I wonder if anyone else has experienced shortness of breath when taking EPA/DHA Fish Oil supplements?

I have tried twice - and both times, after about a week of taking them I have terrible trouble catching my breath!

I've never had asthma or any respiritory problems - obviously it scared the **** out of me when it happened, but I realised that the EPA/DHA was the only thing that could be causing it, and I was back to normal a day or so after discontinuing it. I tried it again about 3 months ago, and within 5 days, same thing.

Could it be because I eat alot of fish anyway? I probably have either mackerel or tuna or sardines every day, but by no means do I gorge on them.

Any ideas?

Cheers for any replies....

True allergic reactions to a food substance happen soon after ingesting it, from minutes to a couple hours. Typical symptoms would be sudden skin itching and rash, breathing difficulties, nausea & vomiting, and diarrhea. A food intolerance will have symptoms show up within several hours to a day .. symptoms tend to be restricted to the intestinal tract - gas, bloating, diarrhea, belching etc .. possibly aggravation of eczema or other previous-existing skin problems. However, the fact that you are able to eat real fish without incident suggests that allergy and intolerance is not a problem.

It's possible that you bought a bad batch of fish oil capsules. Rancid fish oil means it has oxidized, which damages the fatty acids, coverting them to harmful free radicals. One way to check is to poke a hole in one and have a whiff and a tiny taste. If it smells bad, throw them out!! If it's a brand new bottle that you just bought, march them back to the health food store for a refund .. maybe they need to change the way they store and display fish oil products. Right under a hot spotlight or next to a sunny window is NOT a good idea. If it's not a new bottle, how have you been storing them at home?? ... they should be refrigerated once opened. That being said, as noted above ... if you were going to have a reaction, it would've happened within hours of taking the supplement, not days or weeks.

I read back through your previous posts ... you're also experiencing dry mouth symptoms, hyperexcitability (which you attribute to overactive adrenals), night-time carb cravings. Have you had your thyroid check recently?? I would urge you to consult your physician, and have your hormone levels checked ... thyroid, adrenal and pituitary. I'm a nurse not a dr, but your symptoms are suggestive of hyperthyroidism, or Graves Disease. For more information, check out about.com's Hyperthyroid/Graves' Disease information pages.


Doreen

Hi Doreen thanks for your helpful reply.

I actually had my thyroid checked about 6 months ago because I was growing a little hump at the base of my neck, and it came back OK. I also checked out the link and fortunately I couldn't find many symptoms that matched, so hopefully that's not it. (BTW my hump has shrunk to almost nothing through Craniosacral Therapy which I highly recommend for anyone with back or neck problems - it's also almost completely straightened my husband's scoliosis (advert off))

I do have PCOS however, so obviously my hormones are out of whack! The good news is that after 15 years or 5 to 7 periods a year, in the 3 years I've been low carbing I've had a period every month, and that sure is something!

I know that I would feel better if I could get a full hormonal work up, but I can tell you, in the UK I'd have to fight tooth and nail for it and probably have to wait 6 months! The way the National Health Service operates makes it very difficult to convince doctors that it needs to be done, and it's like beating your head against a brick wall sometimes - but nevermind!

Back on the subject, do you reckon that eating oily fish 5-7 times a week is enough that I don't need to worry about EPA/DHA supplements?

Cheers!