Alpha lipoic acid for Neuropathy

From eirrol — I recently found out about R -lipoic acid from Mayo Connect. My kidney doctor agrees that many people have been helped with their neuropathy using it and he has given his ok for me to try, but he says there have been rare cases of it harming the kidneys. So he wants me to have blood work after using it for about 3 weeks. Wish me luck. I will have you folks on Mayo Connect to thank, if it works. I ordered the Pure Encapsulation brand and the R - lipoic acid as mentioned on Mayo Connect, not the Alpha lipoic acid to try to avoid the heart burn. So expensive, but ordering through Amazon so at least will save the shipping charge. There are solutions out there , if we just keep trying.

Has anyone with non-diabetic peripheral neuropathy found relief using R-Alpha Lipoic Acid? I just purchased some online and looking forward to giving it a shot...

Hi! I have used Alpha Lipoic Acid recently since more than one week and waiting for results. Since I descontinued statin in 14/11/2024, I have noted some relief.

@fferreira, that's great news! What product are you using? I purchased Immunovites 600 mg R-Alpha Lipoic Acid capsules.

Minha cardiologista prescreveu 2 vezes ao dia, de manhã e à noite, 1 cápsula de 600mg. Fórmula manipulada. Total = 1200 mg.
Me diz, seu problema de neuropatia periférica é em decorrência do uso de estatina?
I write from Brazil, so if you could translate from Portuguese to English, it's better. Thanks.

@fferreira, thank you for the information. No, my issue is either peripheral neuropathy or radiculopathy caused by disk issues in my lower back. I'm praying that the R-ALA can help my situation. I'm 43 years old with two young children. I've never felt so anxious or depressed. I'm an active person and I currently feel frozen with fear.

Has anyone with non-diabetic peripheral neuropathy found relief using R-Alpha Lipoic Acid? I just purchased some online and looking forward to giving it a shot...

Olá @boilerup!
Entendo sua agonia! Investiguei também minha coluna lombar e houve ortopedistas que me disseram que o problema estava na minha coluna. Acreditei nisso. Mas, depois de algum tempo, confirmei a polineuropatia nos nervos tibial e sural de ambas as pernas, direita e esquerda. Daí, comecei a desconfiar que poderia não ser a coluna. Quando fui a um excelente neurologista, com pós doutorado em Harvard ele me afirmou que não seria coluna. O mais provável até o momento é a estatina, confirmada por minha cardiologista. Portanto, não se desespere. Você é novo e capaz de se recuperar com uma boa orientação médica. Mas se, de fato, for coluna, não vejo outra alternativa, senão operar. Estamos juntos neste barco, sofrendo com essas dores neuropáticas terríveis. Vamos continuar conversando. Estou a sua disposição para trocarmos ecperiências. Abraços!

I switched from timed release ALA to the R-ALA. Everything was fine for about 6 days...then I experienced horrendous insomnia, as in suddenly wide awake, feeling pepped up, having to get out of bed. Horrible! This continued for about a week. I thought about "what's new" in my routine, medications, supplements...and it hit me that the only "new" factor was taking the R-Ala. Looked up info and found that indeed insomnia has been reported by users, along with a few other reactions. So I stopped taking it altogether. In addition, I took an additional tablet of cyclobenzeprine (1-mgs) which rheumatologist had OKAYED if I had increased fibromyalgic pain....I only took 10 mg b/c it would make me super groggy on following day. Anyway, I took 20 mg of the cyclo and NO ALA. On third night, managed to sleep 4 hours straight. Still not wonderful but sure beats only 1 to 2 hrs of sleep. I'll continue assessing and hoping that sleep gets restored to what I was used to (5 to sometimes 6 hrs)...meanwhile no R-ALA or regular ALA either.