Just how healthy are supplements?

[Chivas Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Chivas]

I have been taking these supplements for a while.

3 times a day 1 pill:
Omega3
L-Arginine 500mg
Maca 500 mg - Ginseng 200mg

A few times a week but not daily:
Zinc 50 mg
B 100 Complex
Odourless Garlic

This is all I have been taking for a while but stopped about 3 weeks ago when I had a very scary problem.
I got a bladder infection and I had a very bad pain when urinating as well as drops of blood. I went to the doctor right away and treated it right away. It is now gone and the doctor told me that it is just infection probably from bacteria that got into my bladder and it's nothing scary, but the whole thing was scary to me.

I read up on what might have happened to me and the only conclusion I can come up with is that I got an inflammation in my bladder from the Arginine I have been taking. Arginine can cause inflammation and with my poor diet, drinking redbulls almost every day to stay awake at work I might have caused what happend to me. Since the incident I have stopped taking any supplements and stopped any junk food/drinks.

I am not saying that all these supplements are bad, but I want to know just how healthy they are.
I have read that Arginine should be taken with Lysine to prevent inflammations, but I didn't think I would need to. I like the effect I get from Arginine, I have super hard erections throughout the day and I'm more horny all the time. So I would like to know If I should continue taking them, but take them differently and with Lysine or I should stop.
Also I want to know if the cause of my problem with the inflammation makes sense and what are your thoughts.

Thank you
Chivas

[SquiddlyDee Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close SquiddlyDee]

I only take Larginine once a day (500mg) and it seems to work just fine with zero side effects. If it is the supplements it's probably over-usage of them rather than them being intrinsically problematic.

[akaTrex Senior Member Member of the Month Jan 2016 Find all posts View Profile Close akaTrex]

Talk to your Doctor about supplements.

If you decide to use supplements DO YOUR HOME WORK!

IMHO Junk web sites like Body Building dot Com give me serious concerns.

BodyBuilding dot com paid a $7 Million dollar fine. The former president of BodyBuilding dot com Paid a $600,000 fine.

http://www.fda.gov/ICECI/CriminalInv.../ucm305494.htm

Also IMHO RED Bull, Rockstars, Monster etc drinks are total crap.

A cup of coffee is half the price and way better for you.

Top 13 Evidence-Based Health Benefits of Coffee

[Chivas Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Chivas]

When I first bought L-arginine I was taking 1 capsule too = 500 mg daily and I kept that for a month or two, but I wanted to make the most of it so I asked on here how and in what quantities to take L-arginine for best results and I was told that 3-5 g was a good amount. But that seemed a lot to me to drink that many capsules so I just stuck with 3 daily = 1.5g which isn't close to what was recommended. So this boggles my mind.

[Chivas Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Chivas]

@Trex Honestly I don't really care about body building and don't visit those websites. I am happy with my body.
I also thought I had done my research when i bought these supplements. But looks like it wasn't enough research...
I'm off the red bulls and all that junk stuff. Never liked it anyways. Started drinking them in college for a quick fix and been drinking them since. But now I'm done with that crap. Will try coffee.

[akaTrex Senior Member Member of the Month Jan 2016 Find all posts View Profile Close akaTrex]

Great! BB.COM got busted for steroids in some of the supplements they sold via their website.

I once had the honor of speaking to Frank Zane and asked him about energy drinks.

He stated that during his competition days he downed an espresso before a workout. He also recommend mint gum for afterwards!

[camaro Senior Member Member of the month June 2013 Find all posts View Profile Close camaro]

Frank Zane...wow.

[corageon Banned Find all posts View Profile Close corageon]

When I first bought L-arginine I was taking 1 capsule too = 500 mg daily and I kept that for a month or two, but I wanted to make the most of it so I asked on here how and in what quantities to take L-arginine for best results and I was told that 3-5 g was a good amount. But that seemed a lot to me to drink that many capsules so I just stuck with 3 daily = 1.5g which isn't close to what was recommended. So this boggles my mind.

Too much l-arginine can cause a lysine deficiency and corresponding diarrhea.....when lysine becomes deficient, serotonin becomes overactive in the gut and CNS. Lysine acts as a 5-HT4 serotonin antagonist in the gut and the Amygdala.

[corageon Banned Find all posts View Profile Close corageon]

Great! BB.COM got busted for steroids in some of the supplements they sold via their website.

I once had the honor of speaking to Frank Zane and asked him about energy drinks.

He stated that during his competition days he downed an espresso before a workout. He also recommend mint gum for afterwards!

Redbulls have preservatives, just like Monster and NOS..it's mostly the Dyes and High Fructose Corn Syrup that mess you up. Insulin resistance, bro.
Some people will have an initial rise with the caffeine...and some potent pro metabolic effects...until over time after drinking redbull..the HFCS and neurotoxins start to do their dirty work. I know so many people that are drinking redbulls and eating straight ramen noodles almost all day. This is the best cycle to create premature diabetes, excito toxicity..chronic anxiety disorders and extreme OCD....

[wellshii Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wellshii]

It's not the supplements you should worry about. You said your crappy diet. Supplements are merely supps. With lack of excerscise,bad diet and whatever else such as drinking,supps combined might have an interaction .
Also,alot of supps have artificial ingredients and what not,which is stupid imo. The supps I take are currently take creatine,multi,taurine,beta-alanine,whey protein,fish oil zince,magnesium,vitamin d,b-complex,vitamin c .All from either powder forms or all natural pills. Reason I take so much is I workout pretty hard and am cutting,so I need something to help out. I eat clean though,no processed food,no fast food,no alcohol,no meds.
Hell I havnt taken a med for anything in more than years,even with a motorcycle accident . Worry about everything else first,then the supps.As for energy,I drink organic coffee,and yerba mate. Those energy drinks are poison as mentioned above. If anything,take caffeine in powder form,it's cheaper and better than all the crap they put in red-bulls and whatever else is out there.

[popol5169 Senior Member Member of the Month Nov 2014 Find all posts View Profile Close popol5169]

Are you sure you didn't retro ejaculate?

[chajadan Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close chajadan]

I would definitely recommend improving your diet. If you're gonna invest in your body but ignore diet, you're missing out. Routines and devices might be fancy, but they need a good foundation.

Based on what was said here, you may want to up your protein. This ensures you're getting a good amount of all the necessary amino acids, and then the issue of arginine causing lysine deficiency would be worked on.

Add a jog into your routine. If you like the results of throwing some arginine into your system, no doubt you'll enjoy the benefits you'd get from jogging.

I take a lot of supplements and the ones you mentioned seem perfectly good to me, no red flags. I wouldn't think an "inflammation" issue would cause an infection of any sort, to answer your question about cause. I'm not saying it couldn't, I'm saying that inflammation tends to cause other issues, but not usually anti-biotics.

You might be interested in looking into citrulline or citrulline malate, which is said to be better at getting arginine into your system than arginine is. Other people seem to be fans of it for sexual endurance and other PE gains, and I know I'm a fan.