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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 10 of 10. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by qqqsimmons on August 28, 2004, at 16:37:33
i can't seem to handle 1 g (1 geltab) of fish oil per day. any more seems to screw with my sleep, dreams and make me a bit manic. the only stable dosage pattern i've found is 1g every other day. i've been taking fish oil for about a year now and do notice positive results.
anyone else have this problem? or do i just have to force 1g a day on myself until my body adjusts?
i don't see why all dosages are 1g/day minimum if there were people out there who couldn't handle it.
note: i never ate fish foods, in my life, except for a bite here and there.
Posted by Larry Hoover on August 28, 2004, at 17:15:35
In reply to fish oil sensitivity, posted by qqqsimmons on August 28, 2004, at 16:37:33
> i can't seem to handle 1 g (1 geltab) of fish oil per day. any more seems to screw with my sleep, dreams and make me a bit manic. the only stable dosage pattern i've found is 1g every other day. i've been taking fish oil for about a year now and do notice positive results.
>
> anyone else have this problem? or do i just have to force 1g a day on myself until my body adjusts?After a year, I doubt your body will adjust. Your experience has been reported by others, but I don't know what explains it, or if there's anything to be done about it.
I know of one person who goes manic on fish oil, but does fine on flax oil.
> i don't see why all dosages are 1g/day minimum if there were people out there who couldn't handle it.
>
> note: i never ate fish foods, in my life, except for a bite here and there.I don't think it's about exposure to fish. I think it's about gene regulation.
Lar
Posted by qqqsimmons on August 28, 2004, at 19:53:43
In reply to Re: fish oil sensitivity » qqqsimmons, posted by Larry Hoover on August 28, 2004, at 17:15:35
Thanks, Larry. Can you explain how gene regulation would be responsible?
I have a similar result with normal dosages of ssri's. When I was on Zoloft, I could only take half the lowest dose. I'm wondering if I'm simply sensitive to any 5-HT booster.
Posted by sb417 on August 28, 2004, at 23:29:47
In reply to Re: fish oil sensitivity, posted by qqqsimmons on August 28, 2004, at 19:53:43
What brand have you been taking? Have you consistently taken the same brand or have you switched around? The one I find to be the most helpful is Mega Twin EPA by Twinlab, but they probably make one with lower doses, so you might want to try the lower doses first.
Posted by cherylann on August 29, 2004, at 0:14:06
In reply to Re: fish oil sensitivity » qqqsimmons, posted by sb417 on August 28, 2004, at 23:29:47
Do you order that online, or can you purchase it from a store? I can find twinlab fish oil in stores, but not that high a quality of epa.
Thanks,
cherylann
Posted by sb417 on August 29, 2004, at 0:50:15
In reply to A little off topic, but about that mega twin... » sb417, posted by cherylann on August 29, 2004, at 0:14:06
Hi Cherylann. I bought the Twinlab MegaTwin EPA at a health food store in New York. Unfortunately, I ran out of it and haven't been able to find it again. I think they still carry it, but the product might have been re-named. I have been speaking with someone at a local health food store about this, and we're trying to special order it from the company. If I'm able to get it again, I'll let you know. If it has a new name, I'll post that also. According to the catalog that the health food store had from their supplier, Twinlab carries products now listed as "Mega 3's" and "Mega 6's," most likely referring to omega 3 fatty acids and omega 6 fatty acids, but I don't know whether those are the new names of the products or whether that was some shorthand description of them in the distributor's catalog.
Posted by qqqsimmons on August 29, 2004, at 7:22:20
In reply to Re: fish oil sensitivity » qqqsimmons, posted by sb417 on August 28, 2004, at 23:29:47
I've switched brands a few times with the same results. I've search a lot of web retailers and reviewed many brands. Almost all exclusively sell 1 g fish oil geltabs (360 epa, 240 dha). cod liver oil tabs are usually smaller, so perhaps I'll move to those. Or I'll switch to flax seed oil.
> What brand have you been taking? Have you consistently taken the same brand or have you switched around? The one I find to be the most helpful is Mega Twin EPA by Twinlab, but they probably make one with lower doses, so you might want to try the lower doses first.
Posted by Larry Hoover on August 29, 2004, at 13:37:55
In reply to fish oil sensitivity, posted by qqqsimmons on August 28, 2004, at 16:37:33
> i can't seem to handle 1 g (1 geltab) of fish oil per day. any more seems to screw with my sleep, dreams and make me a bit manic. the only stable dosage pattern i've found is 1g every other day. i've been taking fish oil for about a year now and do notice positive results.
>
> anyone else have this problem? or do i just have to force 1g a day on myself until my body adjusts?
>
> i don't see why all dosages are 1g/day minimum if there were people out there who couldn't handle it.
>
> note: i never ate fish foods, in my life, except for a bite here and there.I just came across this, which suggests that flax oil is more likely to induce mania.....that could just be an artefact (more history of using flax oil supplements, compared to fish oil).
http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/p021028.html
"Anecdotal reports of a possible correlation between high doses of omega-3 fatty acids and hypomania or mania have been reported (Stoll et al., 2000; Su et al., 2000). Stoll et al. (2000) reported fewer than 10 cases of apparent omega-3-induced hypomania or mania in a series of more than 300 patients treated with various open-label preparations of flaxseed oil or fish oil. Almost all cases of apparent hypomania induction were associated with flaxseed oil. This effect was first noticed more than 20 years ago (Rudin, 1981) and was also associated with high doses of flaxseed oil, but not fish oil products. This effect is still under investigation."
Posted by Larry Hoover on August 29, 2004, at 13:42:22
In reply to Re: fish oil sensitivity, posted by qqqsimmons on August 28, 2004, at 19:53:43
> Thanks, Larry. Can you explain how gene regulation would be responsible?
>
> I have a similar result with normal dosages of ssri's. When I was on Zoloft, I could only take half the lowest dose. I'm wondering if I'm simply sensitive to any 5-HT booster.I probably was sloppy with the semantics. Gene regulation is influenced by DHA, for example, but that's not an immediate effect, as you describe. Your sensitivity is due to your genetic complement (how your genes are already regulated). Now, just why you get a stimulation of that magnitude is not clear, but dopaminergic activity is, in part, regulated by free DHA levels.
For a more detailed look at the effects of fish oil, see:
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FDN/is_4_8/ai_111303983/pg_1
Posted by qqqsimmons on August 29, 2004, at 14:29:33
In reply to Re: fish oil sensitivity » qqqsimmons, posted by Larry Hoover on August 29, 2004, at 13:42:22
Thanks for the warning on the flax seed. I may still try it. I read somewhere on pubmed that the lignans in flax oil may inhibit aromatase, so less testosterone would be converted to estrogen.
I would love to know why I'm sensitive to antidepressents (st john's wort too). I never had any problem with "poop out".
I don't suppose there's an easy way someone could find out what version of the serotonin transporter gene they've got? There's probably a lot of stuff like this that still isn't understood...
>
> I probably was sloppy with the semantics. Gene regulation is influenced by DHA, for example, but that's not an immediate effect, as you describe. Your sensitivity is due to your genetic complement (how your genes are already regulated). Now, just why you get a stimulation of that magnitude is not clear, but dopaminergic activity is, in part, regulated by free DHA levels.
>
> For a more detailed look at the effects of fish oil, see:
>
> http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0FDN/is_4_8/ai_111303983/pg_1
>
>
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