Magnesium - Good info !!

[Erica P-G]

Thanks for talking about those foot cramps on this post! It is exactly what I needed to read right now....I guess I'm absorbing my Mag much better these days and have gotten a bit on the low side...about every 3-4 days I'd get woken up at 12:30 a.m. in the middle of the night with a terrible charlie cramp in my arch of the right foot....GEEZ it HURT!

So now I can understand that symptom and will attack it better moving forward!
Hugs
Erica

[hollyweb]

Yes, Erica! It's so helpful to hear from Tex and know it's not the result of too much magnesium, plus know that others have experienced the same thing. I can tell I'm in for another rough night tonight! My feet and calves are twitching like crazy! Hopefully, the tablet magnesium will come soon, do you take the oral magnesium glycinate too? Yes, the ReMag really does seem to be absorbing much better than other magnesiums I've tried before. Instead of the cramps, I'll try to think about all the other great functions my body may be able to do (or trying to do, or will be able to do soon) now that it's finally getting some magnesium into the cells! Looking forward to when the mineral doesn't have to be pulled out of feet and legs!

I guess when one is completely magnesium deficient, there just isn't any magnesium in the feet and legs to pull out, right?!! (Those cramps DO hurt!) So, progress!!

~ Holly

[Erica P-G]

Say Holly....do you have any Epsom salts? If so that is good external magnesium when you need some in a pinch. Try a cup in really warm water and soak feet for as long as you can stand the water.

[hollyweb]

Great idea, Erica! Don't have a bathtub, but could do a foot bath! Thank you so much!

~ Holly

[hollyweb]

Since there seem to be a few of us fairly early on with the ReMag to boost our magnesium levels, I thought I'd share that last night went well for me. By reducing the amount of water intake while slightly increasing the sea salt and the ReMag, plus continuing to sip throughout the night, I did not have the full cramping in calves and feet. (I know from experience that drinking too much water without the electrolytes can cause drop in sodium and cramping too.) In addition, my sleep was greatly improved! I am having to pee more often and have more of it, but feel that's likely due to increased water intake plus hopefully some de-toxing going on.

Good news! Am much encouraged by Tex's post about side-effects of too much magnesium, so feel better able to "captain my own ship" as Vanessa said with how often to increase the ReMag dose. How is everyone else doing?

~ Holly

[TaiaK]

I am finishing up my first bottle of ReMag and the 2nd one is already here! I've been doing 1tsp throughout the day and a mag glycinate supplement at night (because I have a whole container). Then I do the lotion and baths here and there. Has anyone used the Dr Teal's Epsom salt bubble bath? Omg-love it and it's the same brand as the Epsom salts I buy. I use both in the bath. I have a big decorative bowl on the bathtub with all my salts, bubbles, oils and lotions.

I think I'm going to up the ReMag to 1 1/2 tsp/day. I sat here the other night watching this muscle on my arm twitch away along with my eyelid. My restless legs have gone away, I used to have "burning feet" at night. Not sure how else to describe it. That has gone. So looks like it's going the right direction.

Wishing a calm day to all!

Taia

[BobSing]

I took chelated magnesium but then had diarrhea, not sure if they was the culprit, is they possible?

[tex]

It's not common, but with MC, just about anything is possible.

Did you by any chance buy the house brand sold by Vitacost? I got stuck with that a couple of years ago and ended up with a worse magnesium deficiency than I started with. Vitacost called it "Buffered". But the problem is that they buffered it by substituting cheap magnesium oxide for approximately half of the magnesium glycinate. They got hit with a class action lawsuit because they hid the fact that it included so much magnesium oxide. I received a check in the mail back in October, as my part of a settlement claim for part of the cost of the products that I had bought from them. Surely they changed the label after that, or they're no longer selling it.

Here's a quote from pages 9–10 of the book Pancreatic Cancer that describes the problem:

For example, magnesium oxide is poorly absorbed. Typically, only about 2–4 % of magnesium oxide is absorbed into the bloodstream. It's the cheapest form of magnesium available, and not surprisingly, it has the poorest absorption characteristics of all the available options. When water is added to magnesium oxide, the result is magnesium hydroxide, otherwise known as milk of magnesia, a common laxative. So obviously one wouldn't want to take very much magnesium oxide unless the goal is to resolve a constipation problem. The point is, magnesium oxide is an extremely poor choice when attempting to resolve a magnesium deficiency. Much better forms, with better absorption characteristics are available.

One of the most easily absorbed forms of magnesium that's commonly available is chelated magnesium (aka magnesium glycinate).
Magnesium glycinate is also one of the more expensive forms of magnesium (not surprisingly). And this form of magnesium is one of the least-likely forms to cause diarrhea when larger doses are used. Magnesium glycinate is a chelation of magnesium and glycine, an amino acid. Because amino acids are readily absorbed in the small intestine, magnesium glycine is readily absorbed.

But beware of products sold as "Buffered" Chelated Magnesium because in many cases the buffering agent appears to be simply cheap magnesium oxide. And in such products magnesium oxide may be used to replace up to 50 % of the chelated magnesium.

Rather than being an enhancement, an addition of this sort behaves more like an adulteration of the product. The buyer mistakenly believes that the manufacturer is looking out for her or his welfare by considerately adding a "buffering" agent to enhance absorption efficiency or safety, when in fact all that the manufacturer is doing is ripping off the customer by selling cheap magnesium oxide at chelated magnesium prices. And of course the magnesium oxide can undo the benefits of chelated magnesium by significantly reducing the amount of magnesium that will be likely to be absorbed, and this can increase the chances that larger doses might promote diarrhea in some cases. Up to 50 % of the elemental magnesium in magnesium glycinate can be absorbed. However, if half the magnesium glycinate is replaced by magnesium oxide, then the amount of magnesium likely to be absorbed will be approximately cut in half.

Tex

[Gabes-Apg]

Also Bob, did you spread the dose out?

take small amount at breakfast, then another small amount at lunch, then small amount at dinner.

[MCR]

I sent a message yesterday and three people were kind enough to respond! I wanted to thank them but could not find a way how to do this directly under their messages. How do I do this?

MCR

[Gabes-Apg]

Hi there MCR
when you view the message there should be a 'post reply' button on right hand side just above the message (underneath the page header)

hope this helps

[tex]

The "post reply" and "new topic" buttons are on the left side in my browser.

Tex

[Gabes-Apg]

Thanks Tex - Yes it is the left hand side.... (think I need another coffee!!!)