I know we need CoQ10 but does anyone know how much and can you take too much? Walgreens often has 2 for 1 price sales and is running one now and I plan on getting some. Last time I got 200mg 30 pills on the 2 for 1 and I wondered if 200mg is too much. I could have bought the 100's. Their ad shows doses from 50mg to 200mg and if 2oo's are good then 2/$24.99 is a great price. Hubby is on Lipitor and has no complaints but I have had him on CoQ10 the whole time but still worry. Well off to garden club meeting, it feels more like Spring today with all the sunshine. Have a good day. :)

gal,

I don't think you can TAKE too much, but since it's expensive, it's wasteful of our precious dollars (or $$TWENTIES$$.)

I feel 100 mg for people taking statins might be a good max. I've seen lower numbers and I feel that if I get 50, I'm fine. Who knows though, because I haven't seen any good studies showing benefit for people who get pain from statins...in fact, nobody HERE who has had problems with statin use who has THEN added CO-Q10 has reported the problem went away.
So, I'll continue to take my 50 or 100 mg (whatever I can find on sale) and hope against hope that the "vitamin purveyors" aren't screwing me over yet AGAIN! And I;ll keep looking for good research to justify the expense.

This stuff is too expensive to take "just in case.":(

I think that unless you get your CoQ10 level tested, it's really hard to say whether you are getting enough from the dose you are taking. That may not be as much of an issue for those who aren't taking statins, but for those who do, it certainly can be. Depending on a person's age, CoQ10 levels vary. We naturally produce less and less of this enzyme once we pass age 25-30. Some people may absorb it better, and some forms of CoQ10 are absorbed better than others. It's absorbed better if taken with fats. It's my understanding that the hydrosoluble form, such as Q-Gel, is absorbed much better than others. In any case, I think now you can better understand the dilemma people are faced with. For people who take statins, the only solution would be to ask their doctor to measure their blood level of CoQ10, and make the appropriate dosage adjustments to bring it into a favorable range. You may actually need to take much more than you think, especially since statins deplete CoQ10, and the higher the dose, the greater the depletion. In short, this is the same as trying to determine beforehand how much Lipitor to take without first determining what your cholesterol level is.

Didn't somebody report several months ago that absorption of CoQ10 is best on an empty stomach. I;ve looked for that post but can't find it.
Mine is encapsuled with fish oil so I've been taking it first thing in the morning
with ITS oil and 2 grams more fish oil.

Lenin,

I've never heard anyone recommend that CoQ10 should be taken on an empty stomach.

I have an excellent book called "User's Guide to Nutritional Supplements", and it dedicates 27 pages to CoQ10 alone. It provides some very interesting information. For example, did you know that CoQ10 molecules in the blood are actually TRANSPORTED BY LDL cholesterol? Yep, that's right.

The book also provides recommendations on how to take CoQ10:


"If you slug down your vitamins with a glass of water whenever you remember, it is very probable you aren't getting a big CoQ10 bang for your buck. It works better if you take it with a meal, and preferably with a meal that has some fat in it. CoQ10 is a fat-soluble compound. That means it dissolves, and absorbs, more effectively in a fatty environment."

I would think that if you are taking your CoQ10 with fish oil that you would absorb it better, even though you were to take it on an empty stomach. I usually take mine immediately after dinner, the meal which often contains the most fats.

Okay then,
With dinner it IS.

Here's another interesting excerpt about CoQ10 blood levels:

"Objectively, you can ask your physician to conduct a blood test that measures CoQ10. More and more medical laboratories are offering this service as interest in CoQ10 rises. And with this development comes more accurate and reliable tests."

"A normal blood level is 0.8 to 1.2 micrograms per milliliter of blood. However, to obtain therapeutic benefits, the experts say the level must be driven up into the 2.5 to 3.5 range through sustained supplementation."

"Cardiologist Stephen Sinatra notes that CoQ10 has occasionally failed to show therapeutic potency in medical studies because researchers weren't getting high enough blood levels due to inadequate doses being administered to those in the study. "I find that the higher the blood level of CoQ10 in very elderly or sicker patients, the greater the benefits", he says."

"However, about 15 percent of my cardiac patients do not experience therapeutic improvements with CoQ10 supplementation, even when I raise their blood levels to 3.5 micrograms," he adds.

"The CoQ10 is indeed getting into the body but is just not enough on its own to achieve the desired results. In those cases, I add other key supplements, such as L-Carnitine and NADH (Nicotinomide Adenine Dinucleotide, which is a form of niacin also known as coenzyme 1)."

Oh-Oh....

My search on COQ10 is looking MIGHTY familiar. I am seeing "cures" for heart disease (as expected) but also promises of cures for Parkinson's, Huntington's Disease, Lou Gherig's disease, and Cancer...with paperbacks widely available on each topic. When they get to the COMMON COLD, then I'll stop taking it.

It is beginning to smell like the first new CURE-ALL of the new millennium and I've been 'round this block before. I even saw some mention of "well, those studies didn't show results because the dosage was too small."
It sounds DISTRESSINGLY familiar. I DO hope it's not just another fanciful scheme to separate the huddled masses from their pennies (or dollars...more like Twenties) :D!

Gotta love stuff like Dr. Tsiang's (he publishes an internet newsletter) quote:
One study suggests that CoQ10 might reduce blood sugar levels in people with diabetes. While this could potentially be helpful for treatment of diabetes, people with diabetes need to monitor blood sugar carefully, as glucose levels may go down with CoQ10 therapy.
Have you EVER seen so many "outs" in one sentence like: suggests, might, potentially, helpful, may! In a court of law, of course, Tsiang could say "I NEVER said it helped diabetics."
Then why say anything? To sell the newsletter and a line of supplements perhaps?

Lenin,

I cannot type all 27 pages here. I just though you might find this excerpt of interest. No, of course CoQ10 is not a cure-all for every malady under the sun. Here's one more except which should satisfy your curiosity:

"Before we get into specifics, keep in mind that while CoQ10 can do wonders, it is not a panacea. Don't expect it to serve as a rescue remedy for every physical ailment or for a ruinous lifestyle."

ARIZONA,
While that quote is comforting, it is beginning to look like it is, or will soon be peddled as EXACTLY that panacea.

An Aside,
I am finding the major search engine getting less and less useful these days. The junk-ads all float to the top...presumably becaue they are being grinded up by staffs of hack typists who spend 8 hours a day entering the claptrap sales sites for supplements and junk-paperback CURES. Finding decent REAL information like valid medical studies, on page 12 if at all, of the search engine and wading through 11 pages of quackery is getting to be too much. It looks like G..... may soon drive us back to the LIBRARIES for REAL information.:(:(

I AM finding that it's SOME help to add the term -vitamins, e.g. (minus sign vitamins) and then only the most imaginative sellers sqeak though...like a HUNDRED instead of a THOUSAND!:D:D:D:

ARIZONA,

An Aside,
I am finding the major search engine getting less and less useful these days. The junk-ads all float to the top...presumably becaue they are being grinded up by staffs of hack typists who spend 8 hours a day entering the claptrap sales sites for supplements and junk-paperback CURES.

Lenin,

Google and ***** are funded by sponsored-links - and their results tend to sort to favor those links...

Try a different search engine - like altavista.com, or alltheweb.com...

No matter what search engine you see - commercial web pages trying to sell you something are inevitable...


I try to use the -buy -order keywords in my searches to cut down on this crap (technical term for sleezebag web-pages).


HubleRules

:cool:

Thanks,

-Buy and -Order are two good additions.