My first Acarbose shipment should arrive this week. It sounds like I better stock up on Beano.
I’m hoping that the gassiness gets better over time. Can anyone vouch for this? Also, I wonder what the time course is for when the gas “kicks in” so I can time it around work. I’m assuming I can’t take acarbose on a work day lunch, for instance, but if I have it at dinner will I be all clear the next morning?
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For me the .25 does nothing, when I take 2 with a lot if carb I start to notice. I would say it’s variable and individual, though noticeable.
I eat only a few berries and veg from the garden. A little potato if that’s what comes to the field. Maybe this is why I have little trouble.
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I’ve been researching berberine and it’s impressive. Reduces A1C , fasting glucose and insulin, reduces HOMA- IR by 44%. Also reduces postprandial glucose spikes.
In addition, berberine significantly improved lipids.
GI effects, if they occur, seem to be transient. No liver or renal effects.
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I agree berberine is great on paper. It inhibits CYP 3A4, however, so would in theory both increase the absorption but also decrease the catabolism of any given dose of rapamycin. It also inhibits 2D6 and 2C9, so lots of potential drug interactions.
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Don’t berberine and Metformin essentially do the same thing? I thought Metformin was superior though.
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Do you know if berberine is a strong or a weak inhibitor of these enzymes?
Would you reduce rapamycin dosing accordingly?
Very similar mechanisms but berberine also positively impacts lipids. Similar effects on glucose and insulin.
I don’t know about strong vs weak compared to other compounds, but significant enough to be a potential problem from the studies I’ve seen (sorry no time now to do pubmed search, getting ready for work)
You certainly make a good point. Might be advisable to cut back some on the rapamycin dosing with berberine.
One human study did show some effect, mouse study only showed an effect at high doses.
It would be interesting to see more studies. They had 15 patients on one drug and 16 on the other.
It’s encouraging that there are no renal effects.
I could never reconcile taking berberine over metformin because generic metformin is dirt cheap and you know what you’re getting. Berberine is more expensive (a lot more, when from the more reputable supplement companies) and, a supplement = can’t be sure of what you’re getting.
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There’s truth to that, but we shouldn’t ignore that berberine has over 3000 years of history behind it , albeit in other cultures.
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Yes, I saw that article but it seems that liver function tests are normal in the human studies that have been performed. At normal doses I’m not seeing any major side effect issues. Also, berberine has been around for a very long time so I’d think that we’d know about significant toxicities by now.
I’m not even certain that I’ll use it. Just looking into it.
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OT berberine and supplements
My thesis in a nutshell:
Do you trust drug companies? HELL NO!
Do you trust drug companies more than supplement companies? HELL YES!
You’re missing my point. I’m not questioning berberine; I’m questioning what’s actually in the pills that are in a bottle labeled berberine. To be frank, the supplement industry today would make the old times snake oil salesmen blush (as would the incestuous relationship between the FDA and drug companies. The difference is that with drugs we can at least have trust in the manufacturing process and that the pill is what it says it is).
Whenever someone does an actual lab analysis of supplements, the results are always damning. Like NMN, where they found several of the brands tested contained ZERO NMN and most others contained nowhere near what the label claimed. This is the norm with supplements. They trust the certificate they get from the (usually Chinese) manufacturer and that’s as far as their due diligence goes. So you need large, ethical supplement makers who actually test everything with high standards (and the resultant need for a high price).
Then you need to ascertain bioavailability. We all see supplements sold to the masses that are manufactured in the cheapest manner that has no or low bioavailability; making the mg count on the label worthless, even if it’s accurate (I’m of the opinion that supplement manufacturers should be required to state bioavailability data on the label).
We even see it on this forum too with drugs from China. People will post the Certificate the manufacturer emailed them showing purity as if that certificate has any meaning coming from the manufacturer! It doesn’t.
So, again, given the choice between a cheap generic drug with many decades of data vs a very similar supplement, I found it impossible to rationalize berberine over metformin.
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I get your point but I can’t ignore my personal experience. I’ve taken multiple supplements over the years with no issues, on the other hand I’ve experienced some nasty side effects from meds. I’ve also seen many patients with some serious medication side effects.
Granted, side effects are also possible with supplements and reasonable caution is certainly advised.
I was certainly scammed by some of the NMN and NR supplements.
What is amazing (or not) is that Amazon continues to allow these scammers to continue to sell on Amazon well after they have been publicly exposed as being fraudulant.
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I concur! If the supplements have been proven fraudulent they should be shamed and banned from selling online! Wake up Amazon!