Copper supplements

[guy123]

I have recently begun taking copper supplements (2mg day) to help treat shoulder tendonitis which I've had for 8 months now and is about 95% healed.

 

Has anyone here had any experience with copper supplements regarding tics? I read a few things online suggesting that it might make OCD worse so I'm keeping an eye out for that so to speak.

[LNN]

My son has been taking copper supplements for about a year and it hasn't caused any OCD issues. However, sometimes the copper makes him throw up - and since he usually takes several other pills at the same time - these are lost literally down the drain. He needs to take it on a very full stomach and morning seems to work better than dinner. Any thoughts on how to best minimize the nausea?

 

I'm interested in starting copper for my own hip and knee pain but worry about the nausea.

[smartyjones]

My son has been taking copper supplements for about a year and it hasn't caused any OCD issues. However, sometimes the copper makes him throw up - and since he usually takes several other pills at the same time - these are lost literally down the drain. He needs to take it on a very full stomach and morning seems to work better than dinner. Any thoughts on how to best minimize the nausea?

 

I'm interested in starting copper for my own hip and knee pain but worry about the nausea.

 

 

llm -- do you supplement copper and zinc for your son? is he deficient in both? i'm still tyring to figure out the whole zinc/copper scene. thanks.

[guy123]

I heard nausea can be a sign of copper toxicity. How much is he taking and how much does he weigh?

 

I take it after lunch.

 

Zinc on an empty stomach can make you sick. It's all over the first page of Google results, too:

 

 

edit - We can't post images here? Ok, click this instead: http://i.imgur.com/nHvsH.gif

Edited June 22, 2012 by guy123

[LNN]

My son is on zinc/B6 supplements for pyroluria - a genetic condition. He and I will take this stuff for life because our bodies excrete too much zinc/b6 before it has a chance to utilize it. So we have to "over-supplement" in order to maintain an adequate level. But in supplementing zinc, you can chelate copper and end up deficient in both. Blood tests confirm DS's copper deficiency. I was supplementing 3 days a week with copper (2mg) and he tolerated this just fine. But when he remained low on blood tests, his LLMD recommended supplementing copper every day. That's when he started having nausea and throws up within minutes, even if on a full stomach. Neither of us has a problem with the zinc causing upset (but then, we take it with meals).

 

I'll try moving the copper to noontime. Thanks!

 

smarty- if you want to hash thru the whole zinc/copper thing, PM me.

[guy123]

What's the proper ratio to take zinc/copper in? I heard 10/1. So for example if you take 50mg of zinc you should take 5mg of copper.

 

That's just an example. I know 50mg is a common dose of Zinc pills but 5mg of copper sounds like a lot to me. I've been taking a single 2mg pill each day.

Edited June 23, 2012 by guy123

[LNN]

I came across ratios of between 12:1 and 15:1 of zinc:copper. But it's a hard thing to measure. Vitamin C is a copper chelator, so if you supplement with C, you could be losing copper faster than zinc regardless of the amounts you put into the body. You also have to consider dietary sources. In my case, a genetic tendency to excrete zinc (pyroluria) means I assume some portion of the zinc that goes in comes right back out without being used. So you could argue that you'd need to supplement at an even higher ratio.

 

You can periodically measure both with a blood test, but blood tests don't accurately reflect the mineral levels within a cell, only what's in the plasma outside the cell. So we use the blood tests as a rough guide but end up supplementing based on symptoms (e.g. when DS throws up after taking copper, I skip for a few days, if he takes it without issue, we stay on schedule). It's far from perfect no matter how you approach it.

 

But I'd say that if you've been supplementing copper for some time, you should also make sure you're getting adequate zinc. You may want to google "copper personality" to look for signs of high copper effects on mood and behavior.

Edited June 24, 2012 by LLM

[guy123]

I came across ratios of between 12:1 and 15:1 of zinc:copper. But it's a hard thing to measure. Vitamin C is a copper chelator, so if you supplement with C, you could be losing copper faster than zinc regardless of the amounts you put into the body. You also have to consider dietary sources. In my case, a genetic tendency to excrete zinc (pyroluria) means I assume some portion of the zinc that goes in comes right back out without being used. So you could argue that you'd need to supplement at an even higher ratio.

 

You can periodically measure both with a blood test, but blood tests don't accurately reflect the mineral levels within a cell, only what's in the plasma outside the cell. So we use the blood tests as a rough guide but end up supplementing based on symptoms (e.g. when DS throws up after taking copper, I skip for a few days, if he takes it without issue, we stay on schedule). It's far from perfect no matter how you approach it.

 

But I'd say that if you've been supplementing copper for some time, you should also make sure you're getting adequate zinc. You may want to google "copper personality" to look for signs of high copper effects on mood and behavior.

 

I've only been taking it for 10 days.

 

I've taken zinc and vitamin C in the past and never taken copper before so maybe my levels were a little low and that contributed to me getting tendonitis twice in the last year (after never having it in my life despite lifting weights for the last 12 years). Who knows.

 

I don't think I have that "copper personality," though. I think I will keep taking it until my shoulder tendonitis is gone and then only occasionally supplement with it.