Sulbutiamine: Overview, Uses, Side Effects, Precautions, Interactions, Dosing and Reviews

Overview

Sulbutiamine is a man-made chemical similar to vitamin B1 (thiamine). Unlike vitamin B1, which dissolves in water, sulbutiamine dissolves in fats. Sulbutiamine is able to increase thiamine levels in the brain. It is thought to have mild stimulant effects.

Sulbutiamine is used for weakness, fatigue, to enhance athletic performance, and many other conditions, but there is no good scientific evidence to support these uses.

In December 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration added sulbutiamine to the Dietary Supplement Ingredient Advisory List. The ingredients on this list might not be lawful to include in dietary supplements. For this reason, people may want to avoid using supplements containing sulbutiamine.

It is not fully understood how sulbutiamine works. However, it seems to have various effects on the brain that might improve memory and reduce feelings of weakness.

How does it work ?

It is not fully understood how sulbutiamine works. However, it seems to have various effects on the brain that might improve memory and reduce feelings of weakness.

Uses & Effectiveness

Insufficient Evidence for

Nerve pain in people with diabetes (diabetic neuropathy). Early research shows that taking sulbutiamine (Arcalion) for 6 weeks doesn't reduce nerve pain in people with diabetes.
Fatigue. Early research found that taking sulbutiamine daily for 15 days is linked with improved fatigue in people with an infection.
Fatigue in people with multiple sclerosis (MS). Some people with MS who take sulbutiamine seem to feel less tired.
Alzheimer disease.
Athletic performance.
Erectile dysfunction (ED).
Memory.
Weakness.
Other conditions.

More evidence is needed to rate sulbutiamine for these uses.

Side Effects

When taken by mouth: Sulbutiamine is POSSIBLY SAFE when taken by mouth, short-term. A dose of 600 mg daily has been used safely for up to 2 months. A small number of people taking sulbutiamine have reported nausea, headache, tiredness, and inability to sleep.

There isn't enough reliable information to know if sulbutiamine is safe to use long-term.

Special Precautions and Warnings

Pregnancy and breast-feeding: There is not enough reliable information about the safety of taking sulbutiamine if you are pregnant or breast feeding. Stay on the safe side and avoid use.

Psychiatric disorders: People with certain psychiatric disorders, including bipolar disorder, may be more likely to abuse drugs. These individuals may be more likely to abuse sulbutiamine. Until more is known about sulbutiamine, people with psychiatric disorders should use sulbutiamine cautiously. These patients should not discontinue use of their prescribed treatments.

Interactions

We currently have no information for Sulbutiamine overview.

Dosing

The appropriate dose of sulbutiamine depends on several factors such as the user's age, health, and several other conditions. At this time there is not enough scientific information to determine an appropriate range of doses for sulbutiamine (in children/in adults). Keep in mind that natural products are not always necessarily safe and dosages can be important. Be sure to follow relevant directions on product labels and consult your pharmacist or physician or other healthcare professional before using.

View References

REFERENCES:

Shah S. Adjuvant role of vitamin B analogue (sulbutiamine) with anti-infective treatment in infection associated asthenia. J Assoc Physicians India. 2003;51:891-5.

Loo H, Poirier M, Ollat H, et al. [Effects of subutiamine (Arcalion 200) on psycho-behavioral inhibition in major depressive episodes]. Encephale. 2000;26(2):70-5.

Sobolevsky T, Rodchenkov G. Sulbutiamine in sports. Drug Test Anal. 2010;2(11-12):643-6.

Kiew K, Wan Mohamad W, Ridzuan A, et al. Effects of sulbutiamine on diabetic polyneuropathy: an open randomized controlled study in type 2 diabetics. Malays J Med Sci. 2002;9(1):21-7.

Douzenis A, Michopoulos I, Lykouras L. Sulbutiamine, an 'innocent' over the counter drug, interferes with therapeutic outcomes of bipolar disorder. World J Biol Psychiatry. 2006;7(3):183-5.

Volvert M, Seven S, Piette M, et al. Benfotiamine, a synthetic S-acyl thiamine derivative, has different mechanisms of action and a different pharmacological profile than lipid-soluble thiamine disulfide derivatives. BMC Pharmacol. 2008;8:10.

Bettendorff L, Weekers L, Wins P, et al. Injection of sulbutiamine induces an increase in thiamine triphosphate in rat tissue. Biochem Pharmacol. 1990;40(11):2557-60.

Hills J. The Effect of Thiamine Tetrahydrofurfuryl Disulfide on Operant Learning, Social Behavior, Activity, Prepulse Inhibition of Acoustic Startle, and Auditory Brainstem Response Threshold in the DBA/2J Mouse. ProQuest. 2009.

Garcia-Rill E, Kezunovic N, Hyde J, et al. Coherence and frequency in the reticular activating system (RAS). Sleep Med Rev. 2013;17(3):227-38.

Van Reeth O. Pharmacologic and therapeutic features of sulbutiamine. Drugs Today (Barc). 1999;35(3):187-92.

Micheau J, Durkin T, Destrade C, et al. Chronic administration of sulbutiamine improves long term memory formation in mice: possible cholinergic mediation. Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 1985;23(2):195-8.

Trovero F, Gobbi M, Weil-Fuggaza, et al. Evidence for a modulatory effect of sulbutiamine on glutamatergic and dopaminergic cortical transmissions in the rat brain. Neurosci Lett. 2000;292(1):49-53.

Bizot J, Herpin A, Pothion S, et al. Chronic treatment with sulbutiamine improves memory in an object recognition task and reduces some amnesic effects of dizocilpine in a spatial delayed-non-match-to-sample task. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. 2005;29(6):928-35.

Fujihira E, Tarumoto Y, Ajioka M, Mori T, Nakazawa M. [Analgesic effect of o-isobutyrylthiamine disulfide on experimentally induced pain]. Yakugaku Zasshi. 1973 Mar;93(3):388-91.

Sevim S, Kaleagasi H, Tasdelen B. Sulbutiamine shows promising results in reducing fatigue in patients with multiple sclerosis. Mult Scler Relat Disord. 2017;16:40-43.

U.S. Food & Drug Administration. Dietary supplement ingredient advisory list. https://www.fda.gov/food/dietary-supplement-products-ingredients/dietary-supplement-ingredient-advisory-list. Accessed December 17, 2019.

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