Has anyone had any experience of a magnesium deficiency and what are the symptoms?
Magnesium deficiency : Has anyone had... - British Heart Fou...
Magnesium deficiency
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Knittinganimals
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47 Replies
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I'm sceptical about diet supplements, my default position is that a healthy diet should deliver everything I need. So I set the bar for evidence very high before I'll consider anything other than what's on my plate each day.
However, I must admit that magnesium deficiency gives me pause for thought.
This article, which is supported by peer reviewed scientific publications, discusses the main symptoms of magnesium deficiency.
healthline.com/nutrition/ma...
In particular, the muscle fatigue issues are especially relevant if you take statins.
in reply to Chappychap
I'm with you on this one, if we eat a PROPER balanced diet (not ridiculous "fad" ones or Keto's) then I think there is no need for supplements. They are just a money making means of praying on peoples vulnerabilities. I personally am a vegetarian and have no need of any, and neither do Vegans despite common misconceptions. All you need to do is have a balanced diet cooked from fresh and the job's a good un.
Jacey15 in reply to
If you are on PPIs, it can cause a low magnesium but it's not widely known. I take additional magnesium as I have been on a high dose of PPIs for years and it has reduced the frequency and intensity of my coronary artery spasms.
in reply to Jacey15
Have you tried not taking it? I thought the Statins were causing all sorts of issues but in the end I realised the issues were between my ears!
Jacey15 in reply to
I am not making it up. I am a scientist and read a lot of journal articles regarding magnesium deficiency as a cause of coronary artery spasms. Each medication, or in this case replacement mineral, has improved the frequency and intensity of both coronary and auditory artery spasms. The first line treatment of calcium channel blocker made only a little difference. Isosorbide mononitrate helped enormously and magnesium has helped again.
Jacey15
As I also live with vasospastic angina and migraine caused by vasospasms in my brain I have looked at the research into Magnesium too. I came to a different conclusion.
I would be really interested in any links to research articles you have.
in reply to Milkfairy
Magnesium works for me also
Any research articles ?
Peer reviewed, randomised, double blind trials?
in reply to Milkfairy
Nope just patient experience. Sometimes you need to look beyond the research.
Watch Dr Gupta on YouTube he’s fantastic
He does have a lovely presenting style.
However he hasn't answered my request for the evidence base for his opinion either......
in reply to Milkfairy
For every piece of research I could find another piece of research critiquing ‘said’ research. Sometimes you have to go with what you believe, and I believe magnesium has made a difference in my chest pain frequency and magnitude. I don’t need anyone or any research to tell me that
I have the journals but can't work out how to share them.
Serum magnesium levels unfortunately do not reflect intracellular levels or magnesium stores.
That’s a great point, it also doesn’t reflect the bodies ability to utilise it. I take 100mg of Magnesium sulphate every day as have blepharospasm a form of dystonia, it has definitely helped.
Unfortunately it hasn’t helped my micro vascular angina. I can see the link as it helps smooth muscle contractility, when I worked in ITU we used IV magnesium a lot, worked wonders for acute exacerbation of asthma and fast AF.
I hear what you are saying but many cardiology interventions aren’t evidence based. Where are the peer reviewed, randomised, double blinded controlled trials for cardiac meds and microvascular angina? Many of these are small, observational studies.
The medication I am prescribed for vasospastic angina is empirical and to try and address the physiological disorder of my dodgy blood vessels using medication that has been through large randomised trials.
Diltiaziem, nicorandil, isosorbide mononitrate, clopidogrel, Amlodipine and statins.
None have been trialled on women or people of different ethnicities specifically though.
Nitrates were first used as a result of observation during the first world war!
There is a trial in progress for a possible new treatment for Microvascular angina.
The PRIZE trial
clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show...
It has been only very recently that microvascular dysfunction and vasospastic angina have been recognised and new diagnostic techniques developed.
With effective testing hopefully better targeted treatments will be developed too.
I know all this, the point I was making was that much of the medication we take isn’t “ evidence based “ eg peer reviewed, double blind, placebo controlled trials. In this context trialing some magnesium to see if it helps seems fairly innocuous. That’s a different issue from Dr’s trying to pretend something is evidence based when it patently isn’t.
How do 'Dr’s trying to pretend something is evidence based when it patently isn’t.'
Could you give some examples?
Do NICE guidelines have no role?
I was referring to your comment re Dr Gupta not providing you with the evidence base when asked ( probably because there isn’t one? ). Dr Doughnutgate is another case in point ( claims to be a Professor of Evidence Based Medicine ). There has been some truly awful COVID 19 research.
Of course NICE guidelines have a role but much depends on the evidence they are based on. The quality of the research, the relevance of the primary outcome and the way it was measured, what research was reported and what hasn’t been. Whether there was any PPI in the original research to make sure is of relevance to people living with cardio vascular disease. NICE guideline status doesn’t mean suspension of critical faculties surely?
Dr Gupta Sanjay recommends Magnesium and I agree it's his opinion
This leaves patients in a difficult position how do you make a decision about what is best for them ?
Who do you trust and where do you get reliable information about the medication we are prescribed, lifestyle changes and supplements from?
Covid 19 research has suffered as there has been very little public and patient involvement in the research study design and planning.
Patients should be the drivers of research and be involved from the beginning working with researchers to find the answers to question we want answering to improve the quality of our lives.
A very interesting discussion.
Lezzers in reply to
One of of my neighbours ending up in ICU because he was taking magnesium supplement. Apparently, over the years he'd slowly been poisoning himself!
in reply to Lezzers
Never heard of that, although I’ve have just checked online and it’s extremely rare.
Lezzers in reply to
Indeed, he is diabetic and has been taking it for years.
Lezzers in reply to
Magnesium poisoning is rare in someone who's healthy! I suppose the moral of the story is only take it if you actually have a deficiency?
in reply to Lezzers
I’m not sure I have a deficiency in magnesium. But I only take one 375mg tablet a day also 100 mg of Cq010 which is also fantastic aswell.
Wonder if he had problems with his kidneys, the body gets rid of excess in urine.
I don't think he had any issues with his kidneys, his only medical condition was diabetes.
Diabetes frequently causes problems with the kidneys.
😥 Ideally, we should have blood tests taken but my experience is they don’t listen and ignore the request.
The person won’t necessarily be exceptionally deficient, better to have a lower dose or eat more of the nuts and seeds that provide the magnesium.
He doesnt take it anymore after that experience. He probably didn't need to take it but someone had said to him years ago that it's good for you so he'd been taking it for some time.
Mmm, he probably should have stopped it, his levels may have balanced out. I’m thinking maybe one should take it for a month or two, leave it off to see how you are, or of course if you can get a dr to blood test.
Hi, I have been on omeprazole for many years and I was diagnosed with both vitamin b12 and d3 deficiency so I also wondered if it was causing a magnesium deficiency too as I still have pins and needles etc even after b12 injections! Doctor can be a bit dismissive
in reply to Chappychap
I was convinced I was having muscle problems after reading about Statins, I am on 80mg Atorvastatin. Eventually after much experimenting I realised it was actually because I am in my 60's and I was trying a bit too hard to get decent parkrun times, along with all the bad press they have.
Hello. Before my illness I always took Magnesium to help prevent cramp but I stopped when I was diagnosed with heart failure (amongst other conditions!) because I wasn’t sure what the effect might be. However, recently I have been having a lot of cramp at night and I looked up a couple of papers from reputable medical journals, notably the BMJ, and it would seem that Magnesium is a good supplement to take for folk with heart disease. I have been trying to get an e-consult with my GP to get their blessing on me starting to take it again, but the EMIS Patient Access says that my practice does not have this service!
in reply to MelB51
Magnesium is found in loads of things, just google it.
I take magnesium, CoQ10 and fish oil supplements as they support heart health.
I have occasional episodes of ectopic beats (PVCs) - nothing serious, just a tad annoying and confirmed as such on a holter monitor. Apart from the usual advice to reduce caffeine etc, a cardiologist (not mine, but he’s a friend) mentioned that there is anecdotal evidence that magnesium may help controlling ectopics. He added that proton pump inhibitors (I’m on Lansoprazole - to protect the aspirin effects I guess) can reduce or prevent magnesium uptake. With my own cardiologist’s approval, if I get an episode, I drop the Lansoprazole for a couple of days and take magnesium citrate instead - the ectopics go and I resume the Lanso. This could, of course, be nothing to do with the magnesium supplement and be purely coincidence (my cardiologist thinks it’s in my head) and I would reinforce that I’m not dispensing medical advice here - but the side effect of Lansoprazole regarding magnesium is shown on sheet included in each pack.
in reply to Sheltiestu
From my own experience and also reading of others on here, I would not be surprised if anyone taking Lanzoprazole has deficiencies in just about everything, given that it turns your insides into Niagara falls.
In the CCU after my HA they changed a number of my meds. I’ve been on meds for about 15 years for hypertension plus (of course) statins. My statin dose was doubled.
I suffered aches and pains but pushed through it and my body got used to the new meds and doses. I’m fine with everything now.
However, I’ve a good friend who is a doctor now practicing specialist dentistry. His wife used to be a nurse and is VERY into alternative medicines and homeopathy.
Just the background, because they suggested I should start taking magnesium.
This was just before my first (and last) visit to the cardiac rehab centre so I was able to ask the nurse about taking magnesium. She said she’d never heard this and would go and consult her colleagues.
She did this and none of them had heard of it. She was, though, able to access all my blood tests during my stay in the CCU. As you’ll all know, when you’re in a CCU they take blood at regular intervals. Magnesium level is one of the things they monitor and she confirmed that I was well within the limit.
Sorry this is getting a bit long, but...
If we’re advised we don’t need to take magnesium supplements why do they monitor the level of it in our blood in the CCU?
I guess, as most people are advising, if you eat a good balanced diet there’s no need.
in reply to HenryTudor
Exactly. I am sure you will find the majority of people who have these deficiencies have a rubbish diet, apart from those who have medical problems that prevent it's absorption as has been mentioned.
Brussels in reply to
Define “ rubbish “ in terms of diet?
in reply to Brussels
Processed food, excess fat particularly saturated, foods containing high amounts of salt, lack of fruit and vegetables, too many biscuits, cakes and chocolate, Dominos, Subway etc crap, sugary drinks, white bread and so on, fairly obvious surely?
I have fibromyalgia which is known to cause a shortage of magnesium which in turn affects the muscles but my GP says my levels are normal and doesn't advise taking it.
The thing is, medications are not tested on women, and we are different creatures.
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