L-Carnitine Informal Survey

[Darrell]

L-Carnitine has been a great help to me and I'm wondering just how many of us it is working for and what it's doing. If you have tried L-Carnitine (or Acetyl L-Carnitine HCl, etc.), would you please post the following:
The statin that affected you and the dose.
How long you've taken L-Carnitine and current dose.
Brief summary of your L-Carnitine effects.

Also, please post if it didn't help you.

Here's my own data:
Zocor, 40 mg/day. L-Carnitine 12 weeks; 2,500 mg/day; eliminates most leg muscle aches.

[Kathy]

My husband took lipitor at 20 mg from April of 1997 to March of 1998 when he started to have muscle problems in his arms and had an experience with TGA. He stopped taking lipitor and for about 8 years has had a gradual decline in energy. Last December he was diagnosed with temporal arteritis. Dr. Graveline suggested we put him on CoQ10 which he had been taking since about March of this year.

After reading the letters about L-Carnitine we started hubby on some on June 5th. I also ordered some from Ray's Western Austrailian supplier which arrived on June 13th. He took his first dose at noon and said that evening that he was work tired but not drained and exhausted. He is presently taking 2 ml of L-Carnitine-1ml in the morning and 1 ml at noon along with 1000 mg of Q10 a day. If he takes the l-carnitine too late in the day he can't sleep at night.

The L-Carnitine has been a God send but not a cure all. He is able to be active longer between rest periods and is sleeping well at night. As long as he does not try to do too much between rest periods he is getting along fairly well. He has come along way from getting up in the morning, eating breakfast and then falling asleep on the sofa where he spent most of the day.

One side note: He mentioned this morning that his finger nails have started to grow again. He had not trimmed them for months!

Kathy

[tex62]

My husband stopped taking Zocor 20mg and Tricor 145mg eight months ago. He took 1300-1500mg of CoQ10 for several months and slowly improved, but not fully. When the information about L-Carnatine was posted on this site, he started taking it too. Within a week of adding the
L-Carnatine, the pain in his shoulders was almost gone (it is gone now). Also, he had lost feeling to two of his fingers after carpal tunnel like symptoms. Within a week of adding the L-Carnatine, the feeling returned to his fingers. Now he takes 450mg/day of CoQ10 and 1500mg/day of
L-Carnitine and has returned to a very active life. The only lingering effects are some pain in the final joint of his fingers (near the nails), but nothing severe.

[Ray Holder]

Kathy
Your husband is only on a fairly small dose of carnitine, a 1ml scoopful is about 500 mg, so that makes a total of 1000 mg. he might do better to take that size dose all at once first thing, so that it is well before food and more effective. If that doesn't help, a little more may be needed.
I forgot my late afternoon dose yesterday, and took it early evening after my tea, but it didn't work and I had very little strength when I had to get out in the night, but I need 6 grams a day, and soon feel the shortage.
Ray

[Kathy]

Ray,
I am sorry I goofed. He is taking 2 ml (100 mg) in the morning after he gets up and is taking another ml at noon along with a l-carnitine capsule of 500 mg.

Another side note: His pulse rate had soared to above 100. After taking the L-carnitine for a few weeks it has now dropped down to the 80's. His blood pressure has also dropped.
Kathy

[SusieQ]

Looking back, when I started on Lipitor about 2 years ago, I started getting more cold sores. Actually, I can usually stave them off by staying alert to the warning signs and taking lots of lysine and bioflavonoids. I also had to watch what I ate as certain foods -- especially walnuts, almonds, and raspberries -- would trigger them.

I've been off the Lipitor for almost 2 months and taking 200 mg of Co-Q once a day and 500 mg of Acetyl-L carnitine several times a day. (Typically 1500 mg per day.) Guess what! I can now eat nuts and haven't had any lip tingles for at least a month.

I know that carnitine is a derivative of lysine but can't quite follow the chemistry. It may just be that my immune system is stronger!

[sos_group_owner]

Re: I know that carnitine is a derivative of lysine but can't quite follow the chemistry. It may just be that my immune system is stronger!

Hi SusieQ,

Chemistry wasn't my major either, but Wikipedia has a pretty good description of the path that Carnitine takes, eventually benefiting the mitochondria.:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnitine

L-Lysine (in it's pure form) definitely helps to prevent cold sore outbreaks. I used to take it many years ago, then stopped for some reason. It took awhile before cold sores surfaced, but about a year ago stated taking 500 mg daily. L-Lysine's available in capsules now... much easier to swallow. Also taking Acetyl L-Carnitine.

Fran