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doing worse on zinc

Messages
24
everywhere i read zinc. zinc for testosterone. zinc for colds. zinc for mental health.

i have been on at least 2 doctors protocols where i took zinc. for one of them we tested blood levels before and after months of supplementation. my levels actually decreased after 50mg a day for months. so either the test is off or my body is doing something strange.

in all cases i feel worse on zinc. it's a very general worse. less productive. less energy. worse mentals.

can anyone propose a possible theories?

possible related: B9 makes me feel bad mentally.

i am not a reactive person when it comes to supps, food, or allergies. tried many. felt very little or nothing. but i have stopped taking zinc and B9 after many trials.

thx
 

Pyrrhus

Senior Member
Messages
4,172
Location
U.S., Earth
in all cases i feel worse on zinc.

Me too.

can anyone propose a possible theories?

The best theory that i have come up with is that the zinc accumulates inside macrophages and makes the macrophages more active. This includes the tissue-resident macrophages of the brain that are also known as "microglia".

But it's just a theory.

possible related: B9 makes me feel bad mentally.

See this related discussion of folate(B9):
https://forums.phoenixrising.me/threads/help-with-methyl-folate.85876/
 

SWAlexander

Senior Member
Messages
1,898
everywhere i read zinc. zinc for testosterone. zinc for colds. zinc for mental health.

i have been on at least 2 doctors protocols where i took zinc. for one of them we tested blood levels before and after months of supplementation. my levels actually decreased after 50mg a day for months. so either the test is off or my body is doing something strange.

in all cases i feel worse on zinc. it's a very general worse. less productive. less energy. worse mentals.

can anyone propose a possible theories?

possible related: B9 makes me feel bad mentally.

i am not a reactive person when it comes to supps, food, or allergies. tried many. felt very little or nothing. but i have stopped taking zinc and B9 after many trials.

thx

Maybe this could give you a hint:
7 Signs and Symptoms of Zinc Overdose
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/zinc-overdose-symptoms
 
Messages
24
i might be grasping at straws here...

possibly zinc is upsetting some other balance? depleting something else? iron?

I think at some point I read that some virus need zinc to replicate. but strange since every covid protocol i know of contains zinc and a zinc ionophore and this is supposed to slow replication at least for this virus.

well, i'll just add this to my bag of clues.

i've had at least 3 doctors (just remembered another) that put me on zinc or B9 that made me worse. a adrenal regiment (dr wilson?). dr walsh orthomolecular. and a brain trauma guy.

i personally don't think it's an overdose. certainly my blood levels didn't indicate this. and i have none of those symptoms listed. well, never been tested for copper deficiency.
 

godlovesatrier

Senior Member
Messages
2,545
Location
United Kingdom
I think my zinc brainfog thing is not really a thing. I was off oat bran attempting another experiment but sadly I need the oat bran to keep the worst of my ME at bay. My body seems to have gone backwards a bit now and I think it's partly due to the oat bran break. So I am now taking 5000mg beta glucans per day in two split doses and this is not keeping me awake like it normalyl does. Also the mild immune response is enough to make me brain fogged and sleepy.

So until this immune response ends (in prob another week or two) I can't really re-attempt the zinc.

A confounding factor too is that NAC chelates Iron (I am convinced that or r-ala is doing it) so I have currently removed r-ala to see whether my iron levels return to normal. If not then NAC is likely the issue.

If it's not one thing it's another!
 
Messages
24
speaking of confounding factors @godlovesatrier ...

one thing i've realized is that i have these unpredictable ups and downs. i suspect many have them here. if you are trying something new (drug, supp, etc) you have to account for this. what is attributed to the new treatment might only be this random cycle. I'm convinced that this has happened to me. makes it really difficult. however over time it should be clear what is going on if you have a journal and do many trials of the same thing. very unlikely zinc and a bad cycle sync up 6 times in a row.

i have tried to find the factors for these cycles but no luck. they seem to have little to do with diet, sleep, stress, or general life situation. i have been in very good places with my life on paper and felt bad.