Inositol

[Meimeiquest]

Yes, it seems to be used In the body in many ways, so depending on how one's body is both made and operating, probably most anything could happen. So if you decide to try it, start low and slow. Then the other question is this: A body should be able to manage its own inositol needs. If it has a huge positive effect, why wasn't the body able to figure that out on its own? I don't have an answer for that.

[Lilu]

Is it best to take Inositol by itself or in combination with choline or some other supplement?

 

I need it to help me with anxiety and sleep, what dose would I start with?

 

If I buy the powder instead of capsules, how does one eat it?  Does it dissolve in juice?

[Meimeiquest]

I have seen choline mentioned, maybe with diabetes/insulin issues?

 

All I know about dose is in my notes of 12/10. I think the need is highly variable. Right now I am taking 3 tbsp. at bedtime and another dose when I awaken in the night. That's huge. But I am sure without it I wouldn't be sleeping at all.

 

It is sweet, dissolves in anything. In a pinch I have taken a tsp. plain, tastes like powdered sugar.

 

My sister and her son felt it caused depression for them.

 

Good luck!

[WatchingTV426]

The integrative med. doctor I've been seeing has me taking, in powdered form, twice a day (with breakfast and dinner), 4g of inositol with 200mg of magnesium. This is supposed to be for anxiety and sleep. I've been on it for 4 weeks at this point, and I started it 16 days after stopping Zoloft. This is about 19 days after making a huge change to my diet (going "Paleo")--dropping out all gluten, non-naturally occurring sugars, dairy (except butter), and vegetable oils (didn't eat much of the latter anyway), among other things--so this is something that could also be affecting my sleep. 

 

The brand I use is is Metagenics Cenitol powder and can be found on Amazon. It's easy to take, I just mix it with water, but it seems ludicrously expensive to me? Using it twice daily, it comes to about $74 a month (if you're not finding it somewhere with a discount). Still, I know that the quality of supplements are important, so I don't even know what to make of it. Everything I read says, "Buy the best supplement you can, blah blah blah." 

 

It's difficult for me to justify the expense, not knowing if it's working or not, but before the w/d got SUPER bad recently and ended any reasonable sleep/functioning and forced me to reinstate, my sleep had improved by about an hour on *some* nights--though I cannot say whether it was due to the diet changes, the inositol, or my system regulating b/c of both of those and the other (not-cheap) supplements she recommended including a high dose fish oil, a B-complex, and a probiotic (a gut profile I got done showed I had like no DHA or whatever in my system and was borderline in B vitamins, magnesium, zinc, etc.). It went on for such a short period of time, it could have been anything, and, like other people's experiences, it could have worked for a little then stopped. 

[compsports]

WT,

 

As an FYI, the number of hours of sleep is irrelevant as it is the quality that counts.   Has your functioning improved since you have started sleeping an additional hour?  What about in other areas of your life?

 

 

The integrative med. doctor I've been seeing has me taking, in powdered form, twice a day (with breakfast and dinner), 4g of inositol with 200mg of magnesium. This is supposed to be for anxiety and sleep. I've been on it for 4 weeks at this point, and I started it 16 days after stopping Zoloft. This is about 19 days after making a huge change to my diet (going "Paleo")--dropping out all gluten, non-naturally occurring sugars, dairy (except butter), and vegetable oils (didn't eat much of the latter anyway), among other things--so this is something that could also be affecting my sleep. 

 

The brand I use is is Metagenics Cenitol powder and can be found on Amazon. It's easy to take, I just mix it with water, but it seems ludicrously expensive to me? Using it twice daily, it comes to about $74 a month (if you're not finding it somewhere with a discount). Still, I know that the quality of supplements are important, so I don't even know what to make of it. Everything I read says, "Buy the best supplement you can, blah blah blah." 

 

It's difficult for me to justify the expense, not knowing if it's working or not, but before the w/d got SUPER bad recently and ended any reasonable sleep/functioning and forced me to reinstate, my sleep had improved by about an hour on *some* nights--though I cannot say whether it was due to the diet changes, the inositol, or my system regulating b/c of both of those and the other (not-cheap) supplements she recommended including a high dose fish oil, a B-complex, and a probiotic (a gut profile I got done showed I had like no DHA or whatever in my system and was borderline in B vitamins, magnesium, zinc, etc.). It went on for such a short period of time, it could have been anything, and, like other people's experiences, it could have worked for a little then stopped. 

[WatchingTV426]

Hi Comp, 

 

Currently my w/d is so bad I'm sleeping terribly--2 hours last night, I'm full of cortisol constantly. All week it's been 2.5-3 hrs. at most (except the two times I took Klonopin and went back to sleep for 3 hours) and right now I'm not functioning at all, just getting around the house and barely doing anything but being on the computer and talking to my family. I'm constantly sick feeling inside, and I'm so sleep-deprived, probably the worst ever, I'm worried about what that's going to lead to with my mental state b/c I have no idea how long a person can go on like this. 

 

But before it got this bad, last month in the early days of w/d, yes I was feeling better getting the extra hour of sleep. I could tell it was making a difference. It lasted such a short while though--a week or two--that it didn't make much impact on me overall though. And as I said, I've got no idea whether it was from the inositol or the diet or the hormones regulating or the moon being in perfect alignment...I'm basically out of my mind over here, sorry. 

[Meimeiquest]

I use loose powder inositol, NOW brand, from Amazon. It's about $27/lb. Right now I am taking 2 tbsp. at bedtime, 1'tbsp. when I wake up 1-2 AM, and about 3 one teaspoon doses in the daytime. It's a whooping dose, about 35 grams, but it is working. I would guess I am sleeping 5-6 hours out of the 8 I am in bed. Whether it is safe I do not know. I am going to hold my benzo till I am sleeping well and taking less than 20 grams a day.

[Juventus17]

Hey everyone I've stumbled upon this supplement called Inositol, which is also known as Vitamin B8. I haven't tried it yet but there has been studies showing it is as effective, if not more effective than antidepressants for treating anxiety, panic disorder, social anxiety, OCD, depression, etc without all the terrible side effects of SSRI's. Check it out.

 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11386498

 

 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24424706

 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=UeQmGZ_5cCY

[Hopefull]

Juventus,

Thank you for that very informative video. Especially the Dr Robert Peers inositol presentation.

I hope I can get in touch with this doctor.

[Hopefull]

How can I track down Dr Robert Peers in Melbourne? I tried google not much luck.

Thank you, Zoe.

[Juventus17]

Juventus,

Thank you for that very informative video. Especially the Dr Robert Peers inositol presentation.

I hope I can get in touch with this doctor.

You're welcome. Just ordered my Inositol powder from Amazon. Hope I have some good results with this. His website is http://www.drrobertpeers.com He has a phone number and e-mail on it.

[Meimeiquest]

I have taken a lot of inositol in recent months. It was very helpful, extremely helpful, but not as much anymore. This is my current opinion, absolutely no science behind it, and surely not worth much...it can help to take supplements, you are in effect forcing a biological system. But there is just no substitute for letting the neuroreceptors and whatever else has changed by principles of neuro plasticity from the drugs slowly change back to what they need to be. However, I don't regret taking a lot of inositol and dropping a good portion of a benzo fast, it is just taking a long time to get my brain caught up to itself again.

[Juventus17]

I have taken a lot of inositol in recent months. It was very helpful, extremely helpful, but not as much anymore. This is my current opinion, absolutely no science behind it, and surely not worth much...it can help to take supplements, you are in effect forcing a biological system. But there is just no substitute for letting the neuroreceptors and whatever else has changed by principles of neuro plasticity from the drugs slowly change back to what they need to be. However, I don't regret taking a lot of inositol and dropping a good portion of a benzo fast, it is just taking a long time to get my brain caught up to itself again.

Interesting. Why did you take inositol and how did it work for you? How much were or do you take? Also, you say there is no science behind it but there has been a few studies showing it is significantly more effective than an SSRI and a placebo.

[Meimeiquest]

You're right, there's lots of science. Where there's not, that I know of, is that it will take you safely through a quick taper without repercussions. I took, at most, a whole pound of NOW powder every six days. I went to a new dr. (who I like) and he wanted me off my benzo ASAP by switching to inositol. Even he is not used to how hard tapering can be...three months later he was saying, "Oh my, don't drop that any more." But really I've not had too serious of repercussions, and I dropped about half the total dose in those three months. If you are familiar with True Hope/Empower Plus, which neither I nor this site recommend, they recommend inositol for tapering. My sister took if some months after a Prozac C/T and it really made her depressed.

[Juventus17]

You're right, there's lots of science. Where there's not, that I know of, is that it will take you safely through a quick taper without repercussions. I took, at most, a whole pound of NOW powder every six days. I went to a new dr. (who I like) and he wanted me off my benzo ASAP by switching to inositol. Even he is not used to how hard tapering can be...three months later he was saying, "Oh my, don't drop that any more." But really I've not had too serious of repercussions, and I dropped about half the total dose in those three months. If you are familiar with True Hope/Empower Plus, which neither I nor this site recommend, they recommend inositol for tapering. My sister took if some months after a Prozac C/T and it really made her depressed.

I agree that there is no evidence that it helps with tapering off benzo's. Im glad it helped you at least somewhat with your benzo taper. Thankfully I never took benzo's long term. I read a lot of good reviews of it helping people with anxiety, panic disorder, ocd, and depression. I take magnesium and it helps a little so I'm hoping adding the inositol will help more.

[Altostrata]

Merged similar topics. Please use search before starting topics in Symptoms.

[Juventus17]

You're right, there's lots of science. Where there's not, that I know of, is that it will take you safely through a quick taper without repercussions. I took, at most, a whole pound of NOW powder every six days. I went to a new dr. (who I like) and he wanted me off my benzo ASAP by switching to inositol. Even he is not used to how hard tapering can be...three months later he was saying, "Oh my, don't drop that any more." But really I've not had too serious of repercussions, and I dropped about half the total dose in those three months. If you are familiar with True Hope/Empower Plus, which neither I nor this site recommend, they recommend inositol for tapering. My sister took if some months after a Prozac C/T and it really made her depressed.

Hey do you remember how much you started taking and how you increased? Also, how long did it take to have any effect?

[Meimeiquest]

I got raw powder from NOW. I think I started at roughly 700 mg. Effect was very fast, like 45 minutes. I still take about 2000 mg twice daily for insulin resistance. I don't think it does a thing now for anxiety or insomnia, but it helped a lot for awhile.

[Hopefull]

Hi Juventus 17,

I managed to track dr peers and I saw him. Nice doctor. I brought "Health Wise", inositol brand. He told me to take one leveled teaspoon at 6:00pm and 11:00pm.Approximately, for 1 week.

2nd Week, 2 full teaspoons 6:00pm and 11:00pm. The times are approximate.

I am a bit scared to try but I will tomorrow. I will start with 1/4 or less of a teaspoon and see if I am ok with it.

Good luck with Inositol, I hope it works for you and me. Cheers, Hopefull.

[Juventus17]

Hi Juventus 17,

I managed to track dr peers and I saw him. Nice doctor. I brought "Health Wise", inositol brand. He told me to take one leveled teaspoon at 6:00pm and 11:00pm.Approximately, for 1 week.

2nd Week, 2 full teaspoons 6:00pm and 11:00pm. The times are approximate.

I am a bit scared to try but I will tomorrow. I will start with 1/4 or less of a teaspoon and see if I am ok with it.

Good luck with Inositol, I hope it works for you and me. Cheers, Hopefull.

Thank you. Good luck. Hope it works for you. Keep me posted if you can.

[oskcajga]

Hi Juventus 17,

I managed to track dr peers and I saw him. Nice doctor. I brought "Health Wise", inositol brand. He told me to take one leveled teaspoon at 6:00pm and 11:00pm.Approximately, for 1 week.

2nd Week, 2 full teaspoons 6:00pm and 11:00pm. The times are approximate.

I am a bit scared to try but I will tomorrow. I will start with 1/4 or less of a teaspoon and see if I am ok with it.

Good luck with Inositol, I hope it works for you and me. Cheers, Hopefull.

 

Well, what happened with the inositol experiment?

[Hopefull]

Hi Oskcajaga,

 

I took the inositol for approximately 4 weeks. I was okay with it at the beginning.  I only took 1 teaspoon in the afternoon, sometimes evening.  It did make me more calm before bed time. After a while,  I started getting hot flashes and sweating more. When I ran out I stopped taking it.

 I brought the inositol again, and tried it in September when I crashed. I took 2 teaspoons and ended up with tempreture, sore muscles, the usual burning at the back of my head. I could bearly move. It is like I ended up with Serotonin syndrome. 2 teaspoons equal to 15 grams of Inositol. It was a bit too much for me.  The weird thing is that it helped with the WD symptoms and OCD. I felt calm, with the burning head!

 

I have not tried it since. I am through with supplements. Hyperbaric Chamber Therapy has been more useful to me than any supplements that I have tried.

 

In conclusion; Inositol can be helpful, depending if you can tolerate it or not.

You have to try it for your self. We are all different. I gave it a go, but it is not for me.

[oskcajga]

Hi Oskcajaga,

 

I took the inositol for approximately 4 weeks. I was okay with it at the beginning.  I only took 1 teaspoon in the afternoon, sometimes evening.  It did make me more calm before bed time. After a while,  I started getting hot flashes and sweating more. When I ran out I stopped taking it.

 I brought the inositol again, and tried it in September when I crashed. I took 2 teaspoons and ended up with tempreture, sore muscles, the usual burning at the back of my head. I could bearly move. It is like I ended up with Serotonin syndrome. 2 teaspoons equal to 15 grams of Inositol. It was a bit too much for me.  The weird thing is that it helped with the WD symptoms and OCD. I felt calm, with the burning head!

 

I have not tried it since. I am through with supplements. Hyperbaric Chamber Therapy has been more useful to me than any supplements that I have tried.

 

In conclusion; Inositol can be helpful, depending if you can tolerate it or not.

You have to try it for your self. We are all different. I gave it a go, but it is not for me.

 

Thank you for getting back to us about your inositiol experiment! 

So if I understand you correctly, you were taking about 7.5g (1 teaspoon)?

 

Then you went to 15g (2 teaspoons)?

 

Did the effects go away after you stopped taking the inositol?

 

I think that's a rather large dose.  I read on another forum of one anecdotal report of sweating as well, that post can be found here (this is not authoritative, but it does confirm some of your symptoms):  http://www.longecity.org/forum/topic/60327-small-warning-about-inositol/

 

I've also read here on the PSSD forum that members have been trying it with interesting side effects and some apparent improvements in their PSSD:  http://www.pssdforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=22

 

Since these are just forum posts, however, they are not authoritative - just some alternative anecdotal reports that I thought would be directly relevant to this thread.

 

SA recommends starting supplements at a very small dose at first, so as to avoid exacerbating withdrawal symptoms - I think this is excellent advice, especially with something as potentially potent as inositol.

[oskcajga]

So I tried a little bit of inositol yesterday, about 500mg.  I just figured I'd give a small dose a shot and see if it helped or if nothing happened, etc.  Well, it definitely had an effect on me - sort of mimicking a small dose of an SSRI - I just felt sort of numb and warm and tingly - changes in perception, and my nerve pain got worse.  This effect has lasted into the second day, I still feel a bit depersonalized and foggy.  Emotions are less pronounced as well.

 

Here's the brand I took:  http://www.swansonvitamins.com/swanson-premium-pure-inositol-powder-8-oz-227-grams-pwdr

 

So I think the moral from this story is that inositol is a potentially very powerful substance that I would strongly recommend even a smaller dose than the one I took - perhaps 250mg.  It's not easy to measure out the doses, unfortunately - the suggested dose was 6 GRAMS - and they just gave one scoop.  I suspect if I had taken 6g of this stuff, I'd be fully hallucinating and bedridden.  I ended up taking one full manufacturers scoop, putting it into a cup, and then using a 1/4 teaspoon measuring spoon to re-fill the original container in order to get an idea of the dose I was taking.  

 

I'm not surprised that this stuff didn't help me and exacerbated my nerve pain a bit, but based on how I feel, I'd suspect there will be no lasting effects after a day or two.  That being said, I can imagine that this inositol would have been useful if I didn't have nerve pain like I do - I actually did enjoy some of the perceptual changes that this substance produced, and if the nerve pain didn't get worse from it, I'd have continued with this dosage.

 

If I try this stuff again, it's going to be at a much lower dose - but I don't think I'll be trying it again for a while.

[Tamtam1]

I tried it a week ago, just put some on my finger and tasted it and I woke up the next morning with dread and high anxiety, something that I haven't had in months, but I'm going to try again to make sure it just wasn't a fluke.

[andy013]

I tried about 5 grams and didn't notice much effect. However the next day I had massive amounts of anxiety and my mood was significantly lower. It is now 3 days later and I still feel very anxious and on edge.

[oskcajga]

I tried about 5 grams and didn't notice much effect. However the next day I had massive amounts of anxiety and my mood was significantly lower. It is now 3 days later and I still feel very anxious and on edge.

 

Oh no!  That's not a small dose.  Based on my experiences, I'm not surprised that you have residual effects. 

 

Please let us know when things get better for you.

 

Along similar lines, I also noticed a very interesting effect the next day after my previous dose - I actually felt quite well and my symptoms improved!  This feeling of improvement occurred during the evening of the second day, so like ~30 hours after my dose, and at that point the side effects I had mentioned in my previous post had gone away (no more tingling burning, memory, or emotional issues) - and I felt more like my old self than I have in some time.  Don't know if this is 100% the inositol, but it does seem coincidental that the lingering effects melted away and then I felt BETTER than I had before.

[simack]

Managed to pick myself up some inositol powder, I was hoping to get some capsules but they weren't in stock so I'm just going to have to guess my dose the best I can. I'm aiming for about 1/8th a teaspoon to start with. I'm about to try a bit now and will post my results, with any luck this wont have a negative effect on my insomnia.

[oskcajga]

I tried inositol again after my above post - and this time it had no beneficial effects, just the day long headache and lingering effects the next day.  Will not try inositol again for a long time.

[Meimeiquest]

One thing about my positive experience is that while I have had a very symptomatic tapering experience, I have not ever been in prolonged or protacted withdrawal, so I probably respond differently than some people.

[simack]

Ok here's my experience with inositol, I had a smallish dose (apox 1/8 of a teaspoon) around 3pm in the afternoon, at first it started making me feel drowsy, so I was hopeful of getting a quick nap in.

Shortly after lying down I noticed my pulse was starting to race, yet I had a feeling of extreme exhaustion. This still didn't help me sleep though.

Later on I had to unexpectedly leave the house to do shopping, I had a weird depersonalized/on edge feeling, and also noticed that my social anxiety was allot more intense than usual.

Last night it took me longer than usual to fall asleep, and when I finally did I only managed about 5 hours of poor quality sleep.

So yeah I don't think I'm going to bother with inositol anymore, overall my experience with it was quite unpleasant.

[Petunia]

After reading about the benefits of inositol for reducing anxiety, including studies and lots of anecdotal reports, I decided to try it again. I had some capsules left over from when I bought it 2 - 3 years ago. I only ever took one 500mg capsule, which from memory, didn't do anything, so I stopped. I was much sicker back then, so I can imagine one capsule wouldn't have made a dent in my symptoms.

 

So this time, I started with 500mg in the morning. I opened the capsule and swallowed the powder, washed down with water. It tasted mildly sweet. Within an hour I was feeling calmer, but it was subtle. No bad effects, so I took another one at noon, then at 5pm and another at 10pm. So that was a total of 2g spread through the day. By early evening I was feeling better than I had the previous evening at that time. Feelings of dread had returned since my last wave and they were being triggered by various domestic tasks again, but yesterday, they had gone again after a day of taking inositol. I felt less disturbed by my daughter and her boyfriend coming and going all day, making noise etc and annoying, noisy neighbors.

 

I slept better that night and my wake-up wasn't as awful as it usually is.

 

Yesterday I took 4g spread through the day. Two capsules at a time, taken 4 times. No bad effects so far and I've felt calmer, was able to go back to sleep this morning after waking too early and 1000mg stopped most of my physical morning cortisol effects within an hour. I never go back to sleep after my first wake up, so that was something.

 

Its only been just over 2 days, but it feels like its raising my stress tolerance threshold, I've stopped getting adreneline surges at the slightest provocation and I've also noticed my thoughts are no longer automatically jumping to worst outcome scenarios, which they tend to do, especially during the mornings.

 

I'm still also taking L-Theanine, but have cut my dose of that down and only took it at night recently, wanting to see how the inositol would effect me during the day.

 

They both work well to calm my anxiety type symptoms, but I like the inositol a bit better because it reduces anxiety without giving me a kind of content, not caring about anything attitude, which L-Theanine kind of does. Its a nice change from being in a state of terror,  but I don't want to spend my life blissed out staring at the ceiling feeling so wonderful I never move or do anything.

 

I've just come out of a double wave, so this may all just be a coincidence and my natural pattern of feeling better, so time will tell. But I've had no adverse effects so far and ordered some powder... Jarrow brand I think.

 

I'll update when I have a better conclusion... but for me, so far, its been helping.

[erer]

From the study I read it was said that for panic disorder it is suggested to take 12 to 18 grams a day.

I'm not sure about the measurements, but I have been taking 3-4 tablespoons of inositol at bedtime. I used to take it in the mornings but then it gave me stomach trouble. 

 

I don't even know if inositol has any immediate effect on me, right now I've just been taking it for so long that I am afraid it may be helping me and if I stop things will get worse. I am amazed to read that some people take half a spoonful and feel strong effects. 

[Petunia]

 I am amazed to read that some people take half a spoonful and feel strong effects. 

 

I watched a video of someone who could only take a quarter of a tablet, or she couldn't wake up the next morning, that would have been less than 200mg.

 

I tried taking 2000mg (2g) yesterday morning and I think it was too much, so I'm sticking to 1000mg at a time for now.

 

Its amazing how different we all are.

[Petunia]

I've been taking this for 9 days now. I'm gradually increasing my dose and in general I'm feeling calmer and have been sleeping better. Morning cortisol effects have reduced in intensity a little and don't last as long through the day.

 

I found an article written by a doctor who prescribes this for his patients, here is part of it:

 

LISTENING TO INOSITOL: CLINICAL NOTES

Harold Pupko M.D.

 

What if, in the future, a drug with the therapeutic properties of an SSRI, but free of SSRI side-effects was developed? What if it was available over the counter? What if the future is already here?

 

My clinical experience is that inositol can have a calming effect in patients with hypervigilant states such as generalized anxiety disorder, borderline personality disorder, hypochondriasis and chronic anger states. As inositol has a powerful tension reducing effect, it is not surprising that it has been used successfully to treat trichotillomania and compulsive skin picking, two behaviors that are rooted in habits aimed at tension reduction.

 

When I prescribe inositol, the target symptom I ask my patients to pay attention to is repetitive mental "looping". Inositol seems to clear the mind of "chatter," a term that resonates with the my patients. It seems particularly effective at reducing "pillow chatter," the repetitive yackity-yack that emanates from the mind when trying to fall asleep at night. This response is seen in patients whether inositol is taken in the morning or at night.

 

I have found that inositol augmentation of SSRIs and SNRIs can be very useful (despite literature published to the contrary). When a patient is at the maximum recommended SSRI dose, rather than risk serotonin syndrome with higher dosage or by mixing SSRIs, I have successfully added inositol. In fact, I have had a few cases where remission of both depression and OCD have been achieved with this combination. See the comments on drug interactions for warnings about this.

Mechanism of action: Similar to SSRIs, the exact mechanism by which inositol exerts its positive effect on neurons is unclear. Inositol is a key component of cellular signalling systems via the phosphatidyl-inositol second messenger cycle (thus influencing not just serotonin signalling, but other neurotransmitter systems as well).
It can also influence hormones that can affect brain activity, such as has been demonstrated with the use of 600 mg. of inositol in combination with selenomethionine to treat Hashimoto's thyroiditis: the inositol increases TSH sensitivity.

Inositol is a "gliotransmitter," or more precisely, a neuromodulator through its action via glial cells. Glial cells regulate synaptic function Since the brain is composed mostly of glial cells, I would suspect that glial cells are a therapeutic target for inositol.
Glial cells modulate the firing of neurons, increasing "synaptic fidelity," whereby important brain signals become crisper and clearer because there is less unwanted activity or "chatter" among neurons that should not be firing. This clinically correlates quite well with what my patients treated with inositol describe.

Inositol is endogenously produced from glucose, and the average diet contains one gram daily.

Dosage: The original studies used 12 g daily for depression and panic disorder and 18 g daily for OCD. Some of my patients have responded to doses as small as 500 mg daily (the dose usually found in tablets).
I usually start my patients on one teaspoon of inositol POWDER daily (approximately 3 g) mixed with the beverage of their choice. Inositol does not dissolve very well, so I usually recommend that users put the entire daily dose in a glass of water, stir, and drink the water while it is still in motion.

I have had patients add the powder to their morning tea or coffee (antioxidant bonus) as a sweetener. Despite claims that caffeine makes inositol ineffective, my clinical experience does not support this.

I encourage my patients to increase the dosage by one teaspoon every three or four days, although most prefer to increase the dose every week or two. Some have aggressively increased it by one teaspoon daily with no negative effects. Once a dose is reached where there is no improvement on the previous dose, I usually recommend staying at the previous dose for one month, and then reduce until there is some loss of effect, in which case the recommendation is to stay at the minimal effective dose for another month and try again next month to reduce it. The principle is to take as little as needed without losing any effect. I leave the pace of increase and decrease up to the individual.

It has been hard to tell at times what my patients are taking in terms of dosage, as I rarely can get anybody to use a measuring spoon (although by my measure a “heaping teaspoon” can amount to two teaspoons).
There is no maximum dosage.

I suggest taking the entire dose in the morning, based on my suspicion that this is chronotherapeutically the best time of day to deliver the inositol to the body.

 

If gastrointestinal symptoms emerge (gas, bloating, diarrhea), I suggest that the dose be split to bid up to qid...

 

It is important to let patients know that they will not gain weight from this "sugar" as it has zero calories.

 

Treatment duration depends on the chronicity of the condition being treated, but in contrast to SSRIs, inositol seems to stabilize the brain as a biological "system restore."

There is a different exit strategy for this medication as opposed to the SSRIs. In sharp contrast to the SSRIs, I have never seen any discontinuation syndrome/withdrawl symptoms from missed doses or even discontinuation of inositol. Symptoms of the original condition may re-emerge once the inositol is discontinued, but this should not be confused with inositol withdrawal.
In fact, I have used inositol to successfully manage discontinuation from SSRIs, using an aggressive dosing regimen.

 

Drug Interactions: As already mentioned, inositol can boost the effects of SSRIs. When adding inositol to an SSRI, be aware that SSRI side effects can emerge, similar to what happens when starting or increasing an SSRI. That means that symptoms such as headaches, nausea, weirder dreams, etc are not due to the inositol but due to the juiced up SSRI, and usually pass within 7-14 days as is the usual cases with SSRI dosage adjustments.

 

Full article here:  http://inositolpage.blogspot.com.au/2007/10/psycho-powder-panacea-or-placebo.html

[AprilShowers]

So, I got some and I'm going to give this a try. Has anyone ever had a rebound effect from it when it wears off or if they stop taking it? I just want to know what I'm in for before I start or stop.