Some supportive evidence that the supplements are working: Since I've been at this over two years now, I have noticed that using the same capsule too long is a mistake. Since my intake is so low, I could use the same capsule, probably forever(!), but it becomes less effective when I try this. When I noticed my bottle was past the expiration date, I got a new one and had new start up reactions (similar to the ones I had initially). Recently, even though my bottle wasn't expired, I went to a new bottle and again, got some start up symptoms.
Now my strategy is to only use a capsule once and throw the rest away. I think opening the capsule and exposing it to air decreases its effectiveness.
I do have a long history of using tiny specks of supplements with big effect. I was so chemically sensitive for a few years I couldn't go anywhere, so weak and fatigued it was torture to try to move a crayon across a page (coloring with my daughter), so food restricted I had just three or four safe foods. Any time I tried ANYTHING as a supplement, I got huge start up reactions. My point is that I have a very long history of monitoring cause and effect relationships in this illness.
Before I tried the supplements, I read a lot about other people's experiences. It really seemed, for most people, the supplements were too much to handle. So initially, I just wanted to avoid major problems when starting them. But as I saw very clear results (of both start up reactions and then improvement), I started to think very differently about HOW the supplements were helping. I still find it impossible to believe that I am supplementing enough to remedy a deficiency (at least in the conventional sense), so it must be something else.
While I do have a strong background in science and medicine, I don't pretend to fully understand this.... but I think back to other experiences with sudden, dramatic shifts in my condition. For example, in the midst of severe chemical sensitivity over YEARS, it would very suddenly disappear for a day or so when I had a bacterial infection like strep. I think it must have been a sudden, massive shift in my immune system. When I received chemotherapy for cancer, I had a very dramatic decrease in weakness/fatigue, also very sudden. Again, a shift in my immune system.
Finally, I would just say: what is there to lose with this approach? If it's too small to help anyone, then all that is lost is a month or so of time. IF taking the "normal" starting dose was clearly helping people with no problem, of course that would be the best approach, but when I scan the forums, I don't see much of this. Rich's admonition that sometimes the negative start-up symptoms can have "momentum" has stayed with me. Most of us are just too fragile to risk this.