L Carnitine Problems

by **gotts1936** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 2:27 pm

I know after reading many of the post on this website that some individuals have had a problem with L Carnitine. I have tried the L carnitine supplement twice now and my leg muscles have gone haywire. Yesterday, I took a 500 mg tablet of L carnitine and suffered for two days. I have been taking 200 mg coq10 twice aday for the last six months without any noticeable adverse effect. Any ideas?

by **BSGfan** » Wed Jan 30, 2008 9:46 pm

Speaking just as a layperson, perhaps you had a bit of an overdose. If you are taking the carnitine in tablet form, use a pill cutter. Be conservative. Try chopping it into quarters instead of halves, for example. Getting carnitine in a mixable, measureable powder or liquid form might be a good idea.

Me, I'm very sensitive to carnitine as well. Just the tiny amount in a fortified sports drink tends to make my statin damaged muscle areas feel a bit...off...not exacerbating the cramping necessarily, but just...different.

by **Darrell** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 9:46 am

Do you get the same reaction from eating beef? Four ounces of beef steak or ground beef gives you very roughly a 100 mg dose of carnitine.

by **gotts1936** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 10:49 am

BSGfan, thanks for your response. I may be overdosing on L Carnitine.

Darrell, You made a good point. I eat a lot of beef. I eat about 8 oz of beef 3 or 4 times a week and on the day I took a 500mg tablet of L Carnitine I had just finished a meal with about 8 oz of beef in it.