Advice on Vitamin B1 intake and form

[jason30]

Hi all,

I am certain that I am deficient in Vitamin B1 so I wanted to start with taking B1. There are several forms and I wonder if you have experience with Vitamin B1 and could share:
- fursultiamine (also known as thiamine tetrahydrofurfuryl disulfide aka TTFD)
- thiamine HCl,
- Benfotiamine
- other?

Active
I also read that phosfor is needed to convert thiamine to the active form of B1 in the body.

Are there any (other) cofactors needed before you take B1?

Thanks for thinking along.

 

[linusbert]

the most important cofactors are
- potassium (e.g. in coconut water)
- phosphorous (e.g. in milk and cheese products, kefir , yoghurt and EGGyolkS)

but its more complicated, also other b vitamins are involved in b1 involved pathways.
so get a low dose b komplex anyways.

benfothiamine or allithiamine (ttfd) is said to be more potent, but also in side effects. try low dose benfo or alli and see how it goes, if you cannot tolerate it, use thiamin HCL.

also vitamin D i recommend.

also a multi mineral as support.

 

[Mary]

@jason30 - I've tried benfotiamine and thiamine HCL and didn't notice much difference except benfotiamine was more expensive, so I just take thiamine HCL.

I found thiamine to be very powerful, had a noticeable effect within a day or 2 at the most, very nice increase in energy, followed maybe a day later by severe fatigue. It took quite awhile for me to figure out that it was refeeding syndrome - the thiamine had apparently greatly increased my need for phosphorous and thus caused my phosphorous levels to drop rather quickly, resulting in severe fatigue. Drinking several glasses of kefir helped the fatigue start to dissipate, which told me the problem was low phosphorous. I ended up getting a phosphate supplement.

I've been taking thiamine for I think 6 years or so now (have lost track) and still have to take a phosphorous supplement.

I started I think with 100 mg. a day, eventually worked up to 400 mg. and now I take 300 mg. a day.

I think @linusbert 's suggestion of taking a B complex with the thiamine is probably a good idea. I take all of the B's separately as I need a lot of some and not too much of others.

 

[jason30]

the most important cofactors are
- potassium (e.g. in coconut water)
- phosphorous (e.g. in milk and cheese products, kefir , yoghurt and EGGyolkS)

but its more complicated, also other b vitamins are involved in b1 involved pathways.
so get a low dose b komplex anyways.

benfothiamine or allithiamine (ttfd) is said to be more potent, but also in side effects. try low dose benfo or alli and see how it goes, if you cannot tolerate it, use thiamin HCL.

also vitamin D i recommend.

also a multi mineral as support.

Great, thanks. I take 2 times a week coconut water, B complex (without b12 and folatE) and kefir(water) to support the b12 injection. Also some bananas for extra potassium.
I'll test with low doses and see how that goes.
Do you by change have a tip for a natural good multi mineral? I can't find one. Thanks again.

 

[LINE]

Great, thanks. I take 2 times a week coconut water, B complex (without b12 and folatE) and kefir(water) to support the b12 injection. Also some bananas for extra potassium.
I'll test with low doses and see how that goes.
Do you by change have a tip for a natural good multi mineral? I can't find one. Thanks again.

I like Source Naturals - they have several offerings including Life Minerals, I also use Life Force (both without iron) also products that use TRAACS which is supposed to be a superior form of delivery.

 

[jason30]

great, thanks again

 

[jason30]

@jason30 - I've tried benfotiamine and thiamine HCL and didn't notice much difference except benfotiamine was more expensive, so I just take thiamine HCL.

I found thiamine to be very powerful, had a noticeable effect within a day or 2 at the most, very nice increase in energy, followed maybe a day later by severe fatigue. It took quite awhile for me to figure out that it was refeeding syndrome - the thiamine had apparently greatly increased my need for phosphorous and thus caused my phosphorous levels to drop rather quickly, resulting in severe fatigue. Drinking several glasses of kefir helped the fatigue start to dissipate, which told me the problem was low phosphorous. I ended up getting a phosphate supplement.

I've been taking thiamine for I think 6 years or so now (have lost track) and still have to take a phosphorous supplement.

I started I think with 100 mg. a day, eventually worked up to 400 mg. and now I take 300 mg. a day.

I think @linusbert 's suggestion of taking a B complex with the thiamine is probably a good idea. I take all of the B's separately as I need a lot of some and not too much of others.

Thanks a lot Mary, this helps a lot. Will have some kefir as backup. Thanks for thinking along.

 

[Tsukareta]

EONutrition on Youtube talks about this a lot, seems to know what hes talking about, I don't know if its really relevant for ME/CFS, for me its about the SIBO but I think B1 deficiency could explain all of the strange symptoms I have had in recent years that dont quite fit into the normal ME/CFS picture, which I did previously have. Probably having ME/CFS and later chronic stress depleted my b1 levels, causing SIBO, memory and learning problems, strange neurological sensations etc ( thats the short version ! ).

When I took the benfotiamin for the first time, just one pill my heart seemed to calm down and I broke out of that 'wired but tired' state where I felt like I was on the edge of a crash and my resting heart rate was too high. On halloween I felt this way, I tried to make an effort to go to a creepy place and listen to HP lovecraft story in the dark, the next day though I took that pill and it cleared it all up, also my inclination to play video games greatly improved all of a sudden and I could tolerate it for more than 5 minutes without wanting to stop ( this has been a thing in recent weeks but was fine a month ago ). I'd say its worth a try BUT the regular thiamine ( salts ) did nothing for me when I tried it earlier this year even if I ate a few pills.