selenium
 

Supposedly Selenium mitigates thyroid antibodies. Was reading that you should take 200 mcg a day. Can you take more? Whats a safe level?

OK, got your email, looks interesting...had to follow your pensive post with my cheeky one :p

ah, you've reduced to crappy, bummer! OK, I am way too focused on the new mood things....and I am now talking to my self :rolleyes:

I did notice my women's multi, which generally makes me feel better, has 20mcg of selenium in it. maybe it helps and maybe not?

Just in case I did 200 mcg selenium today. Still feel crappy :(

is this what you found about it Shelley?
http://jcem.endojournals.org/cgi/content/full/87/4/1687

and this about selenium dose/toxicity -
http://www.mja.com.au/public/issues/...ters_fm-3.html

wow, so i got some selenium supplements yesterday...that has to be the fowlest smelling thing i have ever attempted to eat. wow. way worse than fish oil. I got the jarrow brand 200mcg version.

has anyone else found something easier to take?

maybe i just need to get some brazil nuts.

whew.

well...
 

The suggested upper limit for selenium is 200 mcg per day.

Selenium with zinc are cofactors in thyroid hormone conversion to T3 in tissues.
So we really need it.

However, just recently I saw a paper, that stated high selenium intake is
associated with developing Type II diabetes!

http://www.news.cornell.edu/Chronicl..._diabetes.html

http://care.diabetesjournals.org/cgi...tract/30/4/829

So I am not sure where we should go with selenium supplements.
You could try just eating some selenium rich foods if you think you are a risk for diabetes.

Here is a good monograph:
http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocente...ium/index.html

There has been much research on the benefits and necessity for selenium,
that a compromise should be done I think. And I have read that modern Brazil nuts grown in poor soils, have lower amounts.

Selenium is also thought to sequester mercury---and this may be important for some people:
http://www.mercuryfacts.org/fSelenium.cfm

So the selenium question is complex.

Thanks for the info Mrsd.

While you were gone I had that bad thyroid taken out :eek: Yep gone.

Starting to feel better now post 5 weeks.

Need to rework some supplements to take this into account so selenium might just become a regular part of a multi for me.

did you have the whole thing out?
 

What dose are you on?

Over the years I have seen some people with adjustment issues.
One of the first signs that you are "in trouble" is severe constipation.

But then I have seen some do well. So I hope you continue to do so.
The cold weather will be a test of sorts, IMO.----ooopppsssss I don't think
you have "cold" weather? Just noticed Santa Monica.
One other sign is orange tinting of the skin...in hypothyroidism issues. If you
are not converting you cannot convert betacarotene to Vit A and it ends up in the skin,
esp the hands and soles of the feet. I had this sign for years, with "normal" blood work and a goiter.
When I was finally given Synthroid, all the orange disappeared. Hypo symptoms are sneaky, less
easy to spot than HYPER. So those are just some hints I have had myself!

Yep Mrsd...ya go on vacation and I snuck out that goiter. They said it was 3x normal size.

Removed the whole thing. My hashis was getting uncontrollable. 1/2 hypo and 1/2 hyper and the more i took the meds the more hyper i got. They called it Hashitoxicosis or thryotoxicosis. So I said get it out.

Its only been 5 weeks and right now I am on 100mcg levoxyl. But they said it could take up to 8 weeks for my own thryoid levels to get out of my body before the meds are responsible for how I am feeling.

Not this week but next I go for the blood work to see if the dose need to be adjusted.

No sever constipation yet but it has slowed down and BM more normal. I can tell that taking it out has helped the IBS (diarherra)I used to have.

Blood tests also showed low iron so they have me on a supplement from Jarrow called ironsorb. My saturation was only 10%. Feeling better from that too.

Last week I started to feel better like old times but then this weekend my hands and feet are very cold and burning/tingly. Might need a higher dose of the meds if I am going more hypo.

Now that I have taken care of that next is my blood sugar. Not diabetic but still overweight and have some some degree of insulin resistance. So time to get the diet back on track. And I need to get my cholesterol back down. Prior to the surgery I was doen 23lbs and lowered my cholesterol 100 points with diet. But it has now snuck back up there to the 260's. Bad me.

Thanks for your hints. I'll watch for the orange color. DOnt want anyone to think I am and an Illini and not a wolverine :D

I tried supplementing selenium last year after linking it with iodine and proper absorption and stuff.

Well, every time I took it, I ended up in the *grumpiest!!* mood. I kept thinking that there *had* to be gluten in it, even though the bottle says it doesn't.

I kept the bottle for six months to research it or hear that there had been a factory error...but nothing. Then just a couple of weeks ago, I saw an article that made me grab the bottle and look at it... Voila! It is derived from yeast.

I don't know if that's my answer but I do think that it might me. So now, I'm going to pick up another bottle that isn't yeast derived and try again.

Anyone know good forms?

there are several brands...
 

If you put "yeast free selenium" into Google...

Here is one example:
http://www.mothernature.com/shop/detail.cfm/sku/87697

I would take it every other day, given the new warnings on it regarding
diabetes type II. Until we learn more, that is.

Hello,

My wife is using selenium, and taking selenium supplements. I also know little about it.
It is a trace mineral that is essential to good health but required only in small amounts, Selenium is incorporated into proteins to make selenoproteins, which are important antioxidant enzymes. The antioxidant properties of selenoproteins help prevent cellular damage from free radicals. Free radicals are natural by-products of oxygen metabolism that may contribute to the development of chronic diseases such as cancer and heart disease. Other selenoproteins help regulate thyroid function and play a role in the immune system.
Dietary intake in these areas is less than 19 micrograms per day for men and less than 13 micrograms per day for women,


Thanks!!


kevinbrad

selenium toxicity issue
 

Before taking supplements you should have a blood test for the level you already have in your body. .1 ppm could mean the difference between OK and Toxic. I have learned that so much of our food already has more than enough selenium. You could already be toxic from that.
I learned all this from my herd of pigs which went Chronically Toxic with just eating their regular ration made by a big company. The added selenium was within FDA law, but the grains themselves were toxically high. Nobody regulates the natural selenium level in grains or any other food, only the Addition of selenium.
Grains that are grown in high selenium soils and shipped everywhere, you never know what state your grains are coming from. South Dakota and Nebraska just to mention two with very high selenium levels in soil.
You know the meat is high because of the animals eating the high selenium grains. Also, what about the cows milk and soy milk? Both are high in selenium. Have your kids tested.
Symptoms vary by individual, symptoms mimic many other diseases. Symptoms often don't look related. If you die of liver failure you won't have to worry about prostate cancer. Doctors are so clueless. If you run your body at "High Normal" level, you easily run the risk of becoming Chronically Toxic at any given moment.
Agitation and agressive behavior, excessive salivation, constipation or diahreah, central nervous system problems, liver or kidney problems, brittle hair and nails, reproductive problems, muscle weakness ( including uterine muscles), numbness, garlic breath, If you can think of it, selenium can cause it. The list of symptoms is too long for me to list here. You may only have one of the symptoms.

This is a very dangerous mineral. Get tested first.

more info:
 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selenium

I have read of accidental livestock poisonings by selenium, when an error was made in adding it to the feed. Because it is used in such small amounts, errors can occur at this step.
Just because the labels read correctly doesn't mean the feed was compounded according to the label.

I have seen errors in compounding TPN fluids for humans that were made the same way.

The association of selenium with type 2 diabetes is not hard science and is mostly conjecture. Various forms of selenium supplements are available including high-selenium yeast. 200 mcg should be your upper limit for a supplement. More info on the web under selenium research.

selenium toxicity
 

Diabetes is going to be the least of your problems if you die from liver failure from taking too much selenium.
Selenium has been pushed to the point that much of our food has enriched selenium. Then you take a supplement on top of that without knowing how much is already in your system? I feel like we are playing with fire. Once the damage is done, it is extremely hard to reverse it. In many cases it cannot be reversed.
The government recently made the selenium/prostate cancer study to stop because there was no benefit and a slight increase of risk in prostate cancer and diabetes in the test subjects taking the supplement.
Just because there was a study going on, every supplement company jumped on the band wagon saying there was benefit, when the study said no such thing. Then the South Dakota Wheat growers are trying to market their high selenium grains as a value added product. Gluten is known to be very high in selenium as well as anything processed concentrates protein, vitamins and minerals.
Think of all the foods from animals eating these high selenium grains, plus the added selenium in animal feeds, plus the grains we consume in breads, cereals, and high protein grains such as soybeans, canola, and flax seed.
We are at great risk. Chronic selenium toxicity will sneak up on you, you may not get the typical brittle nails and hair loss. You might get liver failure first, or you might get something else first.
My opinion is that many unexplained problems are a result of this bombardment of selenium on our systems, because it is well documented that selenium toxicity causes reproductive problems, seizures, muscle weakness, numbing and tingling of extremeties, liver and kidney ailments, erosion of bones, and the list goes on and on.
Good grief, why is it that the first thing that comes to someone's mind is deficiency? Because Doctors are just not testing for it. They have no idea if a person is deficient or toxic. They are just guessing. Many symptoms of deficiency and toxicity of selenium are the same.
Try this one on for size: They can't figure out why there is such an increase in autism. Does anyone know how much selenium and other minerals dairy cows are eating? Does anyone know how much selenium is in soy milk? Not all milk is equal, it all depends on what kind of soil the food is grown in.