r/Supplements

I rarely post but lately I’ve been taking black seed oil twice a day around one teaspoon each time. I had been very burnt out and depressed for a while and felt constantly overwhelmed with stress and had really bad brain fog.

Ever since a couple days after taking the black seed I feel like I’m back to where I was years ago before everything went downhill and feel calmer than I have ever in my life. I feel like my brain works more smoothly than ever and I’ve somehow a whole new part that didn’t exist before.

An added bonus my on and off diarrhoea and histamine issues have also disappeared and my appetite has increased a lot. I also have WAY more physical and mental energy but also have been sleeper better and earlier.

I’ve changed so much and become so much calmer and more patient and thoughtful in such a short time, almost like there was some form of inflammation or something always bothering me and the BSO has fixed that and also given me other benefits.

I was wondering if anyone has had a similar experience and whether these effects last forever or tolerance eventually builds up. So far it’s been a couple weeks and I have yet to notice and decrease in efficacy. I had a look at older posts on this after starting to notice the initial effects but most don’t have any follow ups and I’m just worried ittl stop working and also wondering if there are any other beneficial supplements for me if BSO is treating me this well.

I read another post here saying that Sports Research no longer shares COAs, but I thought I'd try it anyway. I emailed them the lot number from a bottle of their triple-strength fish oil I bought recently from Costco asking for the COA. I received this reply:

"Thank you for reaching out and for your interest in the quality and transparency of our products.
 
We do not provide Certificates of Analysis (CoAs) at this time. However, please rest assured that we are actively exploring ways to make this type of information more readily available to our customers in the future.
 
In the meantime, please be assured that all of our supplements continue to undergo rigorous third-party testing for heavy metals, label claim compliance, and microbial contaminants in strict accordance with US regulations. Quality and safety remain our top priorities."

Actively exploring ways to share? You mean like emailing them to customers who ask? I'm not suggesting their products have changed; I'm saying that - especially for fish oil - telling me you test isn't enough. I want to see it.

Really disappointing.

I've been buying 5lb tubs for over a year, always the vanilla flavor. Has always been really good and consitent. Last 5lb tub out of Amazon tastes disgusting. Still 'vanilla' but it mixes like cream, doesn't fully dissolve, and its undrinkable. I purchased the smaller containter hoping it was just that one, and it is marginally better but still not at all 'good'. The last good one had mfg date of 3/26 and at least all the empties I still have are from plant C as in batch C6083J40. The 5lb tub that is nasty AF is M2605044 MFG 4/26

Anyone else notice a change? If this is the new normal, any alternatives?

I dont know how so many doctors and scientists recommend this supplement. I can conclude, after trying many times coming on and off at least 20 times, that creatine affects my sleep badly. Every time i take it no matter the time of the day, i would fall asleep fine but i would wake up at 2-3 am stimulated and not able to fall asleep. Iv tracked sleep with whoop and here are the results - average 65 sleep score when i took pure creatine monohydrate and 95 when i didn’t take any. I envy ppl who can take it and have no sides because it does help with lifting. I keep seeing creatine recommended on social media and feel obligated to take it. Does this happen to anyone else? What’s weird is the only time i didnt have sleep issues is when i took the orgain creatine from costco. Other versions like creapure, i have sleep issues.

I’ve been under stress for years caused by anxiety and mental health, then my dad got sick with cancer in 2019, I was sick for almost 6 months last year with digestive issues, then I lost my dad this year, and relapsed with the digestive issues 2 months ago.

I have been taking Omega 3s, theanine, ashwagandha, and taking care of my diet but NOTHING has helped the way vitamin C has (or perhaps, it was just the cherry on top I needed?)

If you’ve had terrible sleep for a while and overall massive stress, don‘t sleep on vit C! I had tried camu camu powder because of the natural source, but I swear on my life this works! I only got it for collagen synthesis and was not expecting anything beyond that!

POTASSIUM isn't DIY FRIENDLY GUYS

Only writing this because I saw how many potassium supplementation threads came up on this subreddit from a google search that was sort of related.

Going beyond a balanced diet and daily electrolyte packet to supplement potassium can be dangerous. It isn't like magnesium or vitamin D. We aren't all deficient. Also, we can only measure serum potassium (potassium free flowing in your blood)...we will never know how much is actually in your cells with the tests currently available. THE EDGE for one person might be closer than for someone else.

UNLESS you have one of a few rare kidney conditions and you are ACTUALLY deficient, your kidneys are doing a good job keeping enough potassium stored in your cells.

Or

If you have one of another bunch of more common kidney conditions, you may have too much.

Too much potassium will hurt your kidneys and cause heart abnormalities...even sudden cardiac death

Giving someone potassium on top of normal supplementation ( appropriately balanced electrolyte mixes + balanced food) is ONLY done while you are strapped to a heart monitor. Potassium isn't something you can occasionally casually overdose on. Overdosing for one person might be serum potassium of 3.8....for another it might be 4.0. Overdosing can very quickly cause permanent heart abnormalities, kidney damage and even sudden cardiac death. It really isn't that uncommon of an occurrence when people get too much or too quickly.

I stumbled upon how many people are casually comparing potassium deficiency to magnesium deficiency while researching something entirely different. I panicked.

You want to supplement extra?

Get with a nephrologist and ask for potassium labs once a week at a minimum....do is safely. AGAIN: this isn't magnesium and vitamin D...this is potassium

I've read every paper there is because my life depends on it. I see a nephrologist monthly and have my potassium checked weekly (it used to be 3 times a week).

Please, be careful.

And it’s the biggest relief. Our thoughts are not us.

I’m 32 and have struggled with rumination since I was 17. I’ve tried typical antidepressants and anxiolytic pharmaceuticals and while they worked, I felt sedated by the latter and anhedonic from the former. Coming off lexapro was also fucking terrifying.

But I was also becoming increasingly afraid of the fact that I had a rumination problem that wasn’t going away. Changes (and significant improvements) to my life circumstances weren’t resolving it, and it was beginning to seriously affect my life as a spouse, parent, and friend. The downstream effects were primarily cognitive exhaustion. This led to impatience, poor boundaries, anger, low self-esteem and poor self-efficacy. I could not separate myself from my thoughts and my subsequent emotions, and I’d retrospectively justify my poor behaviour and reactions because “my feelings are real”. They were real. But they arose only because of the maladaptive thoughts my mind was chronically generating and were not a reliable source of the “truth” about a matter.

My nervous system was completely and chronically overloaded. Terrible sleep quality, gastric discomfort, psoriasis flare ups, weakened immune system, hyper-vigilance, all of which compounded the cognitive exhaustion and emotional dysregulation. I felt completely helpless, and began having thoughts when I was extremely triggered of just wanting to fall asleep and never wake up.

I reached a point where I could no longer say with honesty that I didn’t need help. I could no longer justify my reactions and behaviours, but I also didn’t believe a less reactive or angry response was possible for me anymore.

You get the idea. 3 months later, after consistently taking creatine, magnesium glycinate and L-threonate, a herbal blend called neurocalm, taurine, and occasionally ashwaghanda, my experience of life is just completely different.

While these have likely had a direct impact on my thought processes and the underlying neural chemistry to profoundly quiet my thoughts and stall rumination altogether, the indirect effect of then having enough cognitive bandwidth to feel gratitude, to step out of the victim mindset and consider healthier perspectives, and to more proactively organise my day to include exercise, sauna, time outside, time off the phone and connection with loved ones has been life changing.

It’s just extraordinary (and an immense relief) to experience firsthand that our thoughts, which we identify with so fiercely and automatically, are nothing but manifestations of the chemical processes taking place in our neural network.

I take 500mg of ALCAR in the morning and within 30-60 minutes, my brain fog instantly clears up and I’m able to get into a state of flow that I never really thought I could reach. It seems like learning is effortless and doing stuff is effortless. Like I have boundless energy.

The thing is though, if I take ALCAR 500mg everyday/two days in a row, then I will just get insane insomnia that goes away in a couple days. I made this mistake by actually taking 1000mg ALCAR everyday for 2 weeks straight. I couldn’t even fall asleep let alone stay asleep. I was just extremely wired and focused for the whole time but getting 4-5 hours of sleep from my normal 8 hours. Then I reduced it to 500mg ALCAR everyday and sleep got better but wasn’t fixed. So I had to take a Benadryl to get all the acetylcholine out of my system and take a break from it for a week before adding it again only 3x a week.

Currently I’m taking only 500mg ALCAR 3x a week and it works well on the day I take it and lingers to the next day. Absolutely amazing supplement if I do say so for brain clarity. Just make sure to not take it 2 days in a row or you may get insomnia problems.

Always on panic mode, fight or flight, can't sleep, memory issues after many tests everything came back fine except I've found that I've high cortisol and constantly stressed out.

Tried some magnesium bisglycinate before but didn't work.

Ashwagandha (both full spectrum and extract from swanson, jarrows ksm66, life extension sensoril) didn't help. Maybe a brand issues? Dunno

My currently stack is d3, b complex, magnesium citrate.

I'm not that rich so please suggest me one or two affordable supplements that may help with my issues.

Regarding Ashwagandha, If you've a brand that really works for you im all ears.

30M, moderately active. Go to the gym very casually, and do enjoy hiking. I’m not overweight at all, but I’m also definitely not fit. I am required to have a physical every year for work. Last time my Blood Pressure was in the 140’s. I don’t remember the lower number but I’m sure it was equally mediocre.

It was still technically within the limits for my job but I was definitely concerned about exceeding the limit and losing my income. Part of it was nervousness I’m sure but not all. I did a regular physical a few months later and by BP was still in the high 120’s.

Bought a home BP machine, and started taking beet root supplements. I also massively increased the amount of exercise I do.

Between these two things my morning blood pressure is easy lower, this morning it was 106/70. I’m not sure how much of it has to do with supplementation and how much is because of the exercise but I’m definitely happy with where I’m at.

The ones I know of off the top of my head:

Hibiscus tea, hawthorn berry, beetroot, garlic extract, olive leaf extract, nattokinase.

Any others?

Did those I list work for you or those you know?

I need to help a family member get off amlodipine, which is causing mental issues to spiral.

Hi everyone,

A post about strength training and creatine.

So, I’ve been training for strength with weights for the past 3–4 years, more or less consistently.

My fitness trainer (back when I still had one) never mentioned or recommended creatine to me, although I had read and heard about it several times.

About a week ago, I happened to walk into a fitness supplement store more or less by chance — I normally buy my protein powder from an online store — mainly because I wanted to exchange a word or two with the saleswoman, and I ended up walking out of the store with 500 g of creatine.

To cut a long story short: I’ve been taking it for one week now, 5 grams every morning, and I’m genuinely surprised by the changes I can feel and that are also visible in my body after just one week of taking it. Some people might think I’m exaggerating, but I can honestly already see and feel a difference after just one week.

Question:
For those of you who have experience with creatine, I’d like to ask: is this more or less an initial “spike” effect that occurs when someone is introduced to creatine for the first time, and will this effect gradually diminish over time, bringing me closer to my original state — the “normal” state for my age, before I started taking creatine? Or is this actually a new state that will last and can be maintained as long as I continue taking creatine regularly?

Thanks!