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As many of you are aware, I made a visit to the ER last Wednesday, because I seemed to be having a reaction to an antibiotic, Bactrim Ds (sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim). I had shortness of breath (rapid, shallow breathing, unable to take a deep breath), significantly elevated heart rate, elevated temperature (chills and fever), unable to sleep, constant thirst/dry mouth, frequent need to urinate, and a general drugged feeling. I woke up about 2 am with a heart rate around 125 or more, and my temp was up about 4 degrees. I decided to tough it out, but by noon my resting heart rate had only come down to around 100, my temp was still elevated by a couple of degrees, I was still having trouble breathing, and I was unable to do any more than just nibble on a little breakfast, because I had no appetite. Since I had been losing weight for months, at a rate of roughly 2 pounds per week, I decided to go to the ER to see if they could at least confirm whether I was reacting to the antibiotic, or if something else was the problem.
They did all the right tests, and asked all the right questions, but they reached the wrong conclusion, when the correct answer was right in front of their nose. They told me that all my test results were normal (they even x-rayed my chest to make sure there was no infection anywhere). So they diagnosed me with a viral infection (even though I had no nasal discharge, no throat congestion or abnormal mucus, and no digestive system issues other than a loss of appetite, and they sent me on my way. By then my temp was only elevated by about a degree and my resting heart rate had come down to about 85 bpm. IOW, another wasted ER visit, or so I thought at the time.
But I will be eternally grateful to those ER docs, because they ordered the right tests, and one of the tests was for magnesium. When I analyzed my test results online on Friday, I was amazed. There it was, as plain as day — my magnesium test was flagged as low.
How could those docs have just ignored such an important test result?Now bear in mind that this is the largest teaching hospital in the area, so the doc doing all the test ordering was relatively new, and under the supervision of an experienced doctor who reviewed and OK'd everything. So clearly, the importance of magnesium sufficiency is not being taught (or at least not being emphasized) in med school today.
So I printed out a chart of my blood pressure and heart rate for the past couple of months (I check my BP twice a day because I take BP meds for stroke prevention, and I skip them whenever my BP is too already too low). The data can be downloaded to a PC and analyzed or printed out as desired. And on that chart I noted the days that I had been taking Bactrim (I had taken it twice for 10 days each time during the previous month or so, because of dental work). I also charted the days that I had the flu, and the days that I initially thought I had a relapse (but now it appears that the relapse was simply an adverse reaction to the Bactrim). In fact, I wonder if I ever had the flu — the symptoms were suspiciously similar to the symptoms of the Bactrim reaction, and I was taking bactrim (for the second time) when I had the flu. And of course I noted the single day that I had taken Bactrim the third time (the day before the ER visit).
The chart showed a reasonably clear trend. Each time I took the Bactrim, it had a greater effect. The first time the effects were minimal, but by the third time they were glaringly obvious. Each time, after a few days, it suppressed my BP. By the end of the second treatment period for example, my BP was down to 85/49. Each time my breathing became more difficult, my heart rate went up, and I developed a fever. My breathing problem was just like having asthma, except there was no wheezing. The last time I took the Bactrim, within an hour of taking the first tablet, I had a temperature increase.
But the Bactrim wasn't causing my symptoms, at least not directly, and that's presumably what mystified the ER docs — it didn't fit the pattern for a classic reaction. But the test result that showed the magnesium deficiency was the key to the real issue. After studying the chart I had made it became clear to me that the Bactrim had depleted my remaining magnesium, and all of the important symptoms were due to a magnesium deficiency (not the Bactrim per se). Trust me, any time we show a magnesium deficiency on a blood test, we have a major magnesium deficiency problem. It's time to do something.
To verify that theory I started taking an additional 200 mg of magnesium glycinate each night before going to bed. This was in addition to my regular dose of 200 mg of magnesium citrate and 200 mg of magnesium glycinate (that I take each day right after breakfast). The next morning I woke up breathing normally and that has been the case ever since. In general, I'm breathing easier than I've been able to breathe at any time for the past 9 years (ever since my first abdominal surgery in November, 2005). Case closed (finally, after all these years).
Magnesium deficiency symptoms are very similar to the symptoms of diabetes. My blood sugar was even elevated in the ER blood tests, but now the level is back down in the normal range (even though the draw was made within a couple of hours of my noon meal). And now I no longer have to get up once or twice during the night to empty my bladder — I sleep normally again.
With each surgery, my breathing problem became progressively worse. Apparently anesthesia depletes magnesium or interferes with its absorption. Whenever I would complain to a doctor that I was having breathing problems they would listen to my lungs and airways and conclude that nothing was wrong. Magnesium deficiency can mimic asthma (without the wheezing), but obviously this condition cannot be detected by a stethoscope.
I showed my chart to my doctor at a followup visit yesterday, and explained my reasoning, and he agreed with my logic. He ordered some additional tests to verify that my serum magnesium is now back in the normal range (and so is my creatinine). My creatinine had been elevated on a previous test (done last Friday), thus indicating that the reaction was causing a kidney function problem (but this didn't appear in the ER test results from Wednesday). Obviously it took a few days for the reaction to "mature". Magnesium deficiency can really throw a monkey wrench in the machinery. It apparently even changed one of the parameters on my EKG.
I've ordered some magnesium oil, because the extra 200 mg of magnesium glycinate seems to cause a slight amount of D during the night. The big question of course is, "Why am I having so much trouble absorbing/retaining magnesium? But its awesome to be able to breathe normally again, all day and all night long. Life is good again.
Tex
