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TUDCA

Also known as

tauroursodeoxycholic acid · tauroursodeoxycholate · TUDCA 500 · bile acid supplement · UDCA taurine conjugate

Community talk. May be wrong. Not medical advice. Not a protocol. Not for human or animal use.

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Non-peptide Lots of talk Systemic Oral Gut & inflammation peptides

Systemic oral bile acid (taurine-conjugated UDCA).

What people say TUDCA is tauroursodeoxycholic acid, a taurine-conjugated bile acid. Supplement discussion must stay separate from prescription UDCA and from AMX0035, the phenylbutyrate-plus-TUDCA product used for the clearest reviewed human PK measurement. Doses people talk about
Community meal-linked report250 mg once daily

The old note places this with breakfast; a separately reviewed user described taking TUDCA 30–90 minutes after meals. Neither establishes a universal meal clock.

Common supplement discussion500 mg/day oral

Preserved community amount, often discussed with food; product identity and indication vary.

PED community band500–1,500 mg/day oral, split 2–3 times

A preserved on-cycle community range, not proof that concurrent hepatotoxic exposure is safe or that the upper amount is preferable.

Older research reference15–20 mg/kg

A weight-based amount preserved from older research discussion; it is not consumer bottle math and is not the AMX0035 PK dose.

These are distinct community and research contexts, not an endorsed progression. The 1 g human PK measurement came from a single AMX0035 packet with 3 g sodium phenylbutyrate, not a standalone supplement-equivalence study.

Half-life & effect duration

Half-life in the body
  • TUDCA within oral AMX0035About 4 hours
Felt duration people report
  • Positive accountsEnergy change after 2–3 weeks, or digestive / pain changes during longer use
  • Other accountsNo acute effect, insomnia, low-blood-sugar episodes or severe reflux
Timing context & sources
How it may feel Reports were mixed: some authors described better gallbladder pain, digestion, mood or energy. One author stopped after insomnia, another reported hypoglycemic episodes and worse insomnia during a three-month course before restarting after a two-month break, and another stopped after severe reflux. The thread cannot estimate frequency.
Cycles people discuss The old notes preserve continuous on-cycle use and 4–8-week gut experiments. The reviewed accounts ranged from a two-week stop for reflux to 90 days or three months of use, without establishing an effective cycle. Timing Meal timing varied. One author used TUDCA 30–90 minutes after eating; AMX0035 studied fasted and fed conditions, so neither source establishes one universal capsule schedule. Stacks NAC, glutathione-related supplements, ox bile and GLP-1 drugs appear in the old stack notes. Those co-exposures make a TUDCA-only response harder to attribute, and AMX0035 itself includes phenylbutyrate. Access talk Amazon / iHerb caps (250 / 500 / 1000 mg; Sports Research and ND get named in gallbladder subs) vs prescription UDCA / ursodiol. Do not collapse the bottles. Labs people mention ALT / AST (sometimes GGT / bilirubin): PED rooms wait on the 4–8 week labs while an oral is on. Enzyme drops in a stack log are not proof the oral is safe. Watch for Diarrhea / urgency: Described as a “#1 stop reason” in community shorthand, not a measured frequency ranking. Bile acids in the colon act like a laxative.
Related
NACGlutathioneTaurineGlycineNattokinase

Tap a line to jump into the full notes. Research only — may be wrong.

Timing context & sources

Half-life in the body

The TUDCA component had an approximate 4-hour elimination half-life after one oral AMX0035 dose.

Healthy adults received one fasted packet containing 1 g TUDCA and 3 g sodium phenylbutyrate; median TUDCA Tmax was 4.5 hours. Enterohepatic recirculation was noted.

Combination-product, dose- and condition-specific measurement; not proof that standalone 250–500 mg capsules have identical exposure, and the report says mass balance and excretion are unknown.

  • AMX0035 clinical pharmacology review: TUDCA pharmacokinetics (opens in a new tab)Full PDF reviewed. Healthy-subject single-dose section and PK tables: one packet contained 3 g sodium phenylbutyrate plus 1 g TUDCA; fasted median TUDCA Tmax 4.5 h; approximate elimination half-life 4 h; high-fat meal left Cmax similar and increased AUC about 39%; protein binding 98.5%; enterohepatic recirculation complicates the profile.Regulatory review of a defined combination product, not standalone lower-dose supplement capsules; no human mass-balance study and excretion route was not determined.

Felt duration people report

No dependable felt-duration window emerges from the reviewed reports.

Selected users described no acute effect, energy change after 2–3 weeks, digestion or pain changes during longer use, one post-gallbladder-removal author stopping for insomnia, another three-month author reporting hypoglycemic episodes and worse insomnia before restarting after a two-month break, and another stopping after severe reflux.

Multiple authors, unverified products and amounts, self-selection, different conditions and co-use; course duration, onset and persistence after stopping are not the same clock.

  • What has your experience been with TUDCA? (opens in a new tab)Full thread and visible follow-ups reviewed. Separate authors reported: 30–90-minute post-meal use with gallbladder-pain relief; energy change after 2–3 weeks; 90-day exercise/mood benefit; three-month digestion and pain benefit with hypoglycemic episodes and worse insomnia; benefit after gallbladder removal but stopping for insomnia; and severe reflux beginning around two weeks and continuing after stopping.Multi-author uncontrolled reports with unverified products, amounts and diagnoses; outcomes cannot be merged into one chronology or used for prevalence or efficacy.
  • Any updated TUDCA experiences? (opens in a new tab)Full discussion reviewed. One author described two capsules daily, no tangible acute effect, avoiding alcohol around use and stacking 1–2 g NAC; another described darker stool and noticing a timing change when a lunch dose was missed.Different authors and unverified products; capsule strength and diagnoses were not established, NAC confounds attribution, and stool or missed-dose observations are not PK measurements.

What people say 8

  • Liver-enzyme story (PED rooms): On-oral logs claim ALT/AST calm after 2–8 weeks at 500–1000 mg. Confounded by dropping the oral, diet, and NAC in the same stack. forum
  • Bile / fatty meals: r/gallbladders 500 mg/day logs of less right-upper-pain after food. r/SIBO: 250 mg breakfast and bloating “almost gone.” anecdote
  • ER-stress pitch: Biohacker threads (and one high-bookmark X explainer) call TUDCA the OTC ER-stress reducer — insulin sensitivity, neurons, “every organ.” That is mechanism talk, not a guarantee. forum
  • T3 / thyroid lore: A bodybuilding-adjacent X thread claimed TUDCA helped T4→T3 conversion. That is lore, not a thyroid protocol. forum
  • GLP gallbladder lore: 2025–26 X posts tell GLP users in a fast-loss phase to add TUDCA so bile keeps moving; ox bile gets named as the second add. Forum prevention talk — not a TUDCA-for-GLP-1-gallstones trial. forum
  • UDCA cousin, not a GLP trial: 2026 writeups note prescription UDCA is used to help prevent gallstones during rapid weight loss; they also say GLP-1-specific TUDCA studies have not been done. forum
  • Examine-style research doses: Human work often sits 500–1750 mg/day split, sometimes ~15–20 mg/kg in older liver papers. trial
  • ALS combo (not the gym cap): TUDCA + phenylbutyrate (Relyvrio/Albrioza-class story) is a different medical product than Amazon 500 mg. trial

Doses people talk about 6

  • Gentle gut start: 250 mg once daily with breakfast. The r/SIBO “cured my bloating” number. forum
  • Common wellness cap: 500 mg/day, often with a fatty meal. forum
  • PED / “on-cycle” band: 500–1500 mg/day split 2–3×. 1000 mg is the meme dose. forum
  • With food: Almost everyone who keeps it down takes it with a meal. Empty-stomach diarrhea reports are common. forum
  • Framing: Supplement milligrams and forum logs — not a prescription. forum
  • Research-ish high: 15–20 mg/kg in older papers — not the Amazon bottle math people should cargo-cult. trial

How it may feel 6

  • Early experience is mixed: In the reviewed discussion, some users described easier gallbladder pain or digestion, while others described insomnia, hypoglycemic episodes or severe reflux. One energy response was placed at 2–3 weeks, not in the first dose; product, dose and co-use varied. forum
  • If it goes bad fast: r/gallbladders “TUDCA destroyed my health” posts — pain, nausea, itching, diarrhea in two days. They stop. anecdote
  • Weeks 1–2: Digestion logs that work usually say bloating/gas drop in days, not months. forum
  • Weeks 4–8: PED rooms wait for labs here. “Energy” claims are mixed and often the rest of the stack. forum
  • Too much bile: Loose, urgent stools after meals = the bile-acid diarrhea warning. Dose down or stop in those threads — not “push through.” forum
  • Off: No receptor-withdrawal story. Symptoms that were bile-related can return. forum

Around the dose 4

  • Clock: Community timing varies. One reviewed user used it 30–90 minutes after a meal, while the product-specific human PK study tested fasted and fed conditions; the evidence reviewed does not establish breakfast, bedtime or the largest-fat meal as universally best. forumtrial
  • Food: Empty-stomach diarrhea reports are the usual first-week fail. Almost everyone who keeps it down takes it with a meal. forum
  • GLP pairing: 2026 logs time it with the fat they still eat, because rapid GLP loss plus a near-zero-fat diet is the “gallbladder never empties” story those threads tell. forum
  • After: If stools go urgent or loose, those logs dose down or stop. They do not treat diarrhea as proof it is “working.” forum

Cycles people discuss 4

  • Daily while the oral / the fat-malabsorption is on: PED pattern is “on as long as the liver stress is on,” not 8-and-off. forum
  • Gut experiments: 4–8 week tries, then reassess stools and enzymes. forum
  • Not a forever bile drip if you have no bile problem. 2026 gut-health posts: unnecessary TUDCA can worsen urgency. forum
  • Stop before surgery / procedures: Not a blood-thinner like nattokinase, but people still pause extra GI drugs. forum

Timing 3

  • Meal timing is not settled: One reviewed user said 30–90 minutes after a meal helped their gallbladder pain. In the AMX0035 study, a high-fat meal left TUDCA Cmax similar and increased AUC about 39%; neither observation establishes one best clock for standalone capsules. forumtrial
  • Measured product-specific PK: In healthy adults given one fasted AMX0035 packet containing 1 g TUDCA plus 3 g sodium phenylbutyrate, median TUDCA Tmax was 4.5 hours and the approximate elimination half-life was 4 hours. Enterohepatic recirculation complicates interpretation; this is not standalone-supplement equivalence. trial
  • Colon spill: Unabsorbed bile acids pull water — the diarrhea mechanism. trial

More on what it is 7

  • Why people talk about it: PED/peptide Twitter and r/steroids treat 500–1500 mg as the liver-support pill next to orals. Gut boards (r/SIBO, r/gallbladders) run 250–500 mg with meals for bile flow. forum
  • Not ox bile: Ox-bile caps add mixed bile salts. TUDCA is one conjugated acid. Threads that swap them 1:1 get diarrhea surprises. forum
  • If you do not have a bile problem: Gut-health X posts in 2026: extra bile acids in a normal gut can mean bile-acid diarrhea. More is not automatically better. forum
  • 2026 GLP / liver stack: Peptide Twitter and GLP rooms now park TUDCA next to sema / tirz / reta because rapid fat loss plus eating almost no fat is the gallstone / bile-stasis story. Prescription UDCA is the clinic cousin; TUDCA is the Amazon cap in the same threads. forum
  • What it is: Tauroursodeoxycholic acid — a hydrophilic bile acid your liver can make in tiny amounts; sold as 250–1000 mg caps. Used clinically as UDCA’s cousin in cholestasis talk. Not a peptide. trial
  • How it works (plain): Bile acids digest fat and also signal (FXR, TGR5). TUDCA is the “less toxic” bile acid people take to keep bile moving and to lower endoplasmic-reticulum stress in cells. trial
  • Evidence posture: Real cholestasis / ALS-combo (with phenylbutyrate) literature exists. The “anabolic to the brain / 36% detox” Instagram cards are community overlays. trial

Stacks 7

  • + NAC: The default liver pair in PED posts. forum
  • + Glutathione / glycine: Same “liver support” drawer. forum
  • + Oral SARM / Anavar: Why TUDCA got famous in this map’s neighborhood. forum
  • + Ox bile / taurine: Gallbladder-out stacks. Easy to overdo bile. forum
  • + TUDCA-only first: Gut threads that went badly often stacked three bile products on day one. forum
  • + Semaglutide / tirz / reta: The 2026 “keep the gallbladder” add in GLP rooms. Confounded by how fast the scale moved, how little fat they still eat, and ox bile in the same screenshot. forum
  • + Ox bile on a GLP: 2026 physique/X posts: TUDCA first, don’t skip ox bile. Same rooms already warn that two bile products on day one is how people explode. forum

Access talk 3

  • Amazon / iHerb caps (250 / 500 / 1000 mg; Sports Research and ND get named in gallbladder subs) vs prescription UDCA / ursodiol. Do not collapse the bottles. forum
  • Not a 503A peptide. Not injectable TUDCA in these rooms. forum
  • Identity: Wellness “TUDCA 500” is not Relyvrio/Albrioza (TUDCA + phenylbutyrate) and not a clinic UDCA script. forum

Labs people mention 4

  • ALT / AST (sometimes GGT / bilirubin): PED rooms wait on the 4–8 week labs while an oral is on. Enzyme drops in a stack log are not proof the oral is safe. forum
  • Lipids: Cholesterol / TG screenshots show up as a secondary brag more than as a TUDCA-only claim. forum
  • GLP users who add it are usually watching the same liver panel plus whether right-upper-quadrant pain showed up — not a dedicated TUDCA RCT readout. forum
  • Glucose is not the TUDCA headline lab. forum

Storage notes 2

  • No reconstitution. Capsules. Cool, dry. forum
  • Not injectable TUDCA in these rooms. forum

Watch for 7

  • Diarrhea / urgency: Described as a “#1 stop reason” in community shorthand, not a measured frequency ranking. Bile acids in the colon act like a laxative. forum
  • Cramps, nausea, itch: First-week or “this wrecked me in 48 hours” logs. anecdote
  • If you do not need bile support: Extra bile signaling can inflame a normal gut. forum
  • Not a free pass for hepatotoxic orals. Enzyme drops in a stack log are not proof the oral is safe. forum
  • Identity: Amazon “TUDCA 500” vs clinical UDCA products are not the same bottle. forum
  • GLP gallstone confusion: 2025 r/Semaglutide logs include people stopping the shot because of stones. TUDCA is the forum add in that mess — not a proven preventer of GLP-1 cholelithiasis. forum
  • Pregnancy / bile-acid disease: Medical bile-acid drugs are a clinician lane, not a gym cap. trial

Updated: 2026-09-01

Evidence mix Mostly community / anecdote tags Full: every bullet (trial + community). Use Scan for a faster bro-science read.
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