I'm a year and a half post-op & have been experiencing high copper levels for about a year now. My doctors just keep checking my bloodwork every few months and when it comes back high, they just tell me they will check back in a few months. Has anyone else experienced high copper levels? This is starting to stress me out thinking if I just keep letting them let it go it's going to cause me some issues down the road.

Just curious, are you on a mainly vegetarian or vegan diet, because its common for copper levels to increase with a lack of meat. Foods that commonly have more copper include shellfish, beef liver, whole-grain products, nuts & seeds, avocados, chickpeas, tofu, potatoes, mushrooms. So if you eat a lot of these, this may be the cause.

I'm not a doctor or nutritionist, just some random guy on the internet, but from what I can find on the matter, it sounds like it can be caused by eating a diet mostly consisting of those things I mentioned, but also from a deficiency in other minerals like Zinc and B & C vitamins, as well as other metals needed in a diet, which copper will take the place of in their absence. It may be worth looking into a multivitamin that's lower in copper but has other metals in safe levels.

It can also be environmental, so check to see if there's anything you're around frequently that could expose you to copper, such as copper plumbing for your water, copper cookware, jewelry, and IUDs. I have a similar issue with Nickel, and have to be careful which metals I handle, since its common for steel to have nickel in its alloys.

I somewhat have issues with my iron, so I think maybe that could be part of it and they're just going hand in hand. But right now it seems like my iron is just fine. I'm starting to think maybe my home water could possibly be playing a factor in this too. I really appreciate your input on this!

Have you had a liver function test done? Excess copper is excreted from your body in your bile by your liver. While we’re losing, it’s not uncommon to have odd liver function results (processing our fat out of our body strains it). Maybe if your liver isn’t functioning effectively or being stressed by your weight loss may mean it’s not processing the copper out of your system & it builds up. I don’t really know either. Just wondering. Worth a deeper conversation with your doctors as to why it might be happening & what can be done to help reduce your levels.

10 hours ago, Arabesque said:

it’s not uncommon to have odd liver function results (processing our fat out of our body strains it). Maybe if your liver isn’t functioning effectively or being stressed by your weight loss may mean it’s not processing the copper out of your system & it builds up.

At 10 months post-op, I am losing fat stores that haven't been touched for YEARS. Since our fat holds toxins along with hormones, I can't help but wonder what's circulating in my blood. I have days where I feel tired or have headaches and know I am detoxing stuff my body has held onto forever.

High Copper levels can become dangerous if not addressed. I would want to know how high and possibly get a second opinion if your doctor has no answers. But if he's testing every few months, I'm guessing levels are elevated but not in the danger zone. And it could be as simple as dietary.

Good luck and hopefully you will get a good report soon!

Update* for anyone else that may deal with this same issue.

So after dealing with high copper levels for about a year, it finally became a concern after finding out I was pregnant (nothing to do with the high levels but more of a concern for the baby) I have done multiple blood tests all coming back high & now a 24 hour urine test that came back at a normal level. The ONLY thing I have changed in the last month in my diet aside from taking prenatal vitamins, is I stopped drinking an herbal life tea. I'm sure they aren't done monitoring this but I think the tea I was drinking had a significant effect. Even though I was checking the product and nothing appeared to be a red flag, it's about the only thing I can think of that could have been causing this issue.

Thank you for the responses! Sometimes brainstorming with others helps me narrow down what could be the answer.

Congratulations!

How fascinating about the tea. Great your levels are finally down again. And how wonderful about your pregnancy - congratulations.