Pro Health article on B1 (thiamine)

[sregan]

http://www.prohealth.com/ep/EP121014/index.cfm?slvor=12212.1175981.0.1.0.105637

 

[Gondwanaland]

health24 article:
http://www.health24.com/Diet-and-nu...omplete-guide-to-thiamine-vitamin-B1-20120721

 

[PeterPositive]

It's an interesting article.
I am always a little worried about these super megadose treatments, especially in the long run. The article in the OP for example doesn't mention possible issues with going out of balance with other vitamins in the B group.

I wonder... was it really fibromyalgia... or more a fibro-like condition caused mainly by B1 issues?

Is there more evidence supporting the idea that megadoses of B1 can help people with a similar diagnosis/condition? After all the article mentions 3 patients. It's hard to draw any conclusion from such a small sample.

cheers

 

[Lynn]

I've been doing this treatment for about 16 months. Although it hasn't cured me, I definitely feel more energetic and cognitively present while on it. When I stop taking the B-1 -- I can tell the difference within a few days. I take 1600 mg/day. I also take a multi-B vitamin to balance out the B vitamins a bit.

Lynn

 

[Gondwanaland]

@Lynn Does it affect your thyroid?

 

[heapsreal]

i tried benfotiamine, a fat soluble form on b1, after several days on this i had severe muscle pains and tight muscles everywhere especially neck and between shoulder blades etc this stopped a couple of days after stopping benfotiamine.

i often wonder if being fat soluble that it builds up to too higher levels, where normal b1 which is water soluble is excreted quicker so doesnt build up to levels which may have caused the muscle pains. Although i havent tried normal b1 on its own.

 

[PeterPositive]

Here's an interesting article:
http://liebjabberings.wordpress.com...a-of-megadoses-of-vitamin-b1-cfs-and-writing/

 

[Gondwanaland]

i tried benfotiamine, a fat soluble form on b1, after several days on this i had severe muscle pains and tight muscles everywhere especially neck and between shoulder blades etc this stopped a couple of days after stopping benfotiamine.

i often wonder if being fat soluble that it builds up to too higher levels, where normal b1 which is water soluble is excreted quicker so doesnt build up to levels which may have caused the muscle pains. Although i havent tried normal b1 on its own.

It increases the need for magnesium and potassium.

I wonder how it affects the thyroid, though. Earlier this week I tried 10mg of benfo, but I'm in the middle of low T3 moment.

 

[Lynn]

@Lynn Does it affect your thyroid?

@Gondwanaland I am not really sure. I am hypothyroid in general and supplement with Armour thyroid. B-1 may have lowered my thyroid a bit but I was in the process of increasing doses of Armour thyroid when I started the B-1 so I am not sure.

Lynn

 

[Gondwanaland]

Thanks @Lynn
Just love your sig

 

[Tammy]

Years ago I had a Spectracell test and it showed I was deficient in Vit. B1.........that was the only B vit. I was low in..............but I never took it in high doses.

 

[minkeygirl]

I know someone who has relief from her neuropathic numbness using benfotiamine. Not pain, just the numbness

 

[whodathunkit]

@sregan, great link!

Interestingly, I've been having some great results lately with sulbutiamine (a B1 derivative that can cross the blood-brain barrier, supposedly much more efficiently than regular thiamine). It took a week or so, but really gave me a mental lift, cognitively as well as emotionally. Doubly so when I combined with acetyl-l-carnitine at the end of week 2. I'd never had any benefit from ALC, but combined with the sulbutiamine gave me quite a good effect.

Then I added in small doses of a couple different kinds of choline and another nootropic, and, sight unseen, my chronic, low-level brain fog just lifted away like magic. It was rather startling how well it all seems to work together.

From what I read, sulbutiamine (the B1) seems to work well in "stacks" of supplements. That's how it's worked for me.

It all (the stack) also seems to have had a deeply beneficial effect on my I stamina. I did over six hours worth of housework the Sunday before last, which I haven't been able to do in over a decade. I didn't get overwhelmed (my biggest problem with doing any large, drawn-out project but especially housework), frustrated, bored, or even sore after after all the lifting or bending. It was as if I was functioning more like I used to in my late 20's/early 30's. Weird and great all at the same time.

So maybe methylation heals our bodies and mitochondria, but most of us don't get exactly the results we want from it because the methylation supps don't act specifically on the mind. After this experience I've concluded that stamina is as much a function of the mental processes as the physical. Before these nootropics my body had a lot of energy since I got stable with the methylation, but my mind couldn't really keep up. Body and mind are more in sync now, with equivalent levels of energy. I'm not completely well but am moving at the speed of light compared to what I was even a month ago.

Still too soon to say if the effect of all this is going to be permanent, but I'm encouraged so far. I've had a few small sides (little jitteriness here and there), but dosage modification and a little bit of time has taken care of it. The effect does seem pretty stable.

Right now I've cycled sulbutiamine out of the stack and will be adding it back in at the end of next week. Cycling is recommended to get the best benefit from it (from all nootropics, actually). And low doses to start, increase if no sides.

Larger point being that my experience is kind of parallel to the experience of the person in the article: a foundation of physical health built with other supplements, then unexpected and startling improvement in mental AND physical energy when adding B1 (in my case, sulbutiamine and some other nootropics). I'm also kind of bouncing from project to project, too, so am probably going to have to retrain my brain, since there are apparently a lot of sloppy habits still rattling around in there. But bouncing is much better than laying down, and it all started with the sulbutiamine (B1).

I'm also taking benfotiamine as a prophylactic against damage from high blood sugar, but I don't know if it's doing me any good or not. I don't have any symptoms from damage, but I do have blood sugar issues.

 

[fozzaw]

i tried benfotiamine, a fat soluble form on b1, after several days on this i had severe muscle pains and tight muscles everywhere especially neck and between shoulder blades etc this stopped a couple of days after stopping benfotiamine.

i often wonder if being fat soluble that it builds up to too higher levels, where normal b1 which is water soluble is excreted quicker so doesnt build up to levels which may have caused the muscle pains. Although i havent tried normal b1 on its own.

I recently had the same problem with benfotiamine, and resolved it by taking calcium. I was already taking lots of magnesium, but a deficiency in either one can cause the same tense muscles.

 

[Rand56]

I started getting more energy when I was taking 1500 mg's of thiamine along with 60 mg's of B2.

Then shortly after that I was getting some brain fog, some blurry vision, and some muscle twitching. All those symptoms subsided when I cut back to 1000 mg's of thiamine and 25 mg's of B2.

 

[Rand56]

I started getting more energy when I was taking 1500 mg's of thiamine along with 60 mg's of B2.

Then shortly after that I was getting some brain fog, some blurry vision, and some muscle twitching. All those symptoms subsided when I cut back to 1000 mg's of thiamine and 25 mg's of B2.

If I may ask you folks. Do you think the brain fog and blurry vision could be ammonia detox related? Or maybe iron related because of the B2?

Also, I'm just assuming the muscle twitching could be the need for extra magnesium. Since I cut back on both the B1 and B2, and no longer having the muscle twitching, I'm hoping I have enough mag on board without supplementing. Maybe this is this case. I am more than likely atypical to most people here, in that taking extra mag always makes me more sluggish.

 

[Gondwanaland]

If I may ask you folks. Do you think the brain fog and blurry vision could be ammonia detox related? Or maybe iron related because of the B2?

I think I have had both.

 

[rebar]

I've posted about this before, its pretty easy to determine if it works. Usually the benefits appear
after 3 days. I took 1000mg's and on the 3rd morning upon awakening I noticed I was not "wired and tired".
Calmed my system. The effect lasted for about 2 months, then I crashed and it has not produced the
same effect. BTW, I've done many treatments and everything else did nothing or made me sicker.

 

[aturtles]

@Gondwanaland asked me to post here on my B1/thiamin experiences.

I was using outdated information about freddd's protocol that led me to take Pure Encapsulations B-Complex Plus, which has 100mg B1/Thiamin.

For months I battled stomach problems that finally got bad enough to drive me to the doctor to rule out disease and infection. (Ruled out.)

100mg B1 is about 10 times too much, according to Freddd. Also high amounts of B1,B2,B3 can drive potassium needs very high. I was consuming over 6 grams a day and still going into deficit.

I now take 1/2 tab Nature-Made B-Complex (with B1/thiamin at 7.5mg). I add biotin and whatever else I needed to fill out the B's.

I was better almost immediately. No problems since. The culprit was clearly the high amount of B1/thiamin.

My takeaway: if you're doing methylation work, be careful about your B1 amount. Stay under 10mg/day.

 

[ahmo]

Just to say I'm using 25mg/day, with no excess potassium or other issues. I've settled on the Swanson's linked below. I split the caps, take 1/2 AM, midday. I haven't found another formula that has both low doses and activated forms.