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Met up with an old friend a couple weeks ago and I'm giving him some supplement help. He went thru a knee replacement and is in a lot of pain, not happy with his results so far. He says so much of his damage to his body is from weight lifting and workouts he did years ago.
He's trying the Pain-RX I take which is a Cox 2 Inhibitor and I just sent him info on Gaba to help calm his pain that he claims is bodywide. He's thinking of a shoulder replacement later and I've told him alternatives like PRP and Stem Cells, but he'll make his decision. The knee, so far, is a big problem.
I have used Gaba in my sleep remedy for years and can feel pain kinda melting from my body when I take a 500mg capsule. It's otc and 1-2 recommended daily...good for sleep support too.
We're all unique, I can take it for a week or more straight then back off for a while as I can fatigue more. Inositol works good for me. I dream all night and some times dreams that can be stressful, but I sleep.
Gaba has no effect on me. But Rx gabapentin makes me dizzy and hyper, then I fall asleep hours later. If I take it the next day, it has practically no effect. So there's another example of how we are all unique and different medications have different effects on people.
There is a lot of debate over whether GABA supplements cross the blood brain barrier and thus people question their efficacy.
I can state unequivocally that if you take high dose GABA supplementation that it does indeed cross the blood brain barrier and has therapeutic effects. I had done some reading on the subject a while back and learned that high dosage GABA supplementation would likely cross the blood brain barrier. As such, I have successfully self-experimented with between 7,500mg to 10,000mg of GABA dosing (yes, all at once; typically GABA supplements come in 500mg or 750mg's of GABA).
What I learned happened just as my reading had indicated it would: about 10 minutes after mega dosing GABA, for a very short period of time heart rate and blood pressure soar, body temperature increases, and after the spike in BP/HR, a much more relaxed, calm GABA-esque state kicks in.
High dose GABA is one of few natural supplements I have taken that I experienced a direct, tangible efficacy from. I am able to replicate the physical reaction whenever I would like by high dose GABA supplementation; there does not appear to be a Gabapentin-esque tolerance that builds up.
Now, I am a 40 year old guy who weighs 180 pounds, and I wouldn't want anyone hurting themselves. Again, this was self-experimentation that I was willing to do on myself. No GABA supplement bottle will recommend taking anywhere near the dosages I am describing. As such, I would strongly caution anyone who was interested in trying this experimentation themselves.
However, I did want to put the information out there, again, because like I said, this is one of the few ways I have ever experienced discernible, tangible efficacy from health supplements.
Gaba is part of my nightly sleep combo, but only 500mg and this with my sleep combo keep me sleeping pretty well. Lately thou due to advancing OA and recent hospital/rehab with infection in knee, my body is more pained. Maybe I need to take some gaba during day now. ummmmm I'll consider this. thanks.
"It turns out that while GABA doesn't pass through the blood brain barrier ... it can make its way into the peripheral aspects of the CNS (such as the dense connections in the gut.) Also ... the hypothalamus, the emotional neuroendocrine control center of the brain ... is outside of and thus not protected by the blood brain barrier. These two factors could explain the research / practice gap here. ..."
I know of many who take a benzo for sleep aid. I'd rather work with Gaba any day. We've posted about benzos and alzheimers connection.
There was a time back in 2005 or so that I had a panic attack, thought it was heart attack, went to ER and they sent me home with 12 lorazepam...ah nice but once I read about the alz connection, I stopped taking the 1/2mg.
"It turns out that while GABA doesn't pass through the blood brain barrier ... it can make its way into the peripheral aspects of the CNS (such as the dense connections in the gut.) Also ... the hypothalamus, the emotional neuroendocrine control center of the brain ... is outside of and thus not protected by the blood brain barrier. These two factors could explain the research / practice gap here. ..."
(...) ________________
That is a fascinating article; thank you for sharing! It appears that they are theorizing something different than my beliefs, that GABA does not cross the blood brain barrier but that I am experiencing the reactions I am based on performance in the peripheral aspects of the Central Nervous System and the hypothalamus. That is very interesting information. I suppose I better defer to the author as they are very well versed on the action of GABA. That is all very interesting!
GABA has helped me many times with anxiety and insomnia.
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