For me, restorative deep sleep does not help with PEM at all, but I do feel more refreshed and relaxed and handle tasks better. Ubiquinol makes quite a significant improvement, as matter of fact I haven't had any PEM for the past 4 months and I've gone over my "energy envelope" a few times (deliberately) and nothing- no PEM. Carnetine and Lipoic acid doesn't make any difference for me.
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What causes PEM symptoms?
- Thread starter daisybell
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SOC
Senior Member
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@xena, I've also had good luck with CoQ10 reducing PEM, but I have to take 2-3x as much as @Mij to get a good effect. When I'm doing well I can drop back, but my 'low' dose is still higher than Mij's. Effective dose seems to be highly variable by patient. Some do well with 100mg ubiquinol or less. Some have bad rxns to any CoQ10.
FWIW, there is some thinking that we have a problem with ubiquinone/ubiquinol conversion, so it might help to take some of both. I do best with mostly ubiquinol and a relatively small (by my standards) amount of ubiquinone.
Like Mij, carnitine and lipoic acid have done nothing for me.
FWIW, there is some thinking that we have a problem with ubiquinone/ubiquinol conversion, so it might help to take some of both. I do best with mostly ubiquinol and a relatively small (by my standards) amount of ubiquinone.
Like Mij, carnitine and lipoic acid have done nothing for me.
SOC
Senior Member
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I was told not to take it after noon to avoid the risk of sleep disruption. I take the majority of my daily dose at breakfast and a relatively small 'booster' at lunch which gets me through the evening better. The max blood level occurs about 6 hrs after the dose, iirc, and the elimination half-life of CoQ10 33 hrs, so once daily dosing should do the trick for most people.
For me, CoQ10 does not have an immediate energizing effect. It feels more like raising my baseline level over time allows me to do more and avoid PEM. Other people report feeling wired soon after taking a dose. Experimentation is probably necessary to see what works best for you.
400mg ubquinol daily is up there in the high dose range since it's equivalent to 1200mg ubiquinone. Very high dose CoQ10 long-term has not been studied, so you might want to be cautious and do some reading about high dose CoQ10 before you make any decisions about dosage. I'm choosing to take the risk based on my particular life and health circumstances. That doesn't mean other people should take that risk. It's a very personal decision.
