magnesium supplement? (update #9)

[♥ms.pacman♥]

if you take magnesium supplement, how much do you take per day? and how long did it take to see an effect?

i just started taking magnesium (thanks to wendibird22's advice, i can't tolerate magnesium oxide that's in most supplements). for months now i've been having chronic muscle tension (especially in the neck, shoulders), headaches, insomnia, anxiety,depression (especially during AF, i get bad cramping too) and it seems like ALL of those could be helped by magnesium. i did have sinus surgery a 3 weeks ago and somewhere i read that magnesium needs increase after surgery as well, and im sure 3 years of being pregnant and/or EBFing has probably depleted me of practically everything. so i finally ordered some chelated mag online and started taking it a couple days ago.

2 days ago i took 200 mg, and yesterday i took 300 mg of chelated magnesium throughout the day (3 100mg pills). i am still shocked i was able to tolerate this much as i have never been able to take magnesium without running to the restroom, lol. anyway, i am just wondering how much is ok to take. my DH seems to be freaked out that i can overdose on it. THough i think 400 mg is the standard USDA and i know i probably don't get that much magnesium from food.

[turtle12]

I take 2 200mg magnesium (chelated) pills before bedtime for insomnia. I've been on it for the past 2 weeks, and I've recently realized its working - my quality of sleep has definitely improved. So maybe it takes about a week to notice a difference, at the very least?

[wendibird22]

I take 2 250mg tabs in the a.m. after breakfast. I think it took ~3wk for me to notice a difference. I'm guessing I am pretty deficient since I don't have any negative GI impact from taking 500mg a day. Make sure not to take it with calcium or any calcium rich foods/antacids/supplements or else it will compete with the mg.

I hope it works for you. You may also want to consider a sublingual B12 or just a good B complex.

[♥ms.pacman♥]

thanks for the replies. i am definitely going to try the magnesium for at least a month. i figure it can't hurt, right. i have ordered Natural Calm magnesium powder to drink (i think Latia recommended it in another, pregnancy-related thread) and i am going to try that instead once i get that, especially before bed if it really does help with sleep.

i am pretty impressed that i have been able to tolerate 300 mg a day and i don't have negative GI effects from it.

i think i will also take B vitamins too. i was getting them from a multivitamin but i think i may just get one that's just B vitamins, since i know they can help headaches too (the headaches are downright the worst thing i'm dealing with, especially right now that AF is here )

[Twoboos]

[QUOTE=wendibird22;3484395Make sure not to take it with calcium or any calcium rich foods/antacids/supplements or else it will compete with the mg.

[/QUOTE]

Ok so does this mean the magnesium/calcium/VitD combo supplement I got from Trader Joe's isn't going to work correctly? <sigh>

[theriviera]

I take 2 400 mg MagOx tablets per day. I am magnesium deficient which results in lots of PVCs for me.

What is chelated magnesium?

[wendibird22]

Ok so does this mean the magnesium/calcium/VitD combo supplement I got from Trader Joe's isn't going to work correctly? <sigh>

Well, according to my PCP, they compete with each other for absorption. I started taking a mag-cal-zinc supplement when she first told me to take mag because she left out the part about taking it by itself. When I told her it wasn't working, she asked about the formulation and then told me oh no, no, no, take it w/out calcium. I did see improvement once I switched. I do take it along with my D3 and B12, which is fine.

What is chelated magnesium?

chelated is a type of preparation that is supposed to make it easier on the GI system since some people get diarrhea from it.

[nellonello]

thanks for the replies. i am definitely going to try the magnesium for at least a month. i figure it can't hurt, right. i have ordered Natural Calm magnesium powder to drink (i think Latia recommended it in another, pregnancy-related thread) and i am going to try that instead once i get that, especially before bed if it really does help with sleep.

i am pretty impressed that i have been able to tolerate 300 mg a day and i don't have negative GI effects from it.

i think i will also take B vitamins too. i was getting them from a multivitamin but i think i may just get one that's just B vitamins, since i know they can help headaches too (the headaches are downright the worst thing i'm dealing with, especially right now that AF is here )

I love the Natural Calm Raspberry lemon. I drink it every night before bedtime.

[♥ms.pacman♥]

ok so an update..it's been about a week, and i think it's starting to kick in. the most noticeable effect by far is my sleep. i took 1 tsp (150 mg?) of Natural Calm two nights ago and I got so sleepy it was ridiculous. Last night i took same dose and within an hour I was KNOCKED OUT. i don't think anything else, even prescription meds (like Tylenol PM) have made me fall asleep so easily and sleep so deeply. It was a little crazy. Also, yesterday I found myself more relaxed and less anxious throughout the whole day..i felt like i was actually enjoying playign with my kids, and had less of that hopelessly exhausted feeling.

I think i have to space my dosing though..last night i had cramps & diarrhea, and woke up feeling crappy due to dehydration etc...i guess bc i am finally getting tot he point where i can't absorb as much. I will try scaling back to 1/2 tsp at night, or split it into 2 doses. or i might go back to the chelated version..i don't know. I think the chelated version is easier to digest, it seems.

anyway, if anyone reading as sleep issues, i'd definitely give magnesium (Natural Calm) a shot. i cannot believe how quickly it helped me sleep.