14 replies to this topic

[tolas]

So I was staying with my parents for a bit and while there purchased a Solgar 1000mg ALCAR bottle. Before this I was taking around 500mg a day of ALCAR (for a month or two) with the very occasional piracetam use.

Anyway, I was on my 5 or 6th day of the 1000mg pills (just taking one in morning before breakfast) and about 15 -30 minutes after taking it i began to get very light headed. I noticed that my hands had lost a bit of feeling and were tingling/numb. I then got very dizzy and nauseous. I had to sit upright in bed for about an hour and a half trying to get everything under control. I had a bad headache and was on the verge of throwing up.

Has anyone had this strong of a reaction to ALCAR? The only thing I could thing of were other peoples experience of Choline Depletion headaches, but I thought ALCAR was supposed help generate choline.

Could this have been produce from too much choline? I'm very curious because I wasn't sure if I should run out and try and get some choline in my body, or if that would have made things worse.

Any Ideas?


edit: The only other thing I was taking was some fish oil.

Edited by tolas, 16 December 2010 - 06:47 PM.

[maxwatt]

Maybe the fish oil was rancid? Or you had a stomach virus? There is no way to tell if ALCAR was a cause, or either of these. But I've not heard of a similar reaction to ALCAR from anyone else. IF it didn't happen from the same dose before, maybe it won't happen again.

[mikeinnaples]

Maybe the fish oil was rancid? Or you had a stomach virus? There is no way to tell if ALCAR was a cause, or either of these. But I've not heard of a similar reaction to ALCAR from anyone else. IF it didn't happen from the same dose before, maybe it won't happen again.

There have been reports in these very forums of reactions to ALCAR. I am one of them above a certain dose level.

[niner]

Maybe the fish oil was rancid? Or you had a stomach virus? There is no way to tell if ALCAR was a cause, or either of these. But I've not heard of a similar reaction to ALCAR from anyone else. IF it didn't happen from the same dose before, maybe it won't happen again.

There have been reports in these very forums of reactions to ALCAR. I am one of them above a certain dose level.

Mike, was your reaction like the one that the OP described?

To the OP; you might want to try 500mg twice a day. That's probably the most popular dosage.

[Construct]

I had a similar response the first time I took ALCAR (500mg). I tried it again a week later and noticed only positive effects without even a hint of dizziness. Now I take 1000mg with no negative effects.

On the other hand, the positive effects seem to diminish over time as well, even though I'm taking it 3 days per week at most.

[mikeinnaples]

Maybe the fish oil was rancid? Or you had a stomach virus? There is no way to tell if ALCAR was a cause, or either of these. But I've not heard of a similar reaction to ALCAR from anyone else. IF it didn't happen from the same dose before, maybe it won't happen again.

There have been reports in these very forums of reactions to ALCAR. I am one of them above a certain dose level.

Mike, was your reaction like the one that the OP described?

To the OP; you might want to try 500mg twice a day. That's probably the most popular dosage.

Similiar minus the throwing up part. I narrowed it down to ALCAR as the culprit through process of elimination and duplicated it cross brand, so I know it wasn't a bad batch. I am ok in 500mg doses though, above that is when it gets shakey for me.

[mikeinnaples]

I tried to search for the thread that it was discussed in with no luck. If I recall correctly, there was at least one/two other people with the same issue with ALCAR.

[tolas]

Maybe the fish oil was rancid? Or you had a stomach virus? There is no way to tell if ALCAR was a cause, or either of these. But I've not heard of a similar reaction to ALCAR from anyone else. IF it didn't happen from the same dose before, maybe it won't happen again.

That morning I had taken only the ALCAR and it was on an empty stomach (as I always take my ALCAR). I'm very sure it was the ALCAR. I think the multiple day use of 1000mg was just too much for me. I'd really like to know if it was Choline related and if it was due to a lack of or excess of Choline.

[maxwatt]

Maybe the fish oil was rancid? Or you had a stomach virus? There is no way to tell if ALCAR was a cause, or either of these. But I've not heard of a similar reaction to ALCAR from anyone else. IF it didn't happen from the same dose before, maybe it won't happen again.

That morning I had taken only the ALCAR and it was on an empty stomach (as I always take my ALCAR). I'm very sure it was the ALCAR. I think the multiple day use of 1000mg was just too much for me. I'd really like to know if it was Choline related and if it was due to a lack of or excess of Choline.

With some searching, I was able to find at least one of your symptoms (nausea) occurring in a trial at a 1 gram dose; this was in a trial conducted with Alzheimer's patients. ALCAR does increase choline uptake and calcium ion-flux.

Double-blind, placebo controlled study of acetyl-l-carnitine in patients with Alzheimer's dementia.
Rai G, Wright G, Scott L, Beston B, Rest J, Exton-Smith AN.

Department of Geriatric Medicine, Whittington Hospital, London, England.
Abstract
A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group clinical trial was carried out to compare 24-week periods of treatment with 1 g acetyl-l-carnitine twice daily and placebo in the treatment of patients with dementia of the Alzheimer type. A total of 36 patients entered the trial, of whom 20 patients (7 active, 13 placebo) completed the full 24 weeks. Whilst several of the efficacy indices showed little change in either group during the trial, there was an apparent trend for more improvement in the acetyl-l-carnitine group in relation to the Names Learning Test and a computerized Digit Recall Test, both related to aspects of short-term memory. Similarly, there was a trend for reaction time in the computerized classification test to show less deterioration in the active treatment group. Changes within groups, and changes between groups, failed to reach statistical significance, at least partially because of the small number of patients available for analysis. Two indices of overall therapeutic benefit showed a trend for less deterioration in the active-treatment group than in the placebo group. Nausea and/or vomiting occurred in 5 patients in the acetyl-l-carnitine group. Laboratory tests revealed no signs of drug toxicity. The results suggest that acetyl-l-carnitine may have a beneficial effect on some clinical features of Alzheimer-type dementia, particularly those related to short-term memory.

PMID: 2178869

[niner]

It sounds like the cannonical 500mg dose twice a day is the fix for this problem.

[TysonS]

Maybe the fish oil was rancid? Or you had a stomach virus? There is no way to tell if ALCAR was a cause, or either of these. But I've not heard of a similar reaction to ALCAR from anyone else. IF it didn't happen from the same dose before, maybe it won't happen again.

There have been reports in these very forums of reactions to ALCAR. I am one of them above a certain dose level.

Mike, was your reaction like the one that the OP described?

To the OP; you might want to try 500mg twice a day. That's probably the most popular dosage.

Similiar minus the throwing up part. I narrowed it down to ALCAR as the culprit through process of elimination and duplicated it cross brand, so I know it wasn't a bad batch. I am ok in 500mg doses though, above that is when it gets shakey for me.

I've had the same experience several times (throwing up included) with a 588 mg dose in the morning with an Omega-3, multivitamin, and nitric oxide supplement. I initially thought the NO booster to be the culprit but through process of elimination, I also concluded it to be the ALCAR.

Edited by TysonS, 18 December 2010 - 03:36 AM.

[shp5]

Anyway, I was on my 5 or 6th day of the 1000mg pills (just taking one in morning before breakfast) and about 15 -30 minutes after taking it i began to get very light headed. I noticed that my hands had lost a bit of feeling and were tingling/numb. I then got very dizzy and nauseous. I had to sit upright in bed for about an hour and a half trying to get everything under control. I had a bad headache and was on the verge of throwing up.

this is the exact description of a migraine attack. too much ALCAR (1200mg) gives me the early stages of this. don't take that much.

Edited by shp5, 18 December 2010 - 05:20 PM.

[SayIDoAndIDont]

I started taking 2.5 grams of ALCAR three times daily for the past few days, on the first day I had a mild headache which went away when I woke up the next day, but no other side effects were noted. I experienced a mild increase in concentration. ALCAR is probably one of those supplements that have most of the benefits starting supplementation, and after that, a low dosage can be used to keep the benefits.

[beatsme]

Apologies for reviving such an old topic, but it's most relevant to my experience.

I recently started taking ALCAR (500mg per day, Natural Factors brand) for a week, and after a few days have noticed the onset of intense brain fog -- unable to concentrate or focus my thoughts, vision blurring, minor depersonalization -- headaches, and nausea.

Just putting this out there. Many believe ALCAR to be free from negative side-effects, but there seems to be a small population whose chemistry does not mix well with it.

[cargocultist]

Apologies for reviving such an old topic, but it's most relevant to my experience.

I recently started taking ALCAR (500mg per day, Natural Factors brand) for a week, and after a few days have noticed the onset of intense brain fog -- unable to concentrate or focus my thoughts, vision blurring, minor depersonalization -- headaches, and nausea.

Just putting this out there. Many believe ALCAR to be free from negative side-effects, but there seems to be a small population whose chemistry does not mix well with it.

Good to hear. I don't have this effect even at 3g doses but am extremely sensitive to Huperzine A. More than 12.5 mcg (1/16th pill) is too much! So even supplements that (among other things) affect the same biochemical system (i.e. cholinergic) can have very different effects even in one person.