NAC users

[MomWithOCDSon]

HAS NAc helped at all with anyone's tics ? We have had my ds9 on NAC for about 6 weeks with no improvement

 

I'm not as "up" on tics as I am OCD, but is glutamate thought to be contributory to tics? If so, then perhaps NAC would be of some help.

 

Here's a quote from the best source I've found regarding the effectiveness of NAC for OCD, and here's a link to the paper in full:

 

Glutamatergic Dysfunction in OCD

 

The amino acid N-acetylcysteine (NAC) is widely used for its antioxidant properties and as a treatment for

acetaminophen toxicity; however, recent preclinical studies suggest that NAC also modulates CNS glutamate. NAC is

converted to cystine, a substrate for the glutamate/cystine antiporter located on glial cells. The uptake of cystine by glia causes glial release of glutamate into the extrasynaptic space, where it appears to stimulate inhibitory metabotropic

glutamate receptors on glutamatergic nerve terminals and thereby reduces the synaptic release of glutamate. Systemic administration of NAC has been shown to reverse the susceptibility to reinstitution of compulsive cocaine use

in a rodent model by restoring re-establishing normal extracellular glutamate concentrations in the nucleus

accumbens.

 

In addition to attenuating synaptic glutamate release, NAC may enhance clearance of glutamate by glial cells at the

synapse. Elevated levels of glutamate deplete glutathione within glial cells, impair cystine transport, and thereby

increase the vulnerability of glia to oxidative stress.129 Preclinical studies demonstrate that NAC protects glial cells

against glutamate toxicity, repletes levels of glutathione, and attenuates toxic levels of glutamate. The authors of this article hypothesize that NAC, through its inhibition of presynaptic glutamate release and protection

of glial function, may be beneficial in disorders of glutamatergic dysregulation. If effective in OCD or other disorders,

NAC would be an attractive treatment option because of its benign safety profile and low cost. Therefore, a small

number of OCD patients have been treated with NAC, and evidence for benefit in compulsive behaviors has been found

in two preliminary case reports. As noted above, NAC also reduces the tendency toward relapse in a rat model of

cocaine abuse, suggesting that it may have more general efficacy against compulsive behaviors and maladaptive

habits. This agent merits further investigation.

[NancyD]

I find that NAC IVs work better on my daughter than supplements. For a few years we did monthly glutathione and NAC IV drips (only took 10 minutes) and I found them to be very effective. Even cleaned up her gut. But it's difficult now to make that 8-hour roundtrip drive to see our doctor each month so we do it every 3 months.

[Fixit]

HAS NAc helped at all with anyone's tics ? We have had my ds9 on NAC for about 6 weeks with no improvement

 

maybe not all tics...but more the ones that are compulsive in nature