Numbness in fingers and toes hours after taking alpha lipoic acid

[linusbert]

i took highquality NA-ALA 2 times in dosage of 150mg on different days, and everytime i got after ca. an hour numbness in finger and toes which lasts for the rest of the day and somewhat into the next day.
i will stop now as i dont think this should be.

but whats the explanation behind this?

 

[Faith2007]

I'm no doctor or medical researcher, as I believe you know, but I researched this for you. But I am inexperienced with any of the following. ALA can cause problems with thiamine, or vitamin B1 deficiency. See below.

Here is a web page that discusses possible interactions with ALA, which includes lowering B1 levels:
https://www.mountsinai.org/health-library/supplement/alpha-lipoic-acid

This article discusses how low thiamine could cause berberi, where one of the symptoms can be "pain or tingling in arms and legs"
https://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-su...oute-injection-route/description/drg-20066328

I'm not sure if you are taking this orally or via injection, as I don't know what ca. means, which can make a difference. But I orally take 400mg daily minimum, with no side effects. My CFS doctor says I can go up to 800mg. I used to take 600mg daily before I was cutting costs. And I'm underweight.

You may consider discussing your reaction to it with your doctor. It could be a clue to something else that is going on.

 

[linusbert]

I don't know what ca. means

its a, i guess german, short term for describing a estimate, like ~100 or ca. 100 which mustnt be exactly 100 but could also be 90 or 110. a value based roughly around that. i dont know what the english term for this is.

But I am inexperienced with any of the following. ALA can cause problems with thiamine, or vitamin B1 deficiency. See below.

thats very interesting, greath thought, thanks.
i will directly check if this is related. though i did take a multivitamin having 10x RDA of thiamin in it. but if it gulps up the thiamin, it might be possible.

i thought it could be something which gets gulped up by ALA. maybe copper or something else.
potassium deficiency can also do numbness in fingers and legs.
though my numbness is specific to the fingers and toes, its not the whole arm and not the whole leg.

the other thing i found was IAS , autoimmune insulin syndrome where after a sulfur containing thing like ALA NAC or benfothiamine the body makes anti bodies to insulin there fore its not working anymore correctly. the symptoms are those of sugar deficiency aka hypoglycemia.
but i did not have those, just this one symptome.

You may consider discussing your reaction to it with your doctor.

there arent any doctors nowadays who even have a slight clue about biochemistry let alone vitamin interactions. if i tell this my doctor , he tells me the same like with for every supplement, that is, leave out all supplements because supplements = bad. without exceptions. of course statins and every pharmaceutical nuke is fine.

 

[Faith2007]

I've had the same reaction from purely western medicine doctors as well with most supplements. But my best doctors are a combination of western medicine and alternative therapies, who do recommend supplements. But I know those doctors are more difficult to find, and more expensive.

The other thing I wonder about is if nutritionally we process things the same as other people. I had genetics testing done and found I don't process fats. I ask myself, what does that mean for fat soluble vitamins then, etc.? Also I have food allergies, like gluten, plus more. I wonder how our body tries to process what we are allergic to. Perhaps a dietitian can help with these types of questions and our illness in small ways as well, though I've never seen one. But I don't have the money to take on another doctor right now.

By the way, I figured out ca. is the abbreviation for circa after you explained it, which I'm familiar with.

Best wishes to you in finding the answers you need.