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After I recovered from my magnesium deficiency late last spring, I finally settled on 500 mg of magnesium each day as a minimum amount needed to supply plenty of magnesium without overworking my kidneys to purge any unnecessary excess. Like most supplements, we can only absorb a percentage of the magnesium in our diet. The percentage varies according to other components in our diet, many of which interfere with magnesium absorption. And as we increase the dosage, we tend to absorb a progressively smaller percentage of the additional amount, until we reach the point we somewhat arbitrarily refer to as the point of "diminishing returns".
So everything was copacetic until a few days ago I didn't sleep well for some unknown reason, and I got up early. In order to stay more alert, I increased my coffee intake from 2 to 3 cups. That happened twice in a row. The next morning I woke up about 3:30 am having breathing difficulties. I was having a tough time regulating my breathing, and I couldn't take a deep breath no matter how hard I tried. Then I noticed that even though the room was cool, I was sweating like a pig.
Wait a minute! How did that expression get started? Obviously it wasn't started by a pig farmer, because pigs can't sweat. That is a unique feature that makes them extremely vulnerable to overheating in hot weather, and without a waterhole to lie in, or some artificial means to provide cooling for their body, they will quickly die from heat exposure (heatstroke) when ambient temperatures are high.
So even though it doesn't sound as "politically correct" maybe I should say that I was sweating like a horse. At any rate, the water was dripping off me and even though I pulled the covers back, in a 60-degree room I continued to sweat profusely. And of course I wasn't thinking clearly, or I would have immediately recognized the symptoms, since I went through a similar situation last spring, many times.
So after deciding to call my doctor's office to set up an appointment (which probably would have been an exercise in futility, since docs never think about magnesium deficiency actually causing symptoms), after a couple of hours everything began to settle down (and apparently I began thinking more clearly) and it dawned on me that I had just had a magnesium deficiency episode. And my thoughts immediately focused on that third cup of coffee. It was probably the "straw that broke the camel's back".
My thoughts quickly flashed back to a few weeks ago when . . . was it Gabes, or someone else? . . . reminded me of the hazards of coffee regarding magnesium absorption. It turns out that many things in our diet can interfere with magnesium absorption. And therein lies the core of the magnesium deficiency problem IMO. Modern diet habits actually make it very likely that we will have a magnesium deficiency. In the game of nutrition, the cards are stacked against magnesium.
Magnesium absorption is inhibited by (among other things) coffee, tea, or other beverages that contain caffeine; colas or other dark sodas that contain phosphates; sugar and most sweet foods; and alcohol. And many medications interfere with the absorption of magnesium, while others deplete magnesium already stored in our body. Some of the most magnesium-unfriendly medications include diuretics, heart medications, corticosteroids, contraceptives, HRT, taking a calcium supplement, etc. And remember that while stress may or may not interfere with the absorption of magnesium, it definitely depletes magnesium.
And I learned something else from this experience. Despite claims to the contrary (including claims made by me), magnesium glycinate can indeed cause D under certain conditions. This might only apply to people who have no colon, but if I take more than 100 mg of magnesium glycinate just before bedtime, it will cause D. Of course this is after taking at least 500 mg of magnesium earlier in the day (300 mg after breakfast, and 200 mg after lunch). The point is, we all probably have a different limit on how much magnesium we can take without promoting D, regardless of the form of magnesium. I'll probably start using more topical magnesium again. I stopped doing that after I thought I had my magnesium reserves back in line. Obviously it's the safest way to boost magnesium reserves.
Here's another observation:
When I woke up with the symptoms, I had no leg cramps. After a couple of hours, when my other symptoms resolved (the sweating and breathing problems), I suddenly had severe leg cramps. I had to get up and walk around a while to get rid of them. My take on this . . . my temperature control and breathing issues resolved after my system pulled the remaining magnesium reserves out of the muscles in my legs in order to get the blood level back into the normal range. Getting the blood level back into the normal range resolved the serious symptoms, but left my leg muscles seriously depleted of magnesium.
And IMO there is a logical medical reason for the heavy perspiring. I view it as a natural body reflex action designed to correct the problem of an electrolyte deficiency. By "wasting" all that water (and some sodium), this eventually induces a condition of dehydration. As the body dehydrates, hypovolemia also occurs. IOW, the blood volume also shrinks. This concentrates the remaining electrolytes in order to boost their volumetric percentages in the blood, so that the heart and other vital organs can function more normally again. So if you ever have leg cramps, take a good hard look at how magnesium-friendly you diet may actually be.
And one other point:
I frequently point out that magnesium oxide should never be used as a magnesium supplement, because it's poorly absorbed and it is the form of magnesium the most likely to cause D. But here's something else to keep in mind. Here is the reason why it causes D. When water is added to magnesium oxide it forms magnesium hydroxide, a compound sold for almost 150 years now as Milk of Magnesia (or Phillips' Milk of Magnesia), a potent alkaline laxative that can certainly irritate and inflame the intestines if used on a daily basis.
So I repeat, avoiding a magnesium deficiency is easier said than done, but I'm slowly learning.
Tex
