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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 8 of 8. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by nosher1 on June 7, 2009, at 1:46:30
Hello,
I have been dealing with a terrible syndrome of symptoms for many years consisting of chronic heartburn, terrible moods with tight feeling in the chest area with little enjoyment of anything in life, very sweaty armpits most of the time (even in 72 degree air conditioning), mostly low libido, anxiety, tingling/prickling sensations in my skin, exaggerated startle response, light sensitivity, and muscle aches--mostly in my upper back.
I have been treated more than 15 years with psychiatric drugs with no lasting benefit. SAM-e helped the most but it stopped helping after about 6 weeks.
I was recently diagnosed with a magnesium deficiency by a holistic doctor over the phone (she is in California and I am in Florida), and I started taking large doses of magnesium and I felt sooo much better. After about 2 weeks, my moods were much better. After increasing the dose, I was able to stop taking Prilosec which I had been taking for 10 years straight. My sweaty armpits (hyperhidrosis) are about 80-90% improved. But now the benefit of the magnesium is wearing off and I'm approaching the maximum daily dosage allowed (2,500 mg per day) and I have diarrhea as a side effect of the magnesium pills, even though they are slow release tablets. And I just don't feel that great anymore. I feel like I am partially relapsing and I feel somewhat crappy again. I still feel a lot better than I did before I starting taking the magnesium, but I still feel fairly lousy most of the time. I am still off Prolisec and the heartburn is still 95% better than before magnesium. The sweaty armpits are still much improved. Muscle aches are about 80% better than before. I still have some light sensitivity and milde tingling/prickling sensations. All of the symptoms seem to fluctuate where I feel okay for a day, then feel bad for 3 or 4 days, and then feel better for a day, then feel bad again, and so on.
So, does anyone have any idea what is wrong with me and what the best way to treat it is? Do I have "magnesium wasting"? What should I do? I live in Fort Lauderdale, so if there is a doctor someone could recommend in my area, that would be great too.
Thanks!
Norman
Posted by nolvas on June 7, 2009, at 5:04:45
In reply to Mood problems -- magnesium deficiency??, posted by nosher1 on June 7, 2009, at 1:46:30
Which type of Magnesium are you supplementing with? Magnesium Oxide is largely worthless. Citrate, Glycinate or Taurinate forms are the ones I would supplement with. Magnesium can help with anxiety problems, but anxiety is also a self perpetuating condition, the more you worry about symptoms the more symptoms you are likely to have. I would consider seeing a specialist in Cognitive Behaviour Therapy or I can recommend a very good book called Cognitive Behaviour Therapy for Dummies despite the title, this is an excellent book and is written by some of the leading practitioners of CBT. From my experience you can't supplement your way out of anxiety, you can assist your self with supplements but you must tackle the thought processess that go with anxiety as well.
Good luck :)
btw double quotes didn't work to list the above book at Amazon, so it might only be a book available to UK persons.
Posted by verne on June 7, 2009, at 19:17:18
In reply to Re: Mood problems -- magnesium deficiency??, posted by nolvas on June 7, 2009, at 5:04:45
Try this for amazon in US.
Posted by verne on June 7, 2009, at 19:21:28
In reply to Book Link, posted by verne on June 7, 2009, at 19:17:18
"Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Dummies" the other link was for the manual. This is probably what you had in mind.
V.
Posted by bleauberry on June 8, 2009, at 17:15:13
In reply to Mood problems -- magnesium deficiency??, posted by nosher1 on June 7, 2009, at 1:46:30
Maybe the doses you have been taking served the purpose of restoring a shortage, but now that the shortage is restored you do not need that high of a dose to maintain it? You are now saturated with it and getting too much magnesium? Just a thought.
Another thought is that all the minerals can throw the others out of balance. Maybe by concentrating so much on magnesium, a different mineral has been squashed out? Calcium? Zinc? Selenium?
The body will let you know when it has enough magnesium, because any overdose shows itself by way of diarhhea.
It sounds like magnesium is good for you, but you may need to play with the dose, play with different versions of magnesium (malate, glycinate, citrate, taurate), look at other supplements to improve your wellbeing, and never assume there is no other diagnosis to be made.
Posted by Loops on June 9, 2009, at 13:09:24
In reply to Re: Mood problems -- magnesium deficiency??, posted by bleauberry on June 8, 2009, at 17:15:13
hi -
my guess is you might need to balance out with some calcium, and possibly zinc also if you are going to take calcium. I had the same experiences - magnesium worked wonderfully on its own to start with, but then I started to feel really bad again - added in some calcium and that sorted me out. It is possible to get too low in calcium and that can produce similar nervous system effects to low magnesium.
I had terrible heart arrhythmias which only began AFTER supplementing too much magnesium! I had tried taurine and was following George Eby's advice not to supplement calcium at any time! Now don't get me wrong, this guy should be given a medal for his essay on the web, but at some point you have to pay attention to balancing Ca and Mg. Not everybody needs both, but some do. The arrhythmias went away went I reintroduced calcium, but I had to be careful because again, too much Ca and I was back to where I started.
.....
Also, diarrhea from too much magnesium can ironically lower your levels of Mg too much.
Posted by verne on June 9, 2009, at 13:52:17
In reply to Re: Mood problems -- magnesium deficiency??, posted by Loops on June 9, 2009, at 13:09:24
Years ago I used to get mild heart arrhythmia when I took too much magnesium but haven't had any trouble since I started using citrate and malate - sometimes taurate. I think malate was recommended for alcoholism recovery.
I've also read that too much zinc can cause heart arrhythmia when the zinc/copper ratio exceeds 15/1. I think 10/1 or lower is ideal but varies with the individual. One guy's arrhythmia didn't stop until the ratio was 5/1.
By the way, too much iron can cause heart trouble. I don't know why vitamin companies and cereal makers throw it in everything. My doc told me to cut out anything supplemented with iron since my iron level (hemoglobin?) is already high.
Verne
Posted by nolvas on June 22, 2009, at 3:21:42
In reply to Another link, posted by verne on June 7, 2009, at 19:21:28
Thanks Verne, those two dummies books are by the same author and I recommend them. Something else in the arsenal to help with our problems.
This is the end of the thread.
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