This is to pass on some things I have learned, by experience, about taking magnesium for RLS. It is very helpful for calming the nerves, and helpful with sleep. Also relaxes the muscles. BUT, that does not mean just any magnesium! Magnesium Oxide is the worst. It is not well absorbed as a mineral, and it causes rather severe Diarrhea, especially in amounts needed to help RLS. Magnesium Citrate is easily absorbed, and does not cause severe diarrhea (just a bit loose.) Then there are magnesium taurinate, succinate, glycinate and malate. Those are very good also.
I have been using either the mag. citrate, or a product that has a combination of all the other mags listed above, called Source Naturals Ultra-Mag. I take about 600 mgs. 1 tablet in the morning and 2 tablets before bed. I have even taken 1 more in the middle of the night if I feel I need it, but usually I don't. Many alternative doctors recommend taking about that much as magnesium is involved in a few hundred issues in the body.
I found out by accidental experimentation just how necessary magnesium is, at least for myself, but I will bet for others as well who have RLS. I was running low, so rationed the few capsules I had left, then I RAN OUT completely! During those days, the RLS started acting up again, BUT on the night I had none, it was TERRIBLE! I was up most of the night with RLS in my leg and both arms (I usually only get it in 1 leg.) The electric impulses were coming every 20 or 30 seconds and I could not sleep. Needless to say, I got some magnesium the next day, took some and happily slept so well that night. I sometimes get a flutter of RLS, but hardly at all.
I also take iron bisglycinate and B complex, plus extra folic acid. I do really think the combination of these things is what helps. ( Before I started taking iron, my RLS was not so good, but it got better with the iron.) That is why, for me anyway, leaving anything out seems to cause a problem. Right now, I am happy to be sleeping deeply with only a flutter or two during the night.
By the way, I have also read that there are things that remove the magnesium from your body, such as high blood pressure drugs (I take 2 of these), and alcohol (sadly) esp in excess. Other medications also, but look them up for yourself. I am NOT saying don't take meds you need, I am saying take extra magnesium to make up for it. Also Estrogen Dominance, a whole different issue, saps magnesium as well a B vitamins out of your body. (But look that up yourself.)
Just some info that I hope will be helpful.
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lauraflora
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I use some magnesium oil as well, tho not every night. If I wake up in the middle of the night, generally to go to the bathroom, I might smear on some magnesium oil just to guarantee being able to sleep the rest of the night uninterrupted. Pretty much works well.
I'm glad it helps you also. I don't use it every night either. I tend to use it when the pain reminds me! I used some on my neck and shoulders tonight as well as stiff from not moving much today. I think the act of massaging it in helps as well. Magnesium is certainly one of the best things I have found to help me. I was reading an article on iodine today and how the lack of it presents itself in the body. That is more to do with my fibro than RLS though. Another thing to investigate!
When my RLS started with leg craps then the full-on RLS I immediately went to Mg supplements. I have since tried every one, every concoction (and there are a lot!). For some reason they excite me and keep me awake - even taking them in the AM. My RLS seems under control (w/Iron supplementation - now just once/week) but still battling the Insomnia and Mg counter intuitive reactions that I experience.
Interesting and strange. Just goes to how you how we are all different in how our bodies accept things we put in them. You are having what is called a Paradoxical Reaction to magnesium , I think. I had that to a medicine for anxiety, (which I took after a family tragedy which has thrown me for a loop for the last 6 years) wherein it caused terrible anxiety symptoms even tho I took the smallest dose, and I had to get weaned off of it by breaking the pill up into crumbs.
For insomnia or waking up in the middle of the night with a JOLT!!!, I use B complex 50 or 100mgs, pantothenic acid 500 mg and vitamin C 500 mgs several times a day (to keep the adrenals in check.). If I awake during the night, which I generally do just to go to the bathroom, I take more of those 3 things so I can pretty much turn things off and sleep the rest of the night in peace. They seem to be the things that help the most with that. That is why the combination of several supplements seems to help me, anyway. I don't mind swallowing things - have no problem with it at all. One's HPA system (hypothalamus pituitary adrenal) can get out of its normal function and cause waking in the night. Look it up. It takes a while to retrain things to settle down to the normal circadian rhythm. I am finally understanding this better and finding solutions that seem that work.
Well you gave me something else to Google "Paradoxical Reaction to magnesium". And I will try the B and C Vitamins in the night. Thank you! I found this site - nice discussion on the paradox... blueprintfitness.co.uk/expl...
Very interesting article! Not quite sure what the ultimate answer would be as to how to deal with it( but then I suppose one would have to have a consultation.) Maybe building up with very small amounts? or taking turmeric for inflammation? I don't know.
But also, with the B complex and C which I take 3 or 4 times a day and in the middle of the night, I also take 500 mg of Pantothenic acid for the adrenals. (This from various books on adrenal fatigue or dysregulation as it is now called.) It seems to be very necessary, for me. Seems like a lot to take, but I have no problem swallowing things, tho I know many people do. *** The reason for taking them several times a day is to keep things in check so they don't turn on you suddenly at night and then you try to deal with it. By then it can be too late.
Gee, I have not been on here in about 1 year! However, I will answer your question as best I can. Firstly, tho, my original posting to Dic Carlson, was mostly about insomnia and wakefulness in the middle of the night, not so much about RLS. So, it depends on what you are looking for.
I am rather cavalier in my approach to supplements. They are not drugs/chemicals in the strict sense, so one can take them more often or less often than one would take a drug prescription from the doctor or over-the-counter ones. I try and take B complex maybe 2 or 3 times during the day, before bed and when I wake up in the middle of the night. I often take vitamin C at the same times. If it is a good day, I maybe only take them once during the day, and then at night. Sometimes I take pantothenic acid 500 mgs., sometimes I don't. I change things around.
B complex 50 means 50 mg of each of the b's, niacin, riboflavin, thiamine, etc., in one capsule. B complex 100 has 100 mgs of each of the b's in one capsule. I usually purchase the b complex 50, as I feel it is enough at one time. (If your body can't or doesn't need to use all of it at one time, it is simply excreted in urine, so a B complex 100 may be partially wasted down the drain. They are water soluble vitamins, as compared to vitamin A and vitamin D, which are fat soluble and thus get stored in your body's fat, which is why you don't want to take too much A or D.)
I hope this answers the question you wanted answered. To be honest, these are not the only things I take for sleep issues. It is a work-in-progress.
Hi Lauraflora. Quick question. How long did it take you to get to that high a dose of Magnesium? At present I am on 375 a day, 125 am and and 250 at night. Hamish58
I just want to say that different meds affect different people in different ways. Magnesium oxide never gave me diarrhea, however, I read later that it's not the most readily absorbed. Magnesium Citrate is what I take now and I haven't had loose bowels at all. My primary care doctor advised me to not take more than 400 mg. magnesium per day.
Other posts have been very specific about when to take the magnesium. I take 900 mg Gabapentin and the magnesium should be taken at least 3 hours separate from Gabapentin as it decreases the potency of the Gabapentin.
Hi Grammie 12. Glad you posted about gabapentin and Magnesium as I have been taking Magnesium 1-2 hours before the gabapentin, now I know why it does not work so well as I was hoping. Will take the Magnesium earlier and see if that helps. Hamish58
Interesting. Thank you for your reply. I don't take any medication for my RLs, just the various supplements, so I do not have advice about taking it separate from medications. I'm glad you posted this advice. It's good when people speak up about these things.
I only take the supplements. I do not and never have taken any meds for RLS. The supplements work for me well enough, altho it has taken me some time to come up with this helpful combination. Some of the info has come from this website and the people on it.
One of the reasons I have not taken meds for RLS is that I shy away from meds as I have had bad reactions to many different ones. I can't take codeine, acetaminophen, aspirin, benzodiazepine, naproxen, and any derivatives of these. There are other things as well, but I general I am leery so I try to find a more natural alternative.
Also there is always conflicting advice about when to take something or to take with or without a meal. I don't know the answer to all of that. I think one has to try and see what works best for them. I do think, tho, that if I have dinner at about 7pm, there is still food in my stomach by the time I take things before bed, which means I take them about 10pm. So I don't usually eat anything more.
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