Below is a link that has intrigued me because this doctor says that if you use the amino acid l-carnitine along with your pantethine that it would improve it's effectiveness in clearing acne! I did some digging and found that pantethine is absorbed twice as well as pantothenic acid (that also has to be converted to pantethine) so according to this finding you would use as much pantethine to acheive the same results as twice the amount of pantothenic acid. For example you would need to ingest 3 to 5 grams of pantethine to achive the potency of 10 grams of pantothenic acid. Now add carnatine to the mix and maybe we got a more effective treatment?
Please refer to this article for this topic: http://jeffreydach.com/2008/09/04/pantethe...ey-dach-md.aspx
I am right now for a week and a half been using pantethine for experimental purposes ( just got off B5 again for safety concerns and inconvience) so I don't think that it could hurt to give this a carnitine a try. Let me know what you think. 
Cool. NOW Foods has some liquid L-Carnitine for anyone willing to try a non-encapsulated form of it.
Well for right now the dosage that Dr. Dach's article provided was 250mg and I would say that this would be a good starting point since l-carnitine can have side effects and is expensive.
Also I am currently on 900mg pantethine twice a day which I just bumped up to 3 times a day as it is clearing but taking forever for old cysts to go away. Otherwise no new acne that I can see. I will pickup some l-carnitine as 250mg pills after work tomorrow then see what happens. 
AcneMonster, you stated that you have not seen any new pimples? That is great news! How long will you be on this regimen? I've read up through Systemic Lupus and Acetyl CoA Deficiency and it sounds decent. Is it true that the side effects are not as severe as the ones associated with Accutane? I see that the only complaint from some patients was that it is difficult to take and leads to gastrointestinal gas and bloating. Have you experienced that?
I will not be trying this because I am currently clear. I am interested in tracking your progress and seeing how you respond to Pantethine and L-Carnitine. If you could please update every once in a while? Thanks.
I've been on a lot of different supplements but I won't discuss them here to stay on topic. I had tried pantethine with varied success so I am trying again to prove a point to myself which I don't know what that is yet. I have not tried l-carnitine yet so I will let you guys know what happens. FYI - I am also using pantethine to lower my cholesterol.
Where is the cheapest place to buy pantethine to take his recommended dose of 750mg 3 X a day? I've noticed it's pretty expensive
Yes this stuff is expensive but still cheaper and potentially safer than Accutane. I use the Jarrow brand @ 450mg x 6 a day split over 3 doses. They probably got 750mg by using 300mg and 450mg pills.
~ Just thought I'd put a disclaimer here... I'm not promoting or suggesting the use of any products in this thread, only sharing some information that I have found and my experience with it. ~
Ok I just got back from the vitamin store and got some L-Carnitine. I noticed that some came with B6 in it but I got the purest form in 250mg caps. I saw that there was Acetyl-L-Carnitine as well but that form is for somethine else. Man this stuff is expensive or at least from my vitamin store (Vitamin Shoppe) here in Chicago. Cost me $25 for 250mg x 60 for Twinlab brand. If this works I will definitely be looking for cheaper sources. Like they say haste makes waste (money that is). So I am going to start tonight so that I will see if any side effect occur before I go to work tomorrow. I will keep you guys posted.
Testing with:
Pantethine 450mg x2 three times a day
L-Carnitine 250 x1 three times a day
Minimum 64 ounces of water a day
Minimised sugar and high fructrose cornsyrup
I was taking a multivitamin but will stop until I see results from the other supplements.
Some more useful info...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnitine
http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/carnitine-l-000291.htm
http://www.vitamins-nutrition.org/vitamins...-carnitine.html
http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/othernuts/carnitine/
BTW... If found that a few places sell L-Carnitine 250mg x250 for about what I paid for 60 $25 so it is actually cheap! but I got ripped off because I wanted to try it today 
Quick update. I was clearing up with the pantethine which is nice but my face was still a oil slick by the middle of the day. After adding the L-Carnitine, my face is alot drier, still has oil but only healthy amounts. Starting to see some side effects now like dryer hands and lips. I can't help myself but I keep staring at myself in the mirror in amazement as my face is getting clearer every day. Still have a cyst behind my ear from befpre that is annoying but at least the cysts and pimples on my face are gone/ going away. I now get these tiny whiteheads but one rub and they are gone, Interesting... 
Hmm... This morning I was in the shower and I thought, hey since the L-Carnitine isn't as expensive as I thought it was, why not double the amount to see if it help clear some cysts that have been hanging around too long to today I double my dose of carnitine. Well now all of a sudden I am all oily and starting to break out! Now I have a lot of doubt about this.Starting to wonder if the pantethine is doing all of the work and I am just taking the carnitine for nothing or even worse, counter productive.
Anyone else try this combo yet?
Hmm... This morning I was in the shower and I thought, hey since the L-Carnitine isn't as expensive as I thought it was, why not double the amount to see if it help clear some cysts that have been hanging around too long to today I double my dose of carnitine. Well now all of a sudden I am all oily and starting to break out! Now I have a lot of doubt about this.Starting to wonder if the pantethine is doing all of the work and I am just taking the carnitine for nothing or even worse, counter productive.
Anyone else try this combo yet?
Wow.
Interesting...
I just read the same stuff you posted by Dr Jeffery. I was wondering if it would be more effective than standard B5.
Have you tried B5 at 10g per day yet at all like Dr Hit Leungs study showed?
Yes I was using around that much and my skin pretty much cleared up and heck even my back got clear. The reason I was looking for something else is because I wanted to find something else that does not have the same "long term" side effects of B5 supplementation. The side effects are like thinning/brittle hair that falls out, kidney stones, and in some severe cases, chonic fatigue syndrome. Everytime I used this stuff I would clear up like magic but as I get older I start to worry more about how stuff will effect my future.
BTW... I got off the Carnitine for a day and now my face is a oil slick 
! So now I'm confused and almost ready to give up. Should I give it another chance? Could this be in fact a side effect of taking too much? Aw man I feel like I am so close while that bottle of B5 is calling me like a crack addict! 
After doing some more intense research about carnitine, just realized that it is appart of the process that uses coenzyme-a to burn fat inside of living cells to create energy. This is also apart of the Coenzyme-A Technologies Coenzyme-A product and it even includes L-Carnitine. Another question I have is why does this company have a B5 supplement (that I used to use) and recommend that acne sufferers use that instead of their flagship product? Is CoA Tech trying to tell us something? Or are they staying strict to Dr. Lit-Hung Leung theory? If pantethine is in theory, supposed to be better absorbed then why is B5 so consistant and pantethine is not? Or maybe B5 is more natural as appose to pantethine since B5 is in everything.
One thing that is interesting is the fact that carnitine, after it helps fatty acids enter the mitochondria to be burned as fuel, it takes out the ash as it leaves the cell. Yes it cleans the stove after burning the log of fat! So I wonder that if the CoA is doing it's job and maybe too well causing a lot of ash behind (burned fatty acids), this could compound the problem and is why maybe pantethine works at first but there becomes a toxic buildup of spent fuel (fat ash?) and of course the body has to get rid of that and guess where that has to go? The biggest release valve in our body called our skin!
Well since I bought this L-Carnitine and pantethine, maybe I deserve to keep taking it until I see results again as because of it's long term safety because pantethine has been used for over 30 years by the Chinese with no reported side effects and we eat Carnitine all the time in our meat with out realizing it! Besides why would I want to take 10 horse pills a day again?
So.... I just downed another dose, 250mg only of L-Carnitine and 900mg of Pantethine. Here we go again 
Dude I would keep up on this regimen for at least like 5 days strictly. Give it a chance. Do you think it makes any difference whether you take it with food or without? Cuz its an amino acid and sometimes people recommend taking certain ones with food or without for best absorption of that specific acid because the other acids compete for absorption or some bs like that I dont remember lol.
Dude I would keep up on this regimen for at least like 5 days strictly. Give it a chance. Do you think it makes any difference whether you take it with food or without? Cuz its an amino acid and sometimes people recommend taking certain ones with food or without for best absorption of that specific acid because the other acids compete for absorption or some bs like that I dont remember lol.
Yeah that was the plan but this disease is making me a bit bipolar lol. L-Carnitine is best taken on an empty stomach according to most sources so I just take the pantethine and carnitine together during periods where my stomach would be empty. I just hate seeing my face total clear up then totally break out! I am actually starting to wonder if the B5 that I was taking is almost out of my system and is causing my condition to come back. Oh well I only skipped a day after the double dose but I've been taking the pantethine all of this time. So technically since I started Monday, did a double dose on Thursday, skipped just the carnitine on Friday, and started back taking it since this morning and had my second dose of the day just an hour ago, it has been 5 days. 
Sorry to inform you guys but I gave up on this experiment. In the course of taking the pantethine and the carnitine, I developed 5 painful cysts. 2 on my face and 3 on my back and a few regular pimples. I believe it to be the B5 finally wearing off. To make matters worse I developed a nasty weird body odor that I had to use a ton of body deoderant after I shower to mask (side effect of the carnitine but who knew it would happen this fast). Seems like because I discontinued this regimen my face is starting to calm down a bit and the body odor is going away. Just ordered some more B5 and going back to something that works before I get more scars but because of the cysts I might already be too late.
I am going to try some new things but from now on it will be centered around B5 as I finally got it in my head that pantethine just does not work for me. I ordered some vitamin D3 and magnesium with my B5 to see if this balances the effects of too much calcium from the calcium-D-pantothenate from which B5 is made. If that works or enhances the B5 then I will let you guys know in a new thread. Otherwise whoever else tried this I hope that it is working for you as things work differently for everyone.
AcneMonster,
Why dont you just reduce your B5 intake once you get clear from it?
That should help stop any side effects.
I have been on B5 for about 7 days now at 10 grams per day. I also take 5000mcg of biotin, a mega B complex, zinc, multi-vitamin and retinol(natural vit A) with Vitamin D.
I have yet to experience any diareah or negative side effects.
I tried B5 when it first came out, but never @ 10g per day. I took about 4 grams per day and I dont think it did enough to warrant me conituning. It was too expensive for me back then to stay or start on a 10g per day regimen.
But it seems to be helping. I will only give a definite after 2-3 months of use at 10g per day.
AcneMonster,
Why dont you just reduce your B5 intake once you get clear from it?
That should help stop any side effects.
I have been on B5 for about 7 days now at 10 grams per day. I also take 5000mcg of biotin, a mega B complex, zinc, multi-vitamin and retinol(natural vit A) with Vitamin D.
I have yet to experience any diareah or negative side effects.
I tried B5 when it first came out, but never @ 10g per day. I took about 4 grams per day and I dont think it did enough to warrant me conituning. It was too expensive for me back then to stay or start on a 10g per day regimen.
But it seems to be helping. I will only give a definite after 2-3 months of use at 10g per day.
Yeah I know. Now that I am older, it takes less B5 now to clear me up. Started at 12G then went down to 9G and I am staying clear but the oil has returned a little which I don't mind now as it looks healthy. I've been taking the vitamin D3 for 2 days and already a few cysts that I had have shrunk and the B5 alone couldn't do that so I am taking 600IU of D3 with every dose of B5 with some magnesium at night to balance out all of this calcium I'm getting from the B5. The magnesium is also helping with some muscle cramps I've been having lately and also helps me sleep better.
I'm keeping a log offline to see if the D3 and magnesium support the B5. Read somewhere that D3 deficientcy that almost most people have can cause acne too. But it is my theory that the D3 can help absorb and retain the B5 which is actually calcium-D-pantothenate so that it is more effective and to benifit from the additional calcium. If this works good maybe I would start another thead or just let this be the last post.
Whats the difference between Vitamin D and Vitamin D3?
How long did it take for your skin to stop producing excess amounts of oil when your taking B5?
Vitamin D3 is what your skin makes naturally and is the most absorbable in supplement form and it usally takes about a week to see a reduction is sebum production from the B5. Also depends on stress levels and diet for that week.