Took NAC today

Posted by maliko @maliko, Dec 1, 2024

I bought a bottle of Jarrow's sustain 600mg NAC (N-Acetyl Cysteine) supplement. I took one tablet this morning and within 15 minutes, I started feeling really flushed and got extremely sleepy, tired, and dizzy. It lasted about 3 hours and slowly subsided. I did not notice any improvement in my cough or throat clearing. Has anyone experienced this when they took NAC for the first time? Will my body adjust to it? Thank you

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Profile picture for picartist @picartist

I have been taking NAC for ten days and I have to say this has become a miracle drug for me. I take 1200mg twice a day, pill form, early morning and about 3pm in the afternoon. Prior to taking this I stopped Cipro, Oxcillin and Lebo, none worked or bad side effects. I was deperate. I had a serious exacerbation that went away after three days of Cipro, before quitting. Here is what NAC has done for me.
1. Eating normal, great appetite again. Working on getting my 40 pounds loss back.
2. Energy level vastly improved, no longer walking around like a Zombie all day.
3. No early morning gagging, coughing, etc. Much less coughing.
4. Sleeping better.
I asked Gemini Pro why would this be happening beyong just thinning my mucus and got a lengthy explanation, scientific at times, that explained all the other benefits I am getting. I am almost 89 years old.

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@picartist That seems like a very high dose--with remarkable results. Was 1200 mg 2 x a day recommended? I admit to no noticeable difference after taking 600 mg daily for around 6 months, although my BE causes very mild symptoms as long as I maintain adequate fluid intake and daily moderate to high intensity exercise. Thank you for sharing your experience.

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Profile picture for Liz @ursala7

@picartist That's a really encouraging post. I'm taking NAC but only 500 mg midday, because I'm still on Mucinex per doctor's instructions. I am just curious, are you also taking Mucinex? And are you doing nebulizer treatments twice a day? Sounds like your exacerbation was treated with only 3 days of Cipro (which the bacteria must have been sensitive to) and then your (NAC enhanced) airway clearance protocol? This must feel like a new lease on life!
I hate the early morning gagging also.

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@ursala7 I am taking 1200 mg a day of Musinex (guaifeneseson).

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Profile picture for snoei @snoei

@picartist That seems like a very high dose--with remarkable results. Was 1200 mg 2 x a day recommended? I admit to no noticeable difference after taking 600 mg daily for around 6 months, although my BE causes very mild symptoms as long as I maintain adequate fluid intake and daily moderate to high intensity exercise. Thank you for sharing your experience.

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@snoei Yes 1200 a day is a therapeutic dose. It does not have any major side effects except, in my case, a little nausia that a few crackers after taking took care of. there are quite a few MDs on the internet talking about NAC for a host of things, lungs just being one of them.

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Profile picture for picartist @picartist

@snoei Yes 1200 a day is a therapeutic dose. It does not have any major side effects except, in my case, a little nausia that a few crackers after taking took care of. there are quite a few MDs on the internet talking about NAC for a host of things, lungs just being one of them.

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@picartist Couldyouclarifysomethingfor me please? In an earlier post you said you take 1200mg of NAC twice a day. In a later post, you told @snoei that you take 1200mg per day.

Are you taking 1200mg per day divided into two doses, or 1200mg twice a day? The latter is well beyond the recommended daily dose of 600-1800 mg daily. It is only recommended to use higher doses like that under medical supervision.

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Profile picture for Sue, Volunteer Mentor @sueinmn

@picartist Couldyouclarifysomethingfor me please? In an earlier post you said you take 1200mg of NAC twice a day. In a later post, you told @snoei that you take 1200mg per day.

Are you taking 1200mg per day divided into two doses, or 1200mg twice a day? The latter is well beyond the recommended daily dose of 600-1800 mg daily. It is only recommended to use higher doses like that under medical supervision.

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@sueinmn Sorry, I meant 600mg 2X a day or 1200. My Pulmo is okay with this.

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Profile picture for picartist @picartist

@sueinmn Sorry, I meant 600mg 2X a day or 1200. My Pulmo is okay with this.

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@picartist Thank you for clarifying. We need to be very clear when we post numbers. Other members may rely on them in spite of frequent reminders that we are not medical professionals.

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One 600mg tablet one time is not going to make much difference. I never really noticed anything until after about three days when I noticed a slight appetite improvement and then things got better day by day after that. Also, I felt slight nausia for about two days and ate a few crackers when taking the pill with 8 ounces or more of water and that got slight nausia under control.

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I was shocked to find out NAC historically been made from poultry feathers, which is, I think, why I had a reaction (tons of mucus and runny nose to the extent I felt I was suffocating). After that reaction, I googled what's in NAC and the general answer was poultry feathers. Shocked, I searched further and the best answer I found to what's in NAC is found is on the link below. I would like to find a brand that uses a newer method and doesn't use poultry feathers. But all the brands sold online do not discuss their methods of extraction. Hoping someone here, who's smarter than me, knows how to research NAC products and what method they use.
https://scienceinsights.org/how-is-nac-made-from-l-cysteine-to-pure-powder/

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Profile picture for Liz @ursala7

I was shocked to find out NAC historically been made from poultry feathers, which is, I think, why I had a reaction (tons of mucus and runny nose to the extent I felt I was suffocating). After that reaction, I googled what's in NAC and the general answer was poultry feathers. Shocked, I searched further and the best answer I found to what's in NAC is found is on the link below. I would like to find a brand that uses a newer method and doesn't use poultry feathers. But all the brands sold online do not discuss their methods of extraction. Hoping someone here, who's smarter than me, knows how to research NAC products and what method they use.
https://scienceinsights.org/how-is-nac-made-from-l-cysteine-to-pure-powder/

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@ursala7 I'm skeptical - based on the amount of purification required to convert feathers to NAC, I doubt many allergens typically associated with a feather allergy make it into the finished product.

Histamine reactions are common with NAC, but I cannot find any literature that attributes this to the origin in feathers.

You could try contacting NOW or Pure Encapsulations directly to ask what they use.

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Profile picture for Sue, Volunteer Mentor @sueinmn

@ursala7 I'm skeptical - based on the amount of purification required to convert feathers to NAC, I doubt many allergens typically associated with a feather allergy make it into the finished product.

Histamine reactions are common with NAC, but I cannot find any literature that attributes this to the origin in feathers.

You could try contacting NOW or Pure Encapsulations directly to ask what they use.

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@sueinmn Well if I decide (after my pulmonologist appointment) that I want to try NAC again, I will be checking into better brands as you suggest, and see if I can get intfo from them.
Thank you!

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