The Stack That Almost Crashed
Berberine triple-threat discovery
The 30-Second Version
**Duration:** 40 seconds **Compliance:** "Berberine" is an herbal supplement, fine to name. DO NOT name what it was interacting with (Tesofensine). Keep the interactions described in general mechanism terms.
``` "A supplement literally everyone recommends almost crashed my entire protocol.
Three separate interactions nobody warned me about.
One: it was raising the effective dose of something else in my stack by 40 percent. Silently.
Two: it was hitting a brain pathway that was already getting hit by three other things I take.
Three: it was inhibiting the same cellular target as a compound linked to neurodegeneration in research.
I caught it through systematic analysis - not because I felt bad. I felt fine. That's the scary part.
My medical team and I replaced it with something that gives the same benefit through a completely different mechanism. Problem solved.
If you're taking more than 5 or 6 things - supplements, whatever - you need to check interactions.
Your stack isn't as safe as you think." ```
**Last line (quotable):** "Your stack isn't as safe as you think."
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A commonly recommended supplement was about to crash my entire protocol.
Three separate dangerous interactions. Nobody warned me. I caught it through systematic analysis. Here's what happened. 🧵
I was taking berberine. Everyone recommends it. Blood sugar support, AMPK activation, gut health.
What nobody told me:
Problem 1: Berberine inhibits CYP3A4 (a liver enzyme). One of my other compounds is metabolized by CYP3A4. Berberine was raising its effective dose by ~40%. Unknowingly.
Problem 2: Berberine inhibits MAO-B.
I was already on several things that affect serotonin. Adding an MAO inhibitor to that stack increases serotonergic risk significantly.
Problem 3: Berberine inhibits mitochondrial Complex I. That's the same target as rotenone - a compound linked to Parkinson's in research.
Three problems. One "safe" supplement.
The fix: I replaced berberine with MOTS-c.
MOTS-c activates AMPK (same benefit as berberine) but through an entirely different mechanism - folate-AICAR pathway instead of Complex I inhibition.
All three problems solved in one swap.
The lesson: individual supplements aren't dangerous. COMBINATIONS can be.
Nobody tracks interactions across 30+ compounds. Your doctor doesn't. Your naturopath doesn't. The Reddit threads definitely don't.
This is why I built AI agents to cross-reference my entire stack against pharmacogenomic databases. And why I'm making those tools open source.
If you're taking more than 5-6 things, you should be checking interactions. Not just drug-drug. Supplement-drug. Supplement-supplement.
Your stack isn't as safe as you think. ```
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This is what I put in The Manual every week.
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