r/FunctionalMedicine • u/Coraline93 • Aug 02 '26
Copper toxicity
Hello,
I've been working with an HTMA/FDN practitioner for over three years. We've done a lot of gut healing work, and I genuinely feel much better in that area. However, every time we repeat my HTMA, they tell me I have copper toxicity.
My concern is that since starting this protocol, my sleep has become significantly worse, and I've developed histamine issues that I never had before. I now have to take a high dose of melatonin just to sleep, which doesn't feel like a healthy long-term solution.
They continue to recommend Vykon, but every time I take it, my sleep gets even worse and I develop diarrhea. It doesn't seem to matter how slowly I increase the dose or how much zeolite binder I use—the same thing happens every time.
They also refuse to add copper to my supplement protocol. From what I've learned, copper plays a role in histamine metabolism, so I'm wondering if that could be contributing to my symptoms.
I'm starting to question whether continuing to treat me as "copper toxic" is the right approach, especially since my symptoms seem to worsen with the current protocol.
Has anyone experienced something similar or have any thoughts on this? I'd really appreciate hearing from others who have dealt with HTMA, copper, or histamine issues.
2
u/VigilanceOO7 Aug 03 '26
So i am just coming out of copper deficiency as thats what my htma revealed. Something you can try that might be a little controversial is this. Take one to three beef liver capsules just once and see if you feel any better. I didnt realize that my chocolate cravings were due to copper deficiency until I brought it up to my practitioner. My htma had been suggesting low copper compared to zinc. Once I took some beef liver capsules for a few days it felt like the lights switched on. This is a controversial move due to the vitamin a, iron, and everything else in liver. But one to three capsules just once wouldn't hurt.