2 replies to this topic

[Mr Serendipity]

I have a love hate relationship with zinc picolinate. I love it because it's the only zinc I've used which gives me truly observable effects right away, which is with wound healing, especially the back of my throat, and rock hard erections. But my hate for it is the insomnia side effect. I have a lesser love hate relationship with vitamin D. Mainly because I megadosed it in the past, and got hypercalcemia side effects, the main side effect was feeling really sleepy. I'm pretty fat as well, so I thought, my body would have stores of vitamin d for a long time after my megadosing experiment. So I settled for 15mg zinc gluconate, and vitamin d and additional zinc from my multivitamin in my daily stack.

 

Well this past 6 months I've had a cough at night I can't get rid of, and major allergies. As well as wound healing issues on the back of my ear for a couple of years, which has just finally resolved with the use of fucidin and dermol. Also my sleep quality was really low, brain fog, and fatigue was bad.

 

I'm also a heavy snorer, and have mild sleep apnea, which I can mitigate with a mouthpiece, mouth tape, and wedge pillow. However this cough I had at night wouldn't go, even when I quit smoking, I'd always get it at night, preventing me from using my mouthpiece and mouth tape.

 

Starting 6 days ago, I ended up taking vitamin D again in high doses. This was decided because I started getting major indigestion at night as well, and in the past vitamin d cured my indigestion. The last 6 days my dosing in I.U. went something like this, 20k, 100k, 50k, 200k, 80k, 20k. Something along those lines. I actually had my first vitamin D test I was able to get from the doctors on Tuesday, after having taken 150k. I didn't know I was going to be able to get a test done before I started my experiment, so I'm still hoping it shows low so I can get prescription grade vitamin d.

 

Now my energy levels started getting better, and my major allergies started disappearing, but I still had a cough, and I started smoking again, and still needed cough suppressants to help me sleep. So these past 2 days I started taking 22mg zinc picolinate, and not only are my energy levels up, last night an hour of cardio was so much easier, but I was able to use my mouthpiece/mouth tape throughout the night for the first time because my cough had totally gone, no need to suppress it with medicine, and this was after me going back to smoking, and I smoked a lot yesterday.

 

Now I woke up this morning only after 5h 30m sleep, and I feel so refreshed, clear headed, and full of steady energy, no fatigue, I can't remember the last time I felt so fresh. Adding the zinc picolinate back in seems to have made a big difference.

 

So no more tickly cough at night, no more allergies, no more indigestion, and great quality sleep, energy levels, and clear head, only after 5h30m sleep, and only after 6 days of Vitamin D, and 2 days of Zinc Picolinate.

 

My hope is I can continue to take the 22mg zinc picolinate without getting insomnia, and 20k vitamin d a day until I get a high dose weekly prescription, and up my cardio to 2 hours. And I'll quit smoking again after this pack, which I'm sort of thankful I did start again, because it reminded me how powerful zinc picolinate effects me, even with factors like smoking.

 

Lastly I googled vitamin d and zinc and found this study in April 2022: 

 

Zinc and its role in vitamin D function (hyperlinked)

 

In vitro studies using human peritoneal macrophages have found that zinc induced the release of calcitriol (1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol). Zinc also acts as a cofactor for vitamin D functions, as the transcriptional activity of vitamin D-dependent genes relies on zinc to exert pleiotropic functions, including mineral ion regulation. Vitamin D could also induce zinc transporters to regulate zinc homeostasis. Together, zinc and vitamin D in adequate concentrations help maintain a healthy musculoskeletal system and beyond; however, deficiency in either of these nutrients can result in various disorders affecting almost all body systems. This brief article will focus on the role of zinc in vitamin D functions.

 

 

 

There's more details of their relationship if you click the link.

 

So here's me hoping I can switch to zinc picolinate permanently without getting insomnia. It's early days at the moment (6 days), but the difference in my health is insane.

 

And for anyone curious of what my stack was before adding vitamin d and zinc picolinate, to show I wasn't neglecting other areas before I started this experiment, I'll post it below now. Note: there were many things I took out a month ago before this current stack just incase they were causing my issues, such as boron, molebydeum, glycine, taurine, alpha gpc, sea kelp, ginseng, folic acid, b12, which I'll doubt I'll put back in, now I've discovered the vitamin d and zinc picolinate combo.

 

2 x Multivitamin

1 x Higher Nature Super Potency Fish Oil (500mg EPA / 250mg DHA)

1 x Borage Oil (1g)

1 x Zinc Gluconate (15mg)

1 x Vitamin C (1g) 

1 x Super K (K1 [1.5mg], K2 MK4 [1mg], K2 MK7 [0.1mg]) (to counteract vitamin d too much calcium in the blood)

1 x Triple Magnesium Complex

1 x Selenium (200mcg)

1 x Vitamin E (400 IU)

1 x Phosphatidylserine (300mg) 

1 x Ginger (300mg/5% gingerols)

1 x Caprylic Acid (Now Foods)

1 x VisualEyes

1 x Ginkgo Biloba

1 x Pycnogenol (40mg)

1 x Garlic Oil (Solgar)

 

 

[Gal220]

Along with vitamin K2, vitamin A is protective against getting too much vitamin D.

https://www.westonap...nd-d/#gsc.tab=0

 

Cod liver oil is the best way to get natural A and some omega3s at the same time.  Rosita or Virgin are both really good brands, with the liquid versions, you can taste if they are spoiled

 

 

5,000 IU a day is normal dose of D(Life Extension sells a D/K2 combo), normally you only need higher doses if sick from a Virus or you are trying to raise low vitamin D levels.

Make sure to take with D with a fatty meal for best absorption

 

FYI, not sure if legit, but something worth reading up on concerning zinc picolinate

https://twitter.com/...858803740037122

Edited by Gal220, 31 March 2024 - 01:53 AM.

[Mr Serendipity]

I want to quickly update here, that I am off zinc picolinate. I think initially it made me hypomanic when I wrote this post, and then continued to cause insomnia regardless of vitamin d intake.

 

I also got my vitamin d results back and they were on the high end of the range 112 nmol/L, range is 50-120.

 

I actually do think I was vitamin d deficient, but the prior megadosing to the blood test topped me up quickly. I’ve switched to a vitamin d / k2 supplement with 4000IU and 250mcg k2 mk7. I don’t fully trust the supplement as it’s the dry type of vitamin d, so I think I will end up adding back my oil vitamin d at one point in the future. Also don’t forget I was already taking the Super K complex.

 

I will say my wound healing in general is so much better. Whether that’s because of the zinc or vitamin d I’m not sure, though I lean toward the latter, as I’d been supplementing an extra 15mg of zinc gluconate on top of my multivitamin zinc prior to all this for absolutely ages, and to no effect on my wound healing. Either zinc gluconate didn’t work on me, or maybe it was, but my wound healing issues were due to a vitamin d deficiency and not zinc.

 

Regardless I’ve replaced my zinc with 3 ZMA before bed. I know people say it’s overpriced stuff, but I remember in the distant past it use to give me great sleep, and I can’t remember getting insomnia from it.

 

I’ve also gone back on some medication, trazodone 50mg. My sleep quality always seems better on it, and my mind is less hyper during the day. I’m hoping it will work better this time round now I’ve upped my vitamin d levels. Last time by week 2 or 3 I started forgetting words (expressive aphasia side effect).

 

The other thing that I’ve noticed is I suffer from bad acid reflux if I eat certain foods near to bed. So I’m making it a point to cut off eating by 6pm, and reduce certain foods.

 

Basically my plan of action is:

 

Stop smoking

Cardio exercise on the elliptical (with nose breathing only) 1-2 hours a day, 5 days a week

Lose weight (currently around 108-109kg, waist circumference 126cm)

No eating after 6pm

Use mouthpiece (and sometimes with mouth tape) for apnea & snoring

Use wedge pillow for apnea/snoring and acid reflux

 

The good things are my nighttime cough is better (and wound healing in general). But not completely gone until I quit smoking. Also my cardio is up to 1 hour each time I go, I noticed a lift in energy once I added vitamin d and this has made 1 hour my current regular exercise (as opposed to 30 minutes before), and I also don’t feel like crap after exercising like I did before.

 

The bad things are due to not quitting smoking, my cough is still there when sleeping, and I don’t keep the mouthpiece in throughout the night. Also trazodone might zap my motivation a little though I need more time to tell (only been 2 days). Also I haven’t exercised in 5 days.

 

Basically I feel on the precipice, but need a week to see how I get on, as my sleep quality has been a rollercoaster testing zinc picolinate.

 

Talking about picolinate, I have some notes here from a Reddit post I saved that might interest some of you:

 

 

“Reason why zinc picolinate increase energy and anxiety

 

It's the only form of zinc that has such a profound stimulating effect on me and many others. Almost like if you had few cups of coffee. Anxiety is mild, but energy boost is real and if I take it in the evening I will be awake all night. The possible mechanism behind this effect would be the fact that picolinic acid is Dopamine beta-monooxygenase (DBM) inhibitor. DBM normally converts dopamine to norepinephrine. You end up in higher dopamine state after DBM inhbition. I've seen many threads on reddit regarding this form of zinc and such reaction.

https://pubmed.ncbi....h.gov/15597398/

https://www.scienced...080179223500137”

 

 

 

Edited by Mr Serendipity, 07 April 2024 - 11:13 PM.