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Selenium causing peipheral neuropathy?

First time posting here in the 'vitamin' area...

I want to find out, does anyone have experience with excessive selenium intake - oral, supplements - leaving them with exacerbated PN?

I've had a spreading, small fiber neuropathy for six months that has now just about incapacitated me. I've had and am having every test performed I can, seeing multiple neurologists and Pain docs, and, in a way so stupid it astounds me, have never brought up that I had been taking about 150-175mcg a day for a long time. Today I discovered that a symptom of selenium over -dosage is peripheral neuropathy. Anyone have any info on this?

Thanks...

try this informational source:

http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocente...ium/index.html

Quote:

Toxicity

Although selenium is required for health, like other nutrients, high doses of selenium can be toxic. Acute and fatal toxicities have occurred with accidental or suicidal ingestion of gram quantities of selenium. Clinically significant selenium toxicity was reported in 13 individuals after taking supplements that contained 27.3 milligrams (27,300 mcg) per tablet due to a manufacturing error. Chronic selenium toxicity (selenosis) may occur with smaller doses of selenium over long periods of time. The most frequently reported symptoms of selenosis are hair and nail brittleness and loss. Other symptoms may include gastrointestinal disturbances, skin rashes, a garlic breath odor, fatigue, irritability, and nervous system abnormalities. In an area of China with a high prevalence of selenosis, toxic effects occurred with increasing frequency when blood selenium concentrations reached a level corresponding to an intake of 850 mcg/day. The Food and Nutrition Board (FNB) of the Institute of Medicine recently set the tolerable upper intake level (UL) for selenium at 400 mcg/day in adults based on the prevention of hair and nail brittleness and loss and early signs of chronic selenium toxicity (15). The UL of 400 mcg/day for adults (see table below) includes selenium obtained from food, which averages about 100 mcg/day for adults in the U.S., as well as selenium from supplements. For more information on the data used to set the recent RDA and UL for selenium, see The New Recommendations for Dietary Antioxidants: A Response and Position Statement by the Linus Pauling Institute in the Spring/Summer 2000 issue of the Linus Pauling Institute newsletter.

The only negative thing I have seen recently is this:

Quote:

Only a few studies have examined whether selenium status influences risk for type 2 diabetes mellitus and results are conflicting. One study found that lower toenail selenium levels in men with type 2 diabetes than in non-diabetic men (47); in contrast, another study reported higher serum selenium levels in type 2 diabetics (48). A recent randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study in 1,202 men and women participating in the Nutritional Prevention of Cancer trial found that selenium supplementation (200 mcg/day; mean follow-up of 7.7 years) was linked to an increase in prevalence of type 2 diabetes (49).

from the same source material.

Given that diabetes is a major cause of PN.... the two might be linked for you.
Or not.... it is hard to say at this time.

Polyneropathy and selenium

Quote:

Originally Posted by dshue (Post 291454)

I have had a painful peripheral small fibre polyneuropathy for 13 years and I recently found out that my selenium levels are over 5 times greater than they should be. To my knowledge I do not take extra selenium in any supplement and I therefore do not know how this could be. I intend to ask my Neurologist and also whether it could be responsible for the symptoms. What sympyoms have you been having? Best wishes.

selenium and PN and other things it causes

The answer is yes yes yes! Look up animal studies on selenium toxicity. the dosage tolerance is different for each species (this is why there are no good animal models for research for humans) but the symptoms are the same for animals and humans. Symptoms can mimic about 100 different diseases.

interested readers

Here, may want to read this article:
http://members.tripod.com/~Prof_Anil.../POISO017.HTML

It has a copyright warning on it, so I won't quote it.
I found the references to beer as a source very interesting.

I have the same experience

Quote:

Originally Posted by dshue (Post 291454)

I had been taking selenuim 150mgs for several years, but I never connected my increasing inability to walk to the taking of it but it got so bad that when I was seen by a neuro.doctor I had no reflexes at all in my lower legs and I also had some hair loss, which the doctor said was also related to selenium,I have not taken any for about 6 months and I am very slowly getting better, I do the recommed excercises every day.
I hope this helps you and if you want the excersice regime please let me know

In some areas in Three Creek ranching district in Idaho .. the water has so much selenium in it .. it will kill a cow.

The US food and drug took all the old government regs off Vitamins long ago. I got caught when my E went from 12 to 20 units .. to 400. My blood vessels blew up like a balloon and I'm still not like I use to be.

Always take mental notes when you start any drug, vitamin or herb .. look for what changes for the better and what changes for the worser .. rest all of them one day a week. Don't take some more than for two months. Drugs .. check the Net for side effects and look for them. Don't trust no body. All that said .. "You take Life Flight .. we'll take herbs."

See if you can pull up the old recommended guidelines for supplements. To much copper, zinc and selenium lead to discomfort for sure. In Idaho .. there are thermal underground waters running around .. stuff gets dissolved into water at rates unheard of else where. We have springs that kill cows with selenium.

Garlic flushes heavy metals .. and perhaps selenium. Buy a head and peal and cut your cloves in half, chop them up small enough to swallow, do not chew, too strong, and swallow. This is a slow way to flush metals and toxins and completely revamp your Cardio-vascular system. The fastest known heart attack and blood system fixer is red chili pepper. I have taken my wife through four heart attacks out on the ranch, two occlusions and one thrombosis on chili pepper and it fixed her sleep apnea and small blood vessels that no one could find to start a I.V.