A zinc problem

[fiftyone]

My zinc is well below the lowest measure. My hair is falling out/thinning. My doc thinks I'm suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome......My zinc test result is marked 'NORMAL' - no concern whatever from medical profession. What is going on??? I clearly don't absorb zinc through my stomach. Why is no medic bothered?

[Obsdian]

Could you please post the test result and range to help others respond.

[fiftyone in reply to Obsdian]

why can't people respond to the information I have given???? ridiculous.

[Obsdian in reply to fiftyone]

They can, but you will find on this forum people like to base their replies on seeing the results.

[Buddy195 Administrator in reply to Obsdian]

Obsdian reply is sensible, as ranges can vary considerably between laboratories. What is ‘within range’ may not be the same as ‘optimal’, hence is good to share actual figures’. fiftyone please remember to be considerate of all members and replies, as per forum guidelines.

[Regenallotment Ambassador in reply to fiftyone]

Hey there, we are all friends here, it’s really helpful to have blood test results and ranges and common to ask for more info before helping. Please try and keep it friendly.

[fiftyone in reply to Regenallotment]

I have given result. Any responses based on what I've given will be very welcome.

[Tina_Maria in reply to fiftyone]

Well, the reason people would like to see the results is that 'well below the range' is not that exact and could mean different things to different people, so it is difficult to comment.

Each range has a confidence interval of 95%, so some people would naturally fall below or above the range (2.5% to be precise). So if your result would fall within those 2.5%, this might be why your GP was not too concerned. But well below the range for you could be 5% or 10% or even more below the range, and that could perhaps account for your hair loss. So depending on where your exact zinc levels are, it may contribute to your hair loss, but other nutrients such as iron, B-vitamins and Vitamin D are also important for hair growth, so zinc alone may not be the only culprit.

And people asking for a result are not trying to be difficult, they want to genuinely help other people and therefore would need the exact information to make an informed comment - so calling them ridiculous is very rude and uncalled for.

[fiftyone in reply to Tina_Maria]

You have kindly commented and given me information, so thank you.

[Regenallotment Ambassador]

hey my zinc was below range too but it wasn’t related to hair loss. I supplemented for 3 months and it only just sneaked into the bottom of the range.

GP clueless.

I have had lots of stomach related issues. Raising my FT3 seemed to resolve most digestive issues (until I had too much 🤣 and went the other way)

Hair falling out was low ferritin for me.

I have a zinc glycinate supplements daily now.

[humanbean]

Zinc and copper have a see-saw relationship. When one goes up the other goes down. So, with very low zinc I suspect your copper levels will be over the range.

People with hypothyroidism are almost always found to have low zinc and high copper when tested, although I have no idea why. I had zinc and copper tested once some years ago and I had low in range zinc and over the range copper. I don't know whether this pattern affects people with any kind of thyroid disease or just those with underactive thyroid.

The symptoms of zinc deficiency :

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zinc_...

The symptoms of copper toxicity :

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coppe...

Perhaps you could investigate your diet and see what you can add to improve your zinc, and what you can remove to reduce your copper intake.

Info on Zinc :

ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Z...

ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Z...

lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/min...

Info on Copper :

ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/C...

ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/C...

lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/min...

I would suggest that you avoid any supplements containing copper.

And if you want to supplement zinc :

healthline.com/nutrition/be...

onedaymd.com/2021/03/types-...

[humanbean in reply to humanbean]

I forgot to include...

Info on hair loss :

discover.hubpages.com/healt...

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

[fiftyone in reply to humanbean]

thanks for all the info

[TiggerMe Ambassador]

My GP tested for it as I said my dentist had suggested it... when the results came back low she said she'd never tested it before and didn't have a clue! Put me onto Nutrition Health and they suggested eating Special K 🫤

I take Zinc Picolinate 22mg

Much fewer cold sores and mouth ulcers

[Ellie-Louise in reply to TiggerMe]

Do you know what is in it that helps by eating Special K? Did they say?

[helvella Administrator in reply to Ellie-Louise]

Listed ingredients:

INGREDIENTS: Rice (47%), wholewheat (37%), sugar, barley (5%), malted barley flour, salt, barley malt extract, niacin, iron, riboflavin, thiamin, vitamin B6, folic acid, vitamin D, vitamin B12.

kelloggs.co.uk/en_GB/produc...

Other products (e.g. variants of this and similar cereals from other manufacturers) could have significantly different nutritional qualities/quantities.

Special K (UK) nutritional info. screenshot

[TiggerMe Ambassador in reply to Ellie-Louise]

As it is fortified... though it doesn't contain any zinc and I had already explained to the nutritionist that I could tolerate barley 🤷‍♀️