Disclaimer: The information following isn’t medical advice. I have zero medical education. While some of the information might be based on certain studies, I don’t know anything about those studies. I do think that the medical establishment can be slow to incorporate new knowledge, and that is why I am writing this, to help people who are in need like I was in need before I found Thiamine supplements. Elliot Overton is a great resource concerning these issues. He is a Nutritional Therapist and a Certified Functional Medicine Practitioner. Here is his website, www.eonutrition.co.uk. This was the guy whom my very good friend found on YouTube. What followed was radical healing for my friends and myself. 

First, if you are suffering with physical or mental issues when you read this my hope is you will come away with a very focused plan of action to find out if Thiamine supplements might help you. Before we get to that very focused plan of action I must go through some explanations. Please bear with me. If you or a friend or family member is suffering, please say a prayer to the Holy Spirit to help you implement a course of action that could change your life or that of your loved ones. Come Holy Spirit and fill our hearts, enkindle in us the fire of your love, send forth your Spirit Lord and you will create us, and you will renew the face of the earth!

To begin, it’s very hard to know where to begin, it is important to know that Thiamine is one of the most fundamental nutrients that supports the body and its functioning. I know very little about it, but I do know that it is essential for nerve functioning. It is also essential for processing carbohydrates. Thiamine deficiency can cause extremely eclectic health problems, both physical and mental. Here is a short list: cardiovascular problems, confusion, lack of appetite, muscle weakness, short-term memory loss, mental problems, weight loss, fatigue, stress, anxiety, depression, muscle atrophy, difficult walking, tachycardia, edema, neuropathy, psychosis due to nerve damage, paralysis due to nerve degradation, difficulty walking due to muscle atrophy, and heart failure. There are many more conditions on the list, but these are a few. 

It is important to distinguish between Thiamine deficiency and Thiamine transport disorders. A Thiamine deficiency can be caused by something as simple as a diet deficient in the types of foods that are rich in Thiamine. Such deficiency is easily solved by changing one’s diet or by taking a Thiamine supplement daily. Thiamine transport disorders, however, are very different. A transport disorder is when your body cannot absorb Thiamine into the cells of your body as it should. This doesn’t mean your body can’t absorb Thiamine at all, but it means there is a problem with the Thiamine transporters, proteins that bond with Thiamine so that it can cross the cell wall and arrive inside the cell to support cellular processes. Normal daily levels of Thiamine, that suffice for people with normal physical processes, are not sufficient for those who have Thiamine transport disorders. To deliver adequate Thiamine to the cells of a diseased body it is essential to take highly bio-available forms of Thiamine at high doses. After taking such supplements a Thiamine blood test may reveal very high Thiamine content, but this high Thiamine is necessary to administer Thiamine to cells when the transporters don’t work in an optimal way. A quick internet search will reveal that Thiamine isn’t toxic at high or excessive doses. As far as I can tell the medical establishment recognizes Thiamine transport disorders when they cause extreme health problems or imminent death. Other than that, the little studied transport disorders that cause various and eclectic health problems are mostly ignored. One reason for this seems to be because the symptoms are so diverse, and don’t proceed like a typical disease that is recognizable by its very specific symptoms. More study is needed, but anyone who suspects they have Thiamine transport issues just needs to begin Thiamine supplementation and see how their body reacts.

When I first started taking Thiamine, I immediately (by immediately I mean on the same day I took my first dose) noticed cascading relaxation in all the muscles of my body. I had suffered for 20 years with chronic muscle pain, extreme tightness, and muscle atrophy. I also noticed an immediate and sustained benefit to my mood. I was much calmer and started experiencing a deep feeling of contentment. All around my health started to improve dramatically. However, consistent mood benefits didn’t begin until I started taking Thiamine 6 times a day, about every two and a half to three hours. Me and my good friends noticed that if we missed a dose at some point in the day, we would feel distress and anxiety until we recovered from the missed dose. That led me to introduce a plan of dose frequency wherein I began to take the Thiamine supplements much more often. The result was an extremely even and productive mood instead of the ups and downs I had experienced before. My idea is that the Thiamine quickly dissipates and gets processed out of your body. Dose frequency is necessary to provide an even and plentiful quantity of Thiamine flowing to the cells of one’s body. 

There are 5 types of Thiamine that I have taken in various combinations. These types are Benfotiamine synthetic, Benfotiamine biocoenzymated (its produced by Natural Factors only and comes from plant extracts), TTFD, Thiamine HCL, and Sulbutiamine. Benfotiamine is probably the most popular form of Thiamine. Thiamine HCL is the most basic form of Thiamine. HCL requires a transporter to enter the cell, but providing an adequate supply can help people with transport issues. The other forms of Thiamine are highly bioavailable in that they are fat soluble. These are benfotiamine, TTFD and Sulbutiamine. Of these three TTFD and Sulbutiamine also cross the blood brain barrier. TTFD is the most potent form, so it probably is not the one you want to start with. You probably shouldn’t take TTFD and Sulbutiamine near bedtime because they can be quite stimulating. Fat soluble I believe means that the supplement can enter your cells without a transporter. This is why these supplements can be so effective in treating people with transport disorders. 

My good friends and I have noticed that Natural Factors Benfotiamine is the far superior form of Thiamine. It is a little more expensive, but when we tried other forms of Benfo that are purely synthetic and don’t come from plant extracts, we noticed that our negative symptoms return. When we return to Natural Factors Biocoenzymated Benfo we notice that our condition improves. This cycle has repeated again and again. Regular synthetic Benfo still provides benefits, but the Natural Factors Benfo provides optimal benefits. I use both purely synthetic and Natural Factors Benfo.

If you don’t have Thiamine transport issues you may not feel much of anything when you take Thiamine supplements. If you take a supplement like Benfotiamine for a few weeks and you don’t notice anything, in my opinion you probably don’t have a transport issue. But if you are attempting to resolve certain health issues with Thiamine supplementation it might be worth it to keep increasing your dose until you see results. Elliot Overton has dosing guidelines that can help you through this process. There are no generally accepted dosing guidelines, and a simple internet search will reveal that high dose Thiamine doesn’t pose a health risk. 

When you begin Thiamine supplementation you may notice what is called Thiamine Paradox. In people with transport issues introducing Thiamine can cause symptoms of physical and mental distress, even at times extreme physical and mental distress. Some symptoms are muscle soreness and irritability. Other symptoms can be more extreme depending on the person’s sensitivity to the Thiamine supplements. BUT if you have Thiamine paradox from taking the supplements it is absolutely time to rejoice. This means you likely have transport issues and Thiamine supplementation will soon bring great improvement to your health! I know this can be a difficult thing to try to process. When your cells start filling back up with Thiamine your body can go into shock, and you might even experience a worsening of the symptoms you are trying to alleviate with Thiamine supplementation. But just be patient! God is showing you the way toward healing, and he will be by your side all along the way! God will bring you through. My paradox consisted of some irritability and extreme muscle soreness, and it would resolve after about 3 to 4 days. Every time I increased my dose I would deal with paradox until it resolved.  After the paradox or cellular refeeding syndrome resolves you increase your dose again, then you experience side effects again, and then the paradox resolves again. You repeat this process until you are beyond paradox or until your health problems resolve. Some people have symptoms of extreme distress and pain from the paradox process. If you react in this way it is advised that you begin on a very small dose of Thiamine HCL. Furthermore, you need to research on Eliot Overton’s website about introducing other supplements that will help get you through the paradox until it resolves. Some of those supplements are Potassium, Magnesium and Glutathione. In rare cases paradox can take months to resolve, but mine resolved in three to four days every time I increased my dose. If you have extreme paradox the key is to research Elliot Overton’s website and start the Thiamine (usually HCL) at a very low dose and increase it very slowly. 

Ok, the knowledge you could accumulate about this topic is endless, but this isn’t about accumulating knowledge. This is about healing. I recommend going here (Natural Factors, BioCoenzymated, B1, Benfotiamine Plus Sulbutiamine, 150 mg, 30 Vegetarian Capsules (iherb.com) and buying Biocoenzymated Benfotiamine plus Sulbutiamine. The dose of Sulbutiamine is very small, but it could still cause trouble with sleeping if you take it too close to bedtime. I recommend you buy one bottle of this product and introduce one 150mg capsule in the morning. You might want to take it at a time when you have less responsibilities. For example, maybe take it on Saturday morning because you don’t have to return to work until Monday. If you have a bad reaction, you will have time to recover. Remember if you have a bad reaction that means you almost certainly have transport issues, and Thiamine supplementation is going to change your life. Slowly increase your dose as your paradox symptoms resolve. Elliot Overton has been known to recommend thousands of milligrams per day for those who are taking Thiamine to attempt to resolve a specific health issue. If you want to learn more about this from someone highly educated on the topic, please see his website I copied above. Thank you, and I hope Thiamine helps you like it helps me. Remember, in Scripture ten lepers were healed by Christ and only one, a foreigner, returned to him to give thanks. We humans are chronically selfish and ungrateful! If God heals you in this way make sure you give thanks and let others know about this miracle of budding medical science.