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did anyone get sick from BCAAs?

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ebethc

Senior Member
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1,901
I took BCAAs yesterday and they caused overwhelming fatigue - which is the opposite of what i expected! I took a long nap, which was fine b/c I haven't been sleeping well this week. this morning I woke up feeling fatigued, achey, a little dizzy and slightly nauseated.. i'm going to try to take another nap to sleep it off, and drink a lot of water...

I've been looking through the forums and haven't found a similar reaction, so far.
 
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ebethc

Senior Member
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1,901
@Judee

@ljimbo423 's explanation re ATP is excellent (thanks, Jim!) and here's a study that explains the competition w tryptophan ...

"The rate-limiting step in the synthesis of 5-HT is the transport of tryptophan across the blood-brain barrier. This transport is influenced by the fraction of tryptophan available for transport into the brain and the concentration of the other large neutral amino acids, including the BCAAs (leucine, isoleucine, and valine), which are transported via the same carrier system. Studies in human subjects have shown that the plasma ratio of free tryptophan (unbound to albumin)/BCAAs increases and that tryptophan is taken up by the brain during endurance exercise, suggesting that this may increase the synthesis of 5-HT in the brain. Ingestion of BCAAs increases their concentration in plasma. This may reduce the uptake of tryptophan by the brain and also 5-HT synthesis and thereby delay fatigue."

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16424144/


Maybe the key is to eat some turkey (for the tryptophan) while trialing BCAAs so you don't go too low on tryptophan?? and, of course, start w a lower BCAA dose...

I'm finding that any time I screw around w neurotransmitters, it makes me sick... I just tried ALCAR, and it didn't work for me... My focus lately has been on increasing immunity, and trialing some mito/ATP supplements.. Some of the mito supplements work, but they do other things, so maybe it's a coincidence... I have a REALLY hard time w oxidative stress (any kind of particulate matter.. pollution, dust, pollen... but no IGE allergies, they trigger a mast cell reaction)

The things that I take that are also beneficial for ATP/mito: ALA, omegas, magnesium citrate, and I've been taking and liking Ribose lately..... I felt completely NORMAL on Monday, thanks to Ribose (and maybe partly due to andrographis), but who know if it can be sustained..
 
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ebethc

Senior Member
Messages
1,901
andyguitar said:
Taking BCAA wont reduce the amount of tryptophan in your body so you dont get deficient in it. The release of it is altered by BCAAs as is the amount in circulation.
Click to expand...

you're right... I wasn't thinking it through; still out of it.... I ate some hamburger meat and felt so much less achey, though.. amazing how much the right amino acids help :)
 
YippeeKi YOW !!

YippeeKi YOW !!

Senior Member
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andyguitar said:
The release of it is altered by BCAAs as is the amount in circulation.
Click to expand...
It's not so much that the release of tryptophan is inhibited by BCAAs, as that the BCAAs, being a larger molecule, block access to uptake via the BBB to the brain, as do several other aminos whether in peptide chains or singlely .... it could be that separating th BCAA ingestion from foods containing tryptophan (turkey is a good one, as previously noted, as well as red meat, chicken, yoghurt, cheese, nuts and seeds, eggs, and a few fruits and veggies ..... ) could maximize the tryptophan uptake by the brain .....
 
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ebethc

Senior Member
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1,901
YippeeKi YOW !! said:
.... it could be that separating th BCAA ingestion from foods containing tryptophan (turkey is a good one, as previously noted, as well as red meat, chicken, yoghurt, cheese, nuts and seeds, eggs, and a few fruits and veggies ..... ) could maximize the tryptophan uptake by the brain .....
Click to expand...

good point... I was thinking that I could alternate days, too.... BCAAs one day, tryptophan-rich diet the next day...

EDIT: also, I could take it right before bed... I thought it would give me energy so I was thrown off by my body's reaction.... Maybe if it's good for muscle soreness, bedtime would be good b/c it would be relaxing?? we'll see.
 
YippeeKi YOW !!

YippeeKi YOW !!

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ebethc said:
good point... I was thinking that I could alternate days, too.... BCAAs one day, tryptophan-rich diet the next day...

EDIT: also, I could take it right before bed... I thought it would give me energy so I was thrown off by my body's reaction.... Maybe if it's good for muscle soreness, bedtime would be good b/c it would be relaxing?? we'll see.
Click to expand...
If you're talking about the tryptophan, it used to be touted as a sleep-inducer, and a lot of people were taking it for that. That was before it was pulled from the market because a large pharma company was using it as the basis for a migraine headache treatment and didnt want any competition for their new, really expensive drug. The reason given was that it had poisoned a couple of people, or harmed them in some way, and it was gone for over 20 years. 5HTP evetually took it's place in the interim, after a slow start.

So yeah, I think it's worth a try as a pre-bedtime thing. We all react differently, so you know the mantra, start low and slow.
 
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ebethc

Senior Member
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1,901
YippeeKi YOW !! said:
If you're talking about the tryptophan, it used to be touted as a sleep-inducer, and a lot of people were taking it for that.
Click to expand...

I was talking about BCAAs... I expected it to give me energy, but it had the opposite effect, so before I ditch it, I was thinking I could try a couple of other things... like, right before bedtime... I think I might just ditch it, though
 
YippeeKi YOW !!

YippeeKi YOW !!

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ebethc said:
I think I might just ditch it, though
Click to expand...
They don't agree with everyone, but the ones they do work for seem to pretty much know it right away ... I often find it harder to tell when something isn't working for me, if the reactions to it are mild enough, and I hang on longer than I should, waiting to be sure one way or the other .... but I almost always know when something is contributing something positive to the overall picture ....

Follow your gut ....
 
PatJ

PatJ

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BCAAs give me a headache so I take whey protein powder instead which doubles as a protein source. It has a good mix of aminos including BCAAs. I use Natural Factors Whey Factors Unflavored.

This info is interesting as well:
Why to avoid BCAAs, from: https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/article/how-to-use-amino-acids-supplements/
* High doses of BCAAs can deplete B vitamins
* BCAAs can deleteriously affect serotonin levels
* BCAAs may cause insulin resistance and dysregulate blood glucose metabolism
* [Use EAAs only] ...any essential amino acid blend also contains all the BCAAs, but in a balanced form along with the other amino acids, meaning you get all the benefits of BCAAs with none of the negative side effects mentioned above.
Click to expand...
 
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Wishful

Senior Member
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Alberta
We all react differently to things, so if you react badly to BCAAs, just put it on your list of things to avoid. It's nice if you can figure out why something affects you the way it does, so you can counter it or hypothesize other things to also avoid, but if you can't, it's just another datum for your ME profile.
 
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ellie84

Senior Member
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Location
Italy
"BCAAs may cause insulin resistance and dysregulate blood glucose metabolism"

It makes sense that they could do this in someone whose glucose metabolism is good, but they would regulate it in someone (like me) whose glucose metabolism is already impaired. Or am I saying something completely wrong?
The dietician gave me BCAAs to avoid hypoglycemia caused by exercise and they worked in doing that, but they didn't work in giving me energy. They didn't make me sick either, although how ebethc felt is similar to how I feel most of the time, except the dizziness/nausea and the fact that even if I'm sleepy I'm not able to take naps.
 
Mary

Mary

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YippeeKi YOW !! said:
Am tagging in @Mary, who's been taking BCAAs with great success for a while now, and may have some helpful input ....
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Sorry, I can't really add anything to what's been said here. Yes, they do affect tryptophan uptake. They've cut my PEM recovery time by more than half and I've never reacted badly to them. But as we all know, we're all so different. I remember a thread where people were raving about B2. I tried it but my body didn't like it - go figure!

Anyways it might be worth an experiment trying them before bed. I do lots of experimentation, starting low and going slow (unless I'm too impatient! :rolleyes:)
 
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