Chelated magnesium... and menstrual symptoms
 

I posted this in the newbies questions because I am new to taking magnesium. I wanted to know if there is anyone else in the low-carb community who had severe menstrual pain, and noticed an improvement in symptoms with chelated magnesium.

I started taking Carlson's cod liver oil 4 days ago, and plan on taking it continuously.
I'm also going to start on a regimen of Dr.'s Best chelated magnesium 200mg for one month. And if it doesn't mess with my stomach, I will go up to 400mg. Keep in mind that I'm giving the dosage of actual magnesium minus the chelating agent.

My symptoms include:
Excessive fatigue
Extreme moodiness and impatience
Severe stomach bloating
Severe gas -- I have recently decided to cut out dairy. I don't eat any grains either. The only thing I eat is meat, vegetables, and nuts. I keep my carb intake under 20g on most days.
Nausea due to the bloating

I probably have more symptoms but I can't think of them all. Also, when it's not TOM, I do experience high levels of anxiety when I'm in high-stress situations. I'm hoping that maybe the Mg can help for that too.

I am on my hands and knees begging for some feedback on someone's (hopefully more than one person) experience with chelated magnesium and their cycle. This is a hell I go through 2 days per month, and sometimes I can't show up for school because I'm so nauseated from the bloating.

Wow, I feel like a dumbass (sorry for the language, but I really do!). I googled this and found a reply I did in another thread. But that was when I was taking magnesium oxide, the cheap stuff. I had to discontinue taking it because I was experiencing stomach issues. So I believe this post is still valid.

Definitely valid. :agree:

I have read a bit about magnesium helping with menstrual issues. It doesn't apply to me personally, what with being an old menopausal lady, but magnesium has made a dramatic difference into the frequency of my migraines.

I'm sure someone who has found help with these problems can reassure you more, but IMHO you are on the right track. Good luck next month. :)

Chelated magnesium definitely helps menstrual cramps and related symptoms.

Even better is humic/fulvic acid.

I will report my experience next month. If no one who has read this post is on low-carb and is having menstrual problems at the same time, I hope at least I can be of some help to other women with this problem.

Zuleikaa, did you have an experience similar to mine before you started magnesium? Are you taking magnesium currently?

I'm post menapausal now but I used to have horrid menstrual cycles with the symptoms you describe and debilitating pain that kept me bedridden for the first day or two of my cycle.

I controlled them with herbal teas which, coincidentally I discovered, had the mineral elements found in the humic/fulvic acid.

There are a couple of testimonials of women using humic/fulvic acid and it's effects on menstrual cycles here.

Oh, I do take chelated magnesium and regular magnesium.

Sorry, wrong information. I should have checked before I posted.

It's Diatomaceous Earth that's used for menstrual problems and has the minerals.

And that information is
here.

I am 48, have had difficult periods from day one at 13, and as I get older, my menstrual discomfort gets worse. Now, I will say that after about a year of low carb eating, I noticed a huge, huge improvement in the emotional aspects. I no longer get the high anxiety and "stressed out" feeling. I don't feel like an emotional wreck anymore. This has been fantastic. But, I do still have a lot of pain and I have very heavy periods due to large fibroids. (I am considering a partial hysterectomy next year. Considering.)

At any rate, I've been taking chelated magnesium for the past few months. It seems to help somewhat, but not tremendously. I order some food grade diatomaceous earth yesterday for other reasons. Interesting to read that it may help with the menstrual issues. I sure hope so! That will at least make things more tolerable while I wait if I do decide to get the hysterectomy. The size of my fibroids is interfering with some things, and nothing but removal (or shrinking) of the fibroids themselves or removal of the uterus will fix that part.

I had a retrograde uterus which was the cause of painful menstruation for me. The only thing that ever worked was taking Aleve (naprosyn) or Ibuprofin (Advil). I took magnesium but it never did anything.

Zuleikaa - Thank you for the information on fulvic acid. I will first try to address the magnesium deficiency, which I'm sure I have. When it comes to adding supplements and making tweaks in the diet, I always prefer to do one thing at a time so that I'm pretty sure whatever I'm doing is having some effect. So yeah, if the magnesium has a small effect but I'm still "not there" yet, then I will definitely try out the fulvic acid.

Labhrain, if you decide not to get the hysterectomy, will the problems persist even through menopause and beyond?

Nancy - Yeah, I'm trying to move away from naproxen which actually has not been helping me that much. My period was also 3 days late and I think it had to do with some tweaks I made in my diet. Did you use chelated magnesium?

Hard to say. A lot of folks say that the fibroids shrink following menopause. However, I don't know if that will be the case or not. I have some really large ones. They protrude and make me look like some sort of freakish Sigourney Weaver in Alien type character. This is especially more pronounced as I lose weight. Well, okay, they don't protrude to THAT degree, but you get the idea. Plus, at 48, I could be looking at menopause in a year or two, or I could be talking close to another decade. Who knows?

I see. I looked up fibroid treatments on google and this was the first thing that popped up:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/ut...ments-and-drugs

I wonder if myolysis and uterine artery embolization would be procedures to look into since they are less invasive?

Yes, I'm aware of these. And, of the fact that they are sometimes successful and sometimes not. I've been dealing with this for a while. My doc and I have discussed all of the options and I've done plenty of research, both with her and on my own (Trust me, I don't go into ANYTHING without researching a lot first.) My boss had the same issue, tried some of the other options without success, and eventually ended up having the hysterectomy. She doesn't regret it and highly recommends it LOL.

I understand :) . I guess I'm just a scaredy cat when it comes to medical procedures. I've never broken limbs or had to have any kind of surgeries YET. But I'm sure if I were in your situation, I would want that relief.


I think I should also mention the tweaks I made. I just recently decided to try giving up dairy. I also typically eat 4 eggs at breakfast, and 4 eggs at lunch if I can't find anything else to eat or am just feeling lazy. Each time, I cook them in a tablespoon of coconut oil. That has helped immensely with bm's.

But another change I would like to point out: My period was 3 days late, and usually it is like clockwork. Every 27 days. Also, I have had THREE bad days of agony. Usually it's 1 or if on rare occasions, 2 days of hell. I've combed through google, and it seems like other women have experienced inconsistencies in their cycle from it. It looks like it's probably due to an estrogen imbalance, but I haven't found the mechanism for it yet. But at least that's something I can keep in mind, and hopefully things will normalize again.

Oh yeah. I currently take 4 of them a day (chelated magnesium glycinate).

We're all so different, it might work for you. Who knows.

You are right about that. Who knows for me, maybe it's just an obstacle I have to deal with in the short-term. Believe me, I would be SO happy to learn that I'm magnesium deficient and that my body is adjusting to the 2-lb loss I just experienced the other day. It would be awesome if I could just take magnesium, CLO, and nothing else. But if not, then back to NSAIDS lol.