As a pyrrole that has to take a large amount of Zinc on a daily basis one of the temporary side effects is Copper Detoxing or affectionately known as Copper Dumping!
There is nothing affectionate about this side effect. When the body is low in Zinc it then binds to copper leading you to have an excess.
Copper overload actually is behind the cause of many common health problems, including physical fatigue, mental racing, emotional highs and lows, anxiety, and reproductive problems. Most practitioners don’t know anything about it, which is unfortunate because this condition is quite common, especially among women. So I was extremely low in Zinc and very high in Copper. As I increased the zinc in myself and the rest of the family it caused a whole heap of issues. I can describe my symptoms I was anxious and emotional and would cry for no reason over any little thing.
There are ways you can support your body as you go through the detox of copper and these include Epsom Salt baths which assist the body to detox, take chlorophyll daily as this also binds the copper and assists it to leave the body
quicker and activated charcoal this has to be taken away from other supplements otherwise it will strip them from the body before they have been absorbed and I also love to use Zeolite to help remove toxins from the body in particular Zeoactive8.
As far as essential oils are concerned using Zendocrine or Cilantro are both great at helping the body to detox.
Symptoms of copper detox
Common symptoms when copper pours into the blood stream on its way out of the body can include headaches, and skin rashes such as acne, pimples and others. The rash can be anywhere on the body, though the most common
locations are the face, head, neck and trunk areas.
Other common symptoms are fatigue or its opposite, a kind of anxious, wound up feeling in which the mind can race and one has trouble sleeping, resting or even just slowing down. One may also feel nausea, impaired appetite, and possibly
some other digestive disturbances such as some Diarrhea, Constipation, Gas or Bloating. Some also have a flare-up of an infection, a cold or flu symptoms.
An interesting symptom in men is testicular pain and/or tenderness. It can come on suddenly and can be severe, so the man does not even want to sit down. Fortunately, it usually passes in a few hours or perhaps a day.
Younger women may experience changes in their menstrual cycle, or they may have more menstrual symptoms as copper is removed. Some women will have shorter cycles for a while, which will eventually even out again when the copper elimination is over. An interesting observation is that if a young woman’s menstrual period does not coincide with the full moon, as copper becomes more balanced, the period will often change over a few months and begin to coincide with the moon cycle.
Another possible symptom has to do with yeast or candida buildup in the body. This is associated with copper toxicity in many cases. As the copper is removed, usually the candida problem just goes away on its own without any other therapy. We are not that lucky as both my kids suffer from Candida if we try to introduce grain, starchy food or fructose.
If a lot of copper is eliminated quickly, it could cause a shift in candida symptoms, such as more gas and bloating, some brain fog or other physical or emotional symptoms associated with candida or other yeast infections.
Emotional and mental symptoms.
In some cases, emotional and mental changes are prominent because copper has to do with neurotransmitter secretion and is involved in the biochemical pathways that produce chemicals called the biogenic amines in the body. These include dopamine, epinephrine and norepinephrine.
Temporary symptoms can include fatigue, exhaustion, irritability, nervousness, mind racing, anxiety, brain fog, spaciness, mood swings, depression, weepiness and/or emotional sensitivity. Very rarely, a copper elimination could cause a panic attack, although its not common.
These symptoms are temporary, but can be annoying and they cause some people to discontinue their nutritional balancing program when, in fact, it is working perfectly well. I persevered with our supplements and I would say it took me a good 8 – 10 months before I began to feel ok. It was worth all these horrid symptoms as I now feel fantastic, better than I have in years. I am much calmer and do not get wound up easily and just generally much happier and much less stressed and I no longer have irrational thoughts.