I contemplated sharing this incident publicly and decided that if it helps anyone, then it was worth being vulnerable.
Inundated with COVID-19 talk in every direction, I became very stressed. Toward the end of April, I got sick and thought if I increased my Zinc intake, it would help. I couldn’t afford to miss training days for the Empire State Ride. The more vitamins and minerals I took, the better, right? WRONG!
I took one Zinc/Copper pill and 10 – 15 drops of pure concentrated liquid Zinc in my green tea every day, totaling more than 30 mg, a sharp contrast to the recommended daily dose of Zinc for women, which is 8 mg. My goal was to blast my infection away, but I ended up blasting my body.
I felt falsely better the first day and then started getting sicker—scary sicker. I was severely nauseous, fatigued, had bowel issues, chills, massive headaches, an intense metallic taste in my mouth, and became very weak.
During that time, I had a video appointment with my doctor. He asked what I was taking. My brain was thinking in terms of prescription-type medicine, so I replied nothing except my Synthroid. I never thought to tell him about the daily vitamins, minerals, and supplements I was taking—another mistake on my part. Days later, when I told him what was going on, I learned that I had Zinc toxicity and was poisoning myself but didn’t know it!
I’m still fighting to be out of the woods as my body continues to detox. I lost two key weeks of training for the cancer ride. Why? Because I falsely believed that more would be better to boost my health.
I understand with all of the overwhelming news about COVID-19, you want to protect yourself and ward off the virus as best you can by doing whatever possible. But I urge you to talk with your doctor first before you take anything, even if it’s something familiar and seemingly harmless, like vitamins, minerals, and supplements.
Stay well!
I’m so sorry, friend. When I felt overwhelmed covering Covid-19 I had holidays that I could take off and it was worth it. Then my sister died and I was fortunate to have a couple on my team who could step up and fill in for me and help me to just take the time to be well.
Get rest and you’ll be able to fulfill your goals.
Rita
Thank you, Rita. You are the most resilient person I know and a trusted valued friend.
You can overdo it with vitamins and even water too!
https://www.webmd.com/diet/guide/effects-of-taking-too-many-vitamins#1
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_intoxication
Oh, wow, good to know! Thank you for sharing those links.
I take PreserVision, which is an AREDS2 eye vitamin and mineral supplement, for my many eye issues which has 80 mg of zinc. Was taking that before the Wuhan Wiggle landed. Mark
Oh, wow. I hope you find it to be more helpful than harmful.
The metallic taste on your tongue was a clear indicator of zinc poisoning. Sunlight is the best disinfectant. There’s a reason during World War I sunlight was proscribed. https://medium.com/@ra.hobday/coronavirus-and-the-sun-a-lesson-from-the-1918-influenza-pandemic-509151dc8065
Fascinating! Thank you very much for sharing. I’m willing to try, especially given it’s a natural option.