Hi there, apologies if this is posted in the wrong section of the forum.
I'm currently trying to deal with suspected low Copper levels.
I'd taken a 15mg Zinc supplement daily (without copper) for 3 years now (also 300mg Magnesium at night for sleep), mainly for hormone benefits. Around 6 months ago i was starting to notice zinc was increasing my fatigue (already had preexisting fatigue issues) and my skin resiliency/quality had gone down- my acne of many years had started scarring my skin very easily when it hadn't before. I'm talking small insignificant pimples were leaving pits in my skin (only large inflamed spots i picked at scarred before), I'd dealt with acne for over 15 years but the past 6 months been alarmed and depressed at the appearance of new scars from only mild/moderate acne.
I came across info that Copper is needed by the body to make collagen and elastin, it made sense to me Zinc lowered my Copper levels, hence lower Collagen and elastin and therefore an influx of new acne scarring because of weak skin structure.
I took a few blood tests with the following results:
Serum Copper 14.1 (range 11-22)
Ceruloplasmin 0.18 (range 0.15-0.30)
Serum Zinc 1000 (range 700-1200)
I also tested my Iron Status months before and it came back normal/slightly high.
The past month I've dropped the Zinc and have been taking 2mg Chelated Copper aday, also eating lambs liver once aweek (high in Copper) though I can't say I've noticed much difference with either fatigue or my skin.
I just wanted some opinions on my test results, am I low in Copper? Am i doing the right thing supplementing with Copper alone? I would of preferred to take a Zinc/Copper supplement (15:1 ratio) but I worry that will only drive Copper levels down further if they are indeed low. I wanted to retest but I can't afford the cost right now.
Would really appreciate some opinions.
Thanks.
I'm currently trying to deal with suspected low Copper levels.
I'd taken a 15mg Zinc supplement daily (without copper) for 3 years now (also 300mg Magnesium at night for sleep), mainly for hormone benefits. Around 6 months ago i was starting to notice zinc was increasing my fatigue (already had preexisting fatigue issues) and my skin resiliency/quality had gone down- my acne of many years had started scarring my skin very easily when it hadn't before. I'm talking small insignificant pimples were leaving pits in my skin (only large inflamed spots i picked at scarred before), I'd dealt with acne for over 15 years but the past 6 months been alarmed and depressed at the appearance of new scars from only mild/moderate acne.
I came across info that Copper is needed by the body to make collagen and elastin, it made sense to me Zinc lowered my Copper levels, hence lower Collagen and elastin and therefore an influx of new acne scarring because of weak skin structure.
I took a few blood tests with the following results:
Serum Copper 14.1 (range 11-22)
Ceruloplasmin 0.18 (range 0.15-0.30)
Serum Zinc 1000 (range 700-1200)
I also tested my Iron Status months before and it came back normal/slightly high.
The past month I've dropped the Zinc and have been taking 2mg Chelated Copper aday, also eating lambs liver once aweek (high in Copper) though I can't say I've noticed much difference with either fatigue or my skin.
I just wanted some opinions on my test results, am I low in Copper? Am i doing the right thing supplementing with Copper alone? I would of preferred to take a Zinc/Copper supplement (15:1 ratio) but I worry that will only drive Copper levels down further if they are indeed low. I wanted to retest but I can't afford the cost right now.
Would really appreciate some opinions.
Thanks.
Last edited: