I was inspired by Widebody's comments on taurine and glycine to look into supplements that reduce glutamate. I found the following on an autism website that I cannot vouch for, but here is the list: (those of us taking gabapentin, pregabalin, horizont are taking medicine that is reducing brain glutamate)
Magnesium blocks the NMDA glutamate receptor
Selenium is protective against glutamate
B12 is protective against glutamate
Alpha Lipoic Acid (ALA) helps convert glutamate
Berberine helps transport/convert glutamate and is protective
Herbs (cats claw, licorice root, ginseng, gingko biloba) are all helpful
Mitochondrial supports to protect against damage from glutamate
NAC (N-Acetyl Cystine) helps the body regulate glutamate
I read elsewhere that taurine does reduce glutamate, but that glycine can increase it (or something like that--but hey, if it is working for you...)
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wantokporo
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Thanks for this Wantokporo. I'm sure i already have two or three of those supplements in my cupboard. Let us know how you go with them, if you plan on taking them.
Would you mind sending me the link to the article if you still have it?
***Edited to say i have just found the article****
Glutamate is in practically all foods in different degrees. Seems some of us process it differently, but I really don't know the answer to your question.
I posted some info about this -supplements that reduce glutamate- a few months ago. (I haven't been on here since, nor very often, so I must be unfamiliar to most people on here.) I am glad that someone else has forged on with thi subject.
The autism and also the Alzheimer's communities, and perhaps Huntington's disease sites seem to have info on what reduces glutamate. It seems glutamate is a problem for all of these issues, as well as RLS, and probably some others. I have read there is a link, and this seems to be it.
Anyway, I have found, for myself, after a bit of experimenting with some of the supplements I had read about, that vitamin C, about 1000 mgs, will stop a glutamate spike and the resulting RLS in about 15 - 20 minutes. I used EmergenC powder in a bit of water so that it would get in my system faster than swallowing a capsule. It has proved itself many times over. However, I also have used capsules as the powder is rather acidic and sweetened and you don't want to leave that in your mouth overnight. I say this as mostly spikes happen in the night when they wake you up.
My favorite other thing is GABA 500 mg. This works very well for me. I try not to take it too much as it can turn into glutamate. Altho, I have read that taking it with B vitamins (don't remember which one, so I take a 50mg B complex) keeps the gaba as gaba. So far, the last few months, so good. I know that GABA does not work for everyone, but it does for me.
I have also taken glycine, which I have not had any problem with it turning into glutamate. It is very helpful for sleep. Also, NAC, but since it is very smelly, I am not very fond of taking it. I do take taurine, before I go to sleep, and I think it is helpful preventatively, BUT, I have not found it to actually stop a glutamate spike, for me, tho I have tried it by itself. Berberine seems to help, altho I take it to kelp keep blood sugar down, so I can't vouch for it for glutamate spikes. At least it does not cause a spike. Inositol seems to help also and is good for sleep.
I do take a combination of things, mostly because time ticks on and I want to get back to sleep sooner than trying out one thing at a time. However, on occasion I have done one at a time, and Vitamin C and also GABA have been effective by themselves.
I should explain that I have had RLS since I was a child - on and off thru the years, tho more prevalent since I have gotten older. It is not, for the most part, severe. In fact, since I understand more about avoiding glutamate, and turning off or reducing a glutamate spike (sometimes, I have read, your body spikes by itself, not from a food source,) I have been able to better control it. I have never taken any prescription medicines for RLS, altho in a pinch I used ibuprofen a few times some years ago, which works, but one does not want to take that all the time.
The other thing I would like to say is that RLS can make it difficult to sleep, but one can still have a sleep problem even if the RLS is taken care of. There are different body systems/issues that make sleep difficult, such as sleep apnea, cortisol spikes, fibromyalgia, etc. I read somewhere recently Jacob Teitelbaum mentioned that fibromyalgia patients who also have RLS might get the RLS fixed but still have trouble sleeping, so he recommended inositol.
The best thing I have found, for myself, for sleep is 5 HTP and/ or tryptophan (somewhat interchangable.) They convert into serotonin in the body, which helps one sleep, tho serotonin has many other functions as well. It helps to tone down the stress response, which helps to keep one's system calm, which, to my way of thinking, helps to keep the body from doing a glutamate spike. I think anyway; I have been trying to find info on what part of the body actually does a glutamate spike, and why. (I do understand the HPA axis and how it causes cortisol/adrenaline spikes.)
So, my experience with 5HTP is I am Happily Sleeping With 5HTP! I have 50 mg capsules, but I take before bed 200 mg (less is not enough for me,) then when I wake up in the middle of the night, depending on the time, I will take 200 mg, or if it is closer to morning, only 100 mg or maybe even only 50mg. My RLS has been very minimal, tho I often take some GABA. I also have GABA CALM tabs, which have 125 mg and a few other things as well. So I sort of make it up as I go along each night.
I, myself, do not mind experimenting, and I do not mind swallowing things. Other people might not be of the same mind, but there it is. A book that has been very helpful to me is Julia Ross's book The Mood Cure. She uses amino acids for several different issues. There are very good explanations of the aminos and how they work for body systems and body chemistry, and how to take them. There is a whole chapter on sleep (with some suggestions for RLS.) It was written in 2002, I think, so there is not the info on reducing glutamate that seems to have come out more recently. But it is a very good reference book if one is looking to avoid medications and their side affects and try something else.
This is very long, but I wanted to include a lot of information. I hope it is helpful to someone.
Have you thought about stopping the iron? My ultimate goal is to find some other natural treatment that will up-regulate my receptors and enable me to stop the iron. It sounds like you’re there so maybe think about stopping.
I am curious as to why you want to stop the iron. Perhaps I have missed something posted about iron? I take it every other day. I have not had problem with it, as far as I can see. It is iron bisglycinate 25 mg.
I should also say that vitamin c will stop a cortisol spike as well as a glutamate spike. You can google both of those.Also, Verywell Health has an article on how to increase gaba and balance glutamate. Another is Be brain fit, Balancing your glutamate neurotransmitter level naturally.
Also, I have found that many of these things have to be tried to see if they work for a particular person. Just because something works really well for me, or does not work for me, or only partially works, or only for several hours, not all night long, does not mean that it will be the same for someone else. You have to try something, just like prescription meds from the doctor, to see what happens. Different things for different folks.
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