Apparently, a simple blood test isn’t an accurate indicator of magnesium present and working within cells: a-fib.com/treatments-for-at...
My magnesium blood test came back as 1.01, which I’m guessing (from reading the above page), is the 1% they mention. Quote: ‘Serum levels of magnesium remain relatively stable (about 1%), even though working intracellular magnesium levels may be low’.
I mentioned this to my GP, but she wasn’t aware of the EXAtest (mentioned in the above link), and I couldn’t find much when I Googled it.
What other tests are available (UK), that are going to come up with the relevant numbers on magnesium levels?
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onezone
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Thanks One zone good to know. My alternative practitioner tested me with a blood test. It came out 2.2. He said 2.1-3.0 is the range and he would like to see me 2.5. Haven't started the supplement yet, will run it past an EP next week.
Hi onezone thanks for the interesting post. I think it is completely ignored by the NHS. I asked a registrar whom I saw at my local Cardiac clinic who told me that magnesium you took orally had no effect and they only treated extreme deficiency intravenously. However if you talk to environmental doctor ie: holistic practitioners, they will tell you you need to do this test to know exactly but that you can presume if you have AF there will be magnesium deficiency within the cell as it is such an essential electrolyte.
I am currently reading Dr Sarah Underhills book about chronic fatigue, she mentions AF as she sees and treats CFS purely as a symptom. She believes that modern farming methods have reduced the levels of minerals in the soil so much that we don't get the minerals we need from our foods and therefore we all require supplements, especially if we are symptomatic. She has devised a variety of tests to test for mitochondrial failure within the cell, that is the digestive system of the cell which converts oxygen into energy. I am still studying this as despite a so far, successful ablation, I still get fatigued.
Not sure exactly how it works but she evidently sends the test kit, I assume you need a professional to take the sample, it is sent to her lab, results are always sent to your GP.
Yes, it's very difficult to get an intra-cellular test for magnesium deficiency but you are, imo, correct in assuming that if you have AF or even I might add, PVC's & PAC's, that you are in fact magnesium deficient - at least for your own body requirements, which may or may not fit the general statistical model. My own approach was to slowly add the magnesium until I reached the desired affect - no arrhythmia. Which for me happened at 750mg day. I was taking 3 tablets @ 250mg each, spread through the day. However that did cause diarrhea ( i was also taking 1-2 gms of Vit.C )..While waiting to stabilize my colon, & start it over again to reach a little lower level, maybe taking 2.5 tablets for example, after 3-4 days without magnesium, I began to experience a slight return of the ectopic heartbeats.
Researching, I found that one can avoid the diarrhea by experimenting with taking with meals, or without meals, it can work differently for everyone. For me, I have found it is better to take it WITH the meals. Additionally the form of magnesium is important...I was (and still am) taking citrate, but that does predispose one to diarrhea, so with my next purchase I want to experiment with dimalate or ionic angstrom types or even magnesium oil. Currently i supplement the mag with epsom salt foot soaks about once a week (nice for the feet too !)
I also believe that AF and ectopic prone individuals need to keep their potassium levels at 4.5 or higher. Of course one should be tested regularly to make sure it doesn't go too high, which is also dangerous. I personally function best around 4.8 or 4.9.
I am not familiar with Dr. Sarah Underhill but saw you mentioned her earlier so I will look up her work. Dr. Carolyn Dean is an expert on magnesium deficiencies and has written a book called The Magnesium Miracle. drcarolyndean.com/magnesium... Much of her information is easily accessible online.
Thanks for that, all learning, most of what you say is also in Dr Underhills recommendations for mag absorption, she also suggests the Epsom salts soaks and even taking it orally, rectum suppositories or through a nebuliser. I am also taking mag citrate but will experiment more, just learned not to take with calcium, which I am taking for the osteoporosis but going to take that just before bed now, as late as possible.
She also suggests taking with borum and potassium, which is what the vets use Koll for cattle and sheep.
The more I am studying this and learning about the precise mechanisms of how these minerals behave in our cells the more sense it is starting to make for me of just how important these mineral supplements are for a good function and energy release. I also take Vit C 1000mg.
I just posted this on another thread but Dr.M Rath (a former colleague of Linus Pauling) is a world renowned cellular medicine doctor and his institute is a wonderful source for information. It is his protocol that I use as my foundation. He speaks about how important it is for all these to work synergistically.
CDreamer Look at magnesium L-threonate, NR (nicotinimide riboside,) ,Shilatjit ( Jarrow's) and raw goat milk, and tai chi- all these in the morning later miday and evening some magnesium glycinate and some magnesium taurate ( not more than about 500 mg. /day) however make sure you can take a supllemental magnesium I think it is bad for those with kidney problems.
Thank you - since this post which was 2 years ago, I developed a condition for which I cannot take any magnesium supplements.
Funnily enough I have a morning routine of my own which is a combination of TaiChi and Touch for Health and I use goat's milk, eat clean and gluten free.
CDreamer ... very interested in what you have said, especially since I have just started taking Magnesium supps. Am i wasting my time doing so, I wonder? I have had IV magnesium many times prior to DCCV's . Can I ask whether you take magnesium supps yourself as you seem very well versed in comp. meds etc
I went down the magnesium and amino acid Have forgotten which) supplement route three years ago and might have gained a small benefit. An enforced visit to A and E and a change of beta blocker from Sotalol to Bisoprolol was much more beneficial. I started high, 10mg (made me stiff and tired) and gradually over a year reduced dose to 2.5mg. Have just discovered I am anaemic and information leaflet supplied with iron tablets says symptom of anaemia is an arrhythmiic heart beat. Three weeks into supplements and arrythmia reduced from about 4 times 15 min episodes a week to pretty well zero. I have been anaemic frequently in the past and suffered from low blood pressure. Iron deficiency very common and relationship to circulation and compensatory feed-back mechanisms might be a possible cause of development of AF
Thanks xfrack, I am not anaemic, all results come back clear. I am still on Bisoprolol which I don't tolerate very well, but it has been helpful.
For myself, because the 2nd ablation has eliminated the arrythmias (for now at least) I am more interested in my energy levels, suffering from a range of symptoms, including fatigue, which fit with chronic fatigue syndrome, over about 45 years. I am now investigating that all these different illnesses and symptoms may have a core link in that they are all symptomatic of mineral deficiency at a cellular level. Those are:- lactose acidosis, IBS which led to ulcerative colitus, migraines with visual disturbances and chronic fatigue in addition to the AF, AFl & ATachy. Having had an ablation I am more interested in prevention and building stamina and endurance for improved health and fitness.
The difficulty is finding a like minded, holistic integrated physician who has the knowledge and experience and the resources to work with me on my quest.
Every time I crack one thing, another appears - it's called chasing the pain! Which is why I think there may be a core, underlying reason at the cellular level. I also think that it is no coincidence that so many people with AF suffer from digestive ailments? Some of that could be life choices and there has been much discussion on that subject and change of diet, none of which totally convinces me, although it is definitely a factor.
I am finding it hard to lose weight as I sometimes have a strong desire to eat, but only when I am in fatigue. I am careful about my diet and watch what I do eat. When my energies are good, I am not hungry. As someone else put it on this site 'it is as though I am not getting something I need from my diet'. I have tried vegetarian and carnivorous diets, high roughage and low, no fat and high fat over periods of time with no difference in symptoms, although the vegetarian diet did eliminate the Ulcerative Colitis which has not returned for nearly 20 years now.
So now I am trying to be systematic in trying supplements.......
Yatsura If you can take magnesium a way I have found successful in dealing with afib after ablation and the depletion of magnesium caused by meds is this:
Source Naturals brand of magnesium L-Threonate 2 caps with breakfast- the actual magnesium part of the 2 caps is 96 mg.---Pure Encapsulations Brand of
magnesium glycinate 2 caps with lunch--the 2 give you 240 mg, of magnesium glycinate each cap has 120 mg--- and 2 125 mg. caps of magnesium taurate with dinner. These 3 products can be ppurchased on line from swansonvitamins.com or iherb.com both of whcih ship globally.
This works but I also use Tai Chi 3 times a week, raw goat milk for the nutrients in the unheated milk which are destroyed under the heat of pasturization, and
a supplement by Jarrow called SHILAJIT, which is an adaptogenic electrolyte because it can be an electeron donor or receptor as needed in the electron transport chain of the kreb's cycle in the mitochondria of your brain and muscles. The heart is a muscle and the brain has a part that regulates your involuntary functions like heart rate etc.
The magnesium, the shilajit, co enzyme q 10 and the active part of thyroid hormone, free T3-are needed for your mitochondira to produce atp, without which you would not be alive . atp is enerrgy. So, I take 30 mg twice a day with a meal containing fat and WP thyroid hormone (hypothyroidism)
I also use 1 a day on an empty stomach of NR--- which stands for nicotinimide riboside-a precursor to NAD+, which is a precursor to NADH--this is part of the elctron transport chaim in the kreb's cycle--in other words energy in your mitochondria. If the mitochondria are maintained theri DNA does not mutate or deteriorate and the mitochondria protect the stem cells. YOu are programmed to have this done for your entire life and the stem cells repair tissue damage in any organ of your body. NR was discovered/made in a lab by MIT scientists, and is avaioable at a not too pricey supplement. It is currently being researched by scientist all over the world as a way to stop "diseases of aging" see the website anti-agingfirewalls.com and search for the part about NR. You can also look at
biofoundations.org to read about NR and also shilajiit. Indirectly these things can hhelp your afibby heart , after your ablationa dn while you take some low dose meds, it cna keep your affib heart from being occasionally afibby. At least this is what I found works for me.
Just as an aside and out of interest, magnesium is incredibly important to both sheep and cattle, and presumably all mammals...guessing? With a deficiency, they are dead very quickly (hours). It can be difficult to get mag into them. You can treat your grazing soil, but that doesn't mean it gets through to the plant, and even if it gets through to the plant, then the animal may not take it up from what they eat. In an emergency, we would do a weak intravenous injection, but too much mag this way and they're dead, so prefer to do it subcutaneously for a slow release. Other than that we have supplements out all the time for them to lick (hopefully).
onezone EXAtest is available in the United States. It costs $750 here. The company which invented it is in the state of IDAHO. they mail you some product in which you either leave a blood sample (by pricking a finger) or they have a lab tech come to your home to get a sample (i do not remember which) and the sample is sent to their lab . My husband and I were interested in getting this, but held off a bit due to the cost.There are other tests we will be getting for heart related issues where you also do not need a doctor's prescription or an insurance company. This is a fast ct heart scan at Princeton Longevity with Dr. R. Rhumberger in Princeton New Jersey (USA). We had this test in 2007 and need to see if the measures we've taken have removed the problems that were revealed. Rhumberger was a cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic and a bio medical engineer ( he and other s engineered the first ct scanner fast enough to capture pictures of the heart, which obviously is always moving) This ct heart scan is an excellent base line test for a person with afib and also a person with no symptoms because you can have coronary artery plaque and absolutely no symptoms until you finally have a heart attack. there are ways to prevent heart plaque: Ex. MK7 form of K2; There are also non statin ways to lower lipids. Pantethine 300 mg twice a day was researched by dr. Rhumberger in a double blind placebo study. He tried 300,600, and 900 mg per day./ the 600 was better than the 300, but the 900 made no thing better. I tried taking 300 mg pantethine twice a day before the meal and 500 mg Bergamont before the evening meal and my elevated lipds were normal within 1 month no statins.
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Ectopics 
Blood test for I.N.R. no.
Serum Magnesium Levels - What level are those with AF on the Forum aiming for?
