Arginine Alpha-Ketoglutarate - Side Effects and Cons

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It would be great if we could take as many supplements as we wanted, see all the benefits and not have to worry about any side effects.

But that’s really not the case, so you have to be careful with the supplements you take, including arginine alpha-ketoglutarate.

Let’s take a look at some of the possible side effects that may occur if you supplement with arginine.

Arginine Side Effects

Supplementing with arginine is actually very safe as long as you don’t overdo it. As with all things, too much of a good thing can cause bad things to happen. We call those bad things “side effects” but in reality we should, or at least could, have known better.

Hopefully you can avoid most of these side effects by reading the following. If you do experience any of these side effects it might be a good idea to lower your dosage of arginine and see if it was the cause.

Some common side effects that may occur are:

• Abdominal Pain
• Bloating
• Blood Abnormalities
• Diarrhea
• Dizziness
• Gout

Arginine can actually cause allergic reactions in some and, if you already have asthma, it might make the swelling in your airways worse.

And, since arginine lowers blood pressure, if you already have low blood pressure you should be careful when supplementing with arginine. You don’t want to end up with dangerously low blood pressure.

In fact, if you’re going to have surgery anytime soon, you should stop supplementing with arginine at the very least 2 weeks before your surgery. Otherwise it might be hard to control your blood pressure during and after your surgery.

There are also some concerns that if you just had a heart attack, especially if you’re older, that you might be at a higher risk if you continue to supplement with arginine. So if you just had a heart attack, arginine is not a recommended supplement for you.

It has also been said that arginine might make herpes worse. So if you have herpes and it suddenly flairs back up after starting to supplement with arginine then lower your dosage or stop taking it all together and see if it settles back down.

Side effects can also arise from arginine if you take certain medications.

Arginine affects your blood pressure, which can be a problem if you’re taking medication that either raises or lowers your blood pressure.

So you’re going to want to be careful with your arginine supplementation if you take any of the following medications:

• Amlodipine (Norvasc)
• Antihypertensive Drugs
• Captopril (Capoten)
• Diltiazem (Cardizem)
• Enalapril (Vasotec)
• FuroSemide (Lasix)
• Hydrochlorothiazide (HydroDiuril)
• Iosartan (Cozaar)
• Isosorbide (Imdur, Isordil, Sorbitrate)
• Nitrates
• Nitroglycerin (Nitro-Bid, Nitro-Dur, Nitrostat)
• Sildenafil (Viagra)
• Valsartan (Diovan)

If your blood pressure becomes too low you will experience dizziness and other side effects.

So heed the warnings, don’t over do it and hopefully you’ll experience no side effects at all when you supplement with arginine alpha-ketoglutarate.

In order to ensure that your arginine supplementation is safe I’d like to go over proper dosages and the best time to take arginine.

>> Continue Reading Part 6 - How Much Should I Take and When? >>