Choline Advice

[cman89]

I am thinking of experimenting with adding some form of choline into my supplements, since I take enough B-vitamins anyways and its basically another of that. I have run across a few threads talking about choline, but I was wondering if I could get some answers in one spot here. Who has supplemented with choline or a similar agent? What did you use and how successful was it?

 

[cman89]

I am thinking of experimenting with adding some form of choline into my supplements, since I take enough B-vitamins anyways and its basically another of that. I have run across a few threads talking about choline, but I was wondering if I could get some answers in one spot here. Who has supplemented with choline or a similar agent? What did you use and how successful was it?

Another note-currently, my digestion is pretty screwy, so any way to bypass that may have more success.

 

[CFS_for_19_years]

I've taken up to one-half teaspoon a day of choline bitartrate (1000mg choline) along with other B vitamins with no positive or negative effect. I was trying to detoxify hormones and provide liver support using this protocol:
https://www.drvitaminsolutions.com/content/uterine-fibroids-02

Detoxification of Hormones/Liver Support

• Milk Thistle: 750 mg of standardized extract containing 80% silymarin and 30% silibinins
• Artichoke Leaf: 500 mg of standardized extract 1 to 3 times daily
• Dandelion Tincture: 5 – 10 mL 3 times daily, or dandelion root, 200 – 500 mg capsules twice daily
• Goldenseal: 400 mg daily
• Choline, Inositol, and Methionine: (complexed in a formulary to yield 1000 mg of choline and inositol daily). These nutrients may also be purchased separately as choline bitartrate, ½ tsp, twice daly; inositol, two 500 mg capsules daily; methionine powder, 500 mg daily
• Calcium-d-glucarate: 137.5 – 400 mg daily

 

[ahmo]

I asked this question awhile ago. You can find a good discussion here.

I'm using citicoline, alpha GPC, and sunflower lecithin daily. This seems to be working well for me.

 

[ebethc]

I asked this question awhile ago. You can find a good discussion here.

I'm using citicoline, alpha GPC, and sunflower lecithin daily. This seems to be working well for me.

Do you think that the citicoline/alpha gpc/lecithin combo is helping the BHMT issues?

 

[SickOfSickness]

I supplement with choline sometimes if my diet doesn't have enough. A very good source is eggs, and if you don't eat eggs regularly, you may have insufficient levels of choline. I'd be curious if it has any benefits for people who already get well over the RDA of choline.

 

[ilivewithcfs]

Choline supplements can be dangerous in some cases.
I tried choline recently, at first I got a little better, but after a couple of days it started to give me insomnia. I gave it up immediately. A lot of supplements tend to give me insomnia, but usually my sleep goes back to normal right after I give them up. That didn't happen with choline. My insomnia got worse and worse. Sleeping pills, that usually help me, don't work. I feel terrible. I'm considering going to mental institution, I don't know, what else to do.
I thought I was at rock bottom, but choline helped me discover a new level of hell.

 

[pamojja]

I've supplemented about 400 mg/d for 15 years, along with 2 eggs daily. Note: Choline bitartrate and citicoline contains 41% choline, PPC about 14%. Made the funny experience at the beginning, that increasing above 300 mg/d of supplemental choline did cause jaw tensions. Later that limit lifted, I suspect, by increasing inositol upto 11 g/d.

 

[Carl]

I get pain in my liver when I fail to supplement Choline bitartrate. I need at least 3/4 tsp/day and I usually take 1 tsp along with equal amounts of Inositol. If I fail to take it I get what I believe is NAFLD along with liver pain. My liver enzymes have always been okay though while supplementing. I get very little in my very restricted diet.

 

[pamojja]

My liver enzymes have always been okay though while supplementing.

Normal range is defined as a Gaussian curve, by 95% in the middle of all tested. Many more with 'normal' liver enzymes do already have NAFLD. AST, ALT and GGT are usually considered healthy below 30 U / l by functional medicine practitioners. APH between 70-100. LDH 140-200. And CPK below 100.

 

[Shanti1]

Choline supplements can be dangerous in some cases.
I tried choline recently, at first I got a little better, but after a couple of days it started to give me insomnia. I gave it up immediately. A lot of supplements tend to give me insomnia, but usually my sleep goes back to normal right after I give them up. That didn't happen with choline. My insomnia got worse and worse. Sleeping pills, that usually help me, don't work. I feel terrible. I'm considering going to mental institution, I don't know, what else to do.
I thought I was at rock bottom, but choline helped me discover a new level of hell.

Wow, that sounds rough. I'm sorry to hear you are going through such bad insomnia. Choline in a precursor to the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which some people find really stimulates their brain, but it sounds like you didn't go back to your baseline. Benadryl usually isn't considered a powerful sleep medication, but it does block acetylcholine, so you might consider trying it in this situation. The newer orexin receptor antagonists might be worth trying as well, if you haven't.

 

[ilivewithcfs]

Wow, that sounds rough. I'm sorry to hear you are going through such bad insomnia. Choline in a precursor to the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which some people find really stimulates their brain, but it sounds like you didn't go back to your baseline. Benadryl usually isn't considered a powerful sleep medication, but it does block acetylcholine, so you might consider trying it in this situation. The newer orexin receptor antagonists might be worth trying as well, if you haven't.

Thanks for the advice! Benadryl requires prescription, so I can't get it. I'm currently taking a OTC medication, that blocks acetylcholine (oxybutynin). No luck so far, but maybe I just need to give it couple of days. I will look into orexin receptor antagonists. I'll discuss all these options with my doctor next week.

 

[Florida Guy]

My insomnia got worse and worse. Sleeping pills, that usually help me, don't work. I feel terrible. I'm considering going to mental institution, I don't know, what else to do.
I thought I was at rock bottom, but choline helped me discover a new level of hell.

Thats terrible, I can relate because trying ldn gave me insomnia years ago that continues to this day. Things that help include taking magnesium, no screen time late at night and relaxing before bed. THC and CBD have helped a lot of people. I find that THC alone works well and CBD doesn't help but some like the combination. 5htp, glycine, epo, melatonin all seem to help. Some antidepressants help with sleep.

For pw/me comorbidities like this make the disease so much worse