Tuesday, April 23, 2013

I started taking NAC on October 1st, but it didn't last long.  I'm horrible at remembering stuff and I just kept forgetting to take it.  I figured what's the point if I'm not going to be consistent.  Well, I'm going to give it another go.  I heard Josie talk about it in an interview recently and she said it took a couple of months till she really noticed it working (not sure if I've posted the interview before... you can check it out at the end of this post).  So starting May 1st (cause I like to start things at the beginning of months or weeks) I'm going to start taking NAC again.  I'd love to get my brows filled in and a full set of lashes.  Just need to figure out a way to remind myself to take the NAC.  Hmmm??? 

4 comments:

  1. Good luck with the NAC!! How many times a day do you have to take it? I'm on several meds daily and have routines...one I keep on my nightstand to take as I'm getting out of bed in the morning. Others I keep on the kitchen table to take w/breakfast and others on the bathroom vanity. Keep us posted!

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    1. Dr. Grant shared with TLC:
      "What is the optimal dose of NAC and when during the day should people take it?
      The answers are still unclear. For our study, we examined dosing between 1200mg and 2400mg per day. I think some people could benefit from higher doses, up to 3600mg per day, but this has not yet been studied in a controlled manner. Over time I've learned to start at 1200mg instead of 600mg because the lower dose helps very few people.

      In terms of when to take it, I advise people to divide the dose and take it twice a day, perhaps even closer to the times of day when people pull or pick. For example, I give 1200mg as divided doses of 600mg twice a day. Sometimes my dosing depends upon the timing of the pulling. NAC may only stay in the system for about 8-10 hours. Therefore if they pull all day, I divide it as 600mg in the morning and 600mg around dinner. For some people, it is probably out of the system in 3-5 hours."

      The bottle I have is 600mg tablets- so I'll start of with 1 2x a day. Maybe eventually 2 2x a day (2400mg).

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    2. Oh- I haven't talked to my family doctor about taking NAC, so I'm just following dosage stuff that I've seen online. I'm too cheap/lazy to make a doctor's appointment just to say, "hey, you probably know nothing about this, but NAC is supposed to be good for trich. How much should I take?" :)

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    3. WebMD lists dosage amounts- For trichotillomania (hair-pulling): N-acetyl cysteine 1200 mg to 2400 mg daily has been used.

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