Magnesium

[Doolange]

Hey Shelley!

It has been a long time since I posted. I have been seeing a local doctor who is quite expensive but seemed to be helping. I went to him because I have history of breast cancer and was feeling a lot of anxiety. After blood tests, he determined that my magnesium was very very low. We supplemented for over a year with magnesium taurate and magnesium chelate. After a year, the symptoms returned (anxiety, bad periods) and we did another test. The magnesiums was still low. We then did 6 magnesium drips over 6 weeks. Tested again, and still low. Now I am getting shortness of breath and anxiety feelings again (hadn't for almost 2 years) and he is attributing it to the low magnesium. He wants me to do 6 more and see if the magnesium comes up. I don't understand why after taking the supplement intravenously it wouldn't work and after all this time, I seemed to put something outof whack. Any insight?

Kristen

[shelley]

I can't believe magnesium would be low after a year of supplementing. That's too strange. Plus, you get the same symptoms when high in magnesium. But assuming the tests are accurate (testing cellular fluid is more accurate), there are cases where a person cannot hang on to magnesium because of prior use of tranquilizers or current use of NSAIDs.

If your doctor only gave you magnesium he made a mistake. he should also have given you B6 to prevent kidney stones and other mineral imbalances due to taking only the one mineral. Taking only magnesium will rob you of 4 other minerals and taking B6 offsets that. B2 also. D wouldn't hurt.

Has he tested your parathyroid? (PTH) are your serum calcium and serum potassium levels normal? Have your lipids remained steady?

[Doolange]

I do know that the magnesium drip had b vitamins, vit. C and few other things. The magnesium was tested from the red blood cells, serum count? That was what I remember. The doctor was surprised that it has stayed so low and he thinks that may have contributed to my breast cancer at the early age. I have never taken any prescriptions in my life, not even antibiotic. Never needed it...thank God. So, why the magnesium is so low is a puzzle. I took it for a year, tested low. Did magnesium drip, 6 rounds, still low. Normal 3.9 to 6.9 mine was 3.0
The doctor mentioned that you store magnesium for 4 months in your red bloods. He wants to continue the drip until I have been doing it for 4 months to see if the cells hang on with the drip. I do feel something else is out of whack. Shortness of breath and overall uneasiness lately which I really haven't felt in years. I must say though, last month my period was the best in years. No cramping and really easy. So I feel like 2 steps forward with 3 steps back! I do take calcium and have been trying to eat a banana a day because I read you could be out of balance. What tests should I ask him to do to try and find the imbalance....could hormones be involved?

[shelley]

Okay, good! then all you have to do is take the minerals that magnesium tends to antagonize so you don't get low in them. Just take the RDA, don't mega-dose. calcium, sodium, iron, or potassium can get out of whack when supplementing magnesium. The only one you should need to supplement is iron and calcium, rotating each day as they antagonize one another and you shouldn't need them every day unless your serum calcium or ferritin levels have been lower than normal. If you're eating dairy then you may only need 250 mg of calcium about 2-3x a week, or when symptomatic (anxiety can be calcium related).

How our bodies use minerals depends on many factors - environmental toxins, hormones, diet, the curve of our spine (have you had it checked? and acupuncture will help you utilize magnesium better), genetics, major organ strength, endocrine system...

[Doolange]

Hello again Shelley! It has been a while since I posted. Well, after supplementing with the magnesium, lo and behold and I very low in iron because I did not pay close enough attention to your post and once again, YOU WERE RIGHT. Now, my iron is out of whack!!! Now what. I had a blood test to test my magnesium and my magnesium is up, hooray, but the doctor wanted to know how I was feeling because I was severely anemic UGGHH. I have not felt well at all. Very tired and did not feel like doing anything and my major sympton was wanting to chew on ice constantly. So, here I am, throwing my minerals out of whack....what do you suggest. Should I go with the over the counter iron pill Feosol or are they as toxic as I have read. Your advice is greatly appreciated.

P.S. I think all these troubles began with Candida so I am making my own yogurt and that is helping.

[shelley]

You can order the NOW brand of iron supplements off of Amazon or drugstore.com I think, they're my favorite and I've tried them all. What I like about them is they have a bit of C, B12 and herbal laxatives in addition to the iron. Iron always constipates and healthy blood needs not just iron but C and B12 too.

[Doolange]

I am taking Schulze's Superfood twice a day and since I didn't hear right back from you, I went to the local health food store and purchased Solgars "Gentle Iron" (iron bisglycinate 25 mg.). It specifically says "non constipating"

I figured with the Superfood I am getting all the B's. How much C should I supplement? Also, I love my magnesium soaks...I soak my feet in it while I work to bring my levels up. Is that just going to screw things up even more? This gets so confusing!

[shelley]

Superfood should be giving you enough C too.

Foot baths shouldn't antagonize your iron supplements, only taking magnesium orally will antagonize iron absorption.

[Doolange]

Funny thing....I started the soaks AFTER I started taking Natural Calm (magnesium supplement). I was taking that twice a day, since last March and I was trying to figure out when I became anemic. I remember in the summer, I was trying to chew ice all the time so I believe this iron problem started with that. I didnt start the soaks until July/August and in the beginning I was sometimes doing both. Even with all that, my magnesium is still a tad below normal, although not as bad as it was. My point is, I think if I would have supplemented with iron while I was taking the Natural Calm, I would not have this problem. I can say though, I feel better after taking the Superfood and Iron after only 3-4 days. I think Superfood builds your blood immediately and I am taking it twice a day to give me that extra boost.

[shelley]

Yep. Eating extra protein occasionally is good for building the blood, and juicing is better than pills if you happen to run across a juice bar.

[Doolange]

OK so, I just returned from the doctor and got my blood results.

WBC 5.0 (3.4-11.
RBC 4.0 (3.6-5.5)
HGB 9.7 (11.5-15.6)
HCT 32.3 (34.5-46.5)
MCV 80.8 (80.0-100.0)
MCH 24.3 (25.0-34.1)
MCHC 30.0 (29.0-34.0)
LYMPHS 38 (12-4
EOS 4 (0-
Platelet count 430 (144-400)

As you can see, I am low in iron

As I stated above, I doing my supplementation. My ND was concerned as to why it was so low because my test in January was normal. He thought it dipped so low so fast. Since about March, I had been supplementing with Natural Calm bcause my magnesium levels were low. I was taking 1 tablespoon twice a day and 3 teas. has 615 mg. of elemental magnesium. I think I overdid it and that is what set my iron low.

The ND did a live blood anaysis and the I have a pretty severe fungal infection that won't budge. I know that is why my minerals have been depleted for so long. I think this has been an ongoing problem for years. Over the summer I did Diflucan and Nyastatin and it did nothing.

The ND feels that my health problems stem from the fungal infection. He wants to give me Mycamine intravenously to kill off the fungus. He said he has had a lot of luck with that.

What are your thoughts on all of this Shelley...........

[shelley]

HGB isn't just low iron. He didn't check for iron specifically, none of that says ferritin so we don't know what your iron stores actually are. HGB is the actual hemoglobin. You're scary low, you should be feeling pretty damned awful with that little blood.

Have you had your kidneys checked? What's your creatinine and BUN? To have HGB that low either your kidneys are not signalling your body to make red blood cells, or you're constantly bleeding and reducing your stores. Make sure your kidneys are okay before taking any more antibiotics or antifungals. You may have exhausted them by taking so much unnecessary magnesium.

Be sure to stick to RDA levels from now on, or safe therapeutic levels. Two tablespoons a day for even one day is totally unsafe, more than a month is deadly. That's the same as heavy metal poisoning type levels.

You need to recover your blood levels fast or you endanger your heart. See a kidney specialist, show them your lab test results and ask them for a shot of Epoegin/Procrit, they're the only ones who can prescribe it. Epoegin is the hormone that tells the bones to make red blood cells. One shot should see you to rights. Take iron and eat adequate protein so your body has something to work with.

Sorry, don't know what else to tell you.

[Doolange]

Creatine was 0.6 (0.6-1.3)
BUN was 23.3 (10-2

Do you think all this is related to the magnesium or I should getting some other tests done.

[shelley]

Oh good. That's fine then.

It could all be due to magnesium overdosing. Wait and see if the hemoglobin levels recover. Get checked in another month.

[Doolange]

Thanks Shelley I will. I just want to mention that the magnesium was water soluable (it said so on the bottle) and said you can keep taking till tolerance (loose bowels). I never had an issue with the loose bowels, which is why I kept taking it. I thought if it was water soluable I would be okay. My own opinion is I offset the iron with the high magnesium. The good news is that the magnesium came up to almost normal and I feel better already from the black strap molasses and iron pills. I will keep you posted.

Thank you for your time.