Posted by Paul (Saint Louis, Mo) on 05/19/2013
★★★★★
Acetyl L-Carnitine has changed my life as well. I have suffered from depression since I was a child, have tried every medication out there and nothing seemed to work. Also, I found out I had candida, and everything I have done to bring my GI tract back into balance has helped the depression, OCD, worry, and ADHD. I take probiotics before bed, which has made a huge difference. L-tyrosine has helped me a lot. My biggest help was finding out that I was low in stomach acid. Treating that with Betaine HCL has changed my life and enabled me to actually "absorb" vitamins and nutrients from food that I couldn't before, this has changed my life.
Posted by Sveta (Des Plaines, IL) on 07/28/2009
★★★★★
Having been suffering from bipolar, bulimia, anxiety disorder and depression for 5 years. Tried ACETYL L-CARNITINE. Have one thing to say, it's freaking amazing! I'm surprised you don't hear about it much. It helps my anxiety better than cold showers, antidepressants, and even Xanax! I'm so happy that that i found out about it. It's like the hell I've been living in for years is over. This supplement has the strength of a prescription drug. I advise everyone who has anxiety problem to give a try. Though I need like 50 mg a day instead of 5000 the way they recommend. 5000 is too much for me to tolerate. Find your dosage. And never give up. Try every supplement for depression and anxiety out there, one by one. Some will do nothing, some will make you feel worse, but there'll be one, two, or even more that will help you and make your life a beautiful and joyful thing to have. Good luck everyone.
Posted by Robin (Minneapolis, MN) on 06/06/2009
★★★★★
I have had depression most of my life. Everyone's body chemistry and brain make-up is different and that is why dr's have a hard time finding the right meds for people with emotional problems. Anyway, I have just put up with it all these years as I don't like taking Rx. By accident, in taking some acetyl-l-carnitine, I finally realized I wasn't depressed anymore. Not happy, just not down in the pits for a change.
I think Americans are having to eat such nutrient deficient foods that synthetic supplements can't completely cover as good as Mother Nature can; that whole populations are having subclinical and even clinical deficiencies that are being labeled as 'this or that problem' instead of what it really is!
Anyway, I was taking 500mg/day on empty stomach. Another thing it is good for is the heart. L-carnitine is better, but this other helps some with the pressure on the chest also.
Posted by Molly (Madison, USA) on 04/11/2008
★★★★★
One time I purchased a bottle of 5-htp, and after taking one capsule morning & evening, just twice, I threw the bottle away. My reaction to 5-htp was horrific; upon further research I learned that high levels of serotonin are associated with SEVERE ANXIETY. I also read that the spice ginger is a serotonin antagonist, so I have a bottle on hand, just in case I ever feel so anxious ever again.
Then I read somewhere online that there is a set of people whose depression responds to Acetyl L-Carnitine, they said the depression lifted in these people when using 3-4 grams a day, and to take two grams of acetylcarnitine on an empty stomach, first thing in the morning.
This amino acid is the most amazing substance; I've never been able to take more than 2 grams per day - there is such great mental clarity, there is utter inability to be depressed, but there simultaneously is no euphoria - just calm lucid clarity. I've read that it assists the brain in making many different neurotransmitters - so it is not anything, not anything at all like 5-htp which floods the brain with serotonin - which, if you don't need it, might create severe anxiety.
