I started supplimenting with magnesium and potassium salt in my water a few weeks back and really started to feel the difference. Calmer, borderline/high bp went down to normal, muscles felt less achey, no palps out of the blue, etc..

Unfortunately I ran out of those, which were a combo of several types of mag, and could only find mag oxide or citrate up here in the boonies. I ended up ordering from IHerb and got the chelated 'Doctors Best mag glycinate' and some 5000IU d3 oil caps.

In the couple weeks it took for me to get a quality mag supp I could feel that the benifits I had experienced the first few weeks were rapidly fading. I started taking one 5000IU D3 and 400mgs of the mag glycinate + 150mgs of the crappy mag citrate (helps keep me regular ) about 5 days ago now.

I think the D3 is unmasking a definate magnesium difficency.

I had a few drinks with the girls the night before last , nothing compared to what I'd drink before lcing full-time and was not hungover, and all day yesterday I felt gross. On and off heart palps, achey muscles, and just felt like complete crap. I ended up taking 600mgs of the mag gly + 150 mag cit and felt better by the end of the day.

I was taking 1000mgs/day of the combo mag supp that I had before and noticed a difference, based on my lifestyle factors of the previous few years, I guarantee I'm quite mag difficient. Embarassing..but true!

My question is, because I'm now taking Vit D3 and only 4-600 mgs of mag glycinate/day, how do I know that that is enough? I had some muscle twitching in my lip today..used to get it in my eye all the time and I figure my mag tank needs some serious filling!

I know this chelated type will not cause the loose bowels that the other types do so how do I know that that amount I'm taking is sufficient?

I KNOW I'm also D difficient and really want to find the balance between these necessary additions to my lifestyle.

BTW..have no interest in revisiting cocktails whatsoeva'..going to a hunters dinner tonite and I offered to be the DD..bringing a thermos of tea with me..won't be partaking in the booze for a loong time...talk about a recipe for a yuckky next day!!

Looked around and it seems that I should just keep adding the mag in small increments until I don't feel the symptoms of being low.

I added another 200mgs yesterday (900 in ttl for the day) and it seems I need to go even higher than that. The D3 supplimention combined with the bit of alcohol dehydration from the other night is really making me realize just how difficient I am...will add another 100mgs to the daily total today as see where that gets me..

Palps are way less today, feeling calmer, bp has normalized again (my FAVE benefit!) but the muscles are still sore in my neck and hips and I would love to sleep thru the night without waking four or five times...sigh.

I'll keep plugging along

you are right, back later,

amanda

Good to know!

Since taking the D3 for the last week I'm finding the heart flutters/palps are a huge indicator that I am seriously magnesium deficient. I had them very, very rarely before starting the D3 but have been experiencing them for the last 6 days pretty regular throughout the day. It was really annoying the morn after I had those few drinks..I guess the alcohol really impacted my levels combined with the 5000IU D3 supp. That's the only thing I have added to the mix.

Just took my bp again..118/80..it hasn't been in the normal range for a couple years now so this is beyond fabulous to me and proves that I need to eat LC and include mag desperately! I've been freaking out and stressing about this for a while and it amazed me at how quick it normalized with proper nutrition and the simple addition of magnesium!

I would also get periodic muscle cramps/charley horse type in my legs and feet especially if I stretched in bed in the morn. I'll never forget one morn my big toe cranked itself towards my face and I was in tears of agony trying to massage it into relaxation..I had no idea at the time that a lack of magnesium could be the culprit!

The flutters are annoying but go away for a few hrs after taking 200mgs of the glycinate, there's no dizziness or pain or anything, but they have been returning a few hrs later. That, some tight/achey muscles and my difficulty of staying asleep (been a few yrs for that one too) are the symptoms I'm dealing with right now.

I'm thinking I'll start taking 300mgs at a time, 3-4 times/day. Does this sound like too much, 'cause it doesn't feel like it would be..if the palps stop, maby back off by 100mgs and see if they come back

I'm pretty lc..about 15-30/day, depending if I have nut/seeds/coconut in my daily meal choices. I try to eat avocado a couple times a week but I really don't get a lot of high mag foods. I am very good at getting my MCT's everyday in the form of coconut oil FWIW. My diet is stellar LC right now but I'm positive I need supplimentation.

Looking forward to hearing your opinions, amandawald, I've already learned so much from your posts throughout the site! You're a smart cookie!!

Hi Deezil,

You wrote this above:



Yup, alcohol is terrible for the old Mg levels. My Mg levels were totally shite when I was in my late 20s/early 30s (before I met my DH) and was drinking too much alcohol at night and too much coffee during the day. I used to get toe cramps all the time!!!

Basically, most typical hangover symptoms are just symptoms of the alcohol-induced magnesium deficiency that you get from too much booze. It makes you pee and out goes your Mg along with it!!! The achiness and tiredness you get after too much alcohol are above all from the lack of Mg in your system.



I'm really glad to hear that you're feeling so much better!!! Did your BP used to be high or low? I hope that the Mg will also help you not to freak out over stuff and get so stressed. We always have to remember that we are always trying to do our best according to the knowledge we have at our disposal at the time - well, most of the time anyway!!!



I finally got my head round the idea of spending some money on some decent magnesium when I was having the same problem - and we were about to go camping!!! I had visions of myself wracked in agony, trapped inside a sleeping bag, trying to unzip the inner tent to escape, desperate to get out to hop around and jump the cramp out of my calf muscles - in the middle of the night, in the cold English summer, waking up all my family with my antics!!!



For some reason, they seem to be clued in on low magnesium as a cause of cramps over here in Germany and so I used to get magnesium tablets from the pharmacy, back in the day. They contained a ridiculously low dose, though, and I had to take tons of the things for them to make any difference. And they were expensive!!! So, initially, when I found Mg oxide at the drugstore, much cheaper, I thought I was being very clever.

I have also noticed that here on this forum, when people mention cramps, that generally it is recommended that you take potassium, and hardly anyone mentions magnesium.



It would seem that your Mg levels are low, so keep taking the tablets!!!



Not sleeping through the night could be lots of things, so I don't know whether magnesium will help with that. I think I read recently that low iron can cause that, but I'm not sure. In my case, I think it is low oestrogen as I am 47 and going through perimenopause - so far, without too many nasty symptoms. The one thing I have which is apparently typical according to Dr Schwarzbein is that I wake up pretty much every night between 2 and 4am to go to the loo. She recommends getting your hormone levels checked and taking bio-identical hormones, but I am not so sure about going down that particular road: I'm more of a natural sort of gal, and I don't like messing around with nature. There may be some very good reason why all this is happening and I don't want to mess up some natural system.



Well, I have never taken more than about 400mg per day, so I can't say from my own experience what it would feel like. I guess I would say that you should increase your dose, 100mg per time, till you reach some kind of bowel tolerance level. The body will take whatever it needs, but it could put some stress on your kidneys if it has having to do extra "detoxification" work.



Well, this is something I would change a little, to be honest. If your Mg levels are low, then eating VLC will be making your adrenals work harder, which will use up more magnesium. I would also maybe look for some Mg-rich mineral water (I drink Apollinaris - can you get that where you are?) and eat as many nuts as you can handle!!! I know they say that nuts stall and so on, but they are good sources of magnesium. So are seeds, such as pumpkin and sunflower seeds, which can always go in a salad. There are a few disadvantages to nuts and seeds, apparently, but it seems that they are heart-healthy, which I believe is not due to their fat content, but to their magnesium content. Walnut munchers are less prone to heart attacks, one study showed.

There is a website somewhere with all the mineral waters of the world, plus Mg content. Look for that. Then look up some charts with Mg-rich foods and print it out and put it in your kitchen cupboard!!! That might motivate you to regularly eat some more Mg-rich foods. There's also a recipe for making your own Mg-rich fizzy water out there, too. It's been posted on this forum as well, so a search here might pull it up.



It does sound like you still need to get more magnesium inside you, that's for sure!!! MCTs and coconut oil are great, too. I love coconut oil - both for my insides and my outside!!!



Thanks for the compliment!!! I have learnt so much here, too, over the years, but I do like to read and I enjoy writing, too. It would be a shame to have read all these books and then just keep all the good information to myself. I am glad that there is the internet so I can share it with folks on this site and elsewhere.

What's your first name, by the way? It would be nice to address you by your real name.

Take care, hope your symptoms continue to lessen,

amanda

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond!



Makes sense. I have most definitely had my share (and more ) of booze in the past. Come to think of it, it's probably why, as we get older, our hangovers last longer..our mag levels are so much more depleted.




Thanks for the kind words!

My Mom is on meds for her bp and, for me, watching mine go thru the roof at just 40 was a very scary situation.

My bp was climbing steadily higher as the years went by. Physical and emotional pain were really taking their toll.

I had an episode last Christmas where I ended up in the hospital in major agony, the idiot doc gave me a shot of pain meds (did NOTHING) and sent me home with nexium(antacid) and I continued to suffer until the pain gradually went away about a month later. (Yes, I have a huge pain tolerance..comes with the territory! )

When I went back to the hospital 3 weeks after the first visit, my bp was at 180/something!! To say I was stressed out is an understatement!

It wasn't until this last JULY, when I finally got my ultrasound appt, that I found out I have 2 large gallstones. I attribute them to all the low-fat, chronic dieting I've done my whole life as well as some genetic disposition (Mom had hers out at 30).
I haven't had any issues at all since so, until I do, it's staying where it is!

In any case, my bod has been thru the wringer for a lot of years..suffered for a long time with appendicitis before it was diagnosed and just about to blow, and they performed emerg sugery..the list goes on..

I have had a LOT of shite happen in the last 6/8 yrs..too much to get into, but the stress and personal health issues have definately caused a major strain on my physical well-being. My bp about a month ago was in the 136-150 or so (gasp!) range..bloody scary!!

Since taking mag regularly for the last few weeks it's constantly normal!!!!

My anxiety levels have been high since I was a child and I know for a fact with all that has gone on, my adrenal load led to an exhaustion phase. I stopped chronically dieting for a couple years, supped isocort and finally felt half-way normal about 2 yrs ago.
Wish I had known about magnesium then!




LOVE camping!! ♥
We camped every year but finally bought a cabin about 8 yrs ago right on a nice little private lake and I'm living up here full time for now. DH commutes back and forth to the coast but me and my critters are happily enjoying the peace up here in the 'Boo! It's been the best gift for my health, I tell ya'.




I just put another order in with IHerb..I'm STOCKED baby!!




I wake up at the same time, betw 2-4 and then several times after that. It's been going on for yrs now and can be quite exhausting.

Is it hormones/adrenals/vit difficiency??? Who knows?

I did sleep better when I stopped dieting completely and I was trying to heal my adrenals, but I was also getting fatter.
Sigh, rock and a hard place, eh..



Well, I'm up to 600mgs so far today and no flutters/palps to speak of. I'll hold off until bedtime to take another 200mgs and, if so, it will be less than I took yesterday. Today is one full week on 5000IU of D3/day and I'm wondering if my body is starting to level off and not finding the Vit D3 supps to be too aggressive??
Not quite sure how this all works but that makes some kind of sense to me!



I do notice that my sleeping issue is worse if my carbs are really really low so I've been trying to raise them up a bit more. Not too much, but a bit..

I do eat almonds/sunflower seeds/green leafys but it's just not enough to bring my levels up to where they need to be apparently.

I ordered some powdered mag ( http://www.iherb.com/Natural-Factor...00-g/16007?at=0 ) with added goodies that is supposed to promote sleep and relaxation to go along with the supps so I will add it to my water a couple times a day.



Yup! Bring it on!!
Coconut oil and almond milk/decaf tea has become my new fave bevvie.
I ditched caffeine a couple months ago and now have my CO in it's place.
Yum!!




I like to read/research as well. One MUST be pro-active when trying to get healthy!! Thank you so much for sharing some of the things you've learned..it sure helps!

Nice to meet you Amanda..I'm Leane

You take care, as well, and I look forward to learning much more from, and beside, you as we navigate our way to better health!!

I would love to share my vitamin D/magnesium experience. I was diagnosed pre-diabetes a tad over a year ago. I was taking vitamin D at the time but I figured it wasn't enough so I increased the dose which did bring my blood glucose down quite a bit...temporarily. Being that I am on a low carb lifestyle, I wasn't about to blame my diet so I kept up the detective work and discovered the purpose of magnesium, which is many, including balancing insulin/glucose. Could this be the answer? I first used chelated magnesium which worked wonderfully at reducing my blood glucose but it was temporary. I also learned that it may not be absorbed properly in my body. So to shorten this long story, I began taking ionic magnesium which is in liquid form and it tastes horrible but it works. I take 800 mgs daily and my fasting blood glucose is always under 90. It did drop down to 68 once which scared me. But I was not dizzy or anything.

I meant to add that eating more foods rich in magnesium was a part of my New Year's Resolution. I just found out that caviar is very high in magnesium. Hmmm Magnesium deficiency rocks!!!

Right on!!
That's another amazing story about the powers of magnesium! Good for you!!

I've found that 800mgs/day is the magic number for me as well right now to compliment my Vit D3 supplimentation..no more palps/cramps/etc..

My blood pressure remains perfectly normal, my feelings of stress/anxiety are virtually nil and it's an amazing feeling!!

I wish I liked caviar..unless it's the little bit of roe on sushi I just can't do the texture..*shiver*..it's all yours!!

That's great news!!! I'm so glad to have helped "create", so to speak, another convert to the joys of magnesium!!! It is great stuff!!!

I think you might be able to go down a little after a while, though, just so that the magnesium is not over-taxing your kidneys.

amanda

This is a very helpful and interesting thread. I first started mag after reading Michael Eades- but it gave me terrible intestinal cramps. Of course it was mag citrate. Just a couple of weeks ago I decided to try again after reading stuff on this site about other forms of magnesium- and I'm taking a highly usable chelated capsule - so far so good. I'm on 8,000 mg/D 3 /day and didn't know that it could unmask a mag issue. And the hangovers after one drink! Never made the connection! I'm still learning!I will be increasing the mag to 400/day this week- I am much more positive now that it will be okay.
E

Hi Enomarb,

Glad you've enjoyed it. Keep us posted about how the supplementation goes!

amanda

I'm a student finishing the semester and I am so tired and low so if someone could explain any of this to me I would be so thankful.

Could someone let me know how much magnesium and D3 I should take per day? I'm not sure if it matters, but I am 5'6" and I weigh 125 lbs.

I have read information about it but I am still confused about how to start. I know the magnesium has to be chelated and I know that I have a deficit of both. Also, could someone tell me how to get tested for my levels, what the levels should be at, and when to get tested again? What could happen if I take too much?

Hi heirloom10,

You list your plan as "meat": is this still true?

That could be one reason for your tiredness - lack of magnesium and other nutrients.

D3: I would take 5K for the minute till you can get some good old sun - but don't burn!!!

Magnesium: look up some of my other posts and you'll get the answers you need!!!

Testing for magnesium levels is pointless - or at least the standard blood tests are useless - because only 1% of your magnesium supplies is in your blood.

The best way to find out if you are magnesium deficient, according to Mg expert, Dr Carolyn Dean, is to start taking it!!! If you feel better, you were low in magnesium - easy, hey?

As a student, you are probably getting a lot of stress in your life: that depletes magnesium like anything!!!

You'll find some good info here:

http://www.krispin.com/magnes.html

I would get some of this double-quick if your budget can afford it:

http://www.iherb.com/Doctor-s-Best-...lets/16567?at=0

And some of these:

http://www.iherb.com/Healthy-Origin...gels/18335?at=0

They should get your energy levels up and also make you feel a bit brighter. I would also get some veggies and other carbs in your diet: today's meat is far too rich in protein and contains far too little fat. Just eating meat - IMHO - is really not healthy.

In hunter-gatherer societies, meat-eating people generally ate a whole bunch of animal parts (brain, liver, lung, offal, heart, etc) that nobody would touch these days. In groups of carnivorous animals the alpha male also eats the fatty organs and leaves the muscle meat for the "lesser" animals in the pack. Unless you eat a lot of this kind of animal food, an all-meat diet is very unbalanced.

Hope this helps,

amanda

amanda,

thank you very much for your reply and all of the information. that is very interesting about organ meat and hunter gatherers. if i wasn't the main hunter, i may feel jipped. however, he would have to do some heavy lifting to catch the stuff, so... maybe not. haha. as far as my plan goes, maybe i should put "fat" there instead of meat. i eat some vegetables but mostly fat (with meat, haha) and eggs, and such. i'm not convinced i need more vegetables for nutrients, though i appreciate your two cents. food for thought.

thanks again, very much appreciated. ! i am looking forward to magnesium d3 filled happiness.

I've been contemplating getting Angstrom magnesium for this very reason. I'm so magnesium deficient right now I am going through everything that Dezil mentioned in her posts.