Many factors may have been at play in your case. Generally, CoQ10 is especially difficult to absorb. The best quality is Kaneka, a Japanese company that leads worldwide ubiquinone and ubiquinol research. Prefer ubiquinol whenever possible. To improve ubiquinone (standard CoQ10) availability, some Kaneka brands even include D-Limonene, a natural compound found in orange peels that helps break down the CoQ10 particles for better absorption.
The recommendation by many researchers is to add Idebenone to a CoQ10 supplementation program to get the very best of both compounds.
As is well known, Idebenone, as an analog of CoQ10, can replace CoQ10 in the process of cellular energy production. Idebenone is also, like CoQ10, a powerful antioxidant. However, Idebenone is more water-soluble than CoQ10 and its cellular distribution and antioxidant structure also differ from those of CoQ10, making idebenone superior to CoQ10 in neutralizing some types of free free radicals, but inferior in fighting other types. In particular, idebnone is more effective than CoQ10 in protecting cells from the free radical damage resulting from reduced (abnormal) blood flow. In fact, some studies indicate idebenone is 30-100 times more effective than vitamin E or vinpocetine as a free radical quencher.
Furthermore, Idebenone protects under hypoxic conditions, a situation where CoQ10 may not be an adequate replacement. In addition, Idebenone (unlike CoQ10) has been shown to increase Nerve Growth Factor and enhance cholinergic activity, thus conferring Idebenone with cognitive enhancement abilities.
To continue, Idebenone is a potent anti-oxidant for protecting the very important mitochondria, by both surpressing free radical activity and protecting the unique mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). This is unique as mtDNA is only derived from our mother's genes.
Finally, when organs are "harvested" for transplant to another patient, it is often the case that Idebenone is used to protect it from damage.
It must be noted that most of the comparison between Idebenone and CoQ10 employed the standard Ubiquinone form of CoQ10, not Ubiquinol.
Most researchers suggest that a combined ingestion of both is superior to one regime only.
Considering that the daily recommendation for Idebenone lies between 45mg and 90mg for antioxidant and anti-aging benefits, I find Anabolic Innovations' Life Support and Cycle Support, both with 100mg Idebenone per day, excellent products for Idebenone supplementation. Not to mention some other co-factors in the products.
