Hi All,
This is my first post, but have been lurking for a few months using the forum for insights into how to manage my symptoms, and have seen some great support and guidance here
I'm a 33 year old male, and I suffer with brain fog, mental fatigue, heart palpitations, chest tightness, anxiety, dysphoria, and infrequent bouts of depression.. the fatigue and brain fog are often accompanied with a burning sensation in my eyelids (which become clammy and visibly red) and some sinus congestion. I'm not sure whether this is a cause, a symptom, or a coincidence though!
I found 1 year back (accidentally) that n-acetyl-cysteine aka NAC (3x 200mg evenly spaced per day) alleviated the symptoms almost immediately, literally like a curtain lifted and just went back to being my 'old' self again - i continued taking this Maybe 4 days a week and had a great 9 months.. I did notice a strange light feeling in my chest over this time, but it was infrequent and not unpleasant.. assumed it was from reduced mucus production from NAC
9 great months of minimal symptoms abruptly ended in September I suddenly experienced horrible heart palpitations/ surging feeling from my brain( it felt almost seizure like) down to my chest, followed by a massive panic attack.. (I had not taken any NAC for over 24 hours the day this happened) initially I hoped it was a one-off but these attacks persisted sporadically for weeks..
I stopped taking NAC immediately from fear it was depleting something critical, or directly causing these attacks (scare articles on arterial hypertension etc), and have since worsened as mental/ neurological symptoms have returned with a vengeance!
I'm not sure if my problems could be
-glutamate/gaba imbalance
-excess homocysteine
-low glutathione (oxidative stress)
-leaky Blood brain barrier
-something completely different
So.. Given the relief i experienced before I am now looking at testing ways to increase Cysteine / achieve the same result without NAC. The ideal situation is through food sources, diet rather than supplementation... I have a few general questions on Cysteine that I'd be grateful for input on.
1) Is L-cysteine a viable alternative to NAC? What are the pros and cons and Is it likely to increase Glutathione and modulate glutamate in the same way? (Assuming these are why NAC makes me feel better!).
2). Can I boost Glutathione by a similar range through diet without supplements? I do not know of any Cysteine superfoods and cannot warrant eating Kilo's of turkey for the Cysteine : )
3) Does anyone on the forum have experience with long-term (lifetime?!) usage of NACl-cysteine, or lipsomal glutathione? Have you experienced any side effects, other supplements required or other interactions?
Huge thanks in advance for any guidance you could offer me!
This is my first post, but have been lurking for a few months using the forum for insights into how to manage my symptoms, and have seen some great support and guidance here
I'm a 33 year old male, and I suffer with brain fog, mental fatigue, heart palpitations, chest tightness, anxiety, dysphoria, and infrequent bouts of depression.. the fatigue and brain fog are often accompanied with a burning sensation in my eyelids (which become clammy and visibly red) and some sinus congestion. I'm not sure whether this is a cause, a symptom, or a coincidence though!
I found 1 year back (accidentally) that n-acetyl-cysteine aka NAC (3x 200mg evenly spaced per day) alleviated the symptoms almost immediately, literally like a curtain lifted and just went back to being my 'old' self again - i continued taking this Maybe 4 days a week and had a great 9 months.. I did notice a strange light feeling in my chest over this time, but it was infrequent and not unpleasant.. assumed it was from reduced mucus production from NAC
9 great months of minimal symptoms abruptly ended in September I suddenly experienced horrible heart palpitations/ surging feeling from my brain( it felt almost seizure like) down to my chest, followed by a massive panic attack.. (I had not taken any NAC for over 24 hours the day this happened) initially I hoped it was a one-off but these attacks persisted sporadically for weeks..
I stopped taking NAC immediately from fear it was depleting something critical, or directly causing these attacks (scare articles on arterial hypertension etc), and have since worsened as mental/ neurological symptoms have returned with a vengeance!
I'm not sure if my problems could be
-glutamate/gaba imbalance
-excess homocysteine
-low glutathione (oxidative stress)
-leaky Blood brain barrier
-something completely different
So.. Given the relief i experienced before I am now looking at testing ways to increase Cysteine / achieve the same result without NAC. The ideal situation is through food sources, diet rather than supplementation... I have a few general questions on Cysteine that I'd be grateful for input on.
1) Is L-cysteine a viable alternative to NAC? What are the pros and cons and Is it likely to increase Glutathione and modulate glutamate in the same way? (Assuming these are why NAC makes me feel better!).
2). Can I boost Glutathione by a similar range through diet without supplements? I do not know of any Cysteine superfoods and cannot warrant eating Kilo's of turkey for the Cysteine : )
3) Does anyone on the forum have experience with long-term (lifetime?!) usage of NACl-cysteine, or lipsomal glutathione? Have you experienced any side effects, other supplements required or other interactions?
Huge thanks in advance for any guidance you could offer me!
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