I stopped taking it. I went through several start and stop periods with several months between. Each time restarting my kidneys felt stressed. No blood work ever showed any issue, but I decided to wait it out a bit. I feel fine currently.
How does it feel when your "kidneys are stressed?"
Do you have renal problems?
Dull ache in the kidney area. I don't have any renal problems, but it's happened each time I started c60oo again. It goes away a week or two after stopping use. It does not happen with olive oil itself or any other supplement. Even dehydration doesn't seem to cause anything similar. Urine output is not changed but the ache is there and annoying enough that combined with the aforementioned study, gives me some pause about continuing to use it for the time being.
I have also experienced the dull ache in the lower back that a number of c60 users have reported and attributed to possible kidney injury.
First episode of back pain began when I started taking higher doses (5-6 ml) of a commercial product once a week for a month (up from 1-3 ml) in Dec and Jan of 2015. During this period I was also taking high doses of nicotinamide. Second episode of back pain -- somewhat worse lower back pains-- began when I mixed c60 with olive leaf extract and then HT (hydroxytyrosol) enriched c60 around March-April 2016. A third episode of back pains -- persistent and more severe back pain accompanied by nausea -- developed after I took HT enriched c60 in late June 2016. Around the same time I picked a handful of olive leaves off a wild olive tree and ate them raw. I'm now wondering if the olive leaves weren't the main culprit...
* * * * *
Several studies show HT is protective of kidneys, but I also came across this study:
Toxicity of Olive Leaves (Olea europaea L.) In Wistar Albino Rats
Sawsan A. Omer, M.A. Elobeid, M.H. Elamin, Z.K. Hassan, P. Virk, M.H. Daghestani, E.M. Al-Olayan, Nadia A. Al-Eisa and Z.M. Almarhoon
The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of Olive Leaf Extracts (OLE) on the haematology and biochemistry as well as on the liver and kidney of rats fed on the extracts for 6 weeks. Thirty Wistar albino rats were divided into five groups, Group 1 fed regular diet without OLE (control group), group 2 (fed 0.2% ole), group 3 (fed 0.4% ole), group 4 (fed 0.7% OLE) and group 5 (fed 0.9% OLE) for 6 weeks. Serum concentrations of Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP), Lactate Dehydrogenase (LDH), Total Bilirubin (TBil) and cholesterol, glucose, triglycerides as well as hematological profiles were determined in the present study for each group of rats. There was a significant increase in the serum levels of ALP and total bilirubin in groups 3 and 4 and 5 compared to the control group. There was also significant decrease in the serum triglyceride, glucose and cholesterol in test groups as compared to the control group. The haematological profile showed significant decrease in the values of red blood cell counts, haemoglobin and packed cell volume of the animals in group 5. Microscopically both liver and kidneys showed histological alterations in the form of fatty cytoplasmic vacuolation, necrosis of the hepatocytes and a slight hemorrhage was recorded in the kidneys of the experimental animals especially those fed 0.9% olive leaf extract. The olive leaves extract should be handled with care in arts and other animals and special attention should be paid when using OLE for longer periods of time and at higher doses as it may result in an undesirable effect on liver and kidneys as it has been shown in the present study.
http://scialert.net/...175.1182&org=10
* * * * *
The third episode of pain in my lower back persisted month after month. This time, the back pain was accompanied by three other symptoms: nausea and fatigue, a metallic taste in my mouth in the mornings and urine that was beige in color and foamier than usual. Because these resemble symptoms of kidney disease, I had kidney tests done on 3 occasions. Each time, the results came back normal. Nevertheless, I read that the kidney tests don't show anything unless your kidney function is lower than 25%, so there can be damage that doesn't show on tests.
In September 2016 stopped the paleo-like diet I had been experimenting with and put myself on a kidney diet. I discovered that I was able to control the symptoms by lowering my intake of phosphorous -- one of the main things you limit on a kidney diet. I discovered certain foods caused extreme back pain. Milk consumption made the pain worse (dairy is high in phosphorous). The absolute worst was goat cheese. Even a modest amount set off the back pain every time. Turns out goat cheese is the cheese highest in phosphorous.
So I persisted with my kidney diet, but the pain and nausea would come back at me with a vengeance if I didn't strictly adhere to it. The diet didn’t fix the problem, but only made it so I didn’t experience extreme bouts of back pain and nausea.
* * * * *
As it happened, I had gone off NR in June 2016. A two-week experiment with NR had left me feeling great, but with pain in the soles of my feet. This pain persisted even after I stopped the NR. That led me avoid consuming any NR for 3 months until mid October. That’s when I decided (1) the back pain and nausea issue (which seemed to be c60 related) was a lot more serious than the foot pain (which I assumed to be NR related); and (2) that the two symptoms were likely not related.
So in October I started taking 150 mg of NR once a day.
Then in November I decided to take massive doses of NR, in hopes it might help the apparent kidney problem. I took about 1,000 to 1,500 mg/day for 6 days. By the end of the week, I experienced a marked reduction in my back pain for the first time since June. The other associated symptoms also became reduced. I found I was able to eat dairy and other high-phosphorous foods -- even goat cheese -- without getting any of the usual back pain and nausea symptoms.
For the rest of Nov-Dec-Jan I have been taking 250-325mg of NR. Sometimes I would mega-dose for a couple days. The back pain and the associated symptoms are now barely detectable. I no longer experience the debilitating bouts of back pain accompanied by nausea and fatigue that had afflicted me throughout the summer and fall.
* * * * *
My last dose of c60 was the one I took in late June 2016 that appeared to have precipitated the 3rd episode of back pain.
The soles-of-feet pain that had prompted me to stop taking NR didn't get any worse after I resumed NR in late October. I would say the pain diminished somewhat. Inexplicably, consuming a teaspoon of baking soda seems to make the soles-of-feet pain worse.
Edited by Empiricus, 09 February 2017 - 04:03 AM.