I've looked around at the information on the net. Most of it is proprietary, meaning it comes from some source that MAKES it or whatever. That info is quoted then by other sources, that sound highly believeable. But this type of thing, I've learned, can be suspect.

So I defer to Linus Pauling Institute's site for now:
http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/vitamins/thiamin/

What I did learn was that benfotiamine is better absorbed, but then is activated to thiamine itself in the body. Which then does not cross the blood brain barrier easily. It has to be ferried across by a carrier system. Which means SLOWLY.

Some of your comments, Bigg are confusing.
Heart rate does increase after eating. This is because blood is then shunted away from the body muscles and brain, and then goes to the GI tract, for aiding in carrying away food that was just eaten. Sometimes you can tell it is happening and other times you don't notice.

When glucose is extra in quantity it is converted in the muscles, liver, to glycogen. It does not force the cells to faster consume it like you describe... as those functions are rate limited by enzymes present. The liver has living cells like the rest of the body and they would be removing glucose from the blood like any other organ, to live and produce energy. In fact the energy to convert amino acids to glucose is larger than just for living functions.

This link is to the Kegg pathway for thiamine:
http://www.genome.jp/kegg/pathway/map/map00730.html
Glycolysis is only one phase of what thiamine does.
What thiamine does is link up to enzymes that perform various functions in the body. The rectangles in this map are enzyme names. Many have thi- connected to them. The way enzymes work is that there are limited amounts of them at any one time doing jobs, and when the substrate is more than the enzymes can handle the substrate moves on to another function.

The RDA for thiamine is really small... just over a milligram. So that implies that the amount of enzymes is very small also.

I suggest you remain at a low dose of benfotiamine if you decide to continue taking it. Not many of us use a high dose anyway.

This Medscape article explains the various forms of active thiamine in the body.
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/583556_3
you have to join Medscape to view it, but that is easy and free to do. This link is to page 3 but once there you can go back to the beginning if you choose.

The biochemistry of the enzymes and nutrients in the body is highly complex and really cannot be distilled down to subjective ideas. You may have something else organic going on with you that is making you feel the way you do. But for now, I'd suggest you keep your benfotiamine low dose.

There are genetic and other organic causes of low thiamine...
this link explains those:
http://www.uic.edu/classes/phar/phar...se_report3.htm

Interesting..I certainly never ran across any of this info in my search of information on benfotiamine.

Possible reason for racing heart on Benfotiamine
 

Stacy, I came across your post, and thought I would chime in - like many people I'm sure, I've tried various supplements to stave off various health conditions I have felt coming on, hereditary weaknesses, etc. At one time, I was noticing side effects from different supplements, and among them itchy skin, and heart racing. The skin itching in particular was curious, because I was getting it from very different supplements. It dawned on me to see if I could find a common "filler" ingredient in the supplements that were causing the problem, and I discovered that it was Magnesium Stearate. If I ony use supplement without this ingredient, I never have itching skin. As for the heart racing, this could also be an allergic reaction to fillers, and not the Benfotiamine itself. I would suggest as others have, to start at a low dose, but also find a different version of the product, one with different fillers, and see if it makes a difference!

Thanks! I don't have any problems anymore at all with benfotiamine but I take a lot of supplements also and I question the safety of mag. stearate. I don't think it causes me any side affects but I do question its safety as it is in EVERYTHING and I think I take to much of it. People here kinda laughed at me when I made a post about it, lol but I do think there is good reason to have some concern.

thanks for the input!

It is interesting about the itching..

Magnesium stearate does not ionize (dissolve in water), and is
considered not absorbed by the body. Stearic acid is in most meats.

This is the Wiki on stearic acid:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stearic_acid

So perhaps it is some contaminant of manufacture in the making of magnesium stearate....because this compound itself is really
very neutral in the body and comes out in the stool. The amount in a small tablet/capsule is also very tiny.

In the form of stearate...it is not absorbed. Stearic acid may be absorbed to some extent, as it is metabolized as described in the Wiki article. In the form of stearate there is much less absorption if any:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnesium_stearate

This powerpoint link claims magnesium stearate is used in over 2500 pharmaceutical products (and this includes RX drugs).
http://ipecamericas.org/system/files...nckrodt%29.pdf

I'd continue to find a trigger to your rashes... however.
Do your rashes respond to antihistamines?