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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
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Posted by linkadge on November 1, 2006, at 13:01:33
I started taking selenium 50mg, and have noticed increase in heart palpitions, anxiety, and feelings of panic. Anyone else have similar reactions, or know if this is possable?
Thanks
Linkadge
Posted by kiwiredbeach on November 1, 2006, at 16:25:45
In reply to Bad reaction to selenium, anyone else?, posted by linkadge on November 1, 2006, at 13:01:33
> I started taking selenium 50mg, and have noticed increase in heart palpitions, anxiety, and feelings of panic. Anyone else have similar reactions, or know if this is possable?
>
> Thanks
>
> LinkadgeAs you know linkadge one mans cure is another mans poison...maybee the dose was too high and do you have any grounds for believing your selenium deficent
Sorry your feeling this way get better soon
Kiwi
Posted by teejay on November 1, 2006, at 18:32:28
In reply to Bad reaction to selenium, anyone else?, posted by linkadge on November 1, 2006, at 13:01:33
Selenium is a pretty benign substance linkage. I've never had such a reaction and at one time did 200mcg for months. Never heard of such reactions from anyone else either.
I'd suggest you discontinue and try it again a couple of times to confirm its definitely the selenium thats causing you the problem.
TJ
Posted by linkadge on November 1, 2006, at 20:34:57
In reply to Re: Bad reaction to selenium, anyone else?, posted by teejay on November 1, 2006, at 18:32:28
Sounds like a good idea. It can effect the thyroid though can it not?
Linkadge
Posted by Optimist on November 3, 2006, at 11:04:53
In reply to Re: Bad reaction to selenium, anyone else?, posted by linkadge on November 1, 2006, at 20:34:57
I've had the same reaction. Increase in anxiety, possible hypoglycemia... very uncomfortable. My understanding is that it may be causing a slight hyperthyroid reaction if anything although I may be wrong. I already have a very fast metabolism so it is plausible.
So no you're not crazy for thinking selenium is causing this. :)
Posted by tealady on November 4, 2006, at 2:45:16
In reply to Re: Bad reaction to selenium, anyone else?, posted by linkadge on November 1, 2006, at 20:34:57
> Sounds like a good idea. It can effect the thyroid though can it not?
>
> Linkadgeyes .. increases T4 to T3 conversion,, and gives reactions like you had if T3 too high Link, but for that you'd need 2 things
1. already tend towards a little hyperthyroid(too high T3) AND
2. need the selenium (as it made a huge diff, and it shouldnt if you have enough at 50mcg anyway)Did you get a metallic taste in mouth.. that happened to my Mum at 25mcg and her blood selnenium was over range before supplementing?
It's high in soil where we live, but not where you live.
You can have selenium blood tests for confirmation but everyone I've heard of who if already high in selenium seems to complain about a metallic taste in mouth straight after taking it..even at low levels.
I get that taste a little after 50mcg for a few weeks I think from memory...and my blood selenium was also over range but not as high as my Mums..without supplementing.
If you tend to a normal T3 and lowish in normal range T4.. or slightly lower T4 in range than T3 in its range then increasing the conversion will also probably create more fatigue and perhaps hypoglycemic symptoms(just my thoughts and observations).. expect this usually with low adrenal function ie low cortisol (not something I think you said you had?) or even low B1, I suspect.Haven't the time or energy to research and see if any studies on this though.. just my observations, so take wih a grain of salt(also good for low adrenal function;-)
Posted by linkadge on November 4, 2006, at 10:46:35
In reply to Re: Bad reaction to selenium, anyone else? » linkadge, posted by tealady on November 4, 2006, at 2:45:16
I may have had a metalic taste. What I noticed was what seemed like noradrenergic excess. It felt a little like noradenergic antidepressants.
Some depersonalizaton, heart palps, anxiety, stimulated feeling, not usually like myself.
Linkadge
Posted by tealady on November 4, 2006, at 15:43:43
In reply to Re: Bad reaction to selenium, anyone else? » linkadge, posted by tealady on November 4, 2006, at 2:45:16
Better forget my last post Link as I wrote it late last night and I'm not thinking clearly at present.. all I can say is it does increase T4 to T3 conversion probably; all the rest is just too complicated to say, especially without any blood tests.. and its not something that has been researched much either(if at all in humans).
I'd just guess you may have been low in selenium , so taking a little may have increased your conversion rate enough for your body to notice the higher FT3 that its receptors are not a yet used to(no matter what your actual level of FT3/T3)?.. but its all a guess as this stuff has so many factors involved.. including that pdrugs alter it and even post pdrugs .
Best to ask doc for a blood selenium test if you really want to know if you are high in selenium or low ? Selenium has a long half life though.Your reaction is unusual though, so the positive in this is, it tells you something.. what exactly is the difficult thing to say!
Posted by tealady on November 4, 2006, at 16:29:38
In reply to Re: Bad reaction to selenium, anyone else?, posted by linkadge on November 4, 2006, at 10:46:35
If it was me I'd try a lower level;.. maybe 1/4 of a 50mcg tablet(or better still start with one brazil nut a day and work up, say, to 4 a day). just on the concept that if it is affecting you that it is probably something that you were low on.. but watch out for fatigue and metallic taste in mouth(typical excess selenium signs).. or better yet stay off it for a month or so and get a blood test for selenium?
I take brazil nuts as I always prefer a more balanced way of supplementing.. it doesnt matter to me that the precise amount of selenium is variable in brazil nuts depending on where they are grown.. I'm just getting some and thats close enough for me. If I feel like a few more sometimes,or dont feel like them at all, maybe my body is telling me something.Sorry my brain is not working well lately.
It may be noradrenaline related as you say as its all linked in together, maybe tyrosine is shunted to noradrenaline instead of thryoid hormones if FT3 is higher?.. sorry just guessing, no idea really.
Its interesting that you found these were highish noradrenaline symptoms though.
Those symptoms are reported by many on the hypothryoid forum taking thyroid meds though..
so maybe their noradrenaline is increased too. I got the heart palps when I first started on thyroid hormones(heart muscle is suspectible to T3(in studies somewhere from mmeory), or at least to an increase in T3 above what its unused to I suspect as mine stabilised after a few months and seemed to beat better than ever)
and I had depersonalisation for years too.. that one is common in those trying to get stabilize on thryoid meds.. maybe it is noradenaline related? .. or maybe lowish FT4?.. I don't think its known? .. ( both or a combo are a possibility for you I'd guess if selenium is converting to more T4 to T3)
No idea again really, sorry. It's just too complicated; especially without any blood tests. Pity we dont have access to reliable blood tests when needed easily, like diabetics have with glucose levels in blood :-).. but even then it's probably too complicated. Not really much understood on all of this I think.. let alone studied.
The medical field is maybe beginning to wake up to the adrenal/thyroid link a bit more maybe..
http://tealady.blog.co.uk/2006/11/02/reversible_subclinical_hypothyroidism~1286794
Not related to you ....just to show some of the interplay.
It's beyond me , but it sure does at least point to where you may have a problem?
Posted by kiwiredbeach on November 7, 2006, at 3:28:28
In reply to Re: Bad reaction to selenium, anyone else? » linkadge, posted by tealady on November 4, 2006, at 16:29:38
Linkadge
Im sure do not know as much as some people here, but It would be good if you could have a test for selenium. Since you have had a bad reaction it makes me think maybe your low. Due to my own experinces with magnesium (4 different test showed im low) I found that the RDA amount played havoc with me and threw my addrenal system into reverse. I suspect that your body chemistry becomes atuned to a mineral defficency and when you suddenly give it heaps or even rda is causes havoc. Why dont you build up your selenium levels very slowly to give your body chemistry a chance to adjust to it.
Posted by kiwiredbeach on November 7, 2006, at 4:30:16
In reply to Bad reaction to selenium, anyone else?, posted by linkadge on November 1, 2006, at 13:01:33
Loops thought you might find this interesting
Last Updated: 07/01/96
Selenium has shown mpressive cancer-prevention prowess in rats and other critters.
But the formerly obscure mineral may also be crucial for proper brain function. Although researchers haven't yet figured out its exact role, it appears selenium helps us maintain a happy, healthy mood.
A clue comes from a study in which 12 men, holed up in a research facility for four months, were fed either a high- or low-selenium diet. Those on the reduced-selenium regimen--and whose initial selenium levels were low--were more prone to depression and hostility, report biochemist Wayne Chris Hawkes, Ph.D., and clinical psychologist Linda Hornbostel, Ph.D., in Biological Psychiatry (Vol. 39, No. 1).
Though the findings fit together nicely with a British study in which selenium supplements boosted subjects' mood, it's unlikely that selenium deficiency is responsible for much depression in the U.S., says Hawkes, a researcher at the USDA Agricultural Research Service. How much of the mineral you get depends less on what you eat than where that food comes from. If your fruits, veggies, and livestock are raised in selenium-poor soil, you may be at risk for deficiency. But selenium levels are adequate in most U.S. farmland.
Not so, however, in New Zealand and parts of China, according to Hawkes. (In the USDA study, in fact, the low-selenium group was fed New Zealand beef.) In such countries, dietary selenium levels could be insufficient for optimal mood maintenance.
Selenium's importance is underscored by the fact that when the body's stock is being depleted, the brain is the last organ to give up its supply But scientists still have little idea what the brain is doing with its stash, or why low levels would alter mood.
Posted by sregan on November 7, 2006, at 21:39:10
In reply to Bad reaction to selenium, anyone else?, posted by linkadge on November 1, 2006, at 13:01:33
> I started taking selenium 50mg, and have noticed increase in heart palpitions, anxiety, and feelings of panic. Anyone else have similar reactions, or know if this is possable?
I get that from Whey protein, 5HTP, Fish Oil and a somewhat different reaction including anxiety from DLPA and Tyrosine. I haven't touched selenium for a while though.
Posted by verne on November 8, 2006, at 14:51:03
In reply to Bad reaction to selenium, anyone else?, posted by linkadge on November 1, 2006, at 13:01:33
I get the same reaction. I can't take chromium either. I always get the shakes.
verne
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