Influenced by a thread here, I started taking 200 mg b1/thiamine a day. Was doing fine, but tried to double that and felt funky. It's so hard to know if it is the b1 or not.
I am following the b1 dosing protocol and keeping up on magnesium, sodium and potassium.
I am curious about others who does with high levels of thiamine (200 mg or above):
1. Do you take oral or do injections?
2. What is your dosage?
3. Did you have trouble ramping up?
Meaning were there times when you ramped up and you had to take time to adjust. What was the adjustment phase like and how long did it take before you got over that adjustment and could bump up the dose? What were the symptoms
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I'm wondering why you are trying to take high levels? This is a genuine question at face value - I'm not questioning what you are doing.
I'm a great believer in listening to your body so if it doesn't like it, do you need to keep pushing for more?Some people do differently at different blood test levels so, while this is a good guide, it's not everything!
Only high dose regime I know of is 100mg 3x a day for the treatment of alcoholism and that's with tablets. No known issues that I'm aware of.
If you need it and are sensitive to it, try to get as much as possible from your diet.
I'm looking forward to hearing more of your background on it and others' input too - really interesting.
I have pancreatic insufficiency and take 3x500mg a day with meals. There is a clinical study which does that this dosing is safe and is used in the treatment of pain for fibromyalgia sufferers which is why I took it. And it works for me. I take magnesium citrate 2x500 in the morning as it needs to work with this. The difference is palpable. I question the poster taking additional sodium and potassium though. These are not cleared in the same way as B1 which is water soluble and I don’t know about their potential interactions with B1 . The B1 100mg regime is via injection I believe which is far more potent than the oral tablets I take.
Thank you for this! Really interesting. I have EPI too and have been much better since I've increased my B1 a bit, having found I craved the flavour of the tablets (which usually don't taste good at all! 😁).Good to question potassium, and particularly sodium, but I need huge (beyond theoretically toxic) levels of potassium and get plenty of extra sodium with it, just by nature of my supplement.
It makes sense because alcoholism damages your pancreas so causes AP/CP and therefore has the same effect as our EPI. Mine is due to idiopathic CP.
What level of B1 were you taking and what have you raised to, if you don't mind me asking? I am only taking a tiny amount of thiamine pyrophosphate, so this thread has given me food for thought. Thanks
I am taking 200mg of benfomax. Just feeling tired and some brain fog. I’m not sure where the symptoms are combing from. They may not be related to the b1. I have been taking this dose for a month now with good results. It was when I doubled it I got this change but again it could be a few other things. So my question on this thread was to see what others experienced.
Thanks. This particular question was actually to deniseinmilden above, who doesn't seem to be using high dose. I hope you can get to the bottom of it - so many possible other factors. Cheers
I never took B1 previously except in a b complex where the B1 content was described as 100% of daily intake. I went straight in at 1500mg taken in 3 doses spread throughout the day based on the clinical trials done with fibromyalgia patients. I couldn’t believe the reduction in pain and increased energy.
Mine is idiopathic too but I see there’s a bit of research emerging that says it’s associated with PA and also that SIBO could potentially be caused by unresolved B1 deficiency. Since taking 1500mg of B1 daily my SIBO appears, he says hesitantly, to have gone into remission. I’m going to test my fecal elastase again to see if it has had any effect on pancreatic function. All very curious, a bit like myself!
Yes I’m hesitant saying the B1 is helping! But here is hoping and as I say I read dime medical research on it so I’m probably not imagining it. I did the Rifixamin way back but actually found the herbal protocol much more effective. Also had high methane in the colon do it was all rather complicated. As I say much better now.
Thank you for your explanation, I am intrigued to find out more. As I find it’s not just one thing that will tackle all your symptoms it’s a combination of many. My search will widen again.
I was wondering also. I try first finding out where I lack, then what I can do with my diet first and see if that works and if all else fails , through supplements which I research first. There are many on the markets and you don’t really know what’s in them. When I write to company for guarantees there are no forthcoming. I tend to like ones made in Germany and the U.K. and Scandinavian made ones the best.
I take 600mg thiamin hcl per day orally for chronic fatigue and find it helps a little. I raised to that dose very quickly, ie within days, with no side effects.
What form of thiamin are you taking? I believe (though am not entirely sure) that hcl is usually well tolerated. Benfotiamine and TTFD are a different matter.
It’s usually suggested to take a B Complex containing all Bs when supplementing high doses of one or more, in an attempt to keep things balanced. I believe I recently read somewhere (possibly phoenixrising) that high dose B1 can deplete B2, but annoyingly I can’t remember for sure.
I’m not aware of a dosing protocol for B1 for chronic fatigue, so I’ve just been taking 600mg each morning and magnesium in the evening.
Well thiamin hcl is converted in the body to thiamine pyrophosphate I believe the phosphate come from vitamin b2 which is riboflavin-5'-phosphate so that could explain how high dose B1 (as thiamin hcl) can deplete B2.
Benfomax is what I take. I have been only taking 400mg of magnesium glucinate. I also take a b-complex without B6. I will also go back and reread the high dose guide. I was curious what people did and if they took along with it and any of the mentioned symptoms that can occur when adjusting to a new level when stepping up.
I started taking this due to brain fog and it helped significantly. I got a blood test but really had to argue and after 3 weeks, still don’t have the result. Based on the significance in improvement after taking the b1, I’m pretty sure I’m B1 deficient.
Thanks for all the replies. I will reread the protocol and post back.
Sorry, to hear. Yes, it is difficult to know cause and effect as there are too many incremental changes that can occur. Even things like not drinking enough fluids, having an hours less sleep, outside temperature, being too exhausted to cook so no choice so plump for a not so nutritious ready meal . 🤷♀️
I take 100 mg thiamine (along with lots of other supplements so they are gluten lactose free minimal fillers) and take magnesium threonate as a private dietician said they work in combination.
Threonate crosses the blood brain barrier (part of the central nervous system) more readily and the cells in the human body’s battery type thing (mitochondria) use something called ATP. The main source of energy in cells. It should actually should be called magnesium-ATP.
I don’t take potassium unless on the rare occasion I have cramp, then it’s half. Likewise with sodium but I’ve always loved my salt, pink, black, Maldon. 😋
Like deniseinmilden said tuning into our bodies and give it what it asks. Rest is a big one. Over the past 2 years, I’ve had cravings - red peppers, beetroot, rhubarb, steak when lady time and when I looked them up, vitamin C, potassium, vitamin K and iron.
I’m a coeliac, lactose, hard to treat SIBO/SIAO as the valve between my small & large intestine does not function properly (so, stagnation occurs in my small intestine 👍🏻) and my bile duct does not function as it should. So the breaking down of food is suboptimal or as I say hinky.
I get infusions of thiamine every other week. I have been diagnosed with wernickies Encephalopathy. Symptoms being: loss of balance, memory loss and nystagmus. I believe I get 200mg each time.
Thanks for all the replies. I currently am reading the document here that I purchased. It really sums things up well. It was well worth the purchase. I know this guy has based it on the original findings of the other docs but I really like the guide Elliot produced. It's simple. B1 has certainly helped and I appreciate the people that recommended it to help get past the wall with brain fog.
I am starting on Qualia Focus, a "nootropic" which has 6mg Thiamine (500% RDA). I prefer this lower dosage to most B-Complexes which have massive dosages I don't really want to take regularly. It has most of the other B-vitamins in reasonable doses plus Ginger, Ginseng and Gingko Bilo, which all have some indications that they may be useful for neuropathy. The only thing I don't like is the caffeine since I get my caffeine from a coffee early in the morning already, but its only 1 cup equivalent so not too bad! neurohacker.com/shop/qualia...
Found a B-Complex from Sunday Natural (Germany) with moderate dosages and without the more nootropic/herbal/experimental additions that you would find in Qualia Focus sunday.de/en/b-complex-buck.... Will probably use this on weekends since its recommended to take 2 days off the Qualia every week.
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