L-Carnitine protocol
L-Carnitine (levocarnitine). Dosing on this page comes from a published human trial or an approved product label, cited below.
How L-Carnitine works
Transports long-chain fatty acids across the inner mitochondrial membrane for beta-oxidation. Levocarnitine is an approved drug for primary and secondary carnitine deficiency.
L-Carnitine dosing schedule
From the approved levocarnitine label. Read the indication carefully — this is deficiency replacement, and the trials behind it studied deficient patients. It is not a body-composition protocol.
| Phase | Amount | Frequency | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Approved IV use | 50 mg/kg | Loading, then divided doses | From the label for acute and chronic carnitine deficiency. |
| Approved oral use | 990 mg | Two to three times daily | Tablet strength and frequency from the same label. |
Study length: Ongoing replacement in the deficiency indication rather than a fixed cycle.
Reconstitution and measurement
This part is arithmetic and does not depend on the evidence level. Concentration is vial size divided by the bacteriostatic water you add. Draw volume is your target amount divided by that concentration. Units are draw volume times 100, because a U-100 syringe reads 100 units per millilitre. Common vials for L-Carnitine: 5000 mg.
- Wipe the stoppers of both vials with an alcohol swab and let them dry.
- Draw the bacteriostatic water with a sterile syringe and inject it slowly down the inside wall of the peptide vial — never straight onto the powder.
- Swirl gently until the solution is clear. Do not shake; foaming and agitation damage peptides.
- Label the vial with the date and concentration, and refrigerate at 2–8 °C protected from light.
Worked example at the calculator defaults: 5000 mg + 25 mL of bacteriostatic water = 200 mg/mL, so on a U-100 insulin syringe 1 unit = 2 mg of L-Carnitine. Change either input and the calculator redoes this for you.
Storage and stability
Supplies math
Whatever amounts your research uses, the planning arithmetic is the same. The calculator runs all of this per compound.
Subcutaneous technique and practical notes
General best practice from clinical injection guidance — the same fundamentals nurses are taught, none of it specific to any compound.
Reported effects
- The approved label reports gastrointestinal effects and a characteristic body odour at higher amounts.
- The evidence base is for carnitine deficiency; extrapolating it to non-deficient use is not supported by those trials.
Sourcing L-Carnitine
Whatever you are working with, the documentation matters more than the price. Ask for a batch certificate of analysis whose lot number matches the vial you actually receive — a COA for a different batch tells you nothing about yours.
L-Carnitine at Summit Research Supply → Grade a COA first
Summit is the supplier we feature and an affiliate link. Our COA checklist applies the same way to any vendor.
