Hi, My neurologist has recommended that I take a copper supplement.

Component Standard Range Your Value
Copper, 24H Ur 15 - 60 mcg/spec 14
Copper Conc 15 - 60 mcg/L 5

Doctor's Comment: Your copper level is low based upon this testing. I would advice you begin taking an oral copper supplement (typically over-the-counter and available at specialty stores such as GNC). I would take the recommended amount (depending upon the formulation you purchase) every day for at least 3 months. Then we can consider repeating the testing at some point down the line.

Thanks, Elaine

are you taking zinc supplements? It is not common to be low in copper. Most multivits have copper in them, and we get copper
thru our water pipes.

But if you take alot of zinc, it will deplete copper.

Low copper levels are found in MS patients.

more here:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/dru...ation/DR602273

There are quality ways to go other than the overpriced GNC...

http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART02871/copper.html

One of the cardinal signs of low copper is anemia. Do you have
anemia?

I don't take zinc supplements. I take a regular multivitamin and eat a complete range of foods.

I'm completely baffled by this, of course. I guess I need to supplement at 2mg per day. I just wondered if it made any difference which supplement?

Yes I am anemic and take iron twice a day, and have normal levels of iron. Without the supplement I become anemic again very quickly.

The anemia is idiopathic. I also have PN. I have NOT had bariatric surgery. I'm 71 years old. This is just odd. I do have hypogammaglobulinemia (CVID).

I had a spinal tap in 2010, and do not have MS. I am seeing a Duke Neurologist who ordered this 24 hour urine copper test.

I'm truly baffled by this. But I have no idea how serious the deficiency is. I can't find any web site that scales the levels of deficiency.

Elaine

Just get a quality brand. There are many and most are chelated.

This is an example of a quality one:
http://www.iherb.com/Solgar-Chelated...0&sr=null&ic=3

and
http://www.iherb.com/Thorne-Research...0&sr=null&ic=9

Look on your multivit label...for copper content.
Is your multivit a good brand?

So I started the copper supplement on Friday, and today I noticed that the tingling in my hands and face is gone. Maybe just for today? Maybe for longer.

I don't have the same neuropathy in my hands that I have in my legs, because it doesn't show up on an EMG. More like something else?

What I don't know. But it's gone for today. Staying tuned!

Hugs. Elaine

Your anemia might be from low copper....so keep on top of that
and you may have to change your iron intake based on testing.

You don't want to be taking alot of iron, if you no longer need it.

The MS forum here posts sometimes about low copper. You might want to read those posts too.
example:
http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/sh...ghlight=copper

Severe anemia reduces oxygen to the periphery of the body. Then that reduction in oxygen leads to the tingling etc.

I've been taking iron twice a day for 6 years and my ferritin and other numbers are all normal.

But I will make sure my ferritin is checked with my copper is checked again in three months.

I rather imagine that my anemia IS related to my low copper, MrsD.

Anemia made me very very tired. But then everything makes me very tired!

The two major symptoms of cooper deficiency are hematological and neurological.

Hematological problems can be reversed with copper supplement, but not Peripheral Neuropathy. Although progress can be halted with the supplementation.

Hugs, Elaine

I let my Neurologist know that I'm taking a PPI, although all of the information about PPIs and copper deficiency is on "alternative medicine sites".

He said he had heard about it, and suggested I take the PPI and the copper at different times.

I take the copper supplement in the morning and the PPI at night, so I was already taking them separately.

I'm still hoping for something to show up that is better! So far, I'm not sure.

Of course, I wouldn't notice the anemia getting better until there's another blood test.

Hugs, Elaine

Spacing them is not likely to change anything. One needs to understand how PPIs work. They have to be absorbed, and travel all around your body in the bloodstream, and revisit the stomach that way. Then (usually hours later than taken), they affect the proton pumps in the cells that release acid.

In fact YOUR drug is designed with coatings on the contents to NOT dissolve in the stomach at all. It doesn't really start to be absorbed until it hits the intestines with the bicarb that is present in the pancreatic fluids which dissolve the coating on the beads inside the capsules. You can open one and see the little beads.
I have heard that some OTC versions now have a little coated pellet instead of beads. But Prilosec has/had beads which are enteric coated.

http://www.pharminfotech.co.nz/manua...meprazole.html

When you take your Prilosec daily, you reach a steady state, eventually where the cells of the stomach are constantly being affected by yesterday's dosing from the blood stream. So it doesn't really matter WHEN you take your copper supplement, because your stomach is always low in acid 24/7 around the clock.
I have made this product many times for hospital patients or those in nursing homes who require tubal feedings.
(We compound Prilosec to a liquid by dissolving in bicarb first.
So it will pass thru feeding tubes, etc.)

This illustrates a typical doctor misconception. There are many of these often, involving misunderstanding how how drugs work, are formulated, and a misunderstanding of steady state dynamics in drug delivery, and drug metabolism in the liver (especially not understood by most doctors)

IF... and this is a big IF...you only took Prilosec now and then...you could avoid the low acid periods it causes, by a couple of days, and then take the copper. But for those taking every day...you will always be low in acid, which will affect the copper absorption. You might decide to drink a Coke with your copper, or have orange juice. That MIGHT help with copper absorption.
But copper supplementation is not common...so data is lacking on it.

Thanks MrsD. I was pretty sure the PPI worked all the time once you had it in your system, and time of day was totally immaterial for taking it or for avoiding its effects.

Yes, I think the doctor just didn't want to think 'hard' about the issue and probably knows better at some level, but really has a typical knee jerk medical response to say something, anything, and move along.

And of course copper deficiency is so rare, he hasn't encountered is often, if at all in his practice.

The other issue with PPIs and copper absorption is that it isn't addressed in the standard research literature, only by the alternative medical folks. That's not to say it isn't an issue. In fact, I rather imagine that it may well be. In fact it may be at the heart of my copper deficiency.

Copper deficiency is mostly found these days in the US in people who have had gastric bypass. It shows up about 10 years out. Perhaps just having MORE copper available with supplementation will allow more of it to be absorbed and solve my deficiency.

I'm rather between the rock and the hard place with the PPI intake as I have severe osteoarthritis and take Naproxen Sodium for pain, as well as Cymbalta. I cannot take RX pain meds due to negative reactions.

As always I appreciate your attention to this unusual issue.

I also have CVID, a Primary Immune Deficiency Disorder. In that "world" we call ourselves Zebras. Doctors learn to look for the most obvious answer. "If you hear hoofbeats, looks for horses, not zebras". But sometimes the hoofbeats ARE from zebras.

Hugs, Elaine