Kitsune
Senior Member
- Messages
- 136
I have added both of these supplements to my routine lately and am not sure whether they are genuinely helping, or zapping my adrenals in a way I'll be sorry for. Does anyone have experience with these supplements? I'd like to add that I had my amalgam fillings removed about 8 years ago and did Andy Cutler's chelation protocol, so I don't believe there's any mercury in me that the ALA is pulling out. In fact I got on well with it as a supplement at the time, though when I have tried taking it since, it does seem to be a bit overstimulating. At the moment I'm only taking 100mg once a day, in the morning. It's making my heartbeat a little erratic and I also find I'm more irritable and bothered by things like loud noises, all of which are not good. But I also have more energy, which after years of CFS sluggishness is a big relief. I think the milk thistle is also helping in this respect.
What I've been pursuing for the past few months is the possibility that I have copper toxicity, as this matches quite a few of my symptoms, hence the liver support and sulphur-containing supplements (to boost production of copper-binding enzymes), plus zinc. I was led to this by inadvertently discovering that I am histamine intolerant, and upon trying to find out why, discovered that a copper/zinc imbalance can be one cause. I had a hair test recently, but it looks pretty inconclusive to me - I've only been on my new regime for about 6 weeks, so maybe it was too soon to have it done. What I do see, though, is a continuing pattern of high calcium and low magnesium, despite the fact that I have supplemented magnesium for years. (My sodium is also sky-high, so no more saltwater in the mornings for adrenal support.) I had been hoping to see high copper as an indication that it was coming out of my tissues, but no. I had a hair test done in 2008 that showed about the same relationship of zinc to copper - my zinc was fairly high then too, as it is now, though I had never supplemented it because every time I tried I felt bad (which I recently came to think might be an indication that it was releasing copper from storage). Maybe my body just isn't utilising it very well - or maybe hair tests just aren't particularly helpful or reliable.
Anyway, as has happened to me so many times before, I'm a bit unsure of how to go on. Judging by my symptoms, I'd like to stick with the things I'm taking, because my condition has improved in the past several months. However, I don't want to keep overstimulating my system. 100mg of ALA seems like such a low dose, and at the moment I'm taking 150mg of milk thistle twice daily. I was going to try skipping my second dose today, but felt kind of rough until I finally took it anyway. Should I carry on for a while and see if things calm down, or might I be heading for a crash if I don't look into adjusting things somehow?
What I've been pursuing for the past few months is the possibility that I have copper toxicity, as this matches quite a few of my symptoms, hence the liver support and sulphur-containing supplements (to boost production of copper-binding enzymes), plus zinc. I was led to this by inadvertently discovering that I am histamine intolerant, and upon trying to find out why, discovered that a copper/zinc imbalance can be one cause. I had a hair test recently, but it looks pretty inconclusive to me - I've only been on my new regime for about 6 weeks, so maybe it was too soon to have it done. What I do see, though, is a continuing pattern of high calcium and low magnesium, despite the fact that I have supplemented magnesium for years. (My sodium is also sky-high, so no more saltwater in the mornings for adrenal support.) I had been hoping to see high copper as an indication that it was coming out of my tissues, but no. I had a hair test done in 2008 that showed about the same relationship of zinc to copper - my zinc was fairly high then too, as it is now, though I had never supplemented it because every time I tried I felt bad (which I recently came to think might be an indication that it was releasing copper from storage). Maybe my body just isn't utilising it very well - or maybe hair tests just aren't particularly helpful or reliable.
Anyway, as has happened to me so many times before, I'm a bit unsure of how to go on. Judging by my symptoms, I'd like to stick with the things I'm taking, because my condition has improved in the past several months. However, I don't want to keep overstimulating my system. 100mg of ALA seems like such a low dose, and at the moment I'm taking 150mg of milk thistle twice daily. I was going to try skipping my second dose today, but felt kind of rough until I finally took it anyway. Should I carry on for a while and see if things calm down, or might I be heading for a crash if I don't look into adjusting things somehow?