GP and low zinc update

[TiggerMe]

Saw my GP today as a follow up to my low zinc blood result and the text message to self supplement...

So GP freely admitted that she had never tested for zinc and hadn't a clue what to suggest as she had zero experience... she asked why the test had been done and when I said the dentist had suggested it (though carried out by her surgery) she said well perhaps ask them as they can prescribe 🤷‍♀️

When I asked about the tie up with my low albumin she just said well at 36 (35-50) you are still within range!

In some ways I'm quite pleased that she actually admitted to not having a clue and thanked me for highlighting a gap in her knowledge.... I generally avoid this GP but since she has joined the menopause club she has vastly improved... less bull💩 more honesty 😁 which is so much more relatable

She was going to ask the dietician for guidance for us both!

[AKatieD]

Sounds refreshing. Did you know the right answers/ course of action before you went in

[TiggerMe Ambassador in reply to AKatieD]

Not really, I know that albumin is a carrier of zinc but whether I need to raise albumin (and how to do that) before I'll get any zinc uptake is vague, I found a few papers about hypoalbuminemia which seemed to involve burns or aids victims 😕

Question is am I low in zinc due to the lack of albumin to store it in?

I've started to add in some zinc citrate and ionic zinc but I'm a bit in the dark... hopefully the dietitian will have some pointers? I've been eating more eggs which don't really agree with me but low albumin sounds pretty dire too!

She didn't offer to test copper which is part of the balance with zinc

I think most people get adequate zinc from dairy but I'm intolerant

The papers only covered the uptake by rats 🐀

[radd in reply to TiggerMe]

Eeyore,

I didn’t know much about albumin and zinc, so after your previous post I had a good read.

If there’s no other underlying cause then albumin should raise as you replace deficient zinc levels, but I think you already knew that! 😁.

However, some research was showing interestingly that zinc can also influence another transporter called transferrin that carries iron. It stated increasing a zinc deficiency could be influential in allowing iron levels to raise, and also other nutrients.

[TiggerMe Ambassador in reply to radd]

Marvellous thanks Radd 🤗

I’d read about it but couldn’t then decide whether I needed to raise albumin to hold onto the zinc or the other way around 😵‍💫

I like the sound of it improving other nutrients that would be brilliant 😁

I have now stuck on two zinc patches and I'll take a zinc picolinate for good measure!

I shall also goggle zinc poisoning 🤣

[Sneedle in reply to radd]

Hello Radd,Do you have a link to the transferrin and zinc research?

Thank you!

[radd in reply to Sneedle]

Sneedle,

Yes, just realised I posted it on another post as this convo was jumping about from post to post 🙄. Let me search.

ps- its TiggerMe fault! 🤣

[radd in reply to radd]

 Sneedle

The effect of severe zinc deficiency on serum levels of albumin, transferrin, and prealbumin in man (no rats involved 😬)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/679...

This is the other post (if you are interested) healthunlocked.com/thyroidu...

[Sneedle in reply to radd]

Ah that's what was happening!

Naughty TiggerMe 😅

[TiggerMe Ambassador in reply to Sneedle]

Soz... my mind wanders 🙃🤗

radd often gets caught up in my ramblings 😆

[Sneedle in reply to TiggerMe]

It's great, a wandering mind, I've been reading loads about zinc and iron👍( if I read another 5000 times I might get to understanding and retaining🤪). Ah poor radd 🤣

[radd in reply to Sneedle]

🤣

[TiggerMe Ambassador in reply to Sneedle]

I can't help but load something up when it strikes me... regardless of which thread 🤭

[TiggerMe Ambassador in reply to Sneedle]

I like to exercise radd 's excellent memory and recall skills... use em or lose em... I've lost mine already 🙃

[TiggerMe Ambassador]

Looking at my notes I see I have now been referred to hospital dietetics

[Regenallotment Ambassador]

Good to see you have a referral, and that she accepts it’s beyond her skill set.

I wonder if the Zoe crowd can help, you must be starting that soon 🌱

[TiggerMe Ambassador in reply to Regenallotment]

Next month... no news yet... do you get the emails? latest release by them about food and pesticides... beware no organic oats and strawberries!

[Regenallotment Ambassador in reply to TiggerMe]

yes, was reading my way through 😳

Weirdly strawberries make my fingers ache, same for my Mum. Even home grown unsprayed 🤷🏽‍♀️

Definitely best to grow your own food if you can all these revelations are quite worrying 🌱

[TiggerMe Ambassador in reply to Regenallotment]

I can't do strawberries either but the bit about oats being sprayed with glyphosate just before harvest meaning they have exceptionally high levels of it makes you 😱 Organic Oats in my basket!

I shall pop round and harvest yours whilst you are not looking 🤗

[Regenallotment Ambassador in reply to TiggerMe]

I’m growing quinoa this year will do you a jar, no wonder people have so much trouble with grains. 🌱

[TiggerMe Ambassador in reply to Regenallotment]

Wow they look very eye catching, you are sweet but amaranth and quinoa are a no no for me 🤗I trialled all the gluten free flours and grains, even buckwheat is a bit dodgy for me 🤷‍♀️

[helvella]

Sigh...

How to be right and wrong at one and the same time.

"they [dentists] can prescribe"

Well, yes, but not everything can be prescribed by everyone who has legal prescribing powers.

It's not as if GPs don't know there are many things they cannot prescribe (or, as with T3, cannot initiate prescribing).

Below I offer a link to the British National Formulary's list. And I couldn't find any zinc supplements. Maybe I missed? Have a read and check.

NICE > BNF > Dental Practitioners’ Formulary

Dental Practitioners’ Formulary

bnf.nice.org.uk/dental-prac...

[TiggerMe Ambassador in reply to helvella]

I thought the same and did go and have a rummage yesterday... I couldn't find anything either, it's a bit like an optician giving a standard eye test saying your pressure is high but they can't treat you for it... just refer you

She wasn't inclined to see what the protocol was either for re-testing etc... perhaps I'll get another message once she is up to speed?

[Batty1]

PLoS One. 2021; 16(5): e0251554.

Published online 2021 May 11. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0251554

PMCID: PMC8112700

PMID: 33974681

Effect of zinc deficiency on chronic kidney disease progression and effect modification by hypoalbuminemia

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

[ Edited by admin to add some information so members have some idea what you have linked to. ]

[TiggerMe Ambassador in reply to Batty1]

WOW! Fascinating stuff... my mother died of (unexplained) kidney failure after 6 years of dialysis and a life time of undiagnosed hypothyroidism, she was also the carrier of the DIO2 gene...

So many things slot into place with this study! It is only really now looking back at my mothers life that I can clearly see what her issue was as I walk in her shoes! Brother (older) and sister (younger) both enroute with them both now treated... Sister by me and brother by a reluctant surgery (same one as my mother) and a disbelieving (in me) wife who thinks it is dementia though I have seen his bloods and he is a poor converter on Levo only with me chasing to get him seen by and Endo as I'm not being heard 🤬

Thank you so much for flagging this up... I'm going to study it properly over the weekend, my kidney function did improve with T3 but it could be a whole lot better! You have helped to put another big piece in the puzzle 🤗🤗🤗

There might be a run on hypo's asking for zinc tests (say the dentist sent you.. mouth ulcers) 😉

[Hidden in reply to TiggerMe]

Well done for fighting for your siblings Eeyore 🥹 xx

[Staffsgirl in reply to TiggerMe]

Oddly, and interestingly, I had asked my GP for zinc test a few weeks ago. He agreed. No result yet..it’s maybe lost! 😳

[TiggerMe Ambassador in reply to Staffsgirl]

Worth giving them a chase up... Mine was back within 24 hours so not a drawn out procedure... do you have online access? Sometimes the results show under patient record and others only show if you look at test results for some reason on mine 🤷‍♀️

[Staffsgirl in reply to TiggerMe]

Yes I’m on the case and going to blood centre at hospital tomorrow. (I don’t give up easily, me!)

[Batty1 in reply to Batty1]

Thanks to whoever added the extra info … I got side tracked!