L-tyrosine side effects - smelly urine

[tango]

I notice smelly pee when I take tyrosine. This seems to be a new side effect as I've taken it before without problems.

The closest I can describe is that it is like the Sulfur smell you get after eating asparagus or brassicas. I'm also taking methionine but that on its own doesn't smell. It's the l-tyrosine that changes my urine.

Is this something to do with sulfation? CBS??

 

[Hugo]

There is a rare genetic disease called tyrosinemia one symptom is a kind of cabbage smell in skin and urine. Probably nothing similiar to your case though, they have a genetic fault and they cannot break down excess tyrosine.

 

[tango]

Thank you. I couldn't find a report for that on Livewello to check my genetics but I did find heterozygous mutations in TH. I'm not sure if it's related

TH rs2070762(G) AG
TH rs6356(T) CT

 

[Sea]

I do not know but I would presume it would be from an excess the body cannot process. It is known to happen with other amino acids and with carnitine supplementation

 

[tango]

Thanks. That's helpful. I guess I need to look at the underlying system and see why it's struggling to process tyrosine

 

[cfs6691]

Thanks. That's helpful. I guess I need to look at the underlying system and see why it's struggling to process tyrosine

What I remember from almost 20 years ago when I did my research into my condition and I read some stuff on neurotransmitters''the enzyme tyrosine hydroxylase in normal circumstances is saturated by its substrate''(Sorry for using jargon but it's probably the only phrase that I remember intact and I couldn't ressist the temptation to use it)If more tyrosine gets into the brain it will not increase the production of dopamine(I also know that researchers only found an increase of the synthesis of dopamine to experimental animals after they were exposed to cold or immobility in order to increase the rate of synthesis of dopamine because of the stress).I have also read that increasing tyrosine may increase the production of octopamine which is a false neurotransmittr that is it replaces norepinephrine but it has a much lesser effect.If you can look into it yourself or if someone else can provide the references (maybe after 20 years there is new Information )I will not have to look for those articles on the net or go over big piles of the articles that I hadphotocopied 20 years ago.

 

[tango]

What I remember from almost 20 years ago when I did my research into my condition and I read some stuff on neurotransmitters''the enzyme tyrosine hydroxylase in normal circumstances is saturated by its substrate''(Sorry for using jargon but it's probably the only phrase that I remember intact and I couldn't ressist the temptation to use it)If more tyrosine gets into the brain it will not increase the production of dopamine(I also know that researchers only found an increase of the synthesis of dopamine to experimental animals after they were exposed to cold or immobility in order to increase the rate of synthesis of dopamine because of the stress).I have also read that increasing tyrosine may increase the production of octopamine which is a false neurotransmittr that is it replaces norepinephrine but it has a much lesser effect.If you can look into it yourself or if someone else can provide the references (maybe after 20 years there is new Information )I will not have to look for those articles on the net or go over big piles of the articles that I hadphotocopied 20 years ago.

Thanks, I saw that one side-effect of octopamine is increased BP. I should be so lucky!

I am still using tyrosine on days when I have things on and finding it helps my mood (but has the smelly [sulphurous??] urine). It really helps me. The octopamine - if my body is generating it - appears to be helpful for me but the fat burning is definitely not happening!

http://nootriment.com/octopamine/

 

[cfs6691]

Thanks, I saw that one side-effect of octopamine is increased BP. I should be so lucky!

I am still using tyrosine on days when I have things on and finding it helps my mood (but has the smelly [sulphurous??] urine). It really helps me. The octopamine - if my body is generating it - appears to be helpful for me but the fat burning is definitely not happening!

http://nootriment.com/octopamine/

I was only talking about tyrosine and the central nervous system where tyrosine is the ''precursor''to dopamine(and noradrenaline which as far as I remember is synthesized out of dopamine).I don't know how tyrosine is processed in other organs or via other metabolic pathways.I googled tyrosine and found that the enzyme tyrosine phenol-lyase catalyzes the reaction L-tyrosine+H2O=phenol+pyruvate+NH3.I used =instead of two arrows pointing in opposite directions .I also don't know how to type a smaller 2 and 3 for water and ammonia.Is there any other possible cause for the smelly urine or maybe an effect of tyrosine in your nervous system that could affect your sense of smell?or maybe some other metabolic pathway?

 

[cfs6691]

I was only talking about tyrosine and the central nervous system where tyrosine is the ''precursor''to dopamine(and noradrenaline which as far as I remember is synthesized out of dopamine).I don't know how tyrosine is processed in other organs or via other metabolic pathways.I googled tyrosine and found that the enzyme tyrosine phenol-lyase catalyzes the reaction L-tyrosine+H2O=phenol+pyruvate+NH3.I used =instead of two arrows pointing in opposite directions .I also don't know how to type a smaller 2 and 3 for water and ammonia.Is there any other possible cause for the smelly urine or maybe an effect of tyrosine in your nervous system that could affect your sense of smell?or maybe some other metabolic pathway?

I just googled sulphur smell in urine.A number of sites came up and it seems that other people have the same question.A possible cause of sulphur smell in urine seems to be foods such as onion,garlic,fish and asparagus!

 

[tango]

Thanks for your reply! The only other thing I can think of is it somehow affects my CBS pathways and metabolism of sulfur. I do get asparagus pee but this seems to be independent of it and clearly related to tyrosine. I take SOD and B1 every day but I don't have sulfurous foods every day. Spinach is another food that causes the sulfurous smelling pee but I almost never eat that these days. I've experimented and it's definitely the tyrosine


I do have different taste buds. I moved into a new place and I know the water tastes of smoke (roof collection) but no one else notices it and it is so frigging obvious to me. Yet I have trouble tasting zinc on a taste test. When I do taste it, it's not unpleasant.

As for my sense of smell it's acute. I can smell smoke seconds or even several minutes before other people will notice it and I can detect other smells people don't notice.

I looked at my genes and I have homozygous mutations in some of the maple syrup genes and several tyrosine genes but without knowing what each specific gene does it's meaningless. I wouldn't worry about it except that tyrosine helps me a lot but I'm nervous about taking it if there is some negative side-effect going on that the smelly urine is an indication of.

I might go post questions on some website where doctors recommend tyrosine and see if any of them can provide a sensible answer! They might scratch their heads too...

 

[tango]

Apparently the smell is normal but most people don't notice it. I talked to a couple of friends and they started checking and said they had never noticed it before but yes after tyrosine their pee smells. I asked Trudy Scott she had never heard of it but my friend asked Doctor Jockers and he said it's totally normal. Phew! I can relax now and not worry that something is going wrong. I wish knew what the byproduct is that causes it but hey I'm grateful for normal!