Is l-citrulline ok to use instead or is citrulline malate needed?
Is only caffeine fine to use as an arginase inhibitor?
@Iwillbeatthis I don?t know much about the bioavailability of l-citrulline but I encourage experimentation.
If you can find another arginase inhibitor that has pre-pack pharmackinetics, that should be fine. PDE5 inhibitors Viagra and Cialis are also arginase inhibitors, but I have never taken them.
Nanna1 - is the copper gluconate and beta-glucan meant to be taken three times a day on an empty stomach, or only the Immuno Complex?
copper gluconate empty stomach - i wait one hr before eating
immuno complex - 15 - 20 minutes before a meal, according to nanna1 it needs food
beta glucan - you can use anytime, nanna1 does not mention anything and the package does not say anything.
@ hapl, I agree with certainlypois2, but I will add one note. When I first started copper, I could only tolerate one dose per day because it made my stomach feel like it was going to vomit (bacteria die-off). After a few days, this feeling went away so I tried 2 times a day to increase the vomit feeling. Then I increased the dose to 3 times per day. I did not count how many weeks, but at a certain point I could take higher doses without feeling anything or even feeling better after copper. That's when I stopped taking copper. I don't think it is necessary to increase the dose or take multiple doses per day. I was impatient and personally willing to experiment on my body, but that doesn't mean that everyone is comfortable doing that. As long as you are consistent with the once a day, it should do it's job.
I tried a caffeine + l-theanine combination supplement (100 mg + 100 mg before O) for transient immune suppression along with Echinacea (250 mg once daily) for immune activation.
@kingfisher, I think that the ability of caffeine to block arginase and increase the production of nitric oxide from arginine/citrulline plays a role in the ability of this pre-pack to up regulate NK cell activity. NK cells consume a lot of arginine and nitric oxide. If you don't prefer citrulline, there may be other sources of nitric oxide that you can try such as beet/spinach nitrates.
The side-effects of caffeine come from an imbalance of the glutamate/dopamine ratio (too much glutamate, not enough dopamine). Theanine can help rebalance the glutamate/dopamine balance, but the optimum ratio for theanine:caffeine is 2:1 (in mg). I tried Echinacea but it did not do much for me. Let us know if you find some results with that.
The time frame for remission of POIS symptoms varied for each combo of supplements and symptoms. For example, it took about 2 month for AHCC to cause symptom remission, but during that time the (non-POIS) symptoms increased before they decreased.
...did you start seeing the first signs of symptom remission with AHCC immediately or only after many weeks?...
My symptoms increased in the beginning, but these were not typical POIS symptoms. For example, I had a lot of face-muscle twitching on AHCC the first week, but this was s minor symptom that I sometimes experienced with POIS. I don't remember having an orgasm the first few weeks when I was trying AHCC (or I don't remember the symptoms). Eventually, I did experience more POIS like symptoms from taking AHCC, but it was never as bad as real POIS. I think that the path to symptom reduction will look a little different for each person. People who also take andrographis may not experience increased symptoms with AHCC. I read that andrographis speeds up the adaptive immunity, but initially I was not taking andrographis.
