Good luck to you and Epsom salt soaks remain my Easy Button self care strategy for a lot of issues.

Regarding copper: yes, it can be low, but it can also be high. The issue is ratio and transport proteins.

All trace minerals need special control factors by the body to prevent random reactivity. Transport proteins are shared, so a dietary imbalance can lead to all the proteins carrying the overabundant mineral, leaving a deficit of the one that is less abundant in the diet.

I would suggest:

Look at lists of copper-rich foods versus zinc-rich foods. See if your typical diet leans more toward one than the other and...

Look at symptoms of copper deficiency versus copper excess. See which matches your own experience more closely. This article on Dr. Axe's site includes both lists. draxe.com/nutrition/cop…

Copper is essential for mitochondrial function (cytochrome c oxidase). But excess copper, relative to zinc, is linked to inflammation and oxidative stress. The goal is balance, not elimination.

The practical takeaway: If you eat a high-copper, low-zinc diet (e.g., lots of chocolate, nuts, seeds, avocado, liver, but not much red meat or oysters), the shared transporters will carry more copper, and zinc absorption suffers.