Anyone tried supplements?

Post Reply New Topic

One of my obsessions is supplements -vitamins, minerals, herbs, etc. I've got about 50 currently and have tried hundreds.

For some reason most give me bad side effects. But occasionally I hit the jackpot and find one that really makes me feel better, more energy or better mental/emotional feelings, better sleep etc.

I want to know if its just me or possibly AS that makes me sensitive to everything. From all my years of experimentation it seems that my mental/emotional/physical problems stem from the very fibre of my being/cells/biology rather than just an AS brain problem. Just one wrong supplement and my anxiety/depression/low energy skyrockets. One correct supplement, and it makes things a lot better.

So anyone else notice an abnormal amount of side effects or beneficial effects from any supplement or drug at all?

Cheers Tim

Not yet, but I'm thinking of trying a GABA one (doubt much will cross the blood-brain barrier though).

"We" supposedly lack in it, and it helps with executive functioning. Medications that increase it help me in that way.

Cannot....resist....the....urge....to.....say.....it....

Please be careful of interactions. Just because they are supplements it doesn't mean they can all be taken together.

My kids both do better when taking Omega-3's at a dose higher than the "normal" recommendation. I have had luck with St. John's Wart in the past when dealing with depression.

The problem for me is that I lack the stick-to-it-iveness necessary to really see any potential positive effects. I have numerous bottles of various things that I take for 2-3 days, then I just go back to my regular regimen of nothing at all. It seems to be the only thing I can stick to

You obviously have too much money. The vitamin and supplement companies are happy to relieve you of their share of it.

i take hibiscus tea for borderline hypertension. melatonin sometimes and ginger rarely for sleep. ginger for nausea. cranberry and acidophilus to prevent UTI. and just because i'm old, i take B12 and D3.

Vitamin D is one of the vitamins that I suspect that most people who don't get plenty of mid day sun in the lower latitudes would be better off taken.

Yes, this is a big hobby/obsession of mine as well. I'm pretty sensitive to stuff, too. So sensitive some prescription things put me on edge and herbal things seem to work fine.

My current daily supplements I take:

Morning
5 balls Bu Nao Wan "Cerebral Tonic" Chinese medicine (recommended daily dose is like 20-30 balls a day, main active ingredient is schizandra)
1 Walmart multivitamin (sucky stupid oneaday knockoff that sucks)
2 Fish oil capsules (Dollar Tree)
1000mg Vitamin C
1 random B Vitamin Complex pill
1 Ginseng pill (might up it to 2) (Dollar Tree)

Night:
Long Dan Xei Gan Chinese medicine (liver detox)
1 fish oil capsule
1-2 Valerian/Chamomile/Melatonin pills for sleeping pills. (from Dollar Tree)

I also have a Chinese tea made of eucommia bark I take, it's a testosterone booster, meant to help heal ligaments and whatnot faster. I have some Rhodiola Rosea dried herb powder I occasionally take. For Chinese herbs, I take astragalus and hawthorne as tea, too.

Lately I'm getting big into Traditional Chinese Medicine. Also for herbs, I do like buying raw herbs and just making tea, but the problem I have is sometimes I'm too disorganized to do that, actually most of the time I am. It's much easier to take a handful of pills in the morning. But the pills cost more and aren't as effective as the herbs, so....

Oh! In the past, I had great success with added magnesium, and taurine. So I think I'll be ordering some more of that.

Seems to be working for me, though I've only been on it about 40 days. I have heard zinc is another one often deficient in autistic people, quite possibly caused by Vitamin D deficiency (since Vit D helps the body absorb zinc).

I've taken both supplements and medications. I haven't experienced many side effects from the medications, but I had some bad side effects from melatonin (drowsiness, irritability, nausea, and heart palpitations). On the flip side, I have experienced almost immediate good effects from consuming turmeric - I have noticed that my moods are better and my negative emotions are less intense. Indeed, I have heard that turmeric is used as an anti-depressant in some countries.

I've had success with B-complex, B-12, general multi-vitamin/mineral complex, and fish oil taken together. When I can remember to take them that is. I just have to say this; damn some of those pills are HUGE, I'm not sure if I'm supposed to swallow them or stick them up my ass suppository style.

I take melatonin for sleep. Tried B-12 and magnesium. Didn't notice a difference...but I didn't take them for very long because A) I have a hard time remembering to take meds (it's easy to remember the melatonin when I'm lying awake for having forgotten it) and B) pills often cause me to gag. Also tried Passion Flower Extract, but that made me vomit. As far as Autism making you more sensitive to meds and such, I really think that's true. When I've been put on anti-anxiety meds in the past, it's always made me even more unable to function. Temple Grandin recommended in some book I read that AS people start at a quarter to half the recommended dosage of anything and work their way up.

hmmmmm my sensitivity is starting to make sense then...

I've been into TCM for a few years now as well. They've got great stuff and a fantastic way of diagnosing and explaining symptoms. I've usually got liver stagnation or kdney yin deficiency.

I'll have to check out that eucommia thing because my test is a bit on the low side as well.

I just ordered some taurine, Siberian ginseng, and a multivitamin off Puritan's Pride. The multis should be good, they seem to be the same ones my father gave me as a kid. One month supply for $9. I got 5 bottles of 50 500mg Taurine pills for like $9, also. Siberian ginseng I got (well it's not actually ginseng blah blah blah) because I seem to tolerate it better than Korean ginseng. Taurine was helpful for me when I tried it, and yeah. Also, my mom has some liquid Vitamin D she's not taking, so I'm gonna have that for now. I like cod liver oil, I'm wondering if I should just take cod liver oil. Hmm... Also I gotta get more of both of those Chinese medicines. http://www.puritan.com/multivitamins-06 ... a-1-000320 That's the multi I'm getting.

I think next supplement shopping trip I want a magnesium supplement. I felt awesome on a good one my dad bought. However I don't feel much with magnesium oxide ones.

I like supplements a lot. On mine, I don't even spend all too much (half of my list above is from the dollar store) and it's cheaper than going to the doctor ($160 per visit with no insurance.) For me, the one prescription medicine I tried recently, Ritalin, didn't work as I wanted it to, and had terrible side effects, and the visit to get it cost $160. I figure a few supplements is cheaper than going to a doctor. Also, with one of my health ailments, it was only Chinese medicine/Chinese medicine theory that could solve it. I went to a urologist and he was like "Uh, yeah, it's gonna hurt. You finished the antibiotics and I'm not giving you more, lots of guys have pain down there." WOW THANKS. With Chinese medicines, too, they're cheap for me. I can go to my Asian market and buy them cheaper than online, ask the people there what they'd recommend. It's pretty great. Like my bottle of Bu Nao Wan was like $5. And I find TCM usually pretty logical in how it explains things.

You ever look into buying bulk supplement powders off ebay? You can buy like, a kilo of taurine for example, for like $20ish. I might look into that some. Raw herbs off ebay (and from my helpful Asian market) are good, too, but brewing tea from them can be a bit of a pain. I do feel it's the absolute best way to take herbs, though.

Oh well, yes, I like supplements.

I started taking a bunch of supplements at the end of 2012.

Opti-Men Multivitamin
Flax Seed Oil
Controlled Labs Omega Fish Oil
Creatine
Vitamin C
Probiotic
Melatonin at night
Nutrilite's Rhodiola

I'm going to replace the Flax Seed with some type of fiber supplement.

Supplements haven't really helped with my psychological issues, but they have helped my physical body. Since I started taking them I've had no stomach pain (I have issues with stomach pain that I think are just due to stress), clearer skin, somewhat better sleep, and increased stamina during exercise.

Magnesium Oxide is pretty useless, I would definately get a better absorbed one. I use magnesium often but I find I need Calcium as well.

I mostly get as many cheap supps as I can from iherb.com as well, like iron or zinc. I went through their whole list of multis but couldnt find one that had low Manganese and low folate. I don't do well with those and nearly all of them had high levels of one or the other. I went through hundreds of them! Still couldnt find one that suited me.

I have bought a few bulk things from ebay - very cheap herbs, but I don't do that much any more, usually when I buy something new, its just to experiment and I've learned not to buy too much as 80% of the time I'm going to chuck it out.

I haven't tried Taurine but I heard it might be good for people with high dopamine levels (which is me I think. Most herbs/supps that increase dopamine make me more panicky) I might have to give it a try. Lately my mood has been improved massively with Zinc, vitamin D, and calcium phosphate. The other calciums don't do anything compared to the phosphate form. So I'm guessing it's the phosphorous my body likes.

With TCM, I still find the herbs not as beneficial as the acupuncture. That helps me a lot. Ii haven't been to her in a while as my physical health has improved a lot lately and I think the D and zinc is making me less obsessed about health things. Oh no soon I won't be obsessed with supps hobby! But that was the plan the whole time, to get myself better hence the obsession.

How does the eucommia herb make you feel? I've got pine pollen tincture to help with low Test sometimes. But I find zinc copper iron and vit D has helped with energy and I'm guessing the test.