NAC side effects (aka n-acetylcysteine, cysteine)

CaminoDeOro · Nov 13, 2017 at 12:16 PM

I started NAC a month ago for bipolar II and so far no huge impact. My pdoc seems to think there are some recent animal studies that point to potential negative effects from NAC but she didn't have time to elaborate (appointments are very short and she knows I do my own research), but I can't find any. Anybody know what's up?

NAC has very promising early study results for OCD, hair pulling and skin picking, bipolar, and irritability in autism. But it is a precursor to the body's most significant antioxidant and thus has a broad array of effects in the body so it could of course have side effects.

still_crazy · Nov 13, 2017 at 03:25 PM

hi. how much NAC are you taking? some of the smaller studies I've seen referenced used very high doses, like 2 grams+, for a long time, and it took months to see benefits, even when the people/patients were kept on standard treatment.

have you tried a sustained release version? Jarrow makes one. They recommend taking your pills on an empty stomach for better results. Maybe that could help?

There are other supplements. I do old school Orthomolecular, which is basically just tons of vitamin C, B3, E, etc., plus standard treatment. Inositol, at high doses, helps some people w/ psychiatric problems.

hope this helps.

CaminoDeOro · Nov 17, 2017 at 07:02 PM

I'm doing 1200mg a day, 2x600mg. Jarrow makes quality stuff all around and their sustained release is great (I used to use it for hangover prevention) but it's so much more expensive that I'm just doing 2 doses of 600mg, morning and evening.

I haven't noticed a big change but I have other oxidative stress concerns beyond just bipolar so I will probably keep taking it regardless... but i've only been on it regularly now for 5 weeks or so, and med changes have been going on, etc etc. I thought she might have been a little quick on the draw on suggesting to reconsider it after only 4 weeks. I haven't read the studies in detail yet though for myself.

Have you heard of any negative side effects from it beyond the usual upset stomach type stuff? I can eat tons of NAC at once, empty or full stomach, no problem any which way. I feel like she was implying maybe systemic side effects or something but we didn't have time to get into it.

ilive4music · Jul 16, 2018 at 12:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaminoDeOro

I'm doing 1200mg a day, 2x600mg. Jarrow makes quality stuff all around and their sustained release is great (I used to use it for hangover prevention) but it's so much more expensive that I'm just doing 2 doses of 600mg, morning and evening.

I haven't noticed a big change but I have other oxidative stress concerns beyond just bipolar so I will probably keep taking it regardless... but i've only been on it regularly now for 5 weeks or so, and med changes have been going on, etc etc. I thought she might have been a little quick on the draw on suggesting to reconsider it after only 4 weeks. I haven't read the studies in detail yet though for myself.

Have you heard of any negative side effects from it beyond the usual upset stomach type stuff? I can eat tons of NAC at once, empty or full stomach, no problem any which way. I feel like she was implying maybe systemic side effects or something but we didn't have time to get into it.

Is it helping with the hair pulling??

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NAC side effects (aka n-acetylcysteine, cysteine)

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