L-Arginine v Citrulline Malate

[ashtown]

I am almost out of L-Arginine that I've been taking daily now for about 5 months and I've heard that extended use can have certain negative side effects such as increased likelihood of developing diabetes. I am also on Pentox and Cialis but I was thinking about substituting the L-Arginine with Citrulline malate and wondered if anybody knew about the pros and cons?  

[Hawk]

The main group into vasodilation is body builders always looking for that extra pump and supplying oxygen and nutrients to large muscle groups.  For them it takes a huge amount of NO to do the job and they will always be on a quest for the slightest edge in accomplishing their goal.  Among them the debate flourishes on a host of products.

I truly think for the purposes of vasodilation of a penis smaller than your leg it is a non-issue.  Having said that, I think there is little harm in experimenting to see if you get some advantage out of another product, I have.  When all is said and done, plain L-Arginine capsules seem to work faster/better for me although the difference is minimal.

I pretty much conclude the best price is the best buy when it comes to this issue.  Since I have significant ED it is very easy for me to measure the effectiveness of these products because they make a clear difference in degree of erection.

[ashtown]

I've never been entirely sure of the reason for taking L-Arginine with Peyronies but from what you are saying it's primarily about boosting NO. By that measure if Citrulline Malate does the job as effectively but with fewer potential downsides perhaps it's the better option. This is probably one of those points we'll only know for sure with greater research.

Having spent the last week without Cialis I'm glad to be taking that again because I found there were times when my penis felt cold without it and that was downright uncomfortable. Presumably that was down to a circulation issue because of the plaque.  

[ashtown]

OK I've just ordered a small 100gsm pack of the powdered Citrulline Malate to give it a test run and see if it makes any difference. Recently I've started to think that 90% of these supplements are a complete waste of time and money, since my condition has continued to worsen over the months. My only slight ray of hope is that since increasing my Pentox dosage the plaque seems to have softened a little though curvature is in no way lessened.  

[funnyfarm]

Hawk/George, how does increasing NO help Peyronies Disease ?  I have also wondered this for a long time..   For someone with a bad plaque/pain, but no ED or bend, who also is taking cialis, like myself, is there any point in continuing to take Arginine ? thanks.

[MattFoley]

Hey guys, here's my standard spiel on Citrulline vs. Arginine:

Citrulline is an amino acid. It was first isolated from and named after watermelon (citrullus vulgaris) over 75 years ago. Until just recently, citrulline was ignored in sports nutrition because it was not directly involved in protein synthesis, building muscle, etc. Within the last few years, however, researchers have found that it is actually intimately involved in arginine metabolism. Arginine is directly involved in building protein, but also in the production of nitric oxide, an extremely important molecule in the body for circulation as well as many other important functions. A recent article published in the British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology* shows that when citrulline is administered to humans, it actually produces more nitric oxide than arginine, which was thought to be the sole amino acid involved in nitric oxide production. It turns out that when arginine is used to produce nitric oxide the other product is citrulline. Citrulline can then be reused in a salvage pathway to replenish arginine. But there's more, it was found that you can increase blood levels of arginine more by taking citrulline rather than arginine—an utterly bizarre finding. It was found that when arginine is taken orally it has to be broken down extensively in the intestines before any of it can produce nitric oxide. Only 1% of arginine ever ends up in the production of nitric oxide. Conversely, citrulline is already in the body because it is a byproduct of nitric oxide production. It is simply reconverted in a two-step path back to arginine. If you're serious about body building then take your citrulline! This excerpt is from: http://fitmixer.com/the-arginine-substitute-that-works-even-better/

The study can be found here:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2291275/

[Kano]

I've heard that extended use can have certain negative side effects such as increased likelihood of developing diabetes.

How long use was said to potentially increase one's risk for developing diabetes? Do you have a link to the study? Thanks!