Zinc depletion from long-term IM glutathione, anyone actually tracked their levels?

Posted by nina489 in Safety & Side Effects - 8 points, 6 comments.

I have been doing IM glutathione (around 400mg, twice a week) for maybe three months now. Skin brightness I noticed, yes, but that is not why I am posting here.

The side effect listing mentions zinc depletion with long-term use. I did not think much of it at first (basically assumed it was minor, no?). But I started getting more muscle cramps and my recovery felt worse the last few weeks. Could be nothing, could be training volume, could be diet. But it made me wonder about the zinc thing.

Has anyone here actually done bloodwork for zinc while running injectable glutathione for a while? I am curious if the depletion is real and measurable or just theoretical. I take a basic multivitamin but nothing targeted for zinc.

Also wondering if NAC has the same issue. The profile for NAC mentions it may deplete zinc and copper too. So if someone is doing GlyNAC plus IM glutathione together, are you doubling that risk, right?

I want to add zinc but I do not want to overdo it and mess up my copper ratio. What dose range are people using for maintenance (not fixing a deficiency)? I will probably just get bloodwork before supplementing blindly but wanted to hear if anyone noticed the same pattern.

Comments

• labrat_vik: I haven't run IM glutathione long enough to track zinc personally, just played with oral NAC for a while, but the zinc depletion concern is legit enough to take seriously. Glutathione and zinc have a real interaction, glutathione helps mobilize zinc from metallothionein, so chronic high-dose use could theoretically shift things over time. For maintenance zinc without nuking your copper, 15mg to maybe 30mg of zinc picolinate or gluconate daily is the range I'd look at. Anything above 40mg long-t
• sleep_coastal: Anecdotally I ran IM glutathione for about four months and started getting the same cramp thing. Never pulled zinc labs but adding 15mg picolinate on alternate days seemed to calm it down within a week or two. Could've been something else entirely though. The copper angle is real, I messed that up once years ago pushing 50mg daily and felt awful for a month.
• sleep_coastal: Anecdotally, I ran IM glutathione 400mg twice weekly for about 10 weeks and my zinc came back low‑normal; adding 20mg zinc picolinate eased the cramps. Have you checked copper alongside zinc when you supplement?
• nina489: That is basically exactly the pattern I was worried about, right? Same dose, similar timeline. Good to hear the picolinate helped your cramps, that makes me think mine is not just training volume. I have not checked copper yet. That is probably my next step before I start supplementing anything. Did you test copper before adding the zinc, or did you just start the picolinate and see how you felt?
• nina489: That is interesting, The cramps were definitely annoying for me too. It is basically what I was feeling after about twelve weeks of use. I will try adding some zinc picolinate to see if it helps my recovery, but I will be careful with the copper since you mentioned that mistake. Did you take any copper with your picolinate to keep the balance, or just the zinc?
• nina489: The metallothionein angle is basically what I was worried about, so good to hear someone else takes it seriously and it is not just a theoretical footnote. I will probably start with 15mg picolinate on alternate days and see if the cramps settle. Did you notice anything similar on oral NAC, or was that more of a general interest thing for you?

Community discussion - research and educational context only. Not medical advice.