Your multivitamin most likely has magnesium oxide in it?
Or magnesium stearate? The Oxide form is not absorbed, and the stearate is not either. The stearate is an excipient added to improve flow of powder into the tablet processing machines.

So you cannot count on either if they appear on a label in that
way.

The average suggestion is 1/2 the RDA in adults to start as a supplement. This is 200mg elemental. Please read my magnesium thread to learn what "elemental" means. Some supplement put it on the label, but most do not.
An example to illustrate is magnesium malate 1000mg.
150mg of it is elemental mag. and rest is the malate. All minerals have this characteristic...of total weight vs weight only of the mineral portion.
I gave the link above in this thread today so you can choose a supplement and how much to take. It is a good time now for you to read the boxed nutrition statements on foods and supplements. Magnesium is not usually listed on foods yet.

The RDA for adult males is about 380mg elemental daily.
Use this nutrition link to see what is in your daily food choices.
http://nutritiondata.self.com/
pay close attention to the serving sizes given in the upper left.

Just paying attention to magnesium often helps many people. It is a basic first base to start at when trying to improve your health.

As far as foods go, you could crush or grind up 3 oz of unsalted almonds and add to real oatmeal (not instant), and get 1/2 the RDA of magnesium. Add some cinnamon or fruit and you have a very nutritious breakfast (or lunch if you prefer it that way).
Real cooked oatmeal, has soluble fiber to help with heart health, and also is easy on blood sugar spikes.
http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/...cereals/1597/2
has choline, for your nerve membranes and brain,
and good amounts of minerals. Has 10 grams of protein not counting milk or the almonds, which also have some.

Fast processed foods, have the nutrients removed and chemicals
we don't need to take their place.

does walmart carry elemental magnesium or do i have to go to a specialized supplement store like vitamin shoppe or GNC?

second question. do you recommend i use some type of detox or internal cleansing supplement?

Did you read that thread?

WalMart carries a product called SlowMag and also its generic
behind the pharmacy counter, Mag64.

If you decide to use that one, which is a good product initially made for doctors to prescribe to their patients, then you would
take one of them twice a day.

All magnesium products contain "elemental" magnesium.
Some are not absorbed though, as I just described. Others may or may not put the elemental value on the label. This is voluntary and not required by law. All they need to state is the total amount in each dose. It is up to you to know which works better. That is why I made that thread on our vitamin forum.

So if you go to WalMart, get the SlowMag.

Or you can go online and get another type like magnesium glycinate, which some use with success.

I would not recommend you use a "detox" program, as you don't really know what you have going on. I have little experience with cleansing etc, and only an expert in this can really help you, once you have a better handle on it.

Start with known problems, and supplement them. Blood work for magnesium is not useful in the middle ranges. Serum levels do not mean much as it is the intracellular magnesium that is working. Very Very low results or very very high ones, can be evaluated by doctors as critical events. But the "normal" mid range does not reflect what is going on inside you on a day to day basis. Tests that measure intracellular levels are better, like Spectracell.

i just picked up 2 bottles of slowmag. can i take 2 pills at once like the bottle says?

its telling me to take 2 pills, either once or twice daily

I take slowmag - largely from the suggestion by mrsD. I bought it at CVS. However, because it has quite a bit of calcium added to it, I just take 1 pill per day. Accordingly this seems to have helped me quite a bit since I've been taking it. Though I can't be sure why I felt better - it could be that it's not connected. Who knows.

As of yesterday, I started getting some flare-ups of PN pain and this sucked since I had nearly 10 days in a row of nearly no pains. However, these pains are no where near the horrible pains I had in flareups in the past. So, I don't know why I'm feeling a bit depressed about it -I should actually be grateful they are not that bad.

As my fever rose, I also felt some uncontrollable twitching of my nose and biceps and some numbness in my thighs. These were very short and temporary, but I wonder if these have something to do with me fighting off a cold, as the fever I had certainly made my brain feel very anxious.

Still, I don't know what caused this flare-up, though I am fighting off a sore throat and a fever for the last 3 days and I can't take any meds to help.

It it possible that a cold or flu can aggravate your PN pains?

@Mustang... to start most people only need one tablet twice a day. One assumes you eat some magnesium.

For those with really issues due to depletion by drugs, caffeine or alcohol, a little more may be needed.

Most people do not need 4 a day, though.

@ JesseM... yes, about 5 yrs ago I had a flu thing with fever, aches,
etc and had burning all over for 3 days or so. It is the only time I have
had that though.

no what i meant is can i take 2 tablets at once instead of seperating it by taking one twice a day. second question. today i was blood tested again and the name of the test on the sheet said "small fiber painful axonal neuropathy". i had no idea there is a blood test for small fiber neuropathy. is this a bogus test or can this test really give me some answers? i was told the only way to find small fiber neuropathy is via skin biopsy.

Two tablets at once may be laxative if you do that. Sensitive people may react that way. Constipated people less so.

Sometimes test orders have a provisional diagnosis on them.
That might be what the neuropathy statement means.
Was there any other writing on the order?

I doubt if your doctor ordered it, that is could bogus.