NAC Supplement...WOW!

[hannsho]

Here is some information that I belief contributes to this discussion. I have been taking acetylcysteine 600 mg daily, in the form of everecent tablets, for about 1 months. So far I have hardly noticed any improvement. However, I have found 5 scientific studies in which acetylcysteine or N-acetylcysteine, which his the same, has been used to study its effects variously on chronic blepharitis, meibomian gland dysfunction and dry eye syndrome. All of studies reported significant improvements in objective criteria. That sounds very promising! However, all of the studies have fairly small sample sizes, which probably means that their findings are not generalizable. This is why I feel it could be very useful to interchange experience with taking acetylcysteine as a supplement, on an ongoing basis. It could help to confirm the positive findings of the studies. Another reason for reporting experiences over a period of, say, six months is that systemic treatments (medicine taken orally rather than applied topically), often takes a considerable time before having any effect. Please note that except for one study, all used topical acetylcysteine eye drops. Hope this is useful. Here are the details and URLs of 4 studies.

N-Acetylcysteine in chronic blepharitis

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/20653477/


Comparison of the efficacy of topical N-acetylcysteine and a topical-steroid in the treatment of MGD

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubme...653477/related


Efficacy of topical N-Acetylcysteine in the treatment o MGD

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/20653477/


Acetylcysteine in kerato-conjunctivitis sicca

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC506584/

[hannsho]

Hi Rppnj,

I just read that you are concerned about your blood pressure going up as result of taking NAC. I think the spike that you experienced must have been due to some other cause and not to NAC. I’ve seen some studies that say that NAC actually reduces blood pressure, and you can easily find some of these studies by Googling “Acetylcysteine effect on blood pressure”. I have been taking NAC 600mg once a day for about 4 weeks now and found that my blood pressure has actually gone down. (If you can’t find any of the studies, I’ll try to provide a link to one of them.)

[deep_dry_eye]

deep_dry_eye For some reason my doctor was against it. She did prescribe blood serum drops. I give blood monday and get them tuesday or wednesday.

On the 26st im seeing a dry eye doctor instead of the local one and i will ask for that azithromycin after i get lipiflow.

what do doctors tell you to do after lipiflow? Be viligant about warm compress and expressing? Do they give short term steroids? Do they offer any hints how to mske it more effective?

You need to control the inflammation. Get you Xiidra and Restasis.

Steriods dont really help me. I found topical Azithroymicin to be the best, use that AzaSite to help clear your glands as well. lipiflow + 2 wk azothromycin should help clear your glands. then use xiidra + restasis long term to manage inflammation. you can also do AMT (prokera) as well.

[edmunder]

deep_dry_eye For some reason my doctor was against it. She did prescribe blood serum drops. I give blood monday and get them tuesday or wednesday.

On the 26st im seeing a dry eye doctor instead of the local one and i will ask for that azithromycin after i get lipiflow.

what do doctors tell you to do after lipiflow? Be viligant about warm compress and expressing? Do they give short term steroids? Do they offer any hints how to mske it more effective?

[deep_dry_eye]

I just saw this and ordered some NAC and hylaronic acid supplements. Cant hurt might help. My daily regimen of vitamins and supplements is getting bloated.

Also have been on a meat and green vegetable diet. Near zero carbs. Not sure if its helping but i want to have as many anti-inflammation things going simultaneously when i get lipiflow and IPL.


Zero carb diet
Tumeric
Fish oil/hydroeyes with GLA
ebsom salt baths where i put my head under the water and jyst my nose out so my eyes and head are under water. That really helps.
Restasis?
Now NAC and HA pills
doxy 100mg twice a day

doxy at 200mg / day seems excessive -- i did 40 mg / day of doxy and i could already feel the effect.

i actually highly suggest you give azithromycin a try instead of doxy. azithromycin imo is the much better drug compared to doxy for MGD.

[edmunder]

I just saw this and ordered some NAC and hylaronic acid supplements. Cant hurt might help. My daily regimen of vitamins and supplements is getting bloated.

Also have been on a meat and green vegetable diet. Near zero carbs. Not sure if its helping but i want to have as many anti-inflammation things going simultaneously when i get lipiflow and IPL.


Zero carb diet
Tumeric
Fish oil/hydroeyes with GLA
ebsom salt baths where i put my head under the water and jyst my nose out so my eyes and head are under water. That really helps.
Restasis?
Now NAC and HA pills
doxy 100mg twice a day

[diydry]

I’’ve used NAC tablets (I forget the dosage) for a couple months, but I’ve experienced no obvious effect. It seems very low risk compared to say fat soluble vitamins and is inexpensive to boot, so it can’t hurt to try. Its effect as a mucolytic agent (increasing the mucus layer of tear film) has been shown in some studies, but I believe that is primarily for the topical version of NAC. I’’ve only used the oral form and don’t know how to get access to the topical version.

[insidious988]

Any updates on this? Anyone still using this and benefitting from it?
Sounds too good to be true!

[sophie0416]

dude I'm trying this, I just placed my order on Amazon, at this point I'm just losing $10 bucks!!

[LindaDawn]

No this is old subject but anybody else reporting good things with NAC and HA supplements.

[MadiMGD]

Hi everbody,

i started taking NAC (500mg per day with breakfeat) for my MGD and i feel already an improvement in tear volume ...i am wondering if i double the dose ???? anyone recently give it a try??
thank you

[KellyB]

Thanks, I've not yet tried them as have a month of antihistamines to try due to the pressure I always feel in my eyes, the doctor doesn't think it's related to dry eye so it's a bit of an experimental hunch to see if it's allergys(she stressed it won't cure my dry eye even if it is) I thought it might not be wise to mix them so was waiting until it's done, but if anyone knows of any interactions with these do let me know. I just started a high dose of vitamin c too, apparently studies show it can help TBUT?

Waterbee, I take antihistamines daily along with low-dose doxycycline, a multi-vitamin, Omega 3-6-9, 600 of NAC and some other medication. I haven't found NAC to be a problem with any of them. I do always check new medication or vitamin supplements on a Multi-Drug Interaction Checker website by Medscape (http://reference.medscape.com/drug-interactionchecker). The website has been helpful in terms of letting me know which supplements need to be taken when and with what. For me, some antihistamines and dosages have tended to dry my eyes out more...such a complicated mess to try to sort out.

[waterbee]

I've had a positive experience taking NAC too, I can tell a difference, the quality of my meibum has improved and eyes feel less dry, I'm doing all kinds of things so its difficult to say how much it has helped but I definitely noticed a difference. I take one 600mg per day and vitamin C. Although id like to take 300mg twice a day but I need to buy some gelatin capsules to split the amount and avoid waster, I cant stomach drinking it! One brand made me feel sick but the brand im taking at the moment doesnt. Cath x

Thanks, I've not yet tried them as have a month of antihistamines to try due to the pressure I always feel in my eyes, the doctor doesn't think it's related to dry eye so it's a bit of an experimental hunch to see if it's allergys(she stressed it won't cure my dry eye even if it is) I thought it might not be wise to mix them so was waiting until it's done, but if anyone knows of any interactions with these do let me know. I just started a high dose of vitamin c too, apparently studies show it can help TBUT?

[cathy8889]

I've had a positive experience taking NAC too, I can tell a difference, the quality of my meibum has improved and eyes feel less dry, I'm doing all kinds of things so its difficult to say how much it has helped but I definitely noticed a difference. I take one 600mg per day and vitamin C. Although id like to take 300mg twice a day but I need to buy some gelatin capsules to split the amount and avoid waster, I cant stomach drinking it! One brand made me feel sick but the brand im taking at the moment doesnt. Cath x

[KellyB]

I just read through this post, I know it's a few years old but is anyone still on the forum now and can update? I had no idea about NAC until I read about it regarding health supplements (since I was reading about another antioxidant and it was mentioned briefly) I though "that sounds like it might be good for dry eye" and stuck in a search in Google and it takes me back to the forum where I browse everyday, yet never came across this information. I'm going to give it a try, wonder if anyone here or new has found any long term success with it?

I've been taking the NAC supplement for 5 or 6 months with a positive improvement in eye redness and dryness. I've tested going off of it and restarting a couple of times and it still provides a positive improvement for me--more noticeable certainly than the Omega 3-6 supplement. It's a layer of improvement--doesn't "fix" the problem--but of course, we'll take whatever we can get. I order mine from iHerb.com--their prices are good, the shipping prompt. I do want to try the NAC drops though, which I've read about in this forum. Best wishes to you--