Vitamin C Forum

zarfas wrote:

RatherBeUnknown wrote: (vitamin b5 is supposed to upregulate 5alpha reductase or something).

so increased hair-loss?

johnyascorbate wrote:

ofonorow wrote:
I have already lost 4 inches around my waist.

That's amazing. How long have you been on B5, how many calories would you say you are consuming per day, and how long will it take you to hit your target weight?

I started Pantethine around July 23rd. (I made a post in the testosterone topic. I said I felt like a 20-year old the next morning.) However, until the "butt pucks" are ready, I don't have a good calorie count. I started with 2-3 days of fasting, which turned out to be easy (because Leung mentioned that most people go into ketosis after 2-3 days of fasting. I was trying to jump start the fat burning process) , but social obligations have interfered so I don't really consider myself to be on a calorie restriction yet. Once the stomach is stretched..sigh.. The people in the study are apparently losing what Leung reported. He said about 2 lbs per week. There is an increase in water weight (as you must keep hydrated burning fat) but our clothes are not fitting and people have already commented that I have seemed to have lost weight. Less than one month. We have a prototype online study tool, so I can monitor the progress - weight loss is occurring, and it is slow and steady. My target weight (when I was in the Air Force is 50 lbs less than I am now, so 25 weeks (if only 2 lbs per week) or 6 months. Something tells me that when I begin restricting calories - it will only require 4 months. No one has reported any side effects.

I was on pantothenic acid for a short while and had some great benefits but ran into some problems early on. I encountered this same problem while attempting high dose niacinamide. This may sound weird but my body holds on to Riboflavin from the B Complex for much longer than it has any business doing, regardless of how much water I drink. I could drink 2 gallons of water and my urine is still yellow from the B2. Without taking B3 or B5, my urine does get yellow from the B2 in the complex, but a few hours later it will become diluted, which is normal. I did ask Johnwen, and he said the amount of riboflavin I'm receiving is very high and poorly excreted through the urine. I understand that, but without taking B2 or B5 my urine is normal a few hours later. I also have mild gastro symptoms on the B5 and B3. Because of these two symptoms, I am no longer taking B5, which sucks because I know I'm missing out on some benefits- but I don't feel good. I don't know if something is wrong with kidneys(there is not) or why the extra high dose of either B5 or B3 is for some reason keeping the B2 in the body. I tried switching to pantethine, but ran into the same problem. I know I could stop taking the B complex/Multi to avoid the urine problem, but I shouldn't have to deprive my body of the B vitamins.

I don't mean to hijack to topic, but this does relate to my B5 experience, and B5 is side effect free in just about everyone except me.
Owen, does this happen to you? Are you peeing yellow from the B2 in the Complex/Multi all day while taking the high dose B5?
If Johnwen or eDoc have any more suggestions, I'm open to anything.

ofonorow wrote: So spilling B2 would indicate to me (since you have a visual cue) to take more B2 - but also increase Niacin and B5 (and make sure B6 and B12 and biotin are also in good supply). As far as the gastro upset - maybe some kind of enteric coated B-complex?

confused1 wrote:How do you know your body is holding onto riboflavin? Not doubting you, just curious how one determines that.

ofonorow wrote:
What if the B2 is doing a job it cannot otherwise do (without more B3/B5? Something like glutathione. In any event, it means that to take higher amounts of B5/B3, you personally probably require higher amounts of B2.

And the other suggestion is, like vitamin C, to take smaller amounts of B5 and timed release B3, more frequently to perhaps mitigate the B2 dumping.

And drink a LOT of water.

confused1 wrote:I've been taking 3 grams a day pantethine and I have noticed crystal clear vision within just a week. I'm 53 and normally need reading glasses but suddenly I noticed I could see the tiniest print up close without them. It startled me at first and I didn't connect it to b 5 but I think I read of others experiencing this on this forum. I couldn't find anything on the internet about it. Am I correct that others have noticed this???

ChuckArbogast wrote:Do you mind letting us know what exact item you are using?

Thanks,
Chuck

ofonorow wrote:Thanks for the report confused1 - that creates another "special interest" group to be against vitamin B5 - eye doctors (I had a similar experience after my first DMSO session.. You haven't been doing DMSO too, have you?)

ofonorow wrote:Thanks for the report confused1 - that creates another "special interest" group to be against vitamin B5 - eye doctors (I had a similar experience after my first DMSO session.. You haven't been doing DMSO too, have you?)

confused1 wrote:

ChuckArbogast wrote:Do you mind letting us know what exact item you are using?

Thanks,
Chuck

I was using Swanson Pantethine 300mg. 3 softgels 3x/day. So actually 2,700 mg. But I ran out and just yesterday got the Now brand 600 mg. It's a little pricey at that dosage so I also got regular pantothenate, hoping I can cut the pantethine dosage in half.