Supplements and Dehydration

[Vortex43]

I have read a ton of posts and am hoping this team of experts can help me out. Currently I take:
2 x 1,000 mg flaxseed (1 breakfast and 1 lunch)
3 x 1,000 mg CLA (each meal take 1)
1 x B Complex
1 x multi
1 x 1,000 mg C vitamin
2 x 1,000 mg L-arginine (breakfast and dinner)
2 scoops BCAA (1 pre and 1 post workout). This is most recent addition, Inner Armour BCAA cause its Leucine loaded (6.2 g) per scoop
Oh yeah and Whey Protein (1 to 2 shakes a day) first thing in morning and post workout

I believe I know the answer here, because after one day of the BCAAs I had to intake about 2 gallons of water to stop the headache and still show signs of dehydration. So any input regarding the list above? recommended changes? or just "drink a shit load if water" is appreciated!

 

[~RaZr~]

How is your diet looking? Are you getting enough nutrients? When you say "dehydration" are you urinating more now to the point that it is clear and odorless?

I know your not looking for an umbrella statement like "anything in excess is bad", but it could pertain to your situation.

 

[Vortex43]

How is your diet looking? Are you getting enough nutrients? When you say "dehydration" are you urinating more now to the point that it is clear and odorless?

I know your not looking for an umbrella statement like "anything in excess is bad", but it could pertain to your situation.

The Diet is pretty balanced, never had the headache til the BCAAs. Even after 2 gallons I still didn't piss totally clear, close but not clear. I am not surprised by your statement, I am wondering if I should cut something also, but really want to give the BCAAs a try!

 

[~RaZr~]

BCAA, while good, are a supplement to an already protein-rich diet. Have you usually followed a supplement regime like this? It would be hard to pinpoint what might be the cause if you didn't add one supplement at a time.

If you hadn't experienced headaches until the BCAA's either drop it completely or cut back by half. Go from there and see how you respond.

 

[Vortex43]

The BCAA an B Complex are the only new additions to the list and the B complex was added first without issue. I will cut the bcaa in half today, any recommendation of pre vs post workout? I do ensure a minimum of 1 g protein per lb body weight daily. I weigh 225 so substantial protein and try for a minimum of 70% of the protein via food intake, with shakes as a supplement only!
I appreciate your responding!

 

[ThreeGigs]

I've never experienced dehydration from BCAAs. They're amino acids, not electrolytes, so I don't see how they could affect your water metabolism to any great degree.

Did anything else change? Getting sick? Dry air?

 

[~RaZr~]

Well if he is diluting his urine to the point of possible hyponatremia, then he could hypothetically* experience headaches. That however would take a lot of dilution. How is your diet looking OP? Are you restricting carbs or restricting sodium?

*(See we say that because we are guessing what could be causing it)

 

[CaptainNapalm]

I've you're mega dosing vit Bs then this might have eventually caused your issue, coincidently when you started your BCAAs. Try cutting Out the vit B for a week or two and see if you feel better. Your body needs lots of water to flush out excess vitamin B. just a thought.

 

[littlekev]

I have read a ton of posts and am hoping this team of experts can help me out. Currently I take:
2 x 1,000 mg flaxseed (1 breakfast and 1 lunch)
3 x 1,000 mg CLA (each meal take 1)
1 x B Complex
1 x multi
1 x 1,000 mg C vitamin
2 x 1,000 mg L-arginine (breakfast and dinner)
2 scoops BCAA (1 pre and 1 post workout). This is most recent addition, Inner Armour BCAA cause its Leucine loaded (6.2 g) per scoop
Oh yeah and Whey Protein (1 to 2 shakes a day) first thing in morning and post workout

I believe I know the answer here, because after one day of the BCAAs I had to intake about 2 gallons of water to stop the headache and still show signs of dehydration. So any input regarding the list above? recommended changes? or just "drink a shit load if water" is appreciated!

1 scoop bcaa during workout, drink it 30 min into lifting.

 

[squigader]

I'm guessing it's the vitamin B. Take that out for a week and see how it goes. You are probably getting enough of all the B vitamins from your multi.

 

[~RaZr~]

Correct me IIAW, but isn't vitamin B water soluble? Anything that's excess in the body would be flushed out with the 2 gallons he drinks.

 

[TJTJ]

Buy a box of packets of electrolytes

 

[Vortex43]

I was mega dosing the vitamin B at first. Two days ago I cut it back to a single dose, kept with the high water intake and seem ok. When i first started the Bs, the high level water consumption was not happening. I went 3 or 4 days with probably less than gallon a day. Then added the BCAA and may have just coincidentally gotten the headache the next day!
I have stopped the bcaa for two days and am back on it with today's workout. Will make sure I keep the fluids high just incase.
The diet is not restricted in any way, plenty of carbs and sodium! Actually to many carbs and to much sodium, but am working on fixing that also.
So the Bs could have been the culprit from what I have read above, I just never would have thought that to be the case. This is why I am askin the experts!

 

[Vortex43]

1 scoop bcaa during workout, drink it 30 min into lifting.

Thanks for the recommendation!

 

[Vortex43]

I've you're mega dosing vit Bs then this might have eventually caused your issue, coincidently when you started your BCAAs. Try cutting Out the vit B for a week or two and see if you feel better. Your body needs lots of water to flush out excess vitamin B. just a thought.

I was mega dosing them, and have stopped that. Going to try single dose B with single dose Bcaa and see how that goes first! If headache persists I will cut the B as you recommended.

 

[CaptainNapalm]

Correct me IIAW, but isn't vitamin B water soluble? Anything that's excess in the body would be flushed out with the 2 gallons he drinks.

So the water that he downs is utilized by the body as an agent to flush out vit Bs rather than to fully hydrate.

 

[~RaZr~]

So the water that he downs is utilized by the body as an agent to flush out vit Bs rather than to fully hydrate.

No what I meant was, is that once his vitamin B levels are sufficient, any excess that he is taking in will be excreted out.

The amount of water he is taking in is irrelevant. I was drunk when I typed that response last night.

Make sense now?

 

[caaraa]

If you hadn't experienced headaches until the BCAA's either drop it completely or cut back by half. Go from there and see how you respond.

 

[Vortex43]

If you hadn't experienced headaches until the BCAA's either drop it completely or cut back by half. Go from there and see how you respond.

Precisely what I have done and am maintaining above average water consumption just be sure I am not accidentally dehydrating myself.