13 replies to this topic

[Klyde Chroma]

So I have been taking upward of 6-8grams of Omega 3 a day for a few months now, with doctors approval, to rebalance some particularly askew chemistry I had going on..... It has, in conjuction with a few other things, worked well to achieve what feels like homeostasis in my grey matter once again however I can't help but wonder if this is ok..... My doctor says yes, but I feel intuitively there must be some problem with consuming this much.... Does anyone have any experience with quanitities of Omega 3's as I have described? Do I have ill effects to be concerned about should I try to reduce the amount? Is there even any reason to reduce how much I am taking?

As a quick background and aside, the condition I needed to re-balance my head from was excessive edema as a result of a metabolic non-renal alkalosis if that is of any pertenance....

NOTE: Sorry about the typos, please don't judge

[Raptor87]

Depends in the purity of your omega3, where the extract is taken from, which area and if it contains any heavy metal!

[niner]

So I have been taking upward of 6-8grams of Omega 3 a day for a few months now, with doctors approval, to rebalance some particularly askew chemistry I had going on..... It has, in conjuction with a few other things, worked well to achieve what feels like homeostasis in my grey matter once again however I can't help but wonder if this is ok..... My doctor says yes, but I feel intuitively there must be some problem with consuming this much.... Does anyone have any experience with quanitities of Omega 3's as I have described? Do I have ill effects to be concerned about should I try to reduce the amount? Is there even any reason to reduce how much I am taking?

As a quick background and aside, the condition I needed to re-balance my head from was excessive edema as a result of a metabolic non-renal alkalosis if that is of any pertenance....

It sounds like you have a good reason to be taking this much omega 3, at least in the short term. Are you using fish oil? If so, I would consider dialing it back a bit if your condition allows it. There are a couple problems with high dose fish oil: The first is the effect it may have on bleeding. Fish oil will extend clotting times and make you more susceptible to bleeding. The second is that the highly unsaturated fatty acids in fish oil are very susceptible to oxidation, both before and after they are consumed. The products of that oxidation are not good for you. Assuming it's fish oil that you're using, it's unlikely that heavy metals or other toxins are a problem, as long as it's a major brand. Consumer Reports did a big fish oil analysis, and all of the ones they looked at were clean. The standard methods of production result in a pretty clean product.

[JLL]

So I have been taking upward of 6-8grams of Omega 3 a day for a few months now, with doctors approval, to rebalance some particularly askew chemistry I had going on..... It has, in conjuction with a few other things, worked well to achieve what feels like homeostasis in my grey matter once again however I can't help but wonder if this is ok..... My doctor says yes, but I feel intuitively there must be some problem with consuming this much.... Does anyone have any experience with quanitities of Omega 3's as I have described? Do I have ill effects to be concerned about should I try to reduce the amount? Is there even any reason to reduce how much I am taking?

As a quick background and aside, the condition I needed to re-balance my head from was excessive edema as a result of a metabolic non-renal alkalosis if that is of any pertenance....

NOTE: Sorry about the typos, please don't judge

I would personally be worried about taking so much omega-3 daily, since, as niner pointed out, EPA and especially DHA are highly prone to lipid peroxidation, which could have something of a pro-aging effect.

The potential problems with endogenous lipid peroxidation are more of a theoretical concern, however, so if you have good reason to take as much as you're taking then the downsides are probably less important than the upsides. If you're taking it only temporarily then I doubt you're harming yourself significantly.

[jlspartz]

It will be a problem. It's not to begin with until to get you down to where you need to be for AA. http://www.metametri...ids/aaepa-ratio
I started out with 5g for about 6-8 weeks and then hit the level where I needed to drop to 1g. You'll know when your skin gets oily, you get pimples and have loose stool.
After two months, you should be about there.

[thedevinroy]

It will be a problem. It's not to begin with until to get you down to where you need to be for AA. http://www.metametri...ids/aaepa-ratio
I started out with 5g for about 6-8 weeks and then hit the level where I needed to drop to 1g. You'll know when your skin gets oily, you get pimples and have loose stool.
After two months, you should be about there.

That's interesting. So your body needed it up to a point, and then it was "all better" or was it just "sick of it"?

I don't see a high intake of Omega 3 necessarily a bad thing unless you're getting visible signs of overdose like weight gain (calories) or excessive weight loss (fat solvent). I believe a combination of all types of Omega 3's are healthy: ALA, EPA, DHA. They all do different things, but repeated flax seed ingestion I guess leads to ill prostate health. So Chai seed is a better source, especially for inflammation, which is what you have.

[nezxon]

It will be a problem. It's not to begin with until to get you down to where you need to be for AA. http://www.metametri...ids/aaepa-ratio
I started out with 5g for about 6-8 weeks and then hit the level where I needed to drop to 1g. You'll know when your skin gets oily, you get pimples and have loose stool.
After two months, you should be about there.

My supplementation is what I consider on the high side for Omega 3, a little over 3 g/day [1080 EPA/720 DHA/1560 ALA].

I've been supplementing with this amount for approximately 4 years and haven't had any side effects like oily skin, pimples, or loose stool. I'm not convinced oily skin and pimples can arise as a result of Omega 3 supplementation or oil/fat consumption in general.

With the amount the OP is supplementing with, if your doctor approves then I'm not going to say otherwise. Your doctor will know your condition better than any of us can. I recommend at least making sure you're striking a good balance of EPA/DHA/ALA. As previous posters mentioned, blood clotting can be a consideration, but I find that's mostly in the case of specific clotting disorders, being treated with blood-thinners or anti-coagulants, or liver dysfunction. I don't believe the amount I'm taking has significantly altered my clotting and healing rates.

[bdoris]

So I have been taking upward of 6-8grams of Omega 3 a day for a few months now, with doctors approval, to rebalance some particularly askew chemistry I had going on..... It has, in conjuction with a few other things, worked well to achieve what feels like homeostasis in my grey matter once again however I can't help but wonder if this is ok..... My doctor says yes, but I feel intuitively there must be some problem with consuming this much.... Does anyone have any experience with quanitities of Omega 3's as I have described? Do I have ill effects to be concerned about should I try to reduce the amount? Is there even any reason to reduce how much I am taking?

As a quick background and aside, the condition I needed to re-balance my head from was excessive edema as a result of a metabolic non-renal alkalosis if that is of any pertenance....

NOTE: Sorry about the typos, please don't judge

It is certainly okay. It's better to have Omega 3 fatty acids than junk food fatty acids - more expensive though. All you'd have to be careful is for hypervitaminosis - especially the A and D vitamin IIRC - but that depends on the quality of the omega 3 supplements; more purified fish oil (only DHA/EPA) wouldn't pose that problem.

[kache]

In my case I started taking Omega3/6 in May and took it for about a month.
When I stopped mid-June I started feeling better...
I don't know if it's because of the doses (I was taking only 2 pills a day) or no need, but I didn't have any good effects from it.

[niner]

In my case I started taking Omega3/6 in May and took it for about a month.
When I stopped mid-June I started feeling better...
I don't know if it's because of the doses (I was taking only 2 pills a day) or no need, but I didn't have any good effects from it.

Why would you want to take omega 6? Don't you get enough of these pro-inflammatory fatty acids in your diet?

It took me quite a while before I noticed the good effects of fish oil. I had probably been taking them for six months before I realized that I just didn't have the same aches and pains that I used to have. You might not have given it long enough, and unless you have a really great diet, you probably need to increase omega 3 and reduce omega 6. Even if you don't feel it. You can't feel 'not having a stroke'...

[nezxon]

In my case I started taking Omega3/6 in May and took it for about a month.
When I stopped mid-June I started feeling better...
I don't know if it's because of the doses (I was taking only 2 pills a day) or no need, but I didn't have any good effects from it.

Why would you want to take omega 6? Don't you get enough of these pro-inflammatory fatty acids in your diet?

It took me quite a while before I noticed the good effects of fish oil. I had probably been taking them for six months before I realized that I just didn't have the same aches and pains that I used to have. You might not have given it long enough, and unless you have a really great diet, you probably need to increase omega 3 and reduce omega 6. Even if you don't feel it. You can't feel 'not having a stroke'...

I agree with your view of fish oil. I don't feel it, but my cholesterol levels and blood pressure reflect it. I don't consider it a nootropic so much as a supporting nutrient for healthy function.

[manic_racetam]

I could have sworn that taking over 6gs of Omega-3's long term increases risk of brain-hemorrhage due to it's blood thinning properties. I read that in some study that mentioned it in populations of Eskimos whose diet consisted of large amounts of fish. Here's an article that suggests large dose fish oil leads to brain damage (siting a study done on mice).

Listen to your doctor though, especially if you're seeing improvement in your condition.

[jlspartz]

It will be a problem. It's not to begin with until to get you down to where you need to be for AA. http://www.metametri...ids/aaepa-ratio
I started out with 5g for about 6-8 weeks and then hit the level where I needed to drop to 1g. You'll know when your skin gets oily, you get pimples and have loose stool.
After two months, you should be about there.

My supplementation is what I consider on the high side for Omega 3, a little over 3 g/day [1080 EPA/720 DHA/1560 ALA].

I've been supplementing with this amount for approximately 4 years and haven't had any side effects like oily skin, pimples, or loose stool. I'm not convinced oily skin and pimples can arise as a result of Omega 3 supplementation or oil/fat consumption in general.

With the amount the OP is supplementing with, if your doctor approves then I'm not going to say otherwise. Your doctor will know your condition better than any of us can. I recommend at least making sure you're striking a good balance of EPA/DHA/ALA. As previous posters mentioned, blood clotting can be a consideration, but I find that's mostly in the case of specific clotting disorders, being treated with blood-thinners or anti-coagulants, or liver dysfunction. I don't believe the amount I'm taking has significantly altered my clotting and healing rates.

I take 1000mg EPA daily now, with 300mg DHA. That's not a problem at all. But, I was taking 5000mg EPA, not grams of fish oil, to get down to the right AA/EPA ratio quickly. Here's a study on the AA:EPA ratio in ADD/ADHD. http://www.ncbi.nlm....?tool=pmcentrez It does say one person reported loose stool within the first 4 weeks and they cut the amount in half for that person. I hit that point going on 2.5 months of 5000mg EPA, then tapered off until at a good level taking 1000mg/daily to maintain the ratio.

[thedevinroy]

I take 1000mg EPA daily now, with 300mg DHA. That's not a problem at all. But, I was taking 5000mg EPA, not grams of fish oil, to get down to the right AA/EPA ratio quickly. Here's a study on the AA:EPA ratio in ADD/ADHD. http://www.ncbi.nlm....?tool=pmcentrez It does say one person reported loose stool within the first 4 weeks and they cut the amount in half for that person. I hit that point going on 2.5 months of 5000mg EPA, then tapered off until at a good level taking 1000mg/daily to maintain the ratio.

Thank you for that study. ADHD kids have low EPA levels, and I did not know that.