As I understand it, molybdenum (as Molybdenum cofactor aka MoCo) is
used but not used up by SUOX. I do think I've read people say that depending on diet they needed more molybdenum in order to deal with sulfites, and I trust those reports. Andrew Hall Cutler in
Hair Test Interpretation: Finding Hidden Toxicities (p 124) says that molybdenum absorption is reduced by increasing dietary sulfate levels, so perhaps this is part of the picture? If sulfates impair molybdenum absorption, that could explain why some people need to take more molybdenum when they eat sulfur-rich foods. I suspect it doesn't explain it entirely, but that's just a guess. Whatever the case may be, I no longer take these reports to mean that SUOX is using up molybdenum.
In any case, impaired molybdenum absorption from sulfates doesn't explain why my boron-molybdenum insomnia has persisted for years after stopping molybdenum. Why do I think this insomnia is the boron-molybdenum variety? Because by either reducing boron, or increasing copper (which chelates molybdenum), I can control the insomnia. To me, this implies that I'm not molybdenum deficient and am likely molybdenum toxic. And the only way I can think that I would have become molybdenum toxic is from taking a high dose of molybdenum for maybe two years.
This is all to say that it makes more sense to me that we have an SUOX or MoCo problem rather than a molybdenum problem. Perhaps we aren't producing enough MoCo, perhaps the issue is that we can't get enough MoCo to SUOX, or perhaps the issue is with getting SUOX to function in the first place. Since it seems to me that boron might be involved, that would suggest boron plays a role either in MoCo synthesis, molybdenum/MoCo transport, or SUOX function. In all of those scenarios I can imagine extra molybdenum helping to improve SUOX function that had been lagging, but if molybdenum deficiency wasn't actually the issue then we'd be slowly poisoning ourselves with molybdenum as well. I'm concerned this is what I've done to myself.
It's frustrating because I checked for molybdenum toxicity with hair mineral analyses and found nothing (Cutler claims it should be accurate). And I'm not sure how else to test for chronic molybdenum toxicity.