What is NAC supplement?

[jannz]

Nac

Hi Terri,

I've taken my NAC 600mg -- usually twice a day -- and I've not had any gastro issues. So not sure what to tell you about what you experienced.

I wish I could remember to take it as recommended 'between meals' but I just get busy and then I forget. I think I'm going to just take it when I take all my other supplements which is usually WITH my meals...at least I'll be taking it.

Because your dry eye is the side-effect of surgery is there a better chance that your eye will get it back to normal...perhaps it just takes extra time...???? I hope it does.

Best wishes...
Jann

[jannz]

LDN Therapy

Hi Callie,

You know when I first started researching LDN I sort of had the same reaction as you...'how could one treatment be so helpful to so many different diseases...???'.

Well, after I studied it awhile I finally figured out why LDN is working for folks with MS, Crohn's, Sjogren's, arthritis,etc --and yes...cancers. All of these diseases involve a significant IMMUNE SYSTEM RESPONSE. LDN alters / changes the way a person's immune system is behaving by sort of "normalizing" it. LDN does NOT cure the disease...although a lot of the Crohn's folks certainly FEEL cured.

And yea...I guess I understand what you mean about the "enthusiasm" of advocates. I guess because I joined the LDN forum and have been following the conversations about folks and their progress...well I guess I just understand WHY they are so happy...and want to share their discovery.

I'm obviously NOT the LDN expert...and it's complicated to explain LDN simply but I've just been in touch with several folks who have tried LDN and are having some relief from their autoimmune disease symptoms. My primary goal is to just stop the PROGRESSION of my autoimmune disease...so any relief of my symptoms I have to reagard of as a bonus.

If you do talk to your rhuemy about LDN I would come prepared with the right info. I gave my doctor a URL for a podcast that was a really good overview of what LDN is...background / history etc. It was between a Dr. Hoffman who has a radio health program and "Skip" the pharmacist who's considered the LDN expert on the forum. After listening to the podcast, I told her to go view the LDN org website.


Best wishes...
Jann


BTW: I do not see a rhuemy -- my family doctor is an osteopath. My experience with specialists is that often their ego gets in the way of any meaningful consultation....they just don't run their practice in a way that allows them enough time to spend on a patient. And frankly not many of them are willing to think "outside-the-box".

[Terri]

Hope for recovery

Because your dry eye is the side-effect of surgery is there a better chance that your eye will get it back to normal...perhaps it just takes extra time...???? I hope it does.

Jann: Although my facial nerve has regrown, it does not have all of the branches it originally had, and the facial muscles on my right remain weaker than those on my left. I had a gold weight implanted in my upper eyelid to help me blink. It helps achieve closure, but it doesn't give the nice, tight, nothing's-getting-in-here closure you get when the sphincter muscle that controls your upper and lower eyelids is working fully.

However, none of my docs thought about checking me for lagophthalmos, which turns out to be the major villain in my DES. I didn't know I had it either because it feels like my eye is completely closed when I lay down to sleep. I either have a slight opening or my eye opens more widely after I fall asleep.

I thought surgery had reduced my ability to produce tears, but now that I'm addressing the lagophthalmos and, for good measure, MG oil production, I'm producing noticeable tears on the right side, and they are not evaporating quickly.

On NAC, since I'm going to stop taking it but keep the rest of my routine the same, I should be able to see if it's making a difference for me. I did further reading and found a study that said 300 mg doses do not provoke GI distress, so that may be an option for me if it turns out that NAC is contributing to my recent success.

Terri

[dianat]

Keep us posted on your experience with NAC. You piqued my curiosity. I'd bought the supplement a long time ago and then got pregnant. I stopped taking it almost as soon as I started. Maybe it's time to rethink it.

[Brighteyes]

I read somewhere on the web that NAC should be taken in conjunction with 2-3x as much Vitamin C to prevent the build up of the oxidized form of L-cysteine.

To Terri - gastro issues are not unusual with NAC, although they generally occur when taking high doses. Your dose (600mg/day) is not a high dose so I'm not sure why this is causing gastro issues for you. Your body might need a short time to adjust to the NAC?

[Terri]

The verdict on NAC

This is an update to my last post above in this thread. As noted in that post, I developed diarrhea that I suspect may have been linked to NAC usage. (I took 600mg once per day for 10 days before it started.) I discontinued NAC, and my dry eye became noticeably drier. I had to begin using drops during the day again, and I became sensitive to air currents. (When I had been using NAC, I was able to walk around like a normal person under AC/heating vents and in high-ceilinged rooms and look ahead with my eyes wide open without feeling any difference between my dry and normal eye.)

I resumed NAC usage yesterday at a much lower dose. I bought some empty gel caps at a local health food store, and I'm splitting the 600mg capsules I bought into six, separate 100mg capsules. I read that one of the studies which demonstrated NAC was effective in the treatment of dry eyes used three 100mg doses per day without gastrointestinal upset, so I started on that schedule. I'm taking a 100mg capsule first thing in the morning, at 2 p.m. and at 9 p.m.

My eye immediately returned to its prior, (almost) problem-free state. NAC seems to be affecting the mucin layer on the surface of my eyes. When I use it, my dry eye develops a shiny, white surface that is in marked contrast to the dull, eroded look it has when I am not using it.

I know that NAC has a mucolytic (mucus-thinning) effect. I wonder if, in my case, the mucin in my eyes is too thick to spread evenly, and if the NAC is increasing production and distribution of a thinner, more useful form of mucin.

Anyway, this is very encouraging for me. So far, as the study noted, the lower NAC dose is just as effective for my eyes without causing any gastrointestinal upset. I may be super-sensitive to this stuff because I could also swear I have more energy when I'm taking it. Go figure.

[Terri]

Update to previous posts about NAC

This is to update my previous posts in this thread about NAC.

I ultimately discontinued its use. Even at low doses (less than 300mg per day), I had mild intestinal disturbance. However, I could have lived with that for the dry eye benefit, except for the fact that NAC began causing the vision in my dry eye to blur. (It had no effect on my normal eye.)

I suspect that the mucin-thinning effect, combined with a still-compromised (but healing) ocular surface caused the problem. I discontinued NAC, and a couple of days later my vision returned to its normal clarity.

I also noticed some mucus strings in my dry eye while on NAC. I thought that was interesting because others have tried NAC to thin and eliminate mucus strings. In my case, NAC seemed to produce them but, again, only in my dry eye.

[Rojzen]

NAC v. NAC

Just a note to flag that while the systemic/oral supplement that has been tested in a variety of populations for benefits in blepharitis and MGD is N-acetyl-cysteine, it is a 1% topical solution of N-acetyl-CARNOSINE that has been in use, for some time, to treat cataracts and ocular surface disorders.

A patent was once sought (outcome unknown to me) for a topical/ophthalmic solution containing polyvinyl alcohol and N-acetyl-cysteine, developed for treatment of dry eye, but I am unaware of that ever having been developed and brought to market.

Anyway, I have acquired NAC (carnosine) drops (they're non-prescription and available online), and will be trying them soon under the supervision of my very open-minded eye doc. . .

I'm one who tried oral NAC (cysteine) for a while, and felt no change in the status of my very advanced MGD. . .I suspect that less advanced cases can really do well with this product, however. . .

Those who have written on this thread about LDN see a linkage that I also see. . .I believe that the endorphin modulation/immune support that LDN provides may be the equivalent of a high-powered step-up from oral NAC (cysteine), and all the many other antioxidant-type supplements available to day. . .Alas, LDN is darned difficult to acquire, as noted here. . .Doctors are slow to open their minds to this product, even though they might regularly prescribe TEN TIMES the highest recommend dose of LDN to a recovering and very ill drug addict. . .Oy. . .We gotta fix that. .