Anyone taking L-Glutamine?

Welcome to the Coping With Epilepsy Forums

Welcome to the Coping With Epilepsy forums - a peer support community for folks dealing (directly or indirectly) with seizure disorders. You can visit the forum page to see the list of forum nodes (categories/rooms) for topics.

Please have a look around and if you like what you see, please consider registering an account and joining the discussions. When you register an account and log in, you may enjoy additional benefits including no ads, access to members only (ie. private) forum nodes and more. Registering an account is free - you have nothing to lose!

Bart

New
Messages
18
Reaction score
0
Points
0
A lot of the time my brain feels very foggy, I can’t concentrate, I forget things easily. This situation has existed for the last several years, long before I started taking any tablets.

Anyhow, I have been taking L-Glutamine (about 1500mg a day), which really helped with the fogginess and lifted my spirits considerably. That was until February this year when I had a tonic-clonic seizure. I searched the web for all the supplements I was taking at the time and found the following -

“Also, because many anti-epilepsy drugs work by blocking glutamate stimulation in the brain, high dosages of glutamine might conceivably overwhelm these drugs and pose a risk to people with epilepsy. If you are taking antiseizure medications, including carbamazepine, phenobarbital, phenytoin (Dilantin), primidone (Mysoline), and valproic acid (Depakene): Use glutamine only under medical supervision.”

I don’t know the original source of this text as it appears to have been copied by dozens of different websites. Wikipedia makes no mention of a connection to epilepsy.

What I would like to ask is does anyone know if there’s any truth in the above statement? I miss having something that makes my mind more focussed and less foggy, but if there’s any chance that it might cause another seizure, I will obviously avoid it.
 
I get my glutamine from my whey protein...I decided to try the grape flavored Glutamine chews from GNC...they were really good but I soon realized my whey protein already provides me with enough Glutamine so I stopped buying them...

The whey protein I use is called "Designer Whey" I get it from Target...I prefer the Gourmet Chocolate flavor...I've been through many different brands/types of protein supplements and most of them had artificial flavors/fillers and other unnecessary junk...I like "Designer Whey" the most (so far) because it includes essential vitamins and nutrients and tastes great...in my opinion of course :)

pGNC1-3928634dt.jpg
pGNC1-7931122t300x300.jpg


strenuous exercise and physical exertion has been known to decrease Glutamine levels in the body thus it is vital to supplement
 
Last edited:
Here's the thing: The body converts L-Glutamine to Glutamate. And Glutamate is one the neurotransmitters that EXCITES the brain. A similar thing can happen with MSG (which also converts to Glutamate), and with aspartame (which converts to aspartate, another excitatory neurotransmitter). If you have a lowered seizure threshold you should avoid the L-Glutamine supplement, or at least proceed with caution when using it.
 
Here's the thing: The body converts L-Glutamine to Glutamate. And Glutamate is one the neurotransmitters that EXCITES the brain. A similar thing can happen with MSG (which also converts to Glutamate), and with aspartame (which converts to aspartate, another excitatory neurotransmitter). If you have a lowered seizure threshold you should avoid the L-Glutamine supplement, or at least proceed with caution when using it.

Depends on what you are using it for...I use it for bodybuilding...yes I am aware of all of that already but I need the "EXCITEMENT" in order to compensate for the DROWSINESS the medication causes...so it much pretty much balances it out...at least for me it does...then again I'm not taking huge doses of it like some idiots do...just what I need when I need it...otherwise I won't have enough energy to workout let alone function properly or masturbate...well maybe I will lol

and ASPARTAME! OMG DON'T GET ME STARTED ON THAT TOXIC ****!!! I never even touch the stuff...the whey protein I use utilizes natural sweeteners so yeah...no artificial crap like I already said before...
 
Last edited:
I don't understand, MrE - If your seizures are controlled using one of the drugs that block glutamate stimulation in the brain, why you are taking L-glutamine?! I would at least tell your neurologist, so he can help you determine if any amount of L-glutamine is safe to take is safe to take. On the other hand, if you are taking an AED that works in a different manner (meaning your seizures might not be caused by excess glutamate stimulation), perhaps it is more reasonable to take the L-glutamine to enhance you energy level. I don't know . . . just throwing out thoughts that occur to me. I hope you share any answers you receive from your specialist, so I can then approach mine. Increased energy would be great!
 
I don't understand, MrE - If your seizures are controlled using one of the drugs that block glutamate stimulation in the brain, why you are taking L-glutamine?! I would at least tell your neurologist, so he can help you determine if any amount of L-glutamine is safe to take is safe to take. On the other hand, if you are taking an AED that works in a different manner (meaning your seizures might not be caused by excess glutamate stimulation), perhaps it is more reasonable to take the L-glutamine to enhance you energy level. I don't know . . . just throwing out thoughts that occur to me. I hope you share any answers you receive from your specialist, so I can then approach mine. Increased energy would be great!

I am sorry that you are having such a difficult time understanding but this really isn't that hard to comprehend...

If it works for you then great...if it doesn't then it doesn't...regardless of any medications you may or may not be taking...the human body is a mysterious thing indeed...it wants to change and grow but most importantly EVOLVE beyond any limitations you may or may not have...science says one thing but our beliefs...say another...see it as you will...but its really just a smile :D (or is it? :ponder:)
 
Last edited:
...the human body is a mysterious thing indeed...it wants to change and grow but most importantly EVOLVE beyond any limitations you may or may not have...science says one thing but our beliefs...say another...see it as you will...but its really just a smile :D (or is it? :ponder:)

I like that philosophy, MrE. You're quite right, that we as humans are not meant to remain stagnant, but indeed we are supposed challenge our limits in an effort to grow, and today we should aim to be better than we were yesterday, and tomorrow we should aim to be better than we were today.
 
I like that philosophy, MrE. You're quite right, that we as humans are not meant to remain stagnant, but indeed we are supposed challenge our limits in an effort to grow, and today we should aim to be better than we were yesterday, and tomorrow we should aim to be better than we were today.

Well I mean it's true...right??? I'm just so sick of people "going by the book" or "following the system"...wake up people...you're limiting yourselves...learn to think for yourselves for a change...lol I guess not everyone is capable of doing that though...at least not until they are ready...or whatever...hell I wasn't always like this...more aware of the invisible illusions and deceptions...but one day I just said enough is enough (also aliens did something to me [implied sarcasm])...I may not be some almighty creator of a new world...I am simply the master of my own :D

(keep in my mind that I am not speaking directly...only indirectly at nothing in particular but to everything in general...which is entirely "subjective")
 
Back
Top Bottom