Avoiding A Magnesium Deficiency Is Easier Said Than Done

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Gabes-Apg
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Post by Gabes-Apg »

Peder
from my experience, the ratio's you are referring to are what the levels should be within the body, not necessarily what needs to be taken when correcting deficiencies.

in saying that, not sure how many posts and discussions you have read in the week that you have been a member of the forum, if you have read quite a few you will see that Vit D is discussed and recommended frequently.
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Post by tex »

Peder,

Sorry if I surprised you, but so far all of your input here seems to be consistent with what we discussed in our emails. Most legitimate new members do not come to a discussion and support board about a disease (especially one that's poorly-understood by the medical profession) to try to impress everyone else with how much they know about it. Most legitimate members come here for support and helpful suggestions that will help them to get their life back.

For your information, we created this discussion and support forum over 10 years ago because we were sick and tired of receiving incorrect advice about the disease from our gastroenterologists, nutritionists, and most other medical professionals who claim to understand the disease. We come here to learn what actually does work and what doesn't work by comparing experiences and learning from each other.

The continents and location have nothing to do with nutritional knowledge. Your nutritionist is typical of most medical professionals regarding dietary issues and our digestive system. Their advice does not keep up with current research and they also do not understand the type of food sensitivities that are associated with microscopic colitis. They have absolutely no training in treating MC patients, so they assume that what they recommend for Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis will work for MC. It will not, in most cases.

You can also ask your nutritionist if he has ever successfully treated any patients who have MC, and see if he will give you an honest answer. If he is honest he will have very few success stories, if any. Incidentally, current research on the paleolithic diets shows that the calcium/magnesium ratio of their diet was typically 1:1.

Incidentally, I'm not aware that paranoia is associated with magnesium deficiency, but anxiety is definitely a symptom of magnesium deficiency. An acute episode can almost seem like a panic attack while it is happening.

However, paranoia is definitely associated with discussion forum administration because there are probably 100 or more spambots and spammers trying to join discussion boards these days for every legitimate new registrant. We are forced to spend way too much time sifting out the legitimate members from all the chaff who just want to join to sell something, kill some time having fun at other members expense, impress others with their knowledge, argue, or otherwise cause problems. Paranoia is a work-related risk that we just have to learn to live with.

If you sincerely want support and valid information on how to control your disease, we are here for you and we will bend over backward to try to help you. But if you just came here to impress us or to tell us how to treat MC (as if we haven't learned anything in the last 10 years), then perhaps you might be happier joining any of the other MC discussion forums where everyone always follows their doctors' advice and they don't realize that there are actually ways that this disease can be successfully controlled, without the use of drugs.

Tex
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It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
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Post by HappyBird »

In the UK and Europe, not sure about other parts of the world, nutrionists are not registered with the Health Care Professions Council (HCPC) as are Dietitians. Almost anyone can call themselves a nutrionist and many people do. The protection using a Dietition as opposed to a nutrionist means patients are assured that the Dietition registered with a body who regulates and prescribes training, ethics and they can be held to account for advice and treatment given to their patients. The description, Dietitian, is a protected description and can only be used by people who have followed the prescribed training and hold current registration with the Health Care Professions Council (UK). Nutrionists on the other hand are not registered with a recognised professional body and therefore patients are not protected.

Health matters are important especially for those of us with MC and food intolerance. Good advice us key to regaining health. I would not see a nutritionist myself and never recommend anyone else down that path purely because many of them have certificates from online sites and the information taught is not of a sufficiently high standard needed - its really basic stuff no where near what is needed for professional advice.

To illustrate my point here are two nutrionist courses currently on offer
https://www.udemy.com/courses/health-an ... nutrition/
£21.00

https://thenutritionschool.uk/course/le ... 0wodMMcH9w

Download your own certificate & print
Assessment - online quizz
Was £899 if you are quick you can bag this course for £179 right now.

This is the pathway to becoming a Registered Dietitian - Cost £27,000 - £45,000 over four years or more.
https://www.healthcareers.nhs.uk/explor ... -dietitian

Certain members of this forum speak from personal experience and years of dealing with their own medical problems. I'd far rather take advice, and I have, from knowledgeable members on here than anyone calling themselves a nutrionist sporting a £21.00 - £179.00 qualification and a self- printed certificate of qualification after doing an online quizz!
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Erica P-G
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Post by Erica P-G »

One of the things I learned from my 23andme test results is that I metabolize caffeine very poorly. Because of that it remains in my system way too long, blocking the absorption of magnesium much longer than it would for normal people.
Thanks Tex!!

That just gave me an Ah-Ha moment! I have the same exact issue with my gene expression, no wonder I can only handle having the 6-8oz coffee a few times a week especially since I have a 7.5 oz Mtn Dew with 34 mg of caffeine with my lunch every day during the week. DANG....I metabolize caffeine too slow!!! Plus it slows my absorption to a crawl with Magnesium....AAAHHH....now I'm really having a head spin today.

My sweats I blamed on estrogen and progesterone being low or out of whack....what I may need to concentrate on is leaving more caffeine by the way side now. Good grief....I didn't really think I was getting much anyway, but I must be getting just a tad bit more than I need.

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Post by jlbattin »

Don't you just feel, Erica, like when you think you have one thing figured out, you take two steps backwards some days? If it's not one thing, it's a bunch of things! :) Glad we can all still smile and laugh about this!
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Post by tex »

Erica,

I'm afraid it's even more complicated. Hormones affect magnesium levels, according to Dr. Carolyn Dean.
Magnesium levels fluctuate during a woman’s cycle. The higher the estrogen or progesterone, the lower the magnesium. During the second half of the menstrual cycle, when both estrogen and progesterone are elevated, magnesium plummets. This can result in spasms in the brain arteries — a prelude to PMS and migraines. Increasing dietary and supplemental magnesium can help relieve PMS-related symptoms, such as headaches, bloating, low blood sugar, dizziness, fluid retention and sugar cravings.
How low magnesium is affecting your hormonal balance

Tex
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It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
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Post by Gabes-Apg »

in line with Tex's response - that is why women crave chocolate during PMS - both the sugar and the magnesium fix...
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Post by Vanessa »

Very interesting indeed. Keep the topic and the topical going!
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Post by tex »

Gabes wrote:in line with Tex's response - that is why women crave chocolate during PMS - both the sugar and the magnesium fix...
Yes. Chocolate is very high in magnesium content. And usually the lower the sugar content the higher the magnesium content.

And furthermore the morning sickness associated with pregnancy is apparently due to the magnesium deficiency resulting from massive hormonal changes.

Tex
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Post by Lilja »

HappyBird wrote:In the UK and Europe, not sure about other parts of the world, nutrionists are not registered with the Health Care Professions Council (HCPC) as are Dietitians. Almost anyone can call themselves a nutrionist and many people do.
This is also the case in Norway. Nutritionists, homeopaths, osteopaths, and even acupuncturers are not only not registered, they are also being ridiculed in the media.


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Post by peder »

OK, so I am a newbie and therefore (according to you) I don't know anything and therefore I should not open my mouth. So why do you want new members?

You go on the attack to grind my nutritionist into the ground without knowing the slightest thing about him and without knowing what he has done for me in the past. So nutritionist is the wrong title, but it was the nearest one I came up with, not knowing that it would cause such a vitriolic attack. He is actually (among other things) an orthomolecular therapist and he knows his stuff. Being a newbie this statement will probably prompt another attack on me and him. He has never claimed to be a specialist on MC, but he helped me to control my MC to the extent that I did not think I needed to go on Entocort. But having read all the horror stories about it on this site I went on it anyway so I could get first-hand experience. And I did not find it that scary.

I am not the patron saint of medical practitioners. I know as well as you do that there are good ones and bad ones. The doctor who prescribed Entocort also prescribed calcium and vitamin D, but did not mention magnesium. So there is another doctor with a black mark in the book.

So now I have told you some of my story so you can see I am not a spammer. Nor am I here to overwhelm you with knowledge, although even a newbie deserves to be heard without having to go back through the 10 year history of this group.

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Post by Adelaide »

Hi Peder

Welcome to the group. I have just started Entocort. Day 3 and 4 weren't so great but I am on day 9 now and doing okay. I still have symptoms but am hopeful. I hope you are doing okay on it and that you are improving.

I notice you come from the Netherlands. I visited there a few months ago. It was lovely but so cold. I stayed in Amsterdam and in Groningen. It was fun but would have been better without MC :grin:
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Post by tex »

Peder,

It is painfully obvious (based on everything that you have posted) that you did not join this forum because you were seeking help and support. You joined it so that you could come here and teach us about a great new way to treat MC. But you are preaching to the choir. Actually, we don't need new members to preach the virtues of "orthomolecular therapy" to us. We already use "orthomolecular therapy" to treat MC (and many other satellite issues). I use it myself. It's not our primary approach (diet changes come first) but we use orthomolecuolar therapy whenever it can be helpful. After we have made the diet changes that will get us on the path to recovery and our digestion begins to improve, then yes, supplementation with certain vitamins and minerals can be very helpful.

But the concept of orthomolecular therapy is flawed. It will not resolve all health issues (by itself) as claimed. Sometimes other intervention is essential, and in the case of MC, diet changes (or avoiding specific drugs that trigger MC) are essential. In some cases orthomolecular therapy can cause additional problems, rather than helping.

Orthomolecular therapy is a very controversial topic. Most MDs view such practitioners as little more than vitamin salesmen. Their credentials are questionable, when compared with mainstream medical practitioners. "Orthomolecular therapy" is even a quackwatch topic, where it was soundly thrashed by mainstream medicine:

http://www.quackwatch.com/01QuackeryRel ... ortho.html

But despite all that, virtually everyone here is well aware that mainstream medicine is a long way from perfect, and the mainstream medical community tends to be very aggressively protective of their "turf" so we view their condemnation of many forms of alternative treatment methods with suspicion.

But the bottom line is, you made a mistake when you tried to correct a point that someone else had previously posted, because you posted incorrect information and tried to palm it off as fact. And now, instead of just dropping it so that we can all get on with doing something more worthwhile, you continue to try to defend your mistake by arguing how great your so-called "orthomolecular therapist" is. Whether you are a spammer, or a troll, or just an everyday guy who happens to have MC, is immaterial — if you just came here to argue, your tenure will be brief.

Drop it, and let's get on with something more worthwhile.

Tex
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It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
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Post by Lilja »

Hi Peder,

I wonder how old you are?

You know, entering a new forum is like the first days in a new job. There is a lot of knowledge, it's a new culture with unspoken "codes" etc. But you choose to sit still, and just observe, watch, read & learn.

This is a wonderful forum, filled with experienced people who have been sick for years, and even decades. We exchange experiences and challenges, and people here go out of their way, to try and help all newbies who are struggling with a thousand questions. Since the medical world is not so interested in our disease, the knowledge and experience of this forum is of immense value.

I hope you will stay here, and if you need help, ask questions. The more you read here at the forum, the more you will learn.

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Post by HappyBird »

peder wrote:
You go on the attack to grind my nutritionist into the ground without knowing the slightest thing about him and without knowing what he has done for me in the past. So nutritionist is the wrong title, but it was the nearest one I came up with, not knowing that it would cause such a vitriolic attack.

Peder
Peder........

My post about the different terminology "nutritionist" and "registered dietitian" was by no means an attack on yourself or your nutritionist, it was a statement of fact. I wrote the post to clearly illustrate the huge difference and discrepancies between both titles in the UK.

To say that members on this forum made vitriolic attacks on yourself and your nutrionist is an exaggeration. Take the time to read the posts, you won't find a single nasty post where anyone is being rude or unkind. Everyone posts in a considered and respectul tone. You come across as defensive, which is a worry.
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