considering.

I have never heard for Taurine. Have you used this supplement before? What dosage would be good to start (I see 500 & 1000mg available)? And of course, what if any contraindications with my laundry list of meds or conditions?

Taurine is in one of my Alpha Lipoic supplements. Biotin also.

Long term ALA can reduce Biotin levels so that is nice. Biotin and Taurine are both important for insulin function.

I get Biotin in my Multi, Ultra Preventive X by Pure Prescriptions also.

My ALAMAX by Xymogen has Biotin also. I usually take that one, sometimes I take the ALA Supreme.

I cannot answer your question in regards to taurine and your medication list.

But here is a pretty good overview ..
http://congestive-heart-failure.emed...e/taurine.html

I've used taurine for my gall bladder. It has worked for me in doses of a gram a day.

It is also being recommended for diabetics. I am about to start it again, just to see if I detect any differences.

This monograph gives doses for congestive heart issues:
http://healthlibrary.epnet.com/GetCo...chunkiid=21793

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taurine

You'll have to discuss this with your doctor. With your medication list you have to discuss EVERYTHING with your doctor!

Well, the link you provided answered my question. Taurine can lower BP (through neural mediation), affect calcium in the heart and act as a diuretic. All of these would be contraindicated I think. I will ask my cardiologist when I see him next but I can already hear the answer. Not sure I would even want to upset the wagon at this point.

Sadly, this just emphasizes my point mentioned earlier that not all conditions can be treated naturally (diet, supplements, etc). Supplements have their own side-effects and care/caution needs to be taken when using them. This is just another example of certain instances where intervention with medicine (and most have some sort of nasty side-effects) is sometimes the only options. Even more sad is that many of the very medicines that are needed to help one problem, create another. I don't know what the answer is.

I do not take supplements alone. I work with my integrative doctors. They have me on a schedule, three times a day. I get the dose and brands needed from them. I try to never take presciptions. With my POTS, we are working on the bp that went high because of that. So for now, I take a med for that, but I have already been able to cut that down thankfully! I hope to get off it it soon.

My only good scripts are my bioidentical hormones. They are wonderful.

Supplements have done amazing things for my CFS and POTS (Autonomic Neuropathy.) There is no med. to heal those illnesses. I am thankful for my doctors, I am healing.

Those were good links Mrs D!

I wish I could implement more supplements instead of prescriptions. I have been able to add some of the basics (CoQ10, B12, Vit D, magnesium, etc). I see these links mrsD provides (from this and other threads) and get excited...until I see the some of the side effects with my conditions or other meds...then I get bummed.

A couple of my doctors are willing to help integrate a more natural approach, but my severe autonomic neuropathy and Sjogren's (and other conditions) really throw a wrench into the wheel, so to speak, when it comes to treatment options.

I really appreciate the links and I will still talk to my cardiologist at April's appt (when I hope to get off the Crestor) to see if there is something to try (taurine for one) to keep things in check without a statin.

Some of these drugs remind me of hunting mice with an elephant gun.

Judi

One thing I keep wondering about: If you have some genetic error that raises apo-B... and Crestor works for it, why would your doctor take you off it? Seems the reverse might be true.
Or this is a trick to placate you, in the beginning.

The thing with supplements is that not everything out there that has been written about works for everyone equally. People vary considerably in their own metabolisms. I think one way Taurine works, is by enhancing cholesterol excretion via the bile.
It has been used for a long time to improve bile flow and the bile salts are composed of cholesterol. The stones people get are cholesterol stones.

I found this paper this morning. Taurine to reduce alcohol craving:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12436202

Taurine works in the CNS quite a bit.

This explains taurine in more detail.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20804594

And this is very interesting too:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14553911

Taurine is recommended for diabetics and has been for a long time.

...and he may not take me off in April. The plan was simply to try it for two months, recheck labs to see if it made a difference, then make a decision. It was more me hoping that I would be off it after two months. He is waiting for the labs/proof to help make that decision. He said he didn't want me taking it for a long period if it wasn't going to make a significant difference. He also said my numbers weren't far from where they need to be, so if I hit that goal, maybe I won't NEED to take it any more and we can try other more natural things to KEEP me in that target range.

Crestor is a big gun in the statin field, so I was at least happy he didn't just Rx it and say, see you next year.

You're right, supplements (just like medicine) work differently for different people. But I have learned that supplements are NOT as benign as I thought they were. They must be used with caution and advice.

Thanks for the additional links. Yes, it appears taurine has many good qualities.

I suspect Magnesium plays a bigger role in regulating supplements' absorption, interactions, and effects than most of us realize. It is often said that it is involved in over 300 enzymes, e.g:

"Over 300 enzymes require the presence of magnesium ions for their catalytic action." - wiki

Good luck finding a full list of those 300+ enzymes! I have never seen one full list, not even from the "experts" on Mg with books on it.

It's been said that magnesium & the amino acid taurine have some interchangeable & potentiating roles. Magnesium supposedly helps to regulate taurine & taurine can substitute for magnesium when magnesium is deficient. Magnesium taurate is one product available at different stores.

I was taking taurine for a while until I had temperatures issues during the winter. I'd read that it can lower your core temperature. I don't know how much, but I was already sometimes feeling too cold to sleep, and my core furnace runs at 94-96F, so I backed off.

I bought some more today, however, and intend to start taking it again as the temperatures warm up in the spring/summer.