Taurine review

Taurine is a calming amino acid that is intended to regulate electrolytes within the cells.  Patients have reported that it has greatly improved their chemical sensitivity.  It is also supposedly good for the liver and the adrenals.

History:
  I did take taurine regularly from 2007-Fall 2010.  I was EXTREMELY sensitive to it.  1,000 mg. worked to near perfection.  900 or 1100 did not work.  My doctor had never seen anything like that before in 20 years of practice.  Fortunately, it was NOT a moving target.  The magic dose stayed constant at 1,000.  Still, I was thrilled to get off that stuff.  Actually, I was forced off and was completely intolerant to it throughout 2011 and for the first half of 2012.  I was sluggish after drinking a Red Bull because it contains too much taurine.   Was I sensitive to anything else when I was on the taurine?  Yes, I had trouble with chromium and zinc but no problems with Thym-Adren, ADHS or Cal/Mag.  At the end of the day, it really doesn't matter if I am sensitive to other stuff.  As long as I can tolerate  Thym-Adren OR ADHS PLUS Cal/Mag, I WILL GET IN BALANCE!

The taurine intolerance seemed to be fading because I could drink the occasional ill-advised Red Bull without a problem.  Also, the problems with the taurine were pre-detox.  There are several pills that I can take now that I could not before the detox.

Result:
Before starting the taurine, I developed a complete intolerance to Thym-Adren but fortunately, I CAN take the ADHS and it is working quite well.  I am not sensitive to it either.  An extra pill or two does not seem to effect me.  The Cal/Mag is a different story.  I need an exact amount of each and it MUST be a 1:1 ratio.  500 of each worked sometimes and when it did a 600/500 did NOT and neither did a 600/600.  It was also a moving target.  The magic number has fluctuated from 750 to 500 and back within the last 2 weeks.  SOMETHING MUST BE DONE!

On Wednesday night, I took 2 taurine capsules (500 mg each) and felt no ill-effects.  The next day, I broke my all-time 5K PR with a 19:09 solo performance.  That proves that when I hit my formula on the nose, I'm as good as I've ever been.  If I could avoid all these bad days and train consistently, I believe I would be looking at an 18:09 instead.  Unfortunately, the good feeling was short-lived and I was sluggish by the weekend.  The good news is that it sure looks like it SOLVED THE OTHER SENSITIVITY ISSUES.  I popped a zinc and a Thym-Adren, which are 2 pills that I could not tolerate at all.  I felt no worse when I was on the taurine.  Also, I could load on Cal/Mag (over 1,000 mg) and I also felt no worse afterwards.

Prognosis:
I have no choice other than to take a break from the taurine after an awful performance today.  I am still hopeful that I can tolerate low dose taurine or take it on an as needed basis only when the chemical sensitivity to Cal/Mag flares up.  If I cannot take 750 of Cal/Mag, I am in trouble.  If I cannot take 500, I am screwed.
Questions:
How much taurine will I be able to tolerate long-term?
If it is less than 500 mg taurine (1 pill/day), will that be enough to stave off the Cal/Mag issues?
  If that answer is YES, I've got this WON!
  If no, it's not hopeless.  I may still get along at 500 mg Cal/Mag but it won't be optimal.
If I cannot take any taurine and become more intolerant to Cal/Mag, I am screwed.

I expect to know the answer one way or the other very soon.

UPDATE:
BIG NEWS!  I woke up the next morning after writing this with bleeding gums, which is almost a sure sign of Vitamin C deficiency.  Perhaps the taurine was not a problem after all.  Perhaps it was.  Nevertheless, I am going cautious with it.  No more than 500 mg/day.
As for the Vitamin C issue, the culprit may be too much copper relative to zinc in the ADHS.  Actually, it's the same amount as the Thym-Adren but the ratio of Zn/Cu in the ADHS is 10:1 vs 20:1 in the Thym-Adren.
IF I can tolerate the taurine, switching back to Thym-Adren is an option.
IF I can tolerate the taurine, adding zinc with the ADHS to make the ratio 20:1 is an option.
EVERYTHING DEPENDS ON THE TAURINE!
  End of week update:  So far so good on the low dose taurine.  It appears that caffeine was the culprit in the Vitamin C deficiency.  500 mg of taurine per day is A-OK.

Mini-rant:
I am SO sick of people complaining about trivial things that are little more than a temporary inconvenience in their lives.  If you are happily married, have healthy children, a decent job and have no health problems yourself, ask yourself if you'd like to live out my train wreck.  I don't think so.