Davey D (Bc) on 11/28/2015:
Hi every one at EC.
It's been a good 2 years since I started taking R factor ALA and said it didn't seem to be working that well. Was I ever wrong, It is a fact that the R-ALA does not work that good for me and that the people at the health food store told me that the R- ALA has a left spin on it, HUH.
Since then I found the R+ALA and life would be hell without it. I have been taking 200mg of the R+ALA by Prairie Naturals for about 2 years now and the difference is outstanding. The ingerdients are, Microcrystaline cellulose, Silicone dioxide, magnesium sterate in a vegetable capsule.
As I sit here typing I can feel the effects of my third dose for the evening giving me relief from a very bad attack. The Peripheral Neuropathy when acting up makes my right side mostly feel a lot of pressure in my leg and my feet feel tingly and have pressure on top where my foot feels like it has a tight shackle on it. My knee also feels a hot pressure above the knee cap on both knees but moree on the right side. Many nights I have sat up with a cold towel on my knees for relief from this condition. My doc knows about this and tells me to take it as needed.
I do find that my urine smells like amonia if I take to much.
I have type 2 diabetes and find it to be the problem for this Peripheral Neuropathy, also diagnosed about 2 years ago. I find that Cinnamon helps to control it and I don't take meds for it and avoid sugar at all costs.
Now on my bad days which I find some foods make it worse like today. So I start with 2 v caps of 200mg each right after supper. Then about 8pm I have another 2 caps. The pain starts to ease but then returns. 9pm I take another 2 caps, and then at 9:30pm another 2 caps. So that's a total of 1600mg in about 3.5 hours not to mention my regular 2 caps after lunch. That is on a bad day and for prevention I take it noon and supper at 2 caps per meal.
So in closing I am relieved that R+ALA seems to work well for me.
Liz (Boston, Ma) on 11/18/2015:
Alpha Lipoic Acid is wonderful for neuropathy. It virtually eliminated mine.
I know that mentioning brand names is discouraged here, but I think I've been around long enough that EC knows I'm not 'pimping' anything, so I'll give it a shot. :)
I used to take Trader Joe's brand (100 mg capsules). They were inexpensive and effective!
I said that I 'used to' take them, because after approximately 6-9 months of my feet feeling 100% better, I stopped taking them (one less supplement to pay for and one less to gulp-down every day) and they've remained fine. It's been over a year!
I hope others try it and find that it works equally well for them.
Al (Alvena, Saskatchewan, Canada) on 03/04/2015:
Warning
Another update. I recently had surgery to remove the right lobe of my liver. This was due to matastatic colon cancer and as a result my blood pressure has gone up resulting in other problems including reduced energy and increased neuropathic pain. I noticed that when I had something sweet to eat like jam, cake, candy, etcetera that the neuropathic pain was reduced substantially so I started experimenting. When doing anything slightly strenuous my blood pressure and sugar would drop and my pulse would go way up so the first thing I tried was leaving out the diamacron and metformin. This allowed the sugar to increase and gave me back my energy without my blood pressure and pulse being significantly affected, but the sugar went too high so I added the metformin back in. Big surprise!!!! The neuropathic pain went way down, more than eating something sweet made it go down. As a result I typed "diamacron" into google and clicked on "diamacron side effects" and found out that it causes neuropathic pain, conflicts with metformin, is not supposed to be used if you have liver problems, are having or recently had surgery. None of this was covered in the pharmacy information sheet I was provided. The warning is not about alpha lipoic acid, but rather it is about the diamacron prescription medication and what it does. Eliminating it has made a huge difference. I have not as yet tried the nicotine but will be soon. Al View Entire Thread
Al (Alvena, Saskatchewan, Canada) on 03/04/2015:
Warning
Another update. I recently had surgery to remove the right lobe of my liver. This was due to matastatic colon cancer and as a result my blood pressure has gone up resulting in other problems including reduced energy and increased neuropathic pain. I noticed that when I had something sweet to eat like jam, cake, candy, etcetera that the neuropathic pain was reduced substantially so I started experimenting. When doing anything slightly strenuous my blood pressure and sugar would drop and my pulse would go way up so the first thing I tried was leaving out the diamacron and metformin. This allowed the sugar to increase and gave me back my energy without my blood pressure and pulse being significantly affected, but the sugar went too high so I added the metformin back in.
Big surprise!!!! The neuropathic pain went way down, more than eating something sweet made it go down. As a result I typed "diamacron" into google and clicked on "diamacron side effects" and found out that it causes neuropathic pain, conflicts with metformin, is not supposed to be used if you have liver problems, are having or recently had surgery. None of this was covered in the pharmacy information sheet I was provided. The warning is not about alpha lipoic acid, but rather it is about the diamacron prescription medication and what it does. Eliminating it has made a huge difference. I have not as yet tried the nicotine but will be soon. Al
View Entire Thread
Prioris (Fl, US) on 10/01/2014:
Neuropathy:
FYI Stabilized R-ALA will likely be more effective than R-Alpha Lipoic Acid.
View Entire Thread
Al (Alvena, Sk., Canada) on 09/30/2013:
I have been using the yucca for just over a week and am seeing amazing results. While the nerves in my feet are super sensitive, which results in swelling and high levels of pain, I am now seeing a substantial reduction in the swelling and pain with the yucca.
For those of you who are wondering what I am using, I am now taking:
ALA-200 mg/day, grape seed extract-200mg/day, B12 sublingual-30, 000mcg/day, benfotiamine, B3, folic acid, curcumin, chromium, copper, magnesium, manganese, potassium, phosphorous, fenugreek, acetyl-l-carnitine, l-lysine, vitamin C, vitamin D and yucca.
I may have missed some and don't know the dosages of all of them as I am not at home right now. If anyone has any specific questions please contact me directly at gustafsonal (at) hotmail (dot) com. Thank you and don't give up.
View Entire Thread
Art (Vancouver Bc, Canada) on 09/24/2013:
Dear Al.
I am so glad to hear about your success with the ALA. I have had great success with it as well with the burning sensation just above my knees and pressure aches on both wrist. I was taking 2x250mg with every meal and then I discovered I only need to take it at noon and supper. Without this my life would be hellish painful. It was your posts that got me started on the ALA. I did try the R factor ALA with little success.
Art.
View Entire Thread
Al (Alvena, Saskatchewan, Canada) on 09/22/2013:
It is time for an update on my neuropathy. It is just over a year since I started ALA and it has totally changed my situation. The nerves are healed to the point that I have virtually no numbness left. I still have a substantial amount of pain due to the super sensitive nature of recently healed nerves. When I wake up in the morning now I am almost pain free but by the end of the day my feet feel like they are on fire. The intensity of the pain is dependent on how much walking/standing that I do with it being worse with more walking. To give you an idea of how sensitive my sensory nerves are, I can feel every chamber of my heart contract and can also feel muscles in my thighs moving past each other. I expect the nerves to eventually toughen up and for the associated pain to be alleviated. Large doses of vitamin B12 seem to help the most and I just started taking yucca yesterday to alleviate the inflammation that results from walking. It is too soon to know if the yucca is helping but I am expecting that it will. I have most of my motor function back. All that is not back is some in my toes. TRY EVERYTHING THAT MIGHT HELP. Grasp at the straws. One or more may help. Several have helped me. Al View Entire Thread
Karen (Tampa, Fl) on 02/28/2013:
Can anyone tell me the difference between R-alpha lipoic acid and plain alpha lipoic acid? I've been taking alpha lipoic acid for neuropathy 600 mgs/day with no results. Someone says they have resolved their neuropathy with R-lipoic acid. Call me confused..Thx.
Art (Vancouver Bc, Canada) on 02/08/2013:
Update on taking ALA for Neuropathy.
I am taking one 100mg. At breakfast and one at supper, and one or two B12 2500mcg before bedtime. The burning in my knees has almost gone and things are settled to near normal. I am not cured but as long as I don't forget to take my ALA twice a day I am fine. If I do forget I am in for a night of torment with burning skin on my upper knees. I have been getting chills these last couple of months after taking Chanca Piedra for stomach issues, but will forge on since summer is near.
Art
View Entire Thread
Jeffreyw65 (Lowell, Ma, Usa) on 01/24/2013:
Hello, I am loving this site! I listen to am radio from our area where there doctors whom really push holistic medicine it works and it needs more pushing for the really bad sickness like I have been dealing with since I have had cancer. I love what I learn about the different sulliments for ailments. It is good to try them to see if they work for my ailment.
I just increased my intake of lipoic acid and my feet have been better and the meralgia paresthetica seems to be easing the sharp electrical shock shooting zaps. They are terrible and I am hoping to see if I can get off the pain meds and increase the dietary supplements that I have increased to help me get better. I have different ailments that have made me unable to get around so I will come back on here in 60 days and give a report on my status on my pain so keep looking for my feedback. Thanks Jeff from Lowell, type 2 diabetic with meralgia paesthetica and facet joint arthritus / upper thoraic arthritus philbitus and neuropathy from the pinced nerve is terrible. The color of my legs scares me there, a color that is bad like black and blue, so keep looking for me and wish me well. ok bye all
Al (Alvena, Sk., Canada) on 12/02/2012:
3 months now since I started ALA & ALCAR and I have been working full time - just around 60 hours per week in the log book. I am quite surprised at how well I am doing. At the end of the first week I was exhausted, partially due to icy roads on days 4 & 5, and thought I would need to take a break midweek for a few weeks but kept at it and didn't need to. I still have a bit of pain, tingling and numbness but it is still receding. I expect that it will take many months to completely recover if I ever do. I am maintaining my supplement regimen but have reduced the Lyrica by 50% a week ago, resulting in an increase in the pain level, and have also reduced the amount of Diamicron MR that I am taking by 50% as well due to the blood sugar getting too low, a good indication that the curcumin and Diamicron MR are actually healing the pancreas as I am healing the neuropathy. Maybe the two are complementary. I saw another acquaintance today that I hadn't seen since June and he didn't recognize me due to my hair colour returning. Onwards and upwards. View Entire Thread
Al (Alvena, Sk., Canada) on 11/20/2012:
Just an update for everyone. I had to switch back to Lyrica from Cymbalta due to a negative reaction. After reading the the information from the top link from Tim in Eu I considered the information about ALA being used to remove free radicals from ALCAR therapy and came to the conclusion that they might be better taken together to get the best effect and so have tried it. I have had no issues from doing so and have gone back to my original dosage to find that I have less pain now at the lower dosage. Almost all the numbness is gone now and I only have pain in my toes. It is aggravated by the job I am doing but is still improving and it is at a level that I can tolerate so I will keep at it for now. It almost seems like too much ALA & ALCAR can cause a higher level of the frozen/burning/pins and needles type of pain in the same way that pressure/activity can aggravate the sensory nerves with this condition. I have found a 5 mg sublingual B12 in the AOR brand and just started using two per day with promising results. View Entire Thread
Al (Alvena, Sk., Canada) on 11/04/2012:
ALA will make your heart race if you have overactive thyroid problems and/or are on thyroid medication(s). You should maybe get your thyroid gland checked out and that might even fix your neuropathy. Most ALA labels caution about using it with thyroid medications.
Al (Alvena, Sk., Canada) on 11/04/2012:
I have one mercury filling left and have been on ALA & ALCAR for two months now with no side effects. There is a cautionary that I saw in several places to not lay down for at least half an hour after taking ALA and I saw another one cautioning not to take it for a time period after mercury amalgam removal but haven't seen any saying to avoid it with mercury fillings in place. I saw my doctor today and really surprised him when I told him that I am off the pain killers and he saw the lack of gray in my hair. We discussed the heavy metal issue, chelation and mercury causing gray hair and he told me that heavy metals are naturally chelated out into your hair as a natural mechanism to protect the rest of your body and that is the reason that they test the hair to determine the amount of heavy metals in your body. They also test your urine to see how much is being removed at any given time. He also voiced the opinion that because of my first occupation as a steel fabricator/welder that I may have already been toxic with heavy metals resulting in the long term severe reaction to the chemotherapy and I would tend to agree with him. Has anyone else having neuropathy problems got premature gray hair from possible industrial exposure to heavy metals? If so, is the ALA helping the neuropathy and/or returning colour to your hair? By the way, I have improved enough that my motor and sensory nerves are almost completely functional now and I am going to work this coming week. Anyone wishing to contact me directly can do so at "gustafsonal(AT)hotmail. Com". Al
Danielle Renee (Ocean Shores, Wa) on 10/09/2012:
I want to share how beautifully Alpha Lipoic Acid has worked for Diabetic Neuropathy pains. I take 300mgs three times a day and it has taken the burning and sharp shooting pains away, and my blood sugars and H1C are a lot lower. I consider it a miracle supplement.
Al (Alvena, Sk., Canada) on 09/14/2012:
I am amazed at how good this is working. After 13 days of taking alpha lipoic acid I have had my pain reduced enough to quit taking hydro morph contin and I actually have less pain and numbness now than when I started taking ALA even with being off the narcotic pain killers. I am picking up my benfotiamine and acetyl-l-Carnitine on Friday the 14th. If it helps even half as much as the ALA I will be back to work in a few weeks. We need to make chemo patients aware of this as much as possible. Al View Entire Thread
Al (Alvena, Saskatchewan, Canada) on 09/03/2012:
I developed peripheral neuropathy from an overdose of Oxalyplatin in chemotherapy for stage 3 colon cancer in February of 2010. It affected my upper palate, hands and legs up to my mid thigh. I have been on Gabapentin, 3600 mg/day, for an extended period of time and then found out it was increasing my blood sugar by 15.0 with a single 300 mg dose so was switched to Lyrica instead. I have also been on narcotic pain killers along with the others and at times nothing would touch the pain or numbness and when nerve testing was done the doctors could not believe that I could still walk as there was zero sensory and zero motor nerve conduction. I had to look where I was putting my feet as I could not feel where I was putting them. I have been very slowly and steadily healing in spite of being put into a diabetic condition by the Gabapentin.
I read about alpha Lipoic acid in an article about fat loss/muscle building with a relationship to insulin sensitivity and it listed five ingredients of which ALA was one. When I looked at ALA in the search engine and read that it would cure neuropathy and that it is used to reduce the side effects of Oxaliplatin in chemotherapy I picked some up and started using it on 1 September 2012. I immediately noticed an improvement in my feet( the only currently affected area). It was so dramatic of a change that I discontinued all other medications to see what it did by itself. I have spent a couple of sleepless nights due to pain and have started using my other medications again today. Other than Lyrica and Hydromorph contin I take grape seed extract, fenugreek, St. John's Wort, milk thistle, glucosamine and condroitin sulfate with MSM, vitamin D, B12, curcumin, Motrin, and Apo-Temazepam for a sleeping pill. After less than 4 hours since resuming my other medications with ALA my feet are about 75% better than they were three days ago.
Is there anything else that I should be taking to speed the healing/reduce the pain and numbness? Please reply directly to gustafsonal(at)hotmail.com. Thank you. Al
Charles555nc (Winston Salem, Nc, Usa) on 08/06/2012:
Alpha lipoic acid is a great supplement for neuropathy. However there should be precautions. Only take a max of 100mg alpha lipoic acid every 4 hours, or it will mobilize too much mercury for you to handle.
Alpha Lipoic acid also burns through methylation agents and Zinc. Methyl agents are methyl b12, methyl folate, other b vitamins... so you should supplement with those, periodically, at least 3 hours before and 3 hours after your next dose of ALA.
Normared (Knoxville, East Tennessee, Us) on 05/03/2012:
After a bad two-week long spell of sharp, needle-like pain in my feet I looked at this site for advice. At my next doctors appointment a few days later, I checked with him for his opinion, and based on that added ALA to my treatment (which was metanx pills he gave me last year). Within 24 hours of taking one 600 mg tablet of ALA the pains were down by at least 50% intensity, and now a week later they are almost completely gone. A few days ago, I also added a B complex, and plan on adding a B12 lozenge too.
My doctor - a foot doctor who specializes in neuropathy - had no problem with these 'additions', in fact he is the one who suggested B12 in a lozenge form, not a tablet. I'm now a strong believer in taking ALA B vitamins for those pains in my feet!
BTW: Bought my 600mg ALA tabs at GNC - they've got an amazing vanilla flavor and are a pleasure to take! I take 3 per day and a Bcomplex once a day.
David (Westford, Ma) on 04/29/2012:
I was diagnosed with peripheral neuropathy in November, 2011. The excrutiating burning on the bottoms of my feet had gotten progressively worse and I really thought my days were numbered. The last thing I would ever want to do would be to go on disability but it seemed like that was where I was headed. I have done everything to help myself. Mind/body 8 week course to learn to live with chronic pain, accupuncture, diet, meditation, yoga and more. Three days after I started ALA I thought my pain had started to reduce.
Now 6 weeks later except for minor discomfort now and then I don't think about my feet 24/7 anymore. I actually drove myself to the Museum of Fine Arts and walked around last week for a couple of hours forgetting that a few weeks prior I never could have done that. I feel blessed to have found ALA if this is why I have gotten better. I have also stopped all statins as I tried just about every one of them. I also discontinued amlodipine as the swelling it causes of my feet I was sure was aggravating my pain. I now take 900mg. Per day and wonder if that is too much? I have read many research articles on ALA and they seem to agree that IV ALA does help neuropathy. There don't seem to be any conclusive studies on oral ALA. I am looking to try and find whether ALA can actually cure Neuropathy or if you need to keep taking it?
Robert Henry (Ten Mile, Tn Usa) on 08/19/2011:
My neuropathy is due to diabities and I take Alpha Liopoic Acid intravenously and by pill. A lady who has hep c was the person who got me on this regime. It helps.
Liz (Boston, Ma) on 06/25/2011:
Months ago, I added Alpha Lipoic Acid (100mg 3x per day) to my daily supplements for its antioxidant properties. After about a month, I noticed that the intense foot burning and pain I'd been experiencing for years was GONE! Yay!!
Just an FYI - the dosage I take is a low one (300mg/day). Those suffering with different types of neuropathy could go as high as 800mg/day.
Marie (Philadelphia, Pa) on 09/23/2009:
Hi, I have a pinched nerve also in my lower back and I have not been diagnosed with neuropathy, I do have symptoms like neuropathy. I did research on EC and other sites regarding alc and alpha lipoic acid is helping me also. I take 400mg a day.
Ellen (Arlington, Tx) on 09/22/2009:
Alpha Lipoic Acid for Neuropathy
I have a pinched nerve in my back which causes peripheral neuropathy. I have been using ALA for almost 2 weeks now and my symptoms have improved I take 300 mg (time released tablets) twice per day.
(1) 
