Berberine - anyone used it

[FSHD2021]

Hi all,

Bit of a different one. Long story short I have FSHD (muscular dystrophy), it's has a very specific mechanism/cause, suppression of a certain protein will stop all the bad stuff basically.

There's a drug currently in trial that I can't be on BUT... they did another trial last year and Berberine does 'the thing'. It knocks down that protein so potentially a treatment for my condition.

They used mice for testing. In the trial the Berberine group ended up nearly as strong as the control group but the muscles were a lot smaller, smaller even than the mice who had FSHD but received no treatment.

So I bought some, but then I saw a study that said it causes atrohpy.

I'm right on the edge here and I can't afford to lose any muscle at all. I was thinking who knows more about muscles than body builders? You guys take different supplements all the time and monitor the effects on your body.

I have done a search here and one of you said the atrophy thing was greatly over-exaggerated. Has anyone tried it? Did you notice any atrophy? How long were you taking it? What effects did you see over time?

Basically, tell me everything you know please.

I look forward to hearing from you. Thanks.

[eatyourspinach]

It activates AMPK which can inhibit mTOR so it used for weight loss not muscle growth, how much it affects someone might be user dependent based on overall body composition, training levels etc.

[FSHD2021]

Thanks.

It would be a cruel irony that the way to treat my condition actually makes it worse - sure the bad stuff stops happening but you then can't grow muscle.

I'm still not ruling things out though.

I could potentially take Berberine for a month, give my body time to create myofibers (that aren't broken), then take a month off to try and develop that new muscle. Rinse and repeat.

If I can build muscle faster than they atrophy on Berberine then it could be a win.

I'd be needing to take on more carbs due to the hypoglycemia, plus if I added whey into the mix while take BER that could help.

The thing that keeps pulling me back to this is:
"With berberine treatment, the specific muscle strength was significantly improved and normalized to the wild-type property and collagen VI deposition was completely prevented. In coherence with the reduction in DUX4 protein and downstream gene levels, these results clearly demonstrate the therapeutic effect of berberine in the mouse model used."

[FSHD2021]

Plus BER was the main component of a supplement you guys used some years ago, Anabolic Pump.

Some of you loved it before you/we knew about the hypoglycemia effect and no one seemed to mention atrophy back then.

I saw one person struggled with gains after taking it for a long time non-stop.

[eatyourspinach]

Hopefully it works as like you want but don't expect any immediate dramatic changes from berberine

[FSHD2021]

I'll mull it over. Thanks for not leaving a brother hanging.

[LouLou95]

I'll mull it over. Thanks for not leaving a brother hanging.

Hi - I'm wondering if you tried this and if you had any success? Thanks.

Lou

[TheFugitive]

Berberine supplementation lowers total cholesterol but increases testosterone in men – 12-week RCT. The supplementation of berberine for 12 weeks is able to reduce total cholesterol and raise testosterone levels in men, based on the result of a RCT.

I'd like to do a 12 week test on this at some point

[Hyperlive77]

Berberine supplementation lowers total cholesterol but increases testosterone in men – 12-week RCT. The supplementation of berberine for 12 weeks is able to reduce total cholesterol and raise testosterone levels in men, based on the result of a RCT.

I'd like to do a 12 week test on this at some point

Sounds like good sht if it actually works as suggested.