I just discovered I have a massive imbalance in Omega 6 and 3s that might be at the root of severe depression. Now my psychiatrist has me completely off all fish oils and a variety of other fats, and I am dosing heavily on raw egg yokes, butter, primerose oil, and a bunch of other specialty oil supplements and electrolytes. Generally speaking fish oil is probably good for most of the population. But for me it was making me sick because it was causing imbalance in my Omega 6's - most specifically Arachidonic Acid, which apparently has a big impact on many neurological and cellular body functioning. I would say anyone serious about there health should get tested for Omega 3 and Omega 6 ratio and overall levels first before mega dosing on Omega 3's. In my case I was making my self sicker by trying to be healthy just because I had an underlying imbalance in my body chemistry.

I still take my fish oil, never was taking ginormous doses though. I'm not convinced that PUFA ratios need to be as tight as some think they should, nor am I convinced that extremely low PUFA intake is beneficial/necessary. Most all foods are high in PUFAs and biased towards omega-6s - aside from beef (low in PUFA) and salmon (high in omega-3). Doesn't make logical evolutionary sense that our diets should be low in PUFA and 1:1 in omegas if that requires eating a very limited diet.

I have ditched the fish oil. In the trash even. I go with Pastured Eggs, Lamb, salmon and oysters.

I stopped taking fish oil for a brief period and my eczema flared up. I started taking the fish oil again and it reduced my eczema symptoms.

Bea Arthur Devany posted this info about fish oil somewhere else, and I think it is very interesting info on oxidized fish oil:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22136711

Fish Oil has been ditched, as I eat little O6 overall, little to no chicken/nuts etc. Mostly Grassfed Beef/Fish. I take Fermented CLO however.

Hows your K2 and D intake?

We're you using the Ethyl Ester or Triglyceride form?

How large were your doses?

Im a proponent of the "minimal PUFA intake" camp.

I resolved to ditch the fish oil. Every day one of my meals is about 100 calories worth of fatty salmon yielding 1.5g of DHA/EPA, there is another .5 in my lamb and all in all I only get about 4.5g of omega 6 so that all works out.

I stopped taking it altogether when I started primarily eating grass-fed lamb. The chicken and pork I eat here and there seems to be balanced out by the salmon, mackerel, shrimp and scallops I eat here and there.

It seems to me that it is most effective as a SAD adjunct that mitigates some of the terrible effects of it.

Hi, wjones. I guess I'm only answering your one general question and not the other question about itching, because I've never had the itching. But the main answer: Yeah, I'm ditching.

I've been mostly influenced by the Jaminets and by that other thread that Mike D mentions: http://paleohacks.com/questions/17836/unconvinced-taking-fish-oil-supplements-is-a-good-idea My own particular strategy is: steering clear of veggie oil, limiting chicken/pork/nuts, tallow instead of lard, a fish meal at least once a week, and frequent "natural"-brand sardines -- and then if I occasionally supplement, oil instead of pills.

I think the thing to remember is that omega-3s are not really a "supplement." They're fats -- which means they're food! I wouldn't take any other food in the form of a pill, so why would I take my polyunsaturated fats that way?

My experiences with straight up tablespoon a day of Nordic Naturals Fish Oil has been softer skin.

Cod Liver Oil might be the culprit. Vitamin A in large doses can lead to itchy dry skin. It is the same effect as taking Accutane, a retinoid drug which dries out people's skin to fight acne (I took it as a teen--if only I knew about Paleo then). If you are taking multivitamins or eating liver or veggie vitamin A sources you might be getting too much.