Experience reducing the dose of valproic acid 500mg to 250mg Mcardle's disease.

I have been forced to reduce the dose of 500mg to 250mg. The reason is that I made ​​a new order via regular mail but it will take me about 21 days to arrive and thus ensuring that there will be retained by customs. The first order of valproic acid as performed by express mail and I took just seven days. As a result I had to ration the pills and take only 250mg and thus have enough pills until I get the new package of valproic acid. Then I'll take the dose of 500mg. 

The dose of valproic acid recommended by my doctor is 500mg and the dose you keep taking.This dose of 250mg is only timely manner until you have enough pills to resume my daily dose of 500mg.

This has allowed me to get some conclusions as reducing the dose of 500mg to 250mg affect me walking:

• No fatigue. 

• General improvements still occur (arms and legs).

• Widespread improvements still occur but more slowly.

• The ability to walk very fast without any pain nor stiffness is maintained.

• The beats per minute have slightly risen by an average of 5ppm.

• On the first two occasions and always after walking several kilometers occurred dry mouth and a very slight dizziness that may be due to lack of glucose or hydration. The intake of a beverage or food made any symptoms disappear. The following day I walked at a fast pace without any kind of symptom.

• Squatting I managed to get up and bend over 11 times. In previous tests were 5 and then 6 times. The improvement with 250mg persists.

When analyzing the beats per minute if you look at Figure 1 we see pulsations have been increasing to 250mg. A significant and measurable increase. This means that the dose of 500mg is an optimal dose with a clear benefit at all levels, while the dose of 250mg evidence a slight worsening heart rate. 

Recall that the heart rate in patients Mcardle is an important indicator that the body warns us and wants to force stop exercise. So an increase in heart rate shows that the dose of 250mg is not optimal or sufficient for my, with 75kg of weight and height 1,87cm. However, it is clear that cleaning glycogen in muscle cells still occurs with 250mg because I can walk without any symptoms of pain or stiffness. In exercises that require more effort limitations 250mg dose would be more evident.

The words of the director of the research project in mice with valproic acid and anticipated that given the abundance of targets in the promoter of the human gene in mice compared facilitate that even with sub-toxic doses could get an enzymatic activity capable of wiping excess glycogen. The dose of 500mg and 250mg are considered sub-toxic doses.

These data allow us to draw some useful conclusions:

• If you do not have enough pills to receipt of a new package of valproic acid we can reduce the dose to 250mg without notice little change.

• Reducing the dose to 250mg and the results obtained conclude that enables cells to regulate muscle glycogen relatively normally.

• If we are wrong and take some medication could reduce the dose.

• People with problems of drug interactions or age inhibits platelet aggregation they could reduce the dose to 250mg. Although 250mg of valproic acid is an extremely low dose (subtoxic) compared with 2000 or 3000mg or much more than is prescribed for patients whose epilepsy and high doses can have the above affections.

• A dose of 250mg is relatively functional for me. I weigh 75kg. Valproic acid the dose is determined by the weight of the person. So people with little weight as children or women require lower doses. There 125mg pills therefore could take doses of 125mg, 250mg, 375mg, 500mg or 625mg by weight. Recall that in the human clinical trial dose of valproic acid administered to patients Mcardle is between 300mg and 600mg.