Tingling feet and hair connection

Hi guys!

This is my first post to this forum and have been reading it for a few monts. I am a 29 year old male from the Netherlands and have come to this forum because it seems there is a lot of knowledge over here. Forgive my English mistakes

For the past two years I slowly receded only in front. The hair loss started around the same time as the tingling in both feet. It's a light tingling sensation in both feet (towards socks height) and a vague tingling only in my left pinky. Sometimes one of my hands can get red for no apparent reason ant then turns to normal. Also when I press the skin under the cuticles it takes a long time for blood to fill in for both finger- and toenails. I went to medical specialists and they couldn't find anything. The closest thing that came to their mind was erythromelalgia. That is a painful condition, while mine isn't. They suggested I could take Nifidepine (calcium channel blocker). Nothing of this is painful and I only feel the tingling when sitting. I also have normal sensitivity in both feet.

I don´t know if these things are related, but to me it´s too much of an coincedence as this occured around the same time.

Other symptoms/signs I developed in the preceding years are:

2008 -- Premature greying of hair
2010 -- Dark deep sunken eye circles and vertical nail ridges
2012 -- Tingling in feet started
2012 -- 2014 Slight hearing loss
                  Low libido
                  Teeth slightly translucent
                  Dry looking facial skin
                  Reduced caffeine metabolism

I never smoked in my life and hardly ever drink alcohol. I switched one year ago from wheat bread to oats and try to have fruit and veggies everyday. For drinks I consume mostly (green/tulsi/gynostemma) tea.
I would really like to know if some of you can help me in the right direction with this. Could these symptoms be from simple mineral / vitamin deficiencies? It´s really strange as before 2008 I had none of these symptoms and after that it seems I am prematurely aging, while I actually improved my diet. Your input is really appreciated as I want to get to the root cause of this.

that set of symptoms seems indicative of a heavy metal toxicity such as mercury or lead. hopefully someone will agree.

perhaps u could get ur blood tested for heavy metal toxicity. but beware, blood levels only go up straight after exposure. for long term data u need a hair analysis. plenty of companies do this for u, but u have to make sure its done by mass spec. other methods are not reliable.

DynamoJohn wrote:Hi guys!
For the past two years I slowly receded only in front. The hair loss started around the same time as the tingling in both feet. It's a light tingling sensation in both feet (towards socks height) and a vague tingling only in my left pinky. Sometimes one of my hands can get red for no apparent reason ant then turns to normal. Also when I press the skin under the cuticles it takes a long time for blood to fill in for both finger- and toenails.
Other symptoms/signs I developed in the preceding years are:

2008 -- Premature greying of hair
2010 -- Dark deep sunken eye circles and vertical nail ridges
2012 -- Tingling in feet started
2012 -- 2014 Slight hearing loss
                  Low libido
                  Teeth slightly translucent
                  Dry looking facial skin
                  Reduced caffeine metabolism

so what do you eat on a normal day? you can check cronometer online to see how you are going with nutrients

maybe get a blood test with liver and thyroid panel
... also definitely get a blood test for homocysteine

high homocysteine can be a cardiovascular risk factor as well as cause neuropathies meaning that this could be related to the tingly feeling in your feet as well as the hearing loss

couple studies: Cardiovascular and thrombophilic risk factors for idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss
Low serum folate levels: a risk factor for sudden sensorineural hearing loss?
Comparative analysis of serum homocysteine, folic acid and Vitamin B12 levels in patients with noise-induced hearing loss

otherwise my guesses:

2008 -- Premature greying of hair --> thyroid
2010 -- Dark deep sunken eye circles and vertical nail ridges --> liver
2012 -- Tingling in feet started
2012 -- 2014 Slight hearing loss --> lead poisoning?
                  Low libido --> liver?
                  Teeth slightly translucent --> dysbiosis of the mouth
                  Dry looking facial skin
                  Reduced caffeine metabolism --> impaired detoxification pathways , liver


oh yeah and lot of standard physician might not be able to help you very well
maybe tried some doctors who is into integrative or functional medicine, they re more likely to look for the cause of you problems

Yeah, maybe some of it is related to heavy metal toxicity. I have three amalgam fillings from childhood. I will look into the hair test for heavy metals. I should also note that I am a skinny guy weighing 62 kgs at 178 height. My weight always stays constant, regardless of what I eat. I wonder if nutrients get abosrbed very well. My stool is good, but that wouldn't say anything.

@alphadelta.  I've been to an orthomolecular doctor, but he couldn't help me further. He also suspected something related to liver/colon. Before 2008 I could easily drink a few cups of coffee and sleep well. If I drink only 1 cup in the morning now I have difficulty falling asleep at night. Some other clues that point in the liver direction is the fact that I don't tolerate milk thistle and Fo Ti (He Shou Wu) well. I get an uncomfortable feeling in my liver area and my mild tinnitus will get louder. I really wonder why my liver seems compromised.

My typical diet is oats in the morning, fruit/nuts/avocado/eggs at lunch and dinner mostly veggies and potatoes or a rice/quinoa dish with small amount of meat. I have plenty of energy and almost never fatigued. Only after a hard day working... I guess that's normal.

I have some additional blood test data from my past with some results out of range.  As you can see my thyroid and liver enzymes seem normal. What surprises me is that albumin is borderline high on multilpe tests and ceruloplasmin borderline low (copper issue?). Also my prolactin, SHBG and iron saturation have borderline results. Especially the iron worries me a bit.

Hey guys,

Do you have any more ideas as to where these symptoms can be related to. I find it really difficult to see the cause in this. These symptoms and my blood test results are my only clues in my health quest.

As recommended on this forum I started on iodine (kelp powder) a while ago and noticed that with only 300 mg I get palpitations and shortness of breath. I can't believe I react to such a small dose.    This last week I tried a small dose of magnesium malate with dinner and also experienced some minor palpitations, but less severe as the kelp.

I hope some of you have any idea to help me with this puzzle. Any input is appreciated.

sry man that i am of no further help, i cant really think of anything obvious apart from that what you describe doesnt sound healthy

any other symptoms you missed out maybe?

what your life in general like as in

work
friends and social life, social anxiety
pollution
any kind of occupational exposures to toxic things? ( like cadmium if someone is a mechanic and the like)
stress levels , outlook on life
sleep patterns
body temperature upon awakening
digestion
supplements you take


otherwise try a non kelp source of iodine and report back if you have same symptoms at the same dose
lot of people here probably would tell you thats a classic sign of mercury toxicity i think
but who knows again just guessing here

I can 100% assure u this is either b6 or copper deficiency...U can have a blood test to confirm...

@alphadelta: Thanks for coming back at it. I appreciate your input. These other points you mention are good to consider and some of them need more attention from me. Overall I am not a stressed person and no trouble sleeping with plenty of energy. I ordered Iosol and will give that a try.

@YAER: I did test my copper and b6 levels (P5P) in the past:

10-03-11
Intracellular copper    : 0.9   mg/L  (0.7 - 1.3)
Intracellular zinc        : ---
Act. vitamin B6 (P5P)  :53    nmol/L (49 - 121)  

15-06-12
Intracellular copper : 0.7   mg/L  (0.7 - 1.3)
Intracellular zinc     : 12.2 mg/L  (10.5 - 13.7)
Act. vitamin B6 (P5P)  : 69    nmol/L (49 - 121)

I see a decrease in copper in these results, but does it mean I'm deficient? Why do you think it is a copper deficiency? Is this because of borderline low ceruloplasmin? I thought the difficulty with this was to distinguish between a copper deficiency/toxicity or bio unavailable copper, as these produce the same symptoms. I do have white spots on my fingernails which would indicate low zinc. I also did a liquid zinc sulphate test. After about 4 seconds I taste a very subtle flavour. It's really confusing if you look in the research online to determine the copper status. I found that a hair mineral test would be the most accurate, but have to read more about that.

I remember in one of your posts you mentioned when you supplemented with copper that you lowered your ferritin levels. I remembered it because I found that interesting because of my own iron/ferritin and saturation levels. I think I have some kind of copper/zinc imbalance myself.

One thing I noticed from my past blood tests is that I always have a leukocyte count around 4000. In this study they correlate low copper levels with a lower leukocyte count <4300, and low serum iron levels were inversely correlated with blood lead and serum copper concentrations. Again showing the relationships between copper/iron metabolism:

"Relationships of Lead, Copper, Zinc, and Cadmium Levels versus Hematopoiesis and Iron Parameters in Healthy Adolescents"

Link:   http://www.annclinlabsci.org/content/35/4/428.full

DynamoJohn wrote:@alphadelta: Thanks for coming back at it. I appreciate your input. These other points you mention are good to consider and some of them need more attention from me. Overall I am not a stressed person and no trouble sleeping with plenty of energy. I ordered Iosol and will give that a try.

@YAER: I did test my copper and b6 levels (P5P) in the past:

10-03-11
Intracellular copper    : 0.9   mg/L  (0.7 - 1.3)
Intracellular zinc        : ---
Act. vitamin B6 (P5P)  :53    nmol/L (49 - 121)  

15-06-12
Intracellular copper : 0.7   mg/L  (0.7 - 1.3)
Intracellular zinc     : 12.2 mg/L  (10.5 - 13.7)
Act. vitamin B6 (P5P)  : 69    nmol/L (49 - 121)

I see a decrease in copper in these results, but does it mean I'm deficient? Why do you think it is a copper deficiency? Is this because of borderline low ceruloplasmin? I thought the difficulty with this was to distinguish between a copper deficiency/toxicity or bio unavailable copper, as these produce the same symptoms. I do have white spots on my fingernails which would indicate low zinc. I also did a liquid zinc sulphate test. After about 4 seconds I taste a very subtle flavour. It's really confusing if you look in the research online to determine the copper status. I found that a hair mineral test would be the most accurate, but have to read more about that.

I remember in one of your posts you mentioned when you supplemented with copper that you lowered your ferritin levels. I remembered it because I found that interesting because of my own iron/ferritin and saturation levels. I think I have some kind of copper/zinc imbalance myself.

One thing I noticed from my past blood tests is that I always have a leukocyte count around 4000. In this study they correlate low copper levels with a lower leukocyte count <4300, and low serum iron levels were inversely correlated with blood lead and serum copper concentrations. Again showing the relationships between copper/iron metabolism:

"Relationships of Lead, Copper, Zinc, and Cadmium Levels versus Hematopoiesis and Iron Parameters in Healthy Adolescents"

Link:   http://www.annclinlabsci.org/content/35/4/428.full

u definitely have a copper deficiency, its clear from ur ceruloplasmin and intracellular value that ur low on copper...u need to start supplementing and the ferritin will decrease as it gets metabolized by the copper...ur zinc is probably the reason why ur copper is low if u take zinc, white on the fingernail can have many many reasons, calcium deficinecy vitamin b deficiency, its not only due to copper...u are 10000% low on copper, start supplementing 10 mg daily for a week and half maybe and see miracles...goodluck...

im fed up with mainstream advocation for zinc, this is just shit and is ruining many peoples lives...copper toxicity generally arises due to oral contraceptives and copper IUD...I have rarely seen a guy suffer from high copper...It is not a coincidence i told u b4 i saw ur copper test that u are deficiency and that the tests confirm u were semi deficient this long ago, u can imagine how deficienct u are now along with the low ceruloplasmin, u missing out on the benefits of copper my friend, its very easy to fix that with the dose i told u and try and eat liver a few times in this period, u can have a blood test to confirm if ur not sure...

i think scenario of zinc deficiency is probable for many. They will greatly benefit short term, until use up all the copper and other minerals that can be depleted with zinc supplement alone. I dont think advocating zinc supplementing is BS, but not complete story. Copper has plenty roles in the body not worth being ignored. I would not say it's not bad to start with zinc only, but it would be better supplying body with a quality whole multi-mineral if not knowing exactly what you are doing. I use immune boost 77, and cook organic bone broth. For those low with zinc, there are scenarios that b6 and molybdenum are missing as well.

It could be a lot of things.

When you've looked at thousands of patients, you no longer make *any* assumptions about anything.

However, there appears to be some liver congestion. Also the copper connection and some other factors, connected to neuropathy appear likely.

There is probably some kind of copper connection to this. As i understand there are two scenarios with the copper, in which both serum copper and ceruloplasmin can be low. This is either in a copper deficient state or in a state of bio unavailable copper as seen in Wilsons disease. In Wilsons the copper gets stored in liver and brain, but this copper is unavailable to the body. In this case there is also a low reading of serum copper and low ceruloplasmin (usually < 0.20 g/L).

I really would like to know if I am in a deficient state or in a state of unavailable copper. I never experieced fatigue or anemia (from copper deficiency) and my hemoglobin levels are always normal. The tingling feet could be coupled to a copper excess, but I dont know if this is neurological. I think the idea of YAER is interesting to see my body´s reaction to a short time of copper supplementation. If there is an excess it would probably make me feel worse and vice versa. I´m also planning to do a 24 hour urine copper test to see if there is high excretion of copper.

I also wonder where the liver symptoms could fit in. When you read about Wilsons, one of the symptoms is liver problems usually with elevated liver enzymes. My liver enzymes are in good range, but my liver seems somehow compromised in detoxification. Maybe itś too easy to connect these symptoms to one mineral deficiency, but copper seems to have a role in my state of health.

CS, do you think these symptoms look like a copper deficiency or a case of unavailable copper?