ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Arginine Alpha-Ketoglutarate - Side Effects and Cons

Updated on December 24, 2015

<< Part 4 - Research Proven Benefits <<

It would be great if we could take as many supplements as we wanted, see all the benefits and not have to worry about any side effects.

But that’s really not the case, so you have to be careful with the supplements you take, including arginine alpha-ketoglutarate.

Let’s take a look at some of the possible side effects that may occur if you supplement with arginine.

Arginine Side Effects

Supplementing with arginine is actually very safe as long as you don’t overdo it. As with all things, too much of a good thing can cause bad things to happen. We call those bad things “side effects” but in reality we should, or at least could, have known better.

Hopefully you can avoid most of these side effects by reading the following. If you do experience any of these side effects it might be a good idea to lower your dosage of arginine and see if it was the cause.

Some common side effects that may occur are:

  • Abdominal Pain
  • Bloating
  • Blood Abnormalities
  • Diarrhea
  • Dizziness
  • Gout

Arginine can actually cause allergic reactions in some and, if you already have asthma, it might make the swelling in your airways worse.

And, since arginine lowers blood pressure, if you already have low blood pressure you should be careful when supplementing with arginine. You don’t want to end up with dangerously low blood pressure.

In fact, if you’re going to have surgery anytime soon, you should stop supplementing with arginine at the very least 2 weeks before your surgery. Otherwise it might be hard to control your blood pressure during and after your surgery.

There are also some concerns that if you just had a heart attack, especially if you’re older, that you might be at a higher risk if you continue to supplement with arginine. So if you just had a heart attack, arginine is not a recommended supplement for you.

It has also been said that arginine might make herpes worse. So if you have herpes and it suddenly flairs back up after starting to supplement with arginine then lower your dosage or stop taking it all together and see if it settles back down.

Side effects can also arise from arginine if you take certain medications.

Arginine’s Interactions with Medication

Arginine affects your blood pressure, which can be a problem if you’re taking medication that either raises or lowers your blood pressure.

So you’re going to want to be careful with your arginine supplementation if you take any of the following medications:

  • Amlodipine (Norvasc)
  • Antihypertensive Drugs
  • Captopril (Capoten)
  • Diltiazem (Cardizem)
  • Enalapril (Vasotec)
  • FuroSemide (Lasix)
  • Hydrochlorothiazide (HydroDiuril)
  • Iosartan (Cozaar)
  • Isosorbide (Imdur, Isordil, Sorbitrate)
  • Nitrates
  • Nitroglycerin (Nitro-Bid, Nitro-Dur, Nitrostat)
  • Sildenafil (Viagra)
  • Valsartan (Diovan)

If your blood pressure becomes too low you will experience dizziness and other side effects.

So heed the warnings, don’t over do it and hopefully you’ll experience no side effects at all when you supplement with arginine alpha-ketoglutarate.

In order to ensure that your arginine supplementation is safe I’d like to go over proper dosages and the best time to take arginine.

>> Continue Reading Part 6 - How Much Should I Take and When? >>

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)