CoQ10 ?

[LAURIE]

I am thinking about starting to take CoQ10, but the amount needed to be effective will cost a fortune. Is there a perscription for such a large amount? I was only able to find it in 30mg? I am already taking 20 fish oil pills a day. I looked into Omaor (fish oil perscription) but it was still cheaper to take the 20 a day.


I found a new source that is cheaper, I usaully go through Swansons but they are way higher than other places. I am curious to find out what source everyone uses for vitamins and supplements.

[Hopeful]

Laurie,

Some of the women here posted that they were able to buy COQ 10 at Costco or Walmart; try the prices at the box stores and see if it makes a difference. Another thought is to try to find an internet source; if you search these forums on the term COQ 10 I believe you will find a post that has a number of links to on-line sources.

Do you have a flexible spending account through work that you fund? A creative approach would be to see if your doctor will write you a letter of medical necessity for it. While over the counter drugs like asprin are elegible for reimbursement, vitamins and supplements are in a gray area as they are seen to have a dual purpose. One way around that is to get the doctor to write a letter that he or she has instructed you to take the supplement as part of your treatment, allowing you to be reimbused out of your flex account. It may not be much of a saving, but every little bit helps. I am going to ask my onc for such a letter for the viatmin D and calcium supplements he wants me to take because of the AI's I am on.

Best of luck to you,

Hopeful

[heblaj01]

Laurie,
There are wide variations in absorption of CoQ10 depending on the type of pill: powder,softgel, Q-gel...
So taking one that has high absorption, reduces the number of pills necessary to achieve a certain blood level of CoQ10. This may lead to lower cost & be more convenient to administer.
You can start your search at http://www.consumerlab.com/results/CoQ10.asp

A recent addition to the list of suppliers is Life Extension which claims that their new product (with limonene) has the highest bioavailability (difficult to verify against all other makes except the powder type which is ranking lowest in absorption):
http://search.lef.org/search/default...ts&query=coq10

Nearly all (if not all) CoQ10 is made in Japan. So if you have a friend over there he might be able to get it for you at a lower cost.