How to take Alpha lipoic acid (ALA)?

@rocr, here is an article from Mayo Clinic
- Diabetic neuropathy: Can dietary supplements help? https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/diabetic-neuropathy/in-depth/diabetic-neuropathy-and-dietary-supplements/art-20095406

You may wish to speak with your pharmacist about proper use of alpha lipoic acid (ALA). What are you hoping the supplement will help with?

Hello,

Thank you so much for the informative article and for the concern you have expressed.
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I am diabetic and have a pad under my feet. I have no pain or tingling.

I am taking ALA 600 mg X 2. On an empty stomach.

My immediate concern is red, extremely itchy rashes the size of a half-penny and only in the limbs. They go away after a few days and then come back.

I cannot find them online.

I take ALA by intramuscular injection and it’s been a tremendous help. Pills don’t work. I get 1ml /25mg/cc once or twice a week in thigh muscle. If interested, reply & Ill give more info

Thank you Joe for offering to share your experience. I live in Anaheim Hills, California. I need as much information as you can give me.
Maybe my allergic spots will go away.

Well, you need to get a Dr to prescribe the therapy of ALA intramuscular injection of 1cc/25mg/ml once or twice a week. There is an on line company (Defy Medical), that will send you a form to fill out, then set you up as a customer. Youll be supplied with a vial, needles, syringes, but you’ll need alcohol wipes & a vial piercing pin (available from Amazon that I can send you the info on. It allows for multiple draws of ALA from the vial. You need to have someone give you the injection since it goes in the muscles of the buttock.Defy Medical did not require a Rx from a Dr, but another Co I contacted did. You might find someone in CA familiar with ALA, but for IV, not IM injection. I learned all this from a vitamin store in Sarasota,Fl. Altogether cost was less than $150 & should last for months. Good luck

Hi Joe,

Thank you for taking the time to share your valuable experience. I will contact the company Defy to see what I can get.

If PPI reduces stomach acid, does it also make alpha Lipoic acid ineffective?

PPI's do reduce absorption apparently. My friend is getting iron infusions after a long time on omeprazole. There is no other reason for her low iron.

I am really mystified as to why doctors continue PPI's when they were intended for short term use.

The body adjusts, I have read, by making more acid so when you try to get off a PPI, you actually feel worse than when you started. I got off by transitioning very slowly (one day of a week at a time) to Pepcid and then slowly cutting the Pepcid. It took months.

@windyshores do you mean taking Pepcid one day of the week and PPIs the rest of the week, then the next week Pepcid two days of the week, and so on till you were on Pepcid all week?

Yes! A slow transition to Pepcid and then taper Pepcid, cutting it in half at some point, then not taking it one day a week, then two. Tums can be used to help too. None of this is written in stone. If heartburn is unbearable (it may be strong at first) the taper can be slowed down. This is entirely my method though I have read about it from others on this forum and elsewhere. Doctors in my experience tend to say to just stop, but often heartburn is then so bad (because of the increased acid production with PPI's) that people just stay on them forever. It is possible to get off. PPI's affect absorption of nutrients, I have been told. They can contribute to osteoporosis too.