CoQ10
A substance the body makes itself, taken most often for energy and tiredness.
- Energy and tiredness
- Statin muscle aches
- Fertility
- Migraine
- Blood sugar
A plain-English overview, not advice. Written from published reviews and trials and from what people say in public forums.
On this page
What is coQ10?
Coenzyme Q10 is a fat-soluble substance that every cell makes for itself, through a long and tightly controlled chain of steps inside the mitochondria. It sits in the machinery that turns food and oxygen into usable energy, and doubles as an antioxidant in cell membranes and in the particles that carry fats through the blood. The amount measured in tissue falls with age, and lower levels turn up in a range of long-term conditions. One review calls it the third most consumed dietary supplement.
Why do people take coQ10?
Energy and tiredness
The thinking. This is the reason most people reach for it, and the amount of it in tissue does fall with age, so the idea is that topping it up might make a difference on flat days. People who train buy it for much the same reason, hoping for easier sessions.
What research has found. A review of five trials in 474 adults found no clear difference in fatigue scores. Another, pooling fourteen exercise trials in 433 people, found markers of muscle damage and oxidative stress lower afterwards but no change in oxygen uptake; a small crossover trial found no difference in cycling capacity. Studies here point in different directions, so this one is still being worked out; the dose, how long people took it and who took part all seem to matter.
Statin muscle aches
The thinking. Aching, heavy or weak muscles are a common complaint among people on statins, and a common reason for giving the tablets up. A shortfall in the body’s own coenzyme Q10 can follow certain medicines, so the thinking is to put some back. One trial calls it the most popular answer to statin muscle pain among doctors and people alike.
What research has found. A pooled analysis of twelve trials in 575 adults found muscle pain, weakness, cramp and tiredness all lower on coenzyme Q10. Two other reviews, in 302 and 321 adults, found no clear difference in pain and no change in how many stayed on their statin; nor did a trial in adults whose pain was confirmed to come from it. A fair body of trials has looked at this, and most point the same way.
Fertility
The thinking. Ubiquinol in particular has become a standard purchase among couples trying for a baby, often on a fertility clinic’s suggestion and months before a cycle. Oxidative stress has been put forward as one of the mechanisms behind difficulty conceiving in women; in men the interest is in what a semen test shows.
What research has found. Five trials covering 449 women having fertility treatment were pooled: clinical pregnancies were about twice as common in the coenzyme Q10 groups, while live births and miscarriages showed no clear difference. In men, three trials found sperm concentration and movement higher, but pregnancy rates no different, and none recorded live births. The studies disagree, so this is unsettled: dose, duration and who took part all seem to shift the result.
Migraine
The thinking. People who get migraines often take coenzyme Q10 every day, between attacks, rather than reaching for it when one starts. The interest comes from the same mitochondrial angle: migraine has been described as running with raised inflammatory signals and markers of oxidative stress, and coenzyme Q10 is studied in both.
What research has found. One review pooled six trials in 371 adults taking it daily alongside their usual tablets. Attacks came out shorter and less frequent than in the comparison groups, while how severe they felt did not differ. A later trial paired it with another antioxidant and reported the two together, so its own group cannot be read apart. Results here go both ways, which usually means the dose, the length of a trial or the group taking part makes the difference.
Blood sugar
The thinking. Some adults with type 2 diabetes, and some women with polycystic ovary syndrome, take coenzyme Q10 alongside whatever else they are on. Insulin resistance is bound up with how well cells make energy, and oxidative stress runs high in these conditions, which is where the interest comes from.
What research has found. Three recent reviews pooled dozens of randomised trials, most in adults with type 2 diabetes. Fasting blood glucose came out modestly lower on coenzyme Q10 in all three, while glycated haemoglobin, insulin and insulin resistance moved less and not in every analysis. An eight-week trial in 86 women with polycystic ovary syndrome found fasting blood sugar and insulin resistance lower too. A reasonable number of trials have measured this, and most of them agree.
What does coQ10 do in the body?
Coenzyme Q10 is a working part rather than a fuel. It is the mobile link in the electron transport chain inside mitochondria - the assembly line that turns food and oxygen into the energy currency cells actually spend - carrying electrons from one step to the next. Every cell makes its own through a long, tightly controlled pathway, which is why it is not something people normally get from food.
Its second job is chemical housekeeping. In its reduced state it acts as a fat-soluble antioxidant inside cell membranes and in the particles that carry fats through the blood, and an enzyme in the membrane keeps turning it back into that state after use, which is why both ubiquinone and ubiquinol exist side by side in the body. It also has a hand in breaking down fats, in making building blocks of DNA, and in switching certain genes on and off, including some to do with inflammation.
What do people say about taking coQ10?
These are anecdotes people have shared, not evidence.
What people like
- Egg quality before trying to conceive is far and away the commonest reason given, usually on a clinic’s suggestion or after reading a popular book.
- Several women describe better egg or embryo numbers across successive cycles, and a few conceived while taking it, though most stop short of claiming cause.
- People taking it for long-term tiredness report small gains rather than transformations: a little more stamina on walks after four or five weeks.
- A few take it because statins are said to lower the body’s own supply; one described memory sharpening slowly, another felt nothing across fifteen years.
Common complaints
- Cost dominates: ubiquinol is called expensive, one poster reckoning several hundred pounds over two years and another giving it up on price alone.
- The commonest disappointment is simply nothing happening; several women saw no change in egg quality across one or two years of monitored cycles.
- Side effects hardly come up at all: nobody in the fertility threads reported one, which is unusual for a supplement discussion.
- Many say frankly that they cannot tell what the coenzyme Q10 did, having started several supplements or changed their diet at the same time.
How people take it
- Doses vary widely: fertility posters cluster at 100 mg to 300 mg daily, several take 600 mg or more, tiredness posters nearer 100 mg.
- Ubiquinol is the form most often recommended in the fertility threads as better absorbed, though a minority argue the cheaper form does the same job.
- Three months before a cycle is the timing repeated most often, and several carry on for a year or more before judging it.
- Almost nobody mentions food or time of day; it goes in alongside other things, typically a conception supplement, vitamin D and folic acid.
Read from these public discussions:
- Coq10 - to improve egg quality in over 35s (Mumsnet, 2023)
- Pregnancy or better egg quality results after taking CoQ10 (Mumsnet, 2021)
- CoQ 10 is it worth it?! (Mumsnet, 2024)
- Coenzyme q10 recommendations (Mumsnet, 2023)
- Statin and coenzyme Q10? (Patient community forum, 2016)
- Co Q10 supplement (Patient community forum, 2020)
What forms of coQ10 are there?
| Form | What’s different | Per serving, on products we list |
|---|---|---|
| Ubiquinone | Coenzyme Q10 in its oxidised state, the form supplements have traditionally been sold in. | 30 mg to 300 mg |
| Ubiquinol | Coenzyme Q10 in its reduced state, the one that acts as an antioxidant in membranes. | 100 mg |
What else is worth knowing about coQ10?
- Labels give the coenzyme Q10 per serving, and a serving may be more than one capsule; both forms are listed in milligrams, which is how we compare them.
- Side effects barely feature in this research. In one statin trial marginally more people on coenzyme Q10 reported muscle pain than on the dummy tablet.
- Doses in the trials ranged widely: 300 mg a day in one migraine trial, 600 mg in a statin trial, 1,200 mg in a small kidney trial.
- Almost all of this research was in adults already being seen for something, not in healthy people, and reviews note no agreement yet on dose or preparation.
If you take medication, are pregnant, or have a health condition, check with a pharmacist or GP first.
The research behind this page (21 studies)
- Effects of Coenzyme Q10 Supplementation on Depressive Symptoms and Fatigue: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. (2026, meta-analysis)
- Effects of coenzyme Q10 analogs on oxidative stress, muscle, and metabolism after exercise: A meta-analysis and systematic review. (2026, meta-analysis)
- Randomized crossover clinical trial of coenzyme Q10 and nicotinamide riboside in chronic kidney disease. (2023, randomised trial)
- Effect of Coenzyme Q10 on statin-associated myalgia and adherence to statin therapy: A systematic review and meta-analysis. (2020, meta-analysis)
- Effects of Coenzyme Q10 on Statin-Induced Myopathy: An Updated Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. (2018, meta-analysis)
- Effects of coenzyme Q10 on statin-induced myopathy: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. (2015, meta-analysis)
- A randomized trial of coenzyme Q10 in patients with confirmed statin myopathy. (2015, randomised trial)
- Does coenzyme Q 10 supplementation improve fertility outcomes in women undergoing assisted reproductive technology procedures? A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized-controlled trials. (2020, meta-analysis)
- Coenzyme Q10 and male infertility: a meta-analysis. (2013, meta-analysis)
- Coenzyme Q10 supplementation for prophylaxis in adult patients with migraine-a meta-analysis. (2021, meta-analysis)
- The synergistic effects of nano-curcumin and coenzyme Q10 supplementation in migraine prophylaxis: a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial. (2021, randomised trial)
- The effects of coenzyme Q10 supplementation on glycemic control in diabetic and non-diabetic individuals: a systematic review and meta-analysis. (2026, meta-analysis)
- Effects of Coenzyme Q10 Supplementation on Glycemic Control Biomarkers: An Umbrella Review of Meta-Analyses of Randomised Controlled Trials. (2026, meta-analysis)
- Effects of Coenzyme Q10 on Lipid, Glycemic, and Inflammatory Markers in Metabolic Disorders: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. (2026, meta-analysis)
- Hormonal and Metabolic Effects of Coenzyme Q10 and/or Vitamin E in Patients With Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. (2019, randomised trial)
- Coenzyme Q 10 Supplementation in Aging and Disease. (2018, review)
- Coenzyme Q10 supplementation: Efficacy, safety, and formulation challenges. (2020, review)
- Coenzyme Q 10 Supplementation for the Reduction of Oxidative Stress: Clinical Implications in the Treatment of Chronic Diseases. (2020, review)
- Disorders of Human Coenzyme Q10 Metabolism: An Overview. (2020, review)
- Genetic bases and clinical manifestations of coenzyme Q10 (CoQ 10) deficiency. (2015, review)
- Bioavailability of Coenzyme Q 10 : An Overview of the Absorption Process and Subsequent Metabolism. (2020, review)
How much does coQ10 cost?
That depends on the form and the pack, so we work out the price of the same dose of every coQ10 product we can find and rank them.