Magnesium Deficiency Syndrome

[A Friend]

The following is information I recently found on magnesium research.  I posted it on the board several days ago in reply to a question, but decided the information is important enough to put in a separate new topic so it can be viewed by more people.   After reading it, I am even more convinced that magnesium deficiency has been a major factor in my downhill slide after having done so well on AP for the first 7 years.  I needed to continue on AP; however, it was also necessary for me to have the needed minerals in my body for the 300 enzyme functions for which it is needed, and for neutralizing acidic waste so it can be excreted from the body. 

 Those of you with serious depression will want to glance over the link about depression — but even if one does not have serious depression, there is much information about other symptoms in this particular link. 

AF

http://george-eby-research.com/ [/size]

[align=center]This site has become a teaching resource concerning natural treatments for disease, and it is used by naturopathic physicians (NDs), allopathic physicians (MDs), pharmacists (RPhs), academic researchers and the public. George Eby believes that “natural alternatives” should be the “mainstream” of medicine…..
 
Link 2: 
http://george-eby-research.com/html/magnesium-depression-review.mht
 
Magnesium Treatment of Major Depression and Related Mental Illness: A Review of the Neurobiochemistry, Animal and Human Evidence with a Suggested Treatment Protocol[/b]

 Abstract[/b][/align] Magnesium deficiency is shown in this review of the literature to cause major depression, and magnesium treatment is shown to be effective in its treatment.  Inadequate intraneuronal magnesium, particularly when associated with excessive intraneuronal calcium, has been repeatedly shown to cause major depression and many other mental and neurological illnesses.  The first use of magnesium to treat depression occurred……………. 

 Link 3:
http://george-eby-research.com/html/magnesium-deficiency.html

WARNING! MAGNESIUM DEFICIENCY — AS CAUSE OF MODERN ILLNESSES
Symptoms of possible magnesium deficiency syndrome found when blood serum levels are below 0.9 mmol/L Mg serum include: abdominal pain, arrhythmias, asthma, ataxia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), circulatory disturbances (arteriosclerosis, cardiac infarction, stroke), cluster headache, confusion, cramps, depression, diabetes mellitus, epilepsy, hypertension, migraine, neuro-vegetative disorders, osteoporosis, Parkinsonism, preeclampsia, stress dependent disorders, tinnitus, tremor, weakness
Examine the Conclusions section for this list of magnesium deficiency symptoms. See the Full text article here: DH Liebscher, DE Liebscher. About the Misdiagnosis of Magnesium Deficiency. Journal of the American College of Nutrition, Vol. 23, No. 6, 730S-731S (2004).

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[linda]

How do we know that magnesium deficiency isn't caused by the same thing that causes Vit.D deficiency? If it is, then by supplementing with magnesium we're making the same mistake as when we supplement with Vit.D, namely, we're feeding the mycoplasma. My AP doc that I fired was writing a paper on how mycoplasmas use magnesium to strengthen their protective biofilm. I'll try to find out if he's published his study and post the link for it here.

For the record, I'm having a hard time with his theory. He told me that people who supplement w/ mag feel better for about 2 weeks, then their symptoms begin to worsen. But from the posts I've read here from people who take mag., that doesn't appear to be the case. They feel better and don't relapse a few weeks later.
I'm not mag. deficient so for now I don't have to decide whether to take supplements or not. I am Vit D deficient, and still don't know what to do; supplement or follow the MP.

It is becoming apparent to me that these bacteria are very resilient in that they seem to be able to make use of available resources in their environment for their survival. Whether or not magnesium is one of those resources is unclear to me. I'm too tired and foggy today to read the articles you provided, but I'll definitely get to them in the next few days. Thanks for bringing them to us.

linda

[Goodwife]

Hi, AF

Although never tested, my hubby's naturopathic doc put him on Magnesium right from the start.  I have to say that a good number of minerals/supplements that are recommended by writings that you and others post are already in my hubby's regimen.  If I had to do things differently, though, I would have had more tests done in the beginning to see if the levels were truly low – Vit D, magnesium, etc.  That would have been more helpful, but at the time we were so DESPERATE for answers we started great guns.  Same with the antiinflammatory diet – we started strong so that we could see some results, but in hindsight I would like to have known if there were specific foods that aggravated things, instead of that incredibly strict diet he was on.  It worked, though.  But for anyone just starting, I would have more initial testing done re: supplements/minerals, and dietary issues.  These are just my own personal reflections of our situation.  😎

Thanks again for all your very helpful information!!  Take care,

[A Friend]

Goodwife & Others,

About testing before beginning a treatment to address a thought-to-be problem, it came to mind that in Dr. Sherry Rogers book(s), one of the first things she recommends is that we have our 'Red Blood Cell Minerals” checked.  If I were about to have this done, I would read her specifics about this, as she wrote that some methods used by mainstream need some clarification.  I believe this test will probably still give us interesting and helpful information, regardless of what we have been on .  (She has about five degrees, an M.D. and one in Environmental Medicine, among the others. )  

After doing so well on AP for about 7 years, after that time I felt myself going downhill no matter what I did.   (For 99% of those first 7 years, I didn't even have to take ibuprofen, which is what I always took if/when I needed it prior to this.) I was constantly looking for answers to my downhill slide after that.  Even with new things cropping up on my labs, my then-AP physician had nothing to offer. 

I had/have been on what is considered a very healthy diet since early onset of chronic illness, about 1991-92 when I found Dr. William Crook's books; and following his help and guidelines, was able to turn around my extreme CFS, until an exposure to mold in a rented apartment two or three years later, knocked me on my ear, and RA was diagnosed on lab tests. (Dr. Crook was a pediatric allergist who researched the yeast connection and why some of his young patients could not get well, no matter how he treated them .  What I didn't realize those first 7 years on AP, was that the few times I did develop temporary pain syndromes, these pains were alleviated by stopping eating red meat and pork; and, at another time, stopping the two abx I was on — Minocin and Zithromax.  Not everyone will have this problem, but no doubt now about it, I had serious longterm acidosis and neither I nor my AP physician knew anything about this subject!!! (I read that Zithromax was very hard on the liver, so I believed then it had affected my detoxification capabilities and caused a buildup from the medications and the lengthy excruciating pains that had sudden onset one morning when I put my feet on the floor.  I had to get off of everything I was taking.  I was afraid this would happen again, and I didn't know how well my body/detox system would tolerate any meds.   So, in early 2003 I got off abx.  By early 2006, I realized that had not been a good idea, as the organisms, without any help from Minocin or my flagging immune system — and I believe my seriously low mineral status to neutralize their wastes and wastes from other sources.   

Meats are among the most acidic foods we can eat, and tetracycline derivatives (and all medications) are said to be acidic.  (I much later learned we have to have minerals to neutralize the acidic wastes so they can be excreted; if not, the body stores these whereever it deems safe to do.  I learned normally we have a 'mineral pool' for this purpose, but in my case it had gotten used up a long time before.)  Dr. James Balch wrote in one edition of his and his spouse's book, “Prescription for Nutritional Healing”, that some types of gout (I believe even pseudo gout) can be related to meat and the tetracycline drugs — this is where I first got the idea to quit eating red meat and pork — I wasn't about to get off my Minocin.  It worked quickly and well, and I noticed the improvement daily, and in about 10 days my painful feet and toes were no longer painful.  I was about to have to get a parking permit.  (Later, having to be on the two abx, I believe again put me over the edge, causing the horrific pain syndrome — but sciatic type pain; never had sciatica before)  had been gradually building up the month after I began the Zithromax.)

This long-winded narrative is to give a real live example of how these factors can affect at least one patient (me).  The good news for me is that though on scans some of my problems appear a good bit worse since 2003 scans, the things I have been doing — even though the pain syndrome in 2006 had accelerated to fascia and bones and was constant most of that year, what I was FORCED to learn if I am to overcome this, apparently is correct for me, for I have been improving on all fronts since going back on Minocin the end of 2006 and greatly modifying my diet to include the more alkaline foods and protein foods that are much closer to the alkaline measurements.  I understand I can rebuild my mineral stores, and that while the supplements I am taking can help balance things, it will be the healthy alkaline foods that will best do the rebuilding… longterm.   

AF

 

[casey]

Linda,

I sit like you wondering what feeds what in the body. In my house, we take a zillion supplements, we are dairy/gluten free.My son is on a 4 day rotation diet due to so called food sensitivies. I think if we tested his blood for food sensitivities, they likely would change everyday. I then wonder if this D thing has something to it. I question everything we put into our mouths now. Is it or isnt it feeding a bug? Then if you have to avoid foods that say, can add to the progression of kidney stones , etc, now take out the foods that feed this. So we have no gluten/dairy/ all the foods he shows sensitivity too through blood, all the protien if we are acidic or all the other acidic foods (showing allergies to most of the alkaline foods), all the D's , if that theory is right , folic acid, iron, you just about name it. I  am completely confused on what is right to ingest . At this point , i also wonder if what we are ingesting now we think is good is actually feeding these pathogens later as they  have such a stealth way about them in robbing us and adapting to just about any situation or state our bodies are in.

From my understanding , calcium, magnesium and D all apparently work together. Well if one is off , what does that do to the rest ? For example. if you followed my “has everyone had their D checked” post, i posted my sons D results and then the results MP sent from analyzing them. If i were to believe that his 1-25 is too high and the VDR is not working right, should i now wonder when i supplement with cal/mag , if it is actually being absorbed the way it should. They say his numbers show his body is reabsorbing calcium or however they word it , leading to osteoporosis and/or kidney stones. So i think, well he is a child, he cant have dairy and he has to grow and have strong bones so i need to supplement .But how are these supplements being metabolized?

I have 3 D tests since Sept. All have climbed up to abnormal  and each one is higher than the last. (even in winter). I started to supplement with cal/mag in Oct. So now , why the rise? Do these supplements have something to do with it. I dont know.

The good thing i guess is that my AP doc did all these tests and i have a journal of what i have changed so to speak. I will ask about it at my next appt so there maybe some light shed on this.

On that note, i would assume many of us at the beginning never had many of the min/vit tests done. I didnt at the start . I would think that most of our diseases began long before symptoms started so the only way to tell how this all works together would have been to have all these tests done long ago before we had any symptoms. Unfortunately, not a perfect world.

Also, certain vit and minerals work better when taken together so i would think we need to know what works with what ex cal/mag, vit c and e, e and selenium etc. Well now if one is off, what effect does the other have on the body?

Who knows, its not a perfect world for us here and now every single time we put something in our mouths, i question what its doing? It really makes me feel defeated no matter what!

Casey

[linda]

With all the food that is fortified with vit D, mag., iron, calcium, etc, I don't understand how anyone can be deficient in these substances. Just one bowl of cereal gives us most of what we need for the entire day. And yet we continue to test low for some of these substances.

Perhaps they just isn't:headbang: (I'm seriously losing my mind- I've lost the ability to spell and now my grammer is suffering as well). Let's try this again. Perhaps they just aren't absorbed as readily when ingested as a supplement. Maybe we should eat the foods that naturally contain the substances in a form our bodies can absorb. Years ago when I was in nursing school, our nutrition instructor told us that vitamens (no linda, it's vitamins) only work if they are taken with foods that also contain that particular vitamin.

It goes without saying that we also need to keep our digestive sysytem healthy by using probiotics- I know that there are certain foods that contain a few types of healthy bacteria, which is probably fine for a healthy individual, but for those on long term abx, the more the merrier. If our digestive system is off it will affect the absorption of these necessary vits, minerals and hormones.

I heard some senator a few months ago say that if something wasn't food a hundred yrs ago, he doesn't consider it to be food now, and he doesn't eat it. I kinda like that philosophy, as long as they had chocolate 100 yrs ago!

The fibro fog is really getting bad. Half of what I write is dyslexic, which I'm not, and now I'm forgetting the rules of grammer. Usually I catch my mistakes by previewing my message, but now that's not helping much either. No giggling from the peanut gallery, okay? I really need to get better!

[Jennhere]

Any deficiency can be caused by undxed celiac disease, so that's always a consideration.  The “why” are you deficient if you're eating a proper diet.  I was low iron until I went gluten free.  I was tested neg. for CD, but have found all sorts of improvements on the gluten free diet.  It leads me to suspect I'm one of the “gluten sensitive” folks out there who test neg. for the disease.

Linda- that senator was probably influenced by Michael Pollan's work.  “Unhappy Meals” in the New York Times and his other books, “The Omnivore's Dillema” and “In Defense of Food”… which costs $20.00 at the bookstore but is really just as good as the free NYT's article you can get online or here where I posted it under “healthy eating”.

Jenn

[linda]

I also do the no gluten thing, it's really not that difficult to follow once you get used to it.  I don't do dairy, either. I used to have IBS, but it's not a problem anymore, unless I cheat (sometimes a girl just has got to have her ice cream).:cool:

[casey]

Hi AF and all,

I have IgA defiency and have related that back to this “autoimmune problem. Somewhat anyway. i do believe some are low in HCL. I think i am one of them and take the dig enzymes with HCL in it. when i go down the line of my family with this, i always questioned whether my mother was celiac from the beginning of time and that NEVER being treated , allowed the set up of all her infections which came down to us. Celiac is often hereditary. Both my son and i didnt know we had it till last yr. I would assume HCL defiency goes with all of this in us but the question to me is : was this genetic predisposition there , not knowing about it and feeding it, cause the body to have these ” pathogens ” allowing us to pass them onto our other family members or was the pathogens there first?

When my son was born, i believe he was already infected with these different pathogens based on some pubmed reports and mycoplasma. So that may say, i passed the bacteria to him causing all this “autoimmune” stuff to “grow ” .

Its a race to the finish line to try and figure out what started this all first! At least in my home anyway. Just sucks!!!!!!

Casey

[A Friend]

Linda wrote:  With all the food that is fortified with vit D, mag., iron, calcium, etc, I don't understand how anyone can be defificient in these substances. Just one bowl of cereal gives us most of what we need for the entire day. And yet we continue to test low for some of these substances……. Maybe we should eat the foods that naturally contain the substances in a form our bodies can absorb.

I think your last line above says it best.  Also, the gist of your first sentence seems to be what we are meant to believe, but while these substances can be helpful (or not) they don't take the place of the nutrients in real food like fresh and lightly-cooked vegetables, fresh fruits, whole-grains, and 'adequate' healthy meat and fish.  I avoid any supplementation with iron, because I've read the organisms feed on it.  And, I also avoid D, as I eat an adequate amount of fish for this, and as yet I don't trust D supplementation for myself.  And some forms of calcium are not easily absorbable, but I do take calcium orotate. 

 Years ago women were able to stay home and raise their families.  Life was slower, and they had time to plan and cook simple meals from scratch.  I believe now in the rush-rush, hurry-hurry mode, too many quick, almost non-food meals, with tons of additives, are being prepared.  Actually, I now find it simpler and enjoyable to plan a simple protein of either meat/fish/fowl, and add a couple of healthy sides (that cook in about 5-10 minutes), and add a raw salad with a dressing containing healthy fats.    It's my understanding that it's from the vegetables that we get the best sources of magnesium and surprisingly, calcium too.  I eat sparingly, if at all, from some of the meat proteins, with beans and peas plus brown rice as a good meat substitute.  Changing habits seems overwhelming when we are already on overload, but can actually be simpler than we thought. 

AF

[A Friend]

MAGNESIUM DEFICIENCY….an online audio program link to click on and listen to.  Am sharing information about this below from an e-mail:

This September 1, 2007 program on http://www.radiomartie.com — click on  
For anyone with all the many chronic illnesses, pain, and their  many other problems, including cardiac problems, high blood pressure  — and even pregnancy — or any of the other things that can go wrong when this necessary mineral is missing, I believe listening to this program and/or reading Dr. Carolyn Dean's book should be on our “required” list.  (Am calling the Library to see if they have it.)  This is not new information to me, but hearing Dr. Dean this morning has certainly reinforced my need to have the CD in my collection, along with her book, to periodically review this important information.  (Suggestion:  If you listen, sit down or lie down and concentrate on what is being said. The program is an hour long.) 
 
Dr. Dean  was an N.D. and was always a believer in natural health alternatives, but went to med school and got her M.D. as well, because she said she wanted to add more credence to her beliefs and recommendations by having the MD after her name.  She mentions that many MDs tell their patients (they were taught this in med school and then by the pharmaceutical  reps) that there was nothing to this — until they get in an emergency situation in the ER and a magnesium drip is the emergency procedure used often that turns some of these emergencies around.)   
 
CDs of this program can be ordered for about $6.00 I believe from a link on the site or, if you know how to do this, they approve of your downloading the program to your own CD for free.  However, I just now set my audio speakers  to the right volume, made sure my Mute button was not on, then clicked the above program link, and immediately the program was underway. 
 
Best to you all…and Happy Easter!  And to your better health!  …AF
 [/size]

[Rosemary Perth Aust.]

Just one thing I would like some of you to know is that Lyme can deplete the body completely of magnesium and cause chronic pain.  It did with me.  I could not take it intravenously either to start with. Someone told me about it.  Found that I had to introduce it back again very gradually just like the Vit D once the body is not functioning normally.  Magnesium chelate powder which we can get here in WA is a great way to combat constipation from the abx or pain killers and a boon to the muscles.  The post polio organization will post it all over Aust if anyone wants it. Cam supply the email address of the group for anyone if they want it.  It is wonderful for stiffness of rheumatic conditions.

[Author]

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