Hi everyone,

I hope someone will be able to assist with any experience of the following reactoins to supplements I was advised to take up by alternative therapist and by a standard of what other MCS sufferers were taking. I am on to week 6 now and although I introduced them slowly and individually I am unable to tolerate the full doses and even half the doses are having a lesser effect.
I take L Glutathione complex 1 capsule containing L- Glutamic acid, L-Cysteine 158mg and Glycine 98mg and 150mg once or twice a day og Magnesium Citrate.

My side effects are:-

Headaches like my brain is swelling like I am dehydrated not releaved by taking water.

I feel like I have pins and needles or the expansion feeling running in my veins (like aeneasthetic) can anyone relate to this?

Uncontrollable hunger (I think this is definately caused by the Glutathione complex a sick and empty hungry feeling not releived by food. I do take this half an hour before food

I am physically sick or extreme nauseas when eating tomato based foods. Even lemon water seems to make things worse. None of theses side effects I had before taking the supplements.

I brain doesnt seem to be tired and feels on the edge of a migraine all the time.

I just don't have any well time at the moment and its completely draining. . .well not for my brain!

The buffered Vit C magnesium ascorbate was the worse I had what could be best described as brain freeze cognitive and memory loss.

I have been on the no pain no gain camp with these supplements so am stopping and was wondering if anyone else had any experiences.

Thanks

Sarah

My sympathies on your troubles with supplement side effects...

Mag Citrate has been busting my gut every time I take it, thought I keep pressing on with it, as it is supposed to be so important. I have found 250mg to be the highest dose I can tolerate, and even then I still feel punky for an hour or so.

Magnesium dilates your blood vessels and drops your blood pressure a bit... This would explain the headaches. It also makes my tummy feel like I haven't eaten all day, even when I take it after a full meal. I think it irritates the lining of your stomach, much like normal stomach acid does when you are hungry and have no food in your tum.

Smaller divided doses are all I can think of to help with this... I have a pill cutter, and often cut my 250mg mag citrate in half, taking one half just before a meal and the other just after. This seems to help. You could also look into foods high in magnesium, and if you can incorporate them into your daily diet, you might be able to drop the mag supplements.

Interesting you therapist has you on L-Glutathione and L-Cysteine... These are important components to metabolism of toxins, but I have read that they are not well absorbed/utilized when taken in pure form, and that N-Acetyl Cysteine or NAC is a better way to go. With enough Cysteine and vitamin C, your body should be able to make its own glutathione. You might ask about swapping the seperate glutathione and cysteine for a single NAC (best taken on an empty stomach) and see if you tolerate this better.

I also had troubles with glycine... Trimethylglycine to be exact. I substituted SAM-e, as from what I understand, the reason for taking glycine is to promote production of SAM-e. TMG is much cheaper than SAM-e, but I have found I tolerate the SAM-e much better, and for me, this is worth it. I take the 200mg SAM-e, as it doesn't affect me as much as the standard 400mg dose and seems to work just as well. SAM-e should also be taken on an empty stomach with a full glass of water.

Also, when taking any methylating agents (TMG, SAM-e) it is important to take vitamin B-Complex, as methylating agents can cause high homocysteine levels... High homocysteine may cause the \"pins and needles\" feeling you speak of, as high homocysteine is much like the histamine response in an allergic reaction.

Be sure to run this by your therapist before you make any changes, but he/she should be able to work with you at finding supplements that work equally well without side effects.

Great Bolam,

Thank you so much. I will show this to my nutritionist see if we can make some changes. I have stopped all the supplements for a 2 week break. The EI Doctor is still insisting this protocol is the ONLY way to go. And to go back on them in minute amounts in weeks time. Can I ask what brand type and amount of Vit C you can tolerate?

Thanks again for all your help

Sarah

The trick with Vitamin C is to take many smaller doses throughout the day rather than one or two big doses per day.

It's hard to find vitamin C in less than a one gram/1000mg dose but they are out there.

I take two different forms... One is a \"chewable orange juice\" from Country Life, which is only 250mg. The other is a very cheap 500mg \"Vitamin C with rose hips\" from Rite Aid (CVS pharmacy store brand). I like these because they are \"caplet\" shaped, and I can't swallow round tablets.

Vitamin C \"recycles\" spent glutathione back into a usable form again so you don't need to take as much NAC or glutathione supplementation.

Your body should be able to make all the glutathione it needs from Cysteine... Good sources are NAC, eggs (cysteine is in the yoke), and peanuts. Vitamin C will help keep the glutathione on the job.

You might try going back on your supplements one at a time, making note of the side effects for each one as you go... Then find a substitute for the ones that are giving you the most grief.

It took me a couple of years and lots of experimentation for me to discover what I really needed regarding supplements. Doctors can be a great help, but it's always interesting to see how different their opinions are on what is the best path to follow.

In the end of course, it is what works for you that matters most.

Good Luck and GodSpeed.

Hi guys,

Just wanted to chip in with the idea od using epsom salt baths/footbaths as a source of magnesium. Epsom salts contain magnesium and sulphate and both are readily absorbed through the skin - so this would obviously bypass any gut irritation you are getting from magnesium taken orally. In addition, sulphate is vital for detoxification and also for producing substances that form the mucus protecting the gut lining.

I'm not sure if glycine elevates SAMe Bill - in the context of the supplement Sarah was given it was clearly aimed at increasing glutathione (which is a tripeptide composed of L-glutamic acid, L-cysteine and...L-glycine). You are totally correct though....this approach has been shown to be pretty ineffective at increasing glutathione with PPC, SAMe and NAC being better options.

Good luck Sarah!