Evidence brief · Supplement
N-Acetylcysteine (NAC) for OCD / trichotillomania (adjunct)
Evidence grade B — As add-on
- Overall grade
- Grade B
- Last revised
- 1
- graded outcome
- 0
- references listed
Assembled by the app from other entries in this library. It adds no evidence of its own — follow the links to the entries it draws on.
1 at grade B — 1 graded row
What is known
Each outcome with its grade (how strong the evidence is, A to D), the size of the effect where the entry records one, and how often studies agree.
- OCD / trichotillomania (adjunct)Evidence grade B
As add-on
Smallmixed
What is uncertain
Read off the same rows as above. Nothing here is added that the entry does not itself record.
- Studies disagree: OCD / trichotillomania (adjunct) (mixed agreement).
The evidence in words
The verdict
For ocd / trichotillomania (adjunct), N-Acetylcysteine (NAC) earns evidence grade B (small effect, mixed consistency) — there is real evidence here. As add-on
How it might work
By replenishing cysteine, NAC raises glutathione and buffers oxidative stress. It also modulates glutamate signaling, the basis for its psychiatric research, and breaks disulfide bonds in mucus, thinning it.
How to use it
600–1,800 mg/day for general antioxidant/mucolytic use; psychiatric trials often used 2,400 mg/day. Clinical (poisoning) use is a hospital protocol.
Safety & cautions
Generally safe; GI upset is the main complaint, and its sulfur smell is off-putting. Theoretical additive effects with nitroglycerin and, at high doses, mild antiplatelet action.
Bottom line
A genuinely useful compound with real mechanisms: glutathione support, mucus-thinning, and modest psychiatric-adjunct evidence. 600–1,800 mg/day; the dramatic uses (overdose antidote) belong to medicine.
How it is used
As the entry records it, from the studies it summarises. Not a recommendation for you — doses that suit a trial population may not suit you.
- General
- 600–1,800 mg/day.
- Psychiatric (trials)
- ~2,400 mg/day under care.
Goes with
- N-Acetylcysteine (NAC)Read the full N-Acetylcysteine (NAC) monographEvidence grade B
Related reading
Entries that share this one's tags or conditions.
- N-Acetylcysteine (NAC) for Glutathione / oxidative markersEvidence grade B — Reliable biomarker effectEvidence grade B
- N-Acetylcysteine (NAC) for Mucus clearanceEvidence grade A — Established mucolyticEvidence grade A
- N-Acetylcysteine (NAC): dosage and how to take it600–1,800 mg/day.Evidence grade B
- N-Acetylcysteine (NAC): side effects, safety & interactionsGenerally safe; GI upset is the main complaint, and its sulfur smell is off-putting. Theoretical additive effects with nEvidence grade B
Sources
This entry lists no references of its own — it is assembled from the entries it links to, whose sources are on their pages.
Last revised . A grade is this entry's reading of the evidence, not medical advice.