Supplement Question
 

OK, I did something stupid.

I bought and tried 3 new supplements at the same time.

Biotin, NAC, and Selenium.

I bought them yesterday and I ate a late dinner at 8:30 and took 1 of each of each of them. Which if any, of these 3, would cause you to get soooo sleepy and then sleep like a ROCK, and dream vivid dreams???

It was crazy. An hour after taking them, my eyes got so heavy I simply could not stay away, I gave up and went to bed at 10 which is UNHEARD of for me. Woke up at 5:30, UNHEARD OF FOR ME, to use restroom and go right back to sleep.

You think its the NAC?

http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supple...TYL%20CYSTEINE

rarely --- drowsiness may occur.

Taking with food however would slow absorption considerably.

Well something did it. Guess I will try again and see what happens not that it was not great but if its gonna do that I need to take at night.

I did take all 3 with food, I don't think I can take without, one of them kinda gave me acid reflux, my normal problem. The guy at the store said certain blood types, dont no mine, have that problem with Rlipoic acid too. Was nice to hear someone confirm that lol.

I am taking Country Life for all 3 and the Selenium is 200 mcg, the Biotin is 5,000 mcg and the NAC is 750 mg.

I was gonna just take 1 of each 1 time a day with food.

What do you think of this MrsD???? (or anyone)

If you goggle [supplement] causing vivid dreams on each of those, you'll find they all return hits, but mostly of the anecdotal type rather than anything substantial. In fact, that works with just about anything/everything I tried it on.

If you really think it was one or more of those supplements, and it's something that matters to you, I'd quit em all for a week, and then start over, trying them one at a time. And if it turns out to be one, what then? If it doesn't happen again with any of them what then?

Personally, vivid dreams don't bother me; I kind of enjoy them, and I'd welcome the good night's sleep. YMMV.

Doc

Oh I agree Dr, doesn't bother me, except that if it does it again, I clearly need to take at night only. I seriously, could not keep my eyelids open, which is soooo odd for me. I never to go bed til at least midnight.

Guess I will just try again.

What do you think of the amounts I am taking? if you have an opinion??? I have read everything here on these supplements which is why I chose them however its hard to remember everything.

Should I continue with these amounts 1 time a day? anyone?

Not much of an opinion.... I don't take selenium (other than whatever's in my multi). I take 750mg NAC and 1000mcg biotin (like yourself, from what I was able to glean).

Once a day should be OK, AFAIK, but IIRC, there's a timing issue with biotin (uses same transport as some others—MrsD has mentioned it).

Doc

After researching for hours, I have found people who get so tired taking NAC they almost cant function.

I swear, if there is a 1% chance of a side effect, I GET IT.

There was much discussion as to why but it was all theory, nobody really knew for sure why it happens to some people.

I took another pill 2 hours ago, and well, I just woke up, after forcing myself to get up. Again, it made me very sleepy.

It didn't take me that long (actually only 3 clicks) but I did find mention that it can rarely cause drowsiness.

From: N-ACETYL CYSTEINE Side Effects & Safety
emphasis mine.

I don't know why either. Take at bedtime? (And rejoice you haven't suffered those other side effects... :rolleyes:)

The smallest capsules I've seen are 500 mg, but I've seen it sold in bulk too, so one could measure out smaller amounts.

Doc

well,thanks to my 4pm nap, i am now awake at 2 am lol

Yea, I found it as a side effect quickly but I was researching more indepth information on it, more conversation. I did eventually find some discussion of people who said it was sooo bad for them that they could not even lift their arms. One person said she continued to take it trying to perservere.

But weird.

Dr. Smith what brand do you take?

Stacey, I have not had that happen. I hope you can maybe start with a lower dose.

I know Sally!!! Like I said, if there is a 1% chance to have a rare side effect I swear I am the one to get it!!!

I never considered myself to be sensitive or even have allergies but since starting to use supplements I have ran into ALL kinds of rare issues. :eek:

I just read that Biotin ALONG WITH chromium helps neuropathy.

Anyone here take this combo???

Whatever's on sale/least expensive when we put in an order. Sometimes it's less expensive to go on automatic re-order, then discontinue if/when a better deal comes along. When a really good sale comes along, we may order 3 mo. to a yrs. supply at a time. Currently using Country Life, but have used others without problems.

Doc

Where do you get the 750 of NAC ? I'm taking 600 and wish to bump it up, but my local stores all have 600 mg. where and what brand, etc. thanks.

I got my 750 NAC at the local health food store by country life.

I am wondering if the NAC is making me sleepy because it is pulling toxins??? Like Mercury?? Or something??? This stuff is like a sleeping drug for me, I now take it before bed time. Maybe it will wear off as it clears out whatever it is cleaning out....

I wanted to try NAC a couple of months back for my lungs. But, i read an article that says NAC (and even vitamin c) may affect absorption of some antibiotics. Since I am taking antibiotics and I want to get the maximum potency of the antibiotics, I did not push through with NAC.

Somebody read similar idea?

Not before now. :) I've only read a couple of articles, but it appears it depends on the antibiotic; NAC can help some antibiotics and hinder others.

I also came across this interesting one about antibiotics damaging mitochondria.

The Downside of Antibiotics?
Doc

Dr Smith and Stacy,
I checked at iherb and the weird thing was/is there were reviewers saying the Country Life NAC wasn't vegetarian, but much worse, one said it was made from Duck Feathers. How do we know where the NAC comes from and is vegetarian is better ? I have no idea what this reviewer is talking about, but it gave me pause.
Pure Encapsulation makes one that is 900. Don't know much about this company...but heard it was good. Also heard ideally, NAC should be taken two Times a day. Any thoughts?
:confused:

Holy Duck Feathers!!!!!

What the heck?????????????

NAC is made from l-cysteine which comes from.....

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jennifer...ven-know-it/2/

more detail here:
http://www.vrg.org/blog/2011/03/09/l...hers-hog-hair/

This rather sheds light on the allergic component of side effects, as there may be residual substances left behind during manufacture. The China connection is very disturbing in an of itself, IMO.

Ok, this is disgusting. Nothing can be healthy about duck feathers and human hair.

I am done with this supplement.

But man, it really did make the last few nights of sleeping just dreams.

so long NAC.

You could always get a Vegan one? As described in the second link. I suspect you'd have to call the company up to see where they get the NAC from. Most of what I see on sites today about ingredients do not address the NAC itself but only the capsule (vegetarian), and fillers.

Many things we use today come from icky sources. That is just the way it is now. L-cysteine is a sulfur containing amino acid and that makes manufacture difficult. Has to come from animal sources. Lanolin is also rather icky IMO.

After all the natural thyroid products come from pigs, too.

Truth is I was still trying to figure out the benefits of NAC for myself anyway. Also was questioning long term use of it and selenium.

I don't mind animal product but hair and feathers????

MrsD do you take NAC?

No I don't use it.

What dose of selenium are you taking?

I do use kelp tablets, 2 providing 300mcg of iodine however, because I do not use iodized salt. I had a goiter on the right
side of my thyroid, and my left is apparently not working well or at all (no uptake on the radioactive tracer test).

The goiter is now gone.

Do you ever watch the "how it is made" shows on Science Channel? If you see the hot dogs one, you will never eat one again!
We find these very interesting sometimes.

Ok, feeling a little queasy here.:eek:

Mrs. D or anyone, what other supplement might help to make Glutathione? BTW, that link shook me up!!!

Good grief!

Oh my gosh!! We grill hot dogs last night. BUT they were ANGUS hot dogs, that make a difference???


I'm taking 200mcg country life selenium. I have thought about it for quite awhile, debating, but they thyroid forum I post in they are all gun hoe on selenium, so I thought I would try it however, I am not sure I will stay on it, as long term use is questionable.

I dunno. The more I research things, the more confused I get, lol

Doc just told me last night I'm low on selenium.
Also, I thought I would take NAC (and doc agreed) due to having a lot of cancer in my family and my autoimmune issues.
Fortunately, I did give up hotdogs a long time ago. They usually give me a headache. My headaches are decent barometer of things not so good for me.
Sigh.

I would take it every other day, or break them in half for 100mcg/day. There is no way to know how much you get in food these days ...but having too much can be problematic.

MrsD is the reason you do not take NAC because of the feathers/hair???

Sally, where are you??? You take this stuff, I can't imagine you take something like this without believing it's good. :D

No... I just don't take things, unless I have a good reason to.

I am pretty conservative, in general. I don't like high doses of things either.

Me either. How do we know who the blazes "Reviewer3340759" is, what their motives are, whether the information is accurate, or... don't get the skeptic in me started. :rolleyes: I don't know, but when I see something like this without credible corroboration, I can't help but think of the old joke, "It must be true—I read it on the Internet!"

(A few mouse clicks later...)

As it turns out, there may be some truth in this, but IMO it's not a matter of chemistry—the molecule is the same regardless of the source—but one of lifestyle choice, and I am not a vegetarian. I thought about throwing a straw man into it and ask, "If it's made from human hair, does that make it cannibalistic," but.... :rolleyes:

Don't know. The directions on my bottle say take one per day unless directed otherwise by a healthcare professional. I would think if it were better taken twice daily that at least one of these mfrs would make smaller dosage capsules. That would behoove them because they could likely charge more for smaller ones as is the practice with most other supplements.

I recall something else that I can't find or remember clearly, but I did find this:
Doc

According to the link I provided from the Vegan source... non-human non animal sourced NAC will cost 2 to 3 times MORE and therefore the product price would be much higher.

Keep in mind people sleep with down products and feather pillows. Those feathers are cleaned before use, but with time break down and particles escape thru the fabric and you breathe them in and they can get in your eyes too. I can't have any feather products in my bed as my eyes swell shut and I can't breathe. No feather linens in our house!

Yes, they're made only from the lips & ******** of angus cattle. :D

Really folks, if this stuff is making you queazy, never look into where anything you consume or use on your body comes from ever again, or what the FDA allows in anything.

It'll make you plotz.

That was one of the metaphors in Soylent Green—not that what we consume comes from people (that was the extreme—there were other colors/types of Soylent as well), but from things we don't/wouldn't want to know about. (There are other metaphors as well.)

I'd say more, but my pork hotdogs are done... :D

Doc