Levocarnitine: uses, dosing, side effects & brands
Levocarnitine is a carnitine analog sold in the U.S. under 3 brand and generic names, for deficiency diseases. Below: what the FDA label says, every product that contains it, what the pills look like, and its recall record.
Key facts
- Drug class
- Carnitine Analog
- Treats (across its forms)
- Deficiency Diseases
- Available as
- Injectable · Tablet · Solution
- Sold as
- 3 products — Levocarnitine, Carnitor and Carnitor Sf
- Prescription?
- Prescription only
- Generic available?
- Yes
- What the pharmacy pays
- about $0.15 per ml — not your price
How Carnitor is dosed
From the FDA label for Carnitor (application NDA018948). Other levocarnitine products — different forms, different strengths — are dosed differently. Follow the label for the one you were prescribed.
CARNITOR ® (levocarnitine) Tablets. Adults: The recommended oral dosage for adults is 990 mg two or three times a day using the 330 mg tablets, depending on clinical response. Infants and children: The recommended oral dosage for infants and children is between 50 and 100 mg/kg/day in divided doses, with a maximum of 3 g/day. Dosage should begin at 50 mg/kg/day. The exact dosage will depend on clinical response. Monitoring should include periodic blood chemistries, vital signs, plasma carnitine concentrations and overall clinical condition. CARNITOR ® (levocarnitine) Oral Solution and CARNITOR ® SF (levocarnitine) Sugar-Free Oral Solution. For oral use only. Not for parenteral use. Adults: The recommended dosage of levocarnitine is 1 to 3 g/day for a 50 kg subject, which is equivalent to 10 to 30 mL/day of CARNITOR ® (levocarnitine) Oral Solution or CARNITOR ® SF (levocarnitine) Sugar-Free Oral Solution. Higher doses should be administered only with caution and only where clinical and biochemical considerations make it seem likely that higher doses will be of benefit. Dosage should start at 1 g/day, (10 mL/day), and be increased slowly while assessing tolerance and therapeutic response. Monitoring should include periodic blood chemistries, vital signs, plasma carnitine concentrations, and overall clinical condition. Infants and children: The recommended dosage of levocarnitine…
Everything below is the FDA label for Carnitor (tablet). Levocarnitine is also sold as injectable and solution, and those are different medicines to take — follow the label for the one you were prescribed.
Carnitor side effects
The following adverse reactions associated with the use of oral formulations of levocarnitine were identified in clinical trials or postmarketing reports. Because these reactions were reported voluntarily from a population of uncertain size, it is not always possible to estimate their frequency, reliability, or to establish a causal relationship to drug exposure. Gastrointestinal Reactions: Various mild gastrointestinal complaints have been reported during the long-term administration of oral L- or D,L-carnitine; these include transient nausea and vomiting, abdominal cramps, and diarrhea. Gastrointestinal adverse reactions with CARNITOR ® (levocarnitine) Oral Solution or CARNITOR ® SF (levocarnitine) Sugar-Free Oral Solution dissolved in liquids might be avoided by a slow consumption of the solution or by a greater dilution. Decreasing the dosage often diminishes or eliminates drug-related patient body odor or gastrointestinal symptoms when present. Tolerance should be monitored very closely during the first week of administration, and after any dosage increases. Musculoskeletal Reactions : Mild myasthenia has been described only in uremic patients receiving D,L-carnitine. Neurologic Reactions : Seizures have been reported to occur in patients with or without pre-existing seizure activity receiving either oral or intravenous levocarnitine. In patients with pre-existing seizure…
Who shouldn’t take Carnitor
None known.
Carnitor drug interactions
Reports of INR increase with the use of warfarin have been observed. It is recommended that INR levels be monitored in patients on warfarin therapy after the initiation of treatment with levocarnitine or after dose adjustments.
Every levocarnitine product we track (3)
Same active ingredient — different manufacturer, form, price and FDA recall record. That last one is what our independent score measures.
| # | Drug | Rating | Type | Form | Generic? | Pharmacy pays | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 72/100 | Prescription | Injectable | Generic | $0 | View → | |
| 2 | Not yet rated | Prescription | Tablet | Generic | $0 | View → | |
| 3 | Not yet rated | Prescription | Solution | Generic | $0 | View → |
What levocarnitine pills look like
Imprint codes, colour and shape from the FDA’s labelling data. Match the imprint on your pill — or search any imprint.
| Imprint | Strength | Colour | Shape | Maker |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| N492 | 330 mg | white | round | — |
Levocarnitine recalls
From the FDA Enforcement database. A recall covers specific lots — not the drug as a whole.
How long levocarnitine keeps
No levocarnitine label we read sets a separate limit for after opening, but they do specify how it must be stored — and the stability behind any date assumes those conditions.
Does levocarnitine expire? The in-use limits and storage rules from its labelsLevocarnitine and breastfeeding
From LactMed, the US National Library of Medicine’s Drugs and Lactation Database — quoted, not rewritten.
Full LactMed record for levocarnitine: levels in milk, effects in breastfed infants, and the drugs it would consider insteadLevocarnitine and acetyl-l-carnitine (acetlycarnitine) are normal components of human milk that are required for fat metabolism. The body can use only levocarnitine; dextrocarnitine can be an antagonist of levocarnitine. Acetyl-l-carnitine, and propionyl-l-carnitine can be converted to levocarnitine by the body. The bioavailability of levocarnitine is less than 20%, but acetlycarnitine and propionlycarnitine may be higher. These substances have no specific lactation-related uses. Within the normal range of dietary intake, excretion of levocarnitine into breastmilk is relatively constant. Women with carnitine deficiency appear to secrete insufficient amounts of carnitine into their breastmilk for their breastfed infants, who may require levocarnitine supplementation. Preterm infants are often deficient in levocarnitine and require supplementation. No data exist on the safety and efficacy levocarnitine supplementation in nursing mothers or infants without carnitine deficiency. Levocarnitine and its derivatives are generally well tolerated in adults with occasional gastrointestinal upset and restlessness. A fishy odor to the breath, sweat and urine has been reported. Although data are very limited, poor bioavailability might limit absorption by the breastfed infant. It appears unlikely that maternal levocarnitine supplements during nursing would be harmful to the infant, but until more data are available, it is probably best to avoid levocarnitine supplementation unless a healthcare professional prescribes it.
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, record revised October 15, 2024. LactMed states its information is not a substitute for professional judgement.
What people report to the FDA about levocarnitine
The FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) collects reports from patients and clinicians. It holds 3,448 reports naming levocarnitine, and the FDA flagged 79% of those reports as serious. The effects reported most often — leaving out reports about overdose, misuse or the condition being treated, which dominate the raw list for common medicines:
- seizure307 reports
- vomiting223 reports
- diarrhoea215 reports
- fatigue171 reports
- pyrexia168 reports
- pneumonia163 reports
- nausea129 reports
- somnolence124 reports
Read these as a signal, not a rate. A report does not mean levocarnitine caused the effect — anyone can file one, and many describe people taking several medicines for several conditions. Crucially there is no denominator: FAERS does not record how many people took the drug, so these counts cannot be turned into “X% of patients” — a bigger number often just means a more widely used or more talked-about drug. Duplicates exist, and publicity drives reporting. For what is actually established, read the FDA label section above.
Source: openFDA drug/event (FAERS), retrieved August 25, 2026.
Related calculators
Frequently asked questions
What is Carnitor?
CARNITOR ® (levocarnitine) is a carrier molecule in the transport of long-chain fatty acids across the inner mitochondrial membrane.
What kind of drug is levocarnitine?
The FDA classifies levocarnitine as a carnitine analog. If you are checking whether it is safe to combine with something else, the class is what matters — two drugs from the same class usually should not be stacked.
Can you take levocarnitine with other medicines?
It depends on the medicine. We check it against the FDA labels rather than guessing: our interaction checker searches each drug's own label for the other and quotes what it says, naming the section it came from. Run levocarnitine against whatever else you take — and remember that a label not naming a drug is not the same as that combination being safe.
What brand names is levocarnitine sold under?
We track 3 levocarnitine-containing products in the U.S.: Levocarnitine, Carnitor and Carnitor Sf. They are the same active ingredient; they differ in form, manufacturer, price and FDA recall record.
What forms does levocarnitine come in?
Across the brands we track, levocarnitine is currently marketed as injectable, tablet and solution, per the FDA's National Drug Code Directory. Each form is dosed differently — follow the label for the exact product you were prescribed.
Is there a generic levocarnitine?
Yes. Our catalog lists 1 generic levocarnitine product alongside the brand versions. A generic has the same active ingredient and must meet the FDA's bioequivalence standard; it usually costs less. Ask your pharmacist which one your plan covers.
Has levocarnitine been recalled?
The FDA's Enforcement database lists 1 recall record whose product description mentions levocarnitine. The most recent: Levocarnitine Injection (Apr 16, 2026). A recall applies to specific lots, not to the drug as a whole — check the record for the affected lot numbers.
Cite this page
- APA
- pharmaranks. (2026, July 24). Levocarnitine: uses, dosing, side effects & brands. https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/levocarnitine
- MLA
- “Levocarnitine: uses, dosing, side effects & brands.” pharmaranks, 24 July 2026, https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/levocarnitine.
We summarise public FDA and NIH sources — for a clinical claim, cite the primary source we link to as well.
Sources: FDA openFDA drug label, National Drug Code Directory, and Enforcement (recall) database. This page reproduces public FDA data and is not medical advice. Dosing is set by your prescriber.
Read the full FDA label for levocarnitine on DailyMed (NIH) ↗.