Zinc

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jdmiller1
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Re: Zinc

Unread post by jdmiller1 »

It's been about 5 days since I stopped the 25mg/day of Picolinate and unfortunately I didn't get any kind of improvement.

I'm willing to try 50mg/day in hopes that the higher amount will result in a rebound effect and give me temporary recovery upon stopping.

I also have one question gatogordito, did any kind of anxiety/depression/whatever you took the SSRI for in the first place also come back when you stopped the Zinc?
gatogordito
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Re: Zinc

Unread post by gatogordito »

I was taking 50 mg for about three months, so you should definitely try the higher dose. Have you noticed any changes at all while taking it?

I initially took SSRI's for depression and social anxiety. The depression and anxiety isn't as bad as it used to be, but now I just feel mostly numb. After coming off the zinc picolinate, I didn't notice any depression returning, but the anhedonia lifted. So if anything it did the opposite. However, a couple weeks after stopping the picolinate I tried taking 30 mg of optizinc and had a negative reaction. Within a couple hours of taking the dose, I nearly had a panic attack (something I've only experienced a couple times before) and had bad depression for the rest of the day. I stopped taking it and felt fine the next day though.

Zinc gluconate is still effective for me, but I have to keep adjusting the dose. I'm starting to wonder if antidepressants can mess up zinc homeostasis in the brain.

I'm going to stop taking magnesium this week to see if it changes anything.
gatogordito
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Re: Zinc

Unread post by gatogordito »

I tried posting a reply last week, but it still hasn't been approved. If it was lost I can retype it.

I stopped taking magnesium for a few days. I don't know if it was coincidence, but I started getting really depressed a couple days after stopping. I decided to continue taking it, and the the depression subsided. Now that I think back, when I first quit taking zinc I wasn't taking magnesium at the time. The improvement wasn't that noticeable then, I was just a little less depressed and had improved morning wood. The second time I tried zinc, I started taking 400 mg of magnesium. After two weeks of taking the magnesium I stopped the zinc. That's when I had felt the 100% recovery. So maybe it's some combination of the two elements, not just zinc alone. I suggest you continue trying 50 mg of zinc, but adding 400 mg of magnesium as well.
jdmiller1
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Re: Zinc

Unread post by jdmiller1 »

Didn't see your reply until now.

While taking the 25mg/day, i didn't really notice any changes other than a transient reduction in PSSD severity. It wasn't consistent. Some days were better than others.

It is interesting to see that the Magnesium could have an effect on how well Zinc works. I could try it with some magnesium chelate and see if it makes a difference. For now I'll try to take the increased dose of 50mg for a couple of weeks and see what happens.

I also agree with the emotional numbness - emotions aren't quite at the level they were pre-SSRI, and this seems to directly coincide with PSSD.

Crossing my fingers for a better outcome on this 50mg/day dose.
gatogordito
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Re: Zinc

Unread post by gatogordito »

Sonny was right. I had blood work done recently and my total testosterone was 268 ng/dL. That is pretty low for a 29 year old, where the average is closer to 650. I asked for a copy of my results from a blood test I did five years ago, and it was only about 300. Now I'm mad I never asked for a copy then, and just took my doctor's word that everything looked fine. One of the symptoms of zinc deficiency is low testosterone (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8875519).

For the past six months I've been obsessing about finding the optimal dose of zinc, constantly changing the amount (usually doubling it or halving it) or type of zinc every few days. This only made things worse, as it can take one to two weeks for zinc homeostasis to be established (jn.nutrition.org/content/130/5/1360S.long). It took me way too long to realize this, but I'm finally on the right track and heading towards 100% recovery. I am now just taking 15 mg of zinc as Optizinc (Jarrow's Zinc Balance) and two weeks in I'm feeling a lot better. This is extremely promising, as it can take months for testosterone to return to normal levels.

Some of the issues besides PSSD I've experienced that have been improving:
Dry skin
Blurry vision
Poor sense of smell
Poor memory/brainfog
Anhedonia
Depression/Anxiety

So I would definitely recommend trying zinc if you haven't. Pick a reasonable dose (I'd say 15-30 mg) and just be patient.
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Ghost
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Re: Zinc

Unread post by Ghost »

gatogordito wrote:Sonny was right. I had blood work done recently and my total testosterone was 268 ng/dL. That is pretty low for a 29 year old, where the average is closer to 650. I asked for a copy of my results from a blood test I did five years ago, and it was only about 300. Now I'm mad I never asked for a copy then, and just took my doctor's word that everything looked fine. One of the symptoms of zinc deficiency is low testosterone (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8875519).

For the past six months I've been obsessing about finding the optimal dose of zinc, constantly changing the amount (usually doubling it or halving it) or type of zinc every few days. This only made things worse, as it can take one to two weeks for zinc homeostasis to be established (jn.nutrition.org/content/130/5/1360S.long). It took me way too long to realize this, but I'm finally on the right track and heading towards 100% recovery. I am now just taking 15 mg of zinc as Optizinc (Jarrow's Zinc Balance) and two weeks in I'm feeling a lot better. This is extremely promising, as it can take months for testosterone to return to normal levels.

Some of the issues besides PSSD I've experienced that have been improving:
Dry skin
Blurry vision
Poor sense of smell
Poor memory/brainfog
Anhedonia
Depression/Anxiety

So I would definitely recommend trying zinc if you haven't. Pick a reasonable dose (I'd say 15-30 mg) and just be patient.
Glad you are feeling better! It indeed can take months for testosterone to return, and for the downstream effects of it to come into play. Is this all you've done for testosterone? have you been tested after the zinc trial when you started to see improvements?
- Medical Student & Friendly poltergeist - Lexapro Sept '14. [Hx] [PSSD Lab] [r/PSSD] [Treatment Plan] - Add "Ghost" in replies so I see it :)
iull1k
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Re: Zinc

Unread post by iull1k »

Check your free testo, SHBG, LH , FSH and you will get a completly disbalanced hpta axis.
DoIt
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Re: Zinc

Unread post by DoIt »

Did you test your T again, did zinc help with that? What is the optimal dose for you and wich type of zinc?
gatogordito
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Re: Zinc

Unread post by gatogordito »

Ghost wrote:Glad you are feeling better! It indeed can take months for testosterone to return, and for the downstream effects of it to come into play. Is this all you've done for testosterone? have you been tested after the zinc trial when you started to see improvements?
Only other things I currently take are 400 mg of magnesium and 5000 IU of vitamin d. I have also been working out for the past few years, and the low testosterone explains why I haven't been making much progress.
I haven't been tested again. I think I will wait a couple months, as it's only been two weeks of taking one consistent dose every day.
DoIt wrote:Did you test your T again, did zinc help with that? What is the optimal dose for you and wich type of zinc?
I think 15 mg of zinc as Optizinc is optimal for me (http://www.jarrow.com/product/431/Zinc_Balance is what I'm currently taking). I initially started with 50 mg of zinc picolinate, and I felt it was too much. It made things worse, and when I stopped taking it I felt 100% better for awhile. I also felt 15-30 mg of zinc gluconate was effective, and if I didn't start constantly changing the amount I took I would probably be further along in recovery.
gatogordito
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Re: Zinc

Unread post by gatogordito »

Just thought I'd give an update. It's been two months now that I've been taking a consistent dose of zinc, and my PSSD is pretty much gone 90% of the time! Things are still constantly improving too. I don't know if it's because it's been so long (I've been dealing with this for almost seven years), but things are better than I remember. I'd forgotten how good it's supposed to feel! There is still a little anhedonia, but that seems to be going away too.

I'm still taking 15 mg, but I had to switch from Optizinc to zinc gluconate after a month. With Optizinc I noticed pretty rapid improvement, but during the fourth week I started getting headaches, nausea, anxiety and had trouble sleeping. It felt similar to when I was taking zinc picolinate last year, so I think I may have started to get too much zinc. My theory is that these chelates bypass the zinc transporter in the intestines, and instead are absorbed through a different pathway. As a result, they bypass one of the main regulatory mechanisms of zinc homeostasis. Once I switched to zinc gluconate, the problems went away. Three weeks after switching (seven weeks overall) things really started improving. Pretty excited to see where this goes.
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