Comment · Tue, November 24, 2020 · ND Owner
What is the role of pyroglutamic acid in the alcohol defense formula?
Original post in this thread
Bierak · 5 points
One of the problems that I have developed over time when I drink alcohol is that it increases the frequency and ease of developing "blackouts", added to that the rebound effect of anxiety has also increased over time. When I was younger, I didn't get those blackout effects.
I wonder if pyroglumatic acid is included in the formula to prevent the harmful effects of alcohol on the NMDA receptor. As I know alcohol works by activating GABA receptors and by blocking NMDA receptors, it is the combination of both that produces the rebound anxiety and the blackouts. The main problem with alcohol for me right now are the blackouts. I also drink less amount and less frequently than when I was young but as you can know it is difficult to not drink when you socialize
What they were answering
Bierak · 1 points
Yes, it is strange how Memantine works.
I remember the first time I used it in the 1 mg range, and it produced a memory gap, it was not such a marked blackout, but it was as if 3 hours had turned into 30 minutes.
As I understand the mechanism of memantine is that it only blocks the NMDA receptor once a certain level of receptor activation has been exceeded, therefore it does not produce a complete antagonization.
What I don't understand is why that happens with alcohol. If alcohol itself already blocks the NMDA receptor, why should memantine block it if its activation is already being impeded by alcohol?
I do not know if this is a common experience with memantine or if it is a reaction typical of the characteristics of my nervous system. The other option I have is to stop using the memantine (and losing it therapeutics effects), or reduce it to a very low dose of 1mg. One hypothesis I have is that perhaps my nervous system responds very quickly with an increase in the density and sensitivity of NMDA receptors as a result of antagonism produced by alcohol, which causes an increase in the intensity of receptor activation, which causes memantine to produce blackouts.
I think I could try pyroglutamic acid. At least in my experience Piracetam in doses of 1 gram before drinking does not prevent blackouts.
u/MisterYouAreSoDumb · ND Owner
Memantine is an open-channel unncompetitive antagonist. This means that alcohol likely can bind to a different site, depressing currents even more. If they competitively bound to the same receptor, then it might be a different story. However, them binding to different sites is a bit of a different story. It could also be as you said, an increase in the density of receptor expression because of your use. It could also be from memantine's D2 affinities.