Huperzine A:
 

I am beginning a trial of this supplement (which is really a drug and very potent). It is still over the counter, and has been used mostly as a "smart drug".

It is a cholinergic acting substance and as such should be handled with care. My son is using it for ADHD and concentration issues. So he recommended it to me.

I started today with 50mcg in the morning. I am feeling stronger today, and have much less general pain.

So I looked it up more in detail just now and found a chronic pain entry discussing it for neuropathic pain.
http://www.pnas.org/content/110/8/E746.short
It appears to be a NMDA antagonist which is what most of the recommendations consist of for nerve pain. Magnesium is another NMDA antagonist too.

I bought the Source Naturals from Amazon. 100mcg dose which I cut in half for now. (it was an nice affordable price there).

Our MG forum has some posts on this too...to help them with muscle weakness and I am noticing this action today on this first dose for me. I am optimistic this will be a nice thing to help me cope better with my chronic pain. This winter was pretty hard on me.

I'll keep this thread going, in case anyone wants to respond.

What I've read so far (only 3 articles) says it's got promise for Alzheimer's. It's late, so I'll get into it further next week.

I wasn't really looking for skeptical articles at this point, but one came up prominently that got me laughing so hard I thought you might appreciate it. Please don't take this to mean I'm taking any kind of stance on Huperzine A; it's too early, and I have a LOT more reading to do. The article is about a supplement mixture that contains Huperzine A; it doesn't really have anything negative to say about Huperzine; just that a lot isn't known/proven yet. It's more about the charlatanism in the claims about some of these mixtures and how they're marketed.

Procera AVH: A Pill to Restore Memory

I have seen the Science Based Medicine site before, and I think I'm getting to like it so far. It also led me to a couple of other sites I'll be checking out soon.

Supplement Geek—Supplement Reviews Without the Hype

The Skeptic's Dictionary
The Skeptic's Dictionary—Procera AVH® and Ceraplex

Doc

The net is difficult with Huperzine A. Where you will find more on it will be the various discussion forums --esp the life extension places.

there are contraindications for this herb/drug:
http://www.webmd.com/vitamins-supple...=HUPERZINE%20A

I didn't find yesterday, that it did anything for my thinking. But it sure helped my arthritis pain, muscle weakness etc. It didn't cause any side effects at 50mcg in the morning, except to make me a bit hot and itchy for a few minutes. It also helped my left eye blur which comes with fatigue on the computer.

I am interested mostly in the NMDA actions of it. This pain receptor impacts all of us here. Alzheimer's is a big topic now and quite popular. So it is not a surprise that most articles discuss that.

My son cautioned about not taking it after 2pm...says it will keep you from falling asleep. So I am only using 50mcg in the morning for now. With my GI easy upsets, I cannot afford MORE GI actions, so am very conservative on the dosing. Also I take a beta blocker for blood pressure, and this slows my heart a bit. So caution is necessary for me.

There are other things that block the NMDA receptor... Dextromethorphan, magnesium, Namenda (RX drug), ketamine which some people here use or have used for PN pain.

After a time I'll report back if there is any tolerance issue.
Huperzine A has been around a long time...I recall some posts on our old ADHD forum about it in the past.;)

I wonder if this would help my MS brain fogginess?

Cognitive issues are common among MS patients. I'm only 53 so I don't think it's age that causes me to forget what to call the remote! Yesterday I called it the stove. :o:mfr_wha:

brain fogginess
 

I have not used but watch a show mind you only watch as would never be good following a restrictive diet.. but the show is Know the Cause They have the creator of Prevagen on which is to help with memory. It replaces proteins we lose in the brain. I have seen it on the shelf in Walgreens. I don't know if would help with brain fogginess but maybe since helps with memory.????

Huperzine A works by increasing acetylcholine which is a neurotransmitter in the brain, spinal cord and muscles.

As we age acetylcholine may diminish and so providing it
may help. A few MG posters have tried it some.

I have been getting weaker each year....and I am hoping this will help my muscles in that respect. So far it is helping to sharpen my vision, which I didn't expect.

It might.... send me a PM with all the drugs you use...so I can look up interactions etc.

Dr. Blaylock has mentioned it in his newsletter as a memory booster. He's helped to develop a supplement called Cresceo and it is one of the ingredients. The other three are Ginkgo Biloba, Bacopa and Phosphatidylserene. I don't recall him mentioning other benefits from it besides the memory booster though.

I read some people add DMAE with it. Thoughts? Memory problems are my worst symptom at the moment and I came here today searching for something to add to my supplements. I wonder if this will affect my heart like magnesium which I had to completely quit taking. My doc said it was inflaming my heart lining.

So far, I am not seeing much in the way of "mental" improvements. In fact it makes me tense and irritable instead, at 50mcg in the morning daily.

So I skipped two days, and now am trying 1/4 tablet 25mcg today. There is a distinct improvement in my weakness however, and arthritis pain perception. I don't really need memory enhancement yet. ;) I do also have some sinus congestion from the 50mcg dose.

Hubby is taking 50mcg daily after breakfast...and seems to be doing his outside working chores more easily (lots of oak leaves to remove from our property). He is working well on the restore discs for our new computer, and so far seems to process this supplement differently from me.

I am having lots of side effects from this even at the 25mcg dose.

I am reading that Hup A can accumulate in the body...so I am only taking it every 3 rd day now. Hubby has no side effects from 50mcg a day. So I have him taking it every other day, just in case.

I'm wondering how it's been going with the huperzine supplementation? I purchased the same one from Amazon, then read your thread and reconsidered taking it.

I am currently using dextromethorphan as an nmda antagonist, and it is working great, but I'm looking into more options. Anyone know whether taking 2 NMDA antagonists at the same time is either a good or bad idea?

Im looking into this. Lately I have made a lot of glaring errors that have led me to ask my partner to double check all my travel itinerary's. I've had some difficulty not only with memory but with processing information. Its only mild and most of the time Im OK buts its something that's creeping up on me and at 52 its probably the right age :(

However Im even more interested if its something that may help with Pn Pain.
Mrs D your issues are ,mostly muscular and arthritis based, or are you seeing improvement in nerve pain as well

I deal with I herb and they have it there. Looks inexpensive

http://www.iherb.com/search?kw=Huperzine+A&x=9&y=22#p=1

I've given it up... for now. Hubby is not asking for any either.
He took one 50mcg dose last week.

I've had to go back on my SAMe as my right knee has flared up.
Then my shingles pain came back... so it is 1 gram of Lysine a day. With those two, I am doing quite well actually. The SAMe really helps me with mood and dealing with pain. 400mg is what I am using right now daily. I used SAMe for over a decade while I was still working. I thought my knee was fairly normal so I finally discontinued it. So now I think it might be a lifelong thing for me.

The huperzine is difficult. It might be good for some people, but it seems to make me very tense and congests my sinuses, which then leads to pressure headache feelings.

Yes, zorro, that is the one I bought too. They break easily so you can adjust your dose from 25mcg to a full tablet. Keep in mind that it can build up in the body, so you may have to skip days or take "vacation" days from it.

@Breia-- yes, I use DM too. I did notice once when I had a bronchitis, that high dose DM did impact my feet. But now I don't really need that much. I posted here about it in fact.
Keep in mind that using DM is problematic with any antidepressants.

Magnesium is a good NMDA antagonist too. The new Morton Epsom lotion is wonderful rubbing into problematic areas. I use mine every day.

Our PD forum (and also MS) has posts about low dose DM being an agent to prevent neurodegeneration in the central nervous system (CNS). There are many posts about this aspect of it.
If you visit and search those forums, there are lengthy discussions about it. One of our members, Nide44, tried the high dose DM with his doctor's supervision based on some studies that came out several years ago...but it didn't seem to work for him. So I guess it is a highly individualized type of treatment, where some people do well with it, and others don't seem to benefit as much.

I use Robitussin DM at night for excessive sinus congestion or coughing (I used to use an ACE inhibitor which can cause a dry cough)...and did notice that it can help with PN pain. At least it seemed to help with burning when I had that symptom often at night. But I have found over time, that avoiding the nightshade veggies reduced burning for me much more efficiently. ;)

Mrs.D,

I have been taking SAM-e for a long time now. I am taking the 600mg daily. It helps me with my left knee arthritis but I dont notice improvement in my fingers though. As for the mood, the effect on me is not consistent..sometimes it helps, sometimes it makes me irritable.

Mary

Yes, there can be an irritability factor with SAMe... but I find for myself, that it wanes, as time passes. The first 2 weeks to a month can be very energizing.

If you back off to 400mg a day or alternate 400 with 600 every other day you may find it less irritating. I think one should remain flexible because everyone has different neurotransmitter status, and these doses are very broad and there is not way to identify yet how much people would need, other than trial and error.

Thanks for the information, Mrs. D! I suspected you might still be having trouble with the huperzine. Too bad. It looks like it works, but I wonder who can tolerate the side effects.:confused:

I actually browsed the PD forum extensively about DM before I joined. The information was very helpful, but at that low dose, I experienced no relief. I've been on DM for at least 2 months, going up slowly to find the level where I get maximum relief. I now find that it is 120 mg/day. I was pleasantly surprised to find that at this dose I could discontinue all my other pain meds (twice daily Tylenol and once daily Alleve) and have better control of my pain.

I then decided to discontinue my 50 mg Topamax to see if it would handle the PN. To my delight it did indeed. :D The topamax worked well, but it had side effects (severely dry hair-some report hair loss-and tingling in my fingertips). The only thing it doesn't handle is the fibro pain..didn't even touch it.:icon_frown: Had to resort to the tramadol.

I don't take ADs because most disagree with me, especially the Serotonin acting ones (so that excludes most of them), but thanks for the tip! And I started the magnesium oil yesterday because of your recommendation in other threads..so thanks again! :) I bought the spray rather than the lotion, and it goes on really easy. Too soon to say if it's having any benefit, but it certainly isn't hurting anything and I needed to add magnesium to my regimen.

I think I got up to 80mg a day of DM... My elderly cat sneezed on me (right in my face) and boy did I get sick from THAT.

It was about a week at the round the clock DM for coughing that I noticed a big decrease in burning. But it was rather stultifying for me mentally, and I was searching for other causes of the night time burning and discovered NIGHTSHADES.... Once that was fixed, I rarely have burning anymore. I did get some salsa at Baja Fresh 3 weeks ago, and that started some burning for me that night. And some perch my son and I had last summer on vacation--whew!! much histamine burning for both of us! But the everyday burning is more or less gone for me.

You might avoid all MSG...as that will also make problems for me. MSG is a NMDA agonist and I think all PNers should avoid it.

I'm glad you are able to resolve yours with an elimination diet. Not taking more meds is a blessing. Unfortunately, my PN doesn't involve just burning..the pressure in my feet is the worst. It's hard to describe, but it's uncomfortable. It used to be just tingling until I took a nasty round of Levaquin, which hurt my tendons and I guess my nerves as well.

i wonder if epsom lotion is safe for cardiac patients
 

i just came across your post re: magnesium inflaming your heart lining & since i am one year post heart attack, i am concerned that the epsom lotion i use could somehow have a negative impact on my heart! how did your doc find out it was inflaming your heart lining? TIA!

I also would like documentation about
That doctor's statement.

Doctors are known for making weird
And sometimes inaccurate or stupid
Statements to frighten patients.

In fact LOW magnesium levels are common
And can lead to torsades de pointes... A fatal
Arrhythmia.

SlowMag in fact was formulated for doctors
To use for their patients. It has remained OTC in
fact.

Using the RDA dosing is all one needs..
High doses are not necessary for most people.
But studies show that up to70% of people
in the USA do not get the RDA for magnesium.

my mag levels are in the lower range of "normal"
 

so i believed that using morton's would 1) help with foot & calf pain (which it does) and 2) have a positive effect on blood glucose & blood pressure (don't have any evidence of that yet..my BP is fine...one area which has mercifully been unaffected by the general deterioration of my health) and 3) raise my mag levels (which will be tested on my next round of bloodwork)

i hope that lewie's doc is mistaken!

and mrs d, thanks for the info on low mag + torsades de pointes...scary! will ask the cardio to clarify mag levels on my next visit.

In general the mid range of magnesium is
Not representative of tissue levels.
The very low range and very very high
Are used diagnostically for serious often
emergency situations.

Daily use of diuretics and chemotherapy
Can put one into a serious low area that can
impact the heart. Very high levels can be
Found in people abusing Fleet enemas and
Fleet laxatives but the latter were changed
For testing preps because of this.

Doctors use very high levels in treatment infusions
IV and those can be problematic
For patients with kidney problems.
Oral use usually causes diarrhea as a warning
To lower dosing but no such warning comes
With IV admin where doses may approach
6 grams IV.

My husband has been getting these IV's about every 3-4 weeks for treatment of myasthenia gravis, and always has a headache afterwards that sometimes lasts 2-3 days. Would this be the reason for the headaches?

IVs for MG may be IVIG... And those often
may have headache as a side effect.

Are you positive his IV is mag sulfate?

A lot depends on the IV dose of mag.
1 gram is not as problematic as higher
Doses. Also the infusion rate should be
Slow for mag IV.

Report that side effect to the doctor.

I have never heard of IV mag for MG.

In fact there are papers about IV mag causing
MG to manifest in patients.

Thank you, MrsD. My mistake--it's IVIG that he's getting. The doctor gave him a prescription, but his writing is so bad, even the nurses have troble reading it and have to call him, so we're not sure exactly what all is in it. They don't mix it til he gets there. He's going to tell them at the hospital about the headache though and also the doctor.

extra additives or fillers.
 

This is very interesting as I have never heard of magnesium irritating the heart lining, You always thought well magnesium helps muscles and it can also help the heart. But never did I think it would actually do something to the lining. I do however tend to think that many supplements/vitamins that are not well purified and have extra dusty fillers in them(i'm thinking of a few NOW foods ones) These ones in particular seem to cause allergic reactions to me in particular, which is why I stay away from them. Most of the thorne research ones are fine with me, just certain ones I know aren't of good quality.