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n-acetylcysteine (NAC) (N-A-C)

Messages
22
Hi,

I've read that NAC can reduce glutamate levels or block their receptors and is a supplement that could help with insomnia. So, I added a small dose of NAC, about a half of a capsule which I'm assuming is about 200-250mg before bed along with my other supplements. This seemed to help. But after a couple of weeks my insomnia is worse.

The last couple of days I tried a full capsule of NAC 500mg in the morning on a empty stomach. It seemed to brighten my mood and mental energy, but later in the day I started feeling very ill. I slept worse, and so I thought I'd try it again this morning to see if it is indeed the NAC, and I believe so as I'm still feeling ill. Not sure why I didn't feel ill taking smaller doses at night before bed, but now I'm just feeling terrible.

Anyone else with this experience? I feel okay taking Glutathione and have been taking that on/off for a while.

I'm not sure if this is a detox reaction because I've been taking other detox products for some time and shouldn't have such a reaction taking NAC, but you never know. But I have read that nausea and vomiting, etc... are all possible side-effects of NAC. I haven't read too many reviews of this being the case but....

I'm also CBS ++ although my urine sulfate levels are someone in a good range, and my ammonia levels tested fine. I don't think CBS is the reason NAC is making me feel worse. I can take Taurine and Glutathione and feel fine.

I'm going to go off NAC for a few days (or indefinately) and see if I feel better.

Cheers!
 
Messages
15,786
I take 600mg of sustained release NAC three times per day, and do good on it. I have trouble sleeping if it wears off. Normal NAC wears off very quickly (within a couple hours), which is why sustained release might work better.

I'm also CBS ++ although my urine sulfate levels are someone in a good range, and my ammonia levels tested fine. I don't think CBS is the reason NAC is making me feel worse.
The CBS SNPs have pretty much no effect at all. So I'd agree that they aren't relevant to your reaction :D
 

Cheesus

Senior Member
Messages
1,292
Location
UK
NAC caused me an absolutely brutal crash. I mean seriously, seriously brutal. I took two 600mg capsules over the course of two days and by the end of the second day I was in an ME horror story where I stayed for nearly 6 weeks. I am confident that if I had kept taking it I would have died. Not exaggerating.
 

Cheesus

Senior Member
Messages
1,292
Location
UK
I should also add that NAC is a T-cell agonist, so if whatever subset you and I belong to is caused by T-cell hyperactivity, then you have your answer.

How long have you been ill for?
 

Sing

Senior Member
Messages
1,782
Location
New England
I take 600mg of sustained release NAC three times per day, and do good on it. I have trouble sleeping if it wears off. Normal NAC wears off very quickly (within a couple hours), which is why sustained release might work better.


The CBS SNPs have pretty much no effect at all. So I'd agree that they aren't relevant to your reaction :D

NAC sustained release of at least 600 mg at bed or earlier in the evening does help me with both pain and sleep. If I take 1200 mg, however, the next morning my blood pressure is lower than ever so I don't take that amount. The NAC I do take, by itself, would not deal with my sleep issues but it makes a helpful contribution.
 
Messages
22
Hi,

I went off NAC and started feeling better but my insomnia never improved. I tried a little NAC at bed time again but didn't help. I tried it the other day and I believe it caused next day nausea all day again.

Not sure why it helped for a few weeks and now I just feel worse when taking it.

Could it be causing some sort of methylation blockage? Cysteine combines with glycine and glutamine to make glutathione. I some times take glycine but not so much glutamine, could there be some issue with lowered glutamine levels? I'm reaching a bit here but.....

I liked how it helped with my brain health and sleep but not the nausea effect. I will be talking to my ND about this next visit. She suggested stopping NAC for now.

Interesting stuff.
 
Messages
32
I'd suggest that your body has reduced glutathione/NAC levels for a reason. Thus increasing it makes your underlying issue/infection/etc worse

Nausea was a problem for me early in this severe crash. It gradually went away. Presumably my body adapted these hormones/proteins/processes so whatever was happening stopped happening?
 
Messages
32
It has been helpful to some PWMEs. The concern about NAC is that it has been found to be able to move mercury into the brain. So if a person is likely to have a high body burden of mercury (such as from having a number of amalgam fillings in the teeth over an extended period of illness in which glutathione was depleted), it is wise not to take a large dosage of NAC. Dr. David Quig of Doctors Data Lab has recommended that the dosage be no larger than 300 mg per day under these conditions. Dr. Cheney's warning about NAC comes from his knowledge of two patients who took large dosages (not at his recommendation) and later committed suicide. He believes that there was a connection with taking the large dosages of NAC. Perhaps it a mercury issue, but I don't t
Also this
 
Messages
22
I'm still off NAC for now. I do try a half a capsule every now and then at night to see if it helps with sleep or if it makes me feel worse. Jury is out still on if it's helping or not. I'm wondering if NAC did cause some excess mercury detox and I didn't have enough binders to bind and remove it from my body. I am taking more chorella and cilantro, etc... which should help bind and remove heavy metals. I haven't been tested has having high mercury levels. I did have two pin dot size fillings at one time, but they've been removed. HOWEVER, I did play with mercury in my hand as a kid one time before I knew any better so that would be the largest exposure I would have had to mercury. Yikes I know!
 

Sing

Senior Member
Messages
1,782
Location
New England
@soccer_dude

Since you mentioned that you take chorella too, I remembered all the stomach cramping and nausea I had from the only time I tried that. Never again! Upon looking up its side effects today, I see those are common side effects. This may not pertain to you, but I mention it for other people here.
 
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22
I definately had some nausea from taking Chlorella in the past. Currently I've been using Source Naturals "Cilantro Metal Detox" which contains Cilantro and Chlorella in a liquid form. There's only 250mg of Chlorella per serving. I was only occasionally using it but have started using it more frequently without any noticable nausea. I have even taken it on an empty stomach without any noticable nausea. It may not be real potent but I can at least tolerate using it.
 
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Jenny TipsforME

Senior Member
Messages
1,184
Location
Bristol
Just saw this on an Amazon review

The problem with NAC is that it is not very stable, and releases Hydrogen Sulphide as a breakdown product, which in these low quantities is harmless... But STINKS of rotten eggs. That's how you can tell the quality of the product you receive. If it's fresh and high purity, there should be very little effusive odor.

Unlike other brands I have tried and tested, Swanson is the least nasally offensive and in fact when first opened has no smell.

Advice is to keep this product in the fridge, and do not buy multiples in advance (I have made this mistake even with Swanson) because it can and does go off in the airtight container. Gone off product is not harmful, but it obviously is no longer NAC and will not be efficacious. You may aswell take a sugar pill.

Is this person right and at what point of stinkiness would you know NAC has lost its efficacy? :thumbdown: eg @Valentijn do you know? Other online comments seem to think that the smell is part of nature of the product.

Also somewhere on PR there's someone who had amazing benefits from NAC for a while then no benefit. Could it be the NAC going off rather than their body?

I'm taking NAC irregularly to induce sleepiness and avoid tired but wired state and also for congestion (so my supply is liable to go off and does have an eggy smell).
 
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Messages
15,786
Is this person right and at what point of stinkiness would you know NAC has lost its efficacy? :thumbdown: eg @Valentijn do you know? Other online comments seem to think that the smell is part of nature of the product.
Mine's always a bit stinky, and I'm quite sure that it's been effective regardless. I notice pretty soon if I miss a dose, since I get wired-but-tired and have trouble sleeping - I've never had that happen when taking a dose, regardless of the smell.

I think the reviewer has their head up their bum. Some brands simply mask smells more than others. It happens a lot with fish oil as well, where thyme or lemon are used to make it smell fresher and less fishy.

In the case of Swanson, it probably doesn't smell much because it's encased in a gelatin capsule, whereas other brands (definitely Jarrow) are a tablet. If the Swanson capsule was opened, I imagine it would have the same smell.

I also don't see any support for the reviewer's claim that NAC degrades into anything problematic.
 
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aaron_c

Senior Member
Messages
691
I'm having this problem too--at first NAC helped with sleep, but now it seems to increase insomnia. I tried taking glycine, but that doesn't seem to have helped. I'm fairly sure it's not mobilizing mercury since I went through 3.5 years of chelation therapy to get rid of the mercury.
 

aaron_c

Senior Member
Messages
691
From a 1985 study: The mucolytic drug N-acetyl cysteine has been shown to release histamine from cultured mouse mast cells and from human basophils.

Don't know why this would take a week or two to show up, though. Maybe when it was fixing more of an acute deficiency the NAC was getting sucked up more quickly, so there was less floating around to trigger mast cells and/or basophils? Maybe when it gives you insomnia that means you don't need to take that much?

Maybe taking NAC that is not "extended release" spikes NAC too much, which causes the mast cells and basophils to release histamine?

They also mention that the more acidic the NAC-rich medium, the more histamine got released. Maybe that's part of it?

I'll try taking more stuff that inhibits mast cell degranulation and see if that helps.
 
Messages
15,786
Maybe taking NAC that is not "extended release" spikes NAC too much, which causes the mast cells and basophils to release histamine?
No idea regarding histamine, but non-extended release would wear off after 3-4 hours. So it might be harder to sleep after that happens :p
 

Star-Anise

Senior Member
Messages
218
I recently decided to try NAC at the advice of my naturopath as a beginning place to start to restore my liver function. I have no liver function formal tests, but I am pretty sure that I have weak Phase 2 detox. I have trouble with sulfite metabolism & my endocrine function is impaired. I also just get a bloated, blocked, awful feeling when I try to induce Phase 1.

I did not use extended release, and used a very tiny dose (like 1/64 tsp of inside of a 500mg pill) & I found it to be very very stimulating. Thankfully I just used a bit, but it was rage-like, irritability. It felt "glutamate-y" - if that makes sense. I know that my neurotransmitter activity is very very sensitive. Due to NAC's influence on glutamate, I wonder if it is just as simple as rocking a very, very sensitized boat in my brain - even if it was a good thing, the ride is just too rocky for me.

I've also been reading about underlying Mercury toxicity (I had amalgam fillings for years). Could this be the issue even at such a low, low dose?

Thanks for any info that anyone can provide. This is my next learning curve.