📖 3 mins.

When you begin your Sodium dichloroacetate regimen, it is crucial that you take supplementation which provides protective benefits. This way you minimize the chance for developingr reversible peripheral neuropathy as well as other adverse reactions related to the nervous system.

Below you will find a list of supplements which are essential or recommended for a pleasant DCA usage experience with the lowest achievable side effect probability.


▪ Vitamin B1 – thiamine.(Necessary)
(take one and a half 100mg capsules / tablets twice a day. Take it before breakfast and before lunch.
An alternative way – take 100 mg three times a day. Total – 300 mg)

The B group vitamin thiamine appears to have a protective effect against peripheral neuropathy. This food supplement can be used not only for DCA induced neuropathy but also for other neuropathies which are caused by diabetes and chronic alcohol abuse. (Ref.)

We recommend using benfotiamine because it can be absorbed over five times better than the ordinary thiamine form.

In addition, the newest research claims that Vitamin B1 can have an antiproliferative effect on malignant cells. (Ref.)

▪ Alpha–Lipoic acid. (Necessary)
(take one 300 mg R+/S- capsule/tablet three times a day or take one 150 mg R+ capsule/tablet three times a day. Take it before breakfast, before lunch and before dinner. Total – 900 mg (R+/S-) or 450 mg (R+))

α-Lipoic acid is a strong antioxidant, it helps avoiding and controlling symptoms related to neuropathy. The supplement can lower anxiety, memory problems as well as help keeping away from peripheral neuropathy manifestations such as tingling, burning, painful sensations and numbness. (Ref.)

You can use smaller doses if you’re taking R-form α-Lipoic acid.
If you have Racemate α-Lipoic acid (which is a mix of R and L forms), you should take a twice larger dose to fulfill your daily goal.

! Don’t take α-Lipoic acid if you’re receiving chemotherapy or radiotherapy.

α-Lipoic acid has a strong antioxidative effect that can interfere with the effectiveness of chemotherapy. For this reason, we recommend staying away from this supplement a couple of days before the chemo, during the treatment and 1 week after the chemotherapy. (Ref.)

α-Lipoic acid also can decrease the effectiveness of radiotherapy. This is why we recommend avoiding taking it for several days before, during and 2 week after these procedures.

▪ Acetyl L-Carnitine. (Recommended)
(take on 600mg capsule / tablet three times a day. Take it before breakfast, before lunch and before dinner. Total – 1800 mg)

The majority of scientific studies claims that Carnitine can be an effective aid to lower peripheral neuropathy. Acetyl L-Carnitine is also an attractive option because its longtime usage does not cause any side effects and carries no health risk. (Ref1.), (Ref2.), (Ref3.)

α-Lipoic acid and Acetyl L-Carnitine both appear to have a synergistic effect at preventing neuropathy.


On rare occasions, Sodium dichloroacetate administration can result in heartburn or nausea. If this is the case, try taking DCA after you eat a little bit of food and drink some fluids to avoid your stomach becoming irritated.

If that didin’t resolve the problem, you should try taking medications that lower gastric acid secretion – proton pump inhibitors.
Any type of PPI is acceptable provided the fact that they don’t have any major differences.

▪ Pantoprazole.
(take one 40mg tablet per day, at the same time. Take it at least 30 minutes before your meal and DCA.)

For convenience purposes, we recommend using Pantoprazole because it doesn’t seem to have any poor interactions with other medications.


If you began experiencing moderate side effects or develop a stronger form of peripheral polyneuropathy – stop taking DCA until the adverse reactions become acceptable or disappear completely.

All Sodium dichloroacetate side effects are reversible.

When you stop taking DCA, the majority of the side effects disappear in several days. Peripheral neuropathy can take up to a week or, in rare occasions, a couple of weeks to resolve completely. (Ref.)

Additionally, if you have an opportunity – we recommend regularly performing blood tests and checking the blood serum for tumor marker levels.

UltrasoundComputer tomography scansMagnetic resonance imagingPositron emission tomography are imaging tests that can provide more information about the dynamics of your overall health, and most importantly, the size changes of your cancer.

This Post Has One Comment

  1. Zaklina

    Can you give DCA without food? My sister is on palliative care and she is eating very little . Is it ok to continue giving the DCA with very little food.

Leave a Reply