Magnesium Supplements......
 

Does anyone find supplements such as Slow-Mag helps with sensations, etc. I have been taking it for a while now, hoping I am doing the right thing.

Does anyone know if is harmful on the body to take as a supplement?

I've been taking magnesium lactate (as directed on the bottle) for a little over a month now, based on stuff I read here. So far, I haven't noticed anything either way.

Doc

I was suggested magnesium by the holistic doctor I saw. I have been taking magnesium glycinate and it is the only supplement I order online. I don't really feel any different but who knows and I don't think it can hurt unless you have another medical condition or a med that interacts. Just talk to your doc and make sure or call the pharmacy. Slowmag has been suggested on here too as being good.

Here is a good monograph on magnesium.

http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocente...als/magnesium/

About 70% of people are low in this mineral intake, because of poor eating habits in US.

Your goal for dosing should be 50% of the RDA. The RDA is in elemental form, not total weight.

Your label should explain how much elemental is in your product.

For SlowMag it is about 64mg/tablet. Taking 2 a day of these, gives 120mg and your RDA is about 350mg. So no you cannot harm yourself on this low dose.

Not all of any mineral is completely absorbed either, some remains in the bowel and is excreted. Calcium (when no Vit D is there) can be about 20-25% absorbed for example. I don't have the magnesium numbers, but when it is not absorbed, it causes loose stools (laxative) and tells you not all is getting absorbed.

The most dangerous way to poison yourself with magnesium is by enema. Overuse of enemas like Fleets, may poison a person with low kidney functions or infants. The last time I looked the stats on this are about 20 people/year. It is just not common, and only happens when people misuse products on the market.

People getting Chemo can require very high doses of magnesium, thru special IVs given with the chemo agent-- The rate of administration of those is very slow so the kidneys to not get overwhelmed. Usually it takes almost a day, for those special situations to be administered. Also other high dose administration with lower amounts than chemo IV are given to women with eclampsia of pregnancy. These amounts are huge, and never seen OTC.

After a spasm attack and charlie horsing in my feet I went to the health food store. Maybe a week ago. The nutritionist recommended "Ionic-Fizz" Calcium Plus. Says it's the most absorbable form of calcium available. (powder form) It has 300 mg of magnesium from carbonate, as well as a list of other vitamins and minerals. I have taken it twice a day and the painful spasms and charlie horses seem to be gone. My foot neuropathy was in flair up mode but has gone back to it's baseline. (bearable) But who really knows with this stuff.....

Yes, I use Ionic Fizz too, and have posted it in my magnesium thread. It is very fast acting. But for me I get loose if I use it 3 days in a row. (I am just sensitive to magnesium oral).

The SlowMag is more gentle, that's all. SlowMag was originally put on the market for medical doctors to use in cardiac patients.
People on long term diuretic therapy, get very low in magnesium and that can cause cardiac issues. But it has always been over the counter.

I like the Ionic Fizz, though too.

What do you mean by "you get loose"?

Loose stools and diarrhea.

My pain Dr. recommended I take magnesium malate, because she said it has shown to help with myofacial pain too.

I normally use iherb.com to buy my supplements, and am looking for Slow Mag, Mag Delay, Mag 64, or Magnesium Lactate. I have been unable to find any of these on iherb. Can someone recommend another good website, or is another form just as well? I have small fiber neuropathy, apparently hereditary. 42-yo male.

On iherb.com there is an Alta Health Products magnesium chloride, 62 mg elemental per tablet. Does this sound ok? I have never heard of the brand.

Thanks
Electron

WalMart carries this in their pharmacy. YOu have to ask for the generic for SlowMag. WalMart carries the brand name on the shelf in the vitamin section for $9.99... a good price for that too.

Also, I get mine at Costco. They carry it in the OTC section. And will order it for you too.

I've been using the new CVS lotion....I find it very nice.
Take a look.

http://www.cvs.com/CVSApp/catalog/sh...new_crumb=true
It is in our local store for $10.49. A very nice base, unscented and moisturizing too.

mrsD, Do you rub the cream on areas with neuropathy pain? Why do you think this helps, because you are deficient?

Do you think the Alta brand magnesium chloride is a decent product? Do you see any reason to not use it?
http://www.iherb.com/Alta-Health-Mag...ets/10682?at=0

Thanks a lot,
Electron

That product does not say --delayed release. It costs more than the brand name SlowMag... so why pay more?

SlowMag is quite affordable now at WalMart.
I don't know anything about the Alta product, but it seems a bit expensive to me. Not being delayed release it may be laxative for some people. The delayed actions make for gentler effects for some.

I apply the lotion to my arms. I've been using magnesium supplements for over a decade...to lower my blood pressure, and improve the utilization of essential fatty acids. Magnesium dilates blood vessels and improves circulation too. I get leg cramps if I don't use it.

It doesn't matter where you apply the lotion...the mag goes thru the skin. If your feet have poor circulation, you might apply to the tops of them and the calves. Applied at night really helps with relaxation and sleep too.

If you prefer to order online, Amazon has Slow Mag for a very reasonable price. i order mine from Purdue Products via Amazon currently selling for $19.36 for a pack of 2 (60 tabs each). If you order 2 (240 tabs), you even get free shipping. I've ordered several times through this seller with no problems.

Yes, I take it for the sensations and also for my heart issues. It isn't harmful — it can be helpful, especially with Autonomic Neuropathy. If you take Neurontin make sure you take magnesium two hours before or after. The very best brand money can buy is Mag-Tab SR (12 hour slow release). Your pharmacist can order it in for you. It has 84 mg of elemental magnesium.

Good luck!

What's the problem with Neurontin and magnesium? I have never heard that.
Electron

Some minerals complex with drugs (attach to them) and prevent absorption from the GI tract. This is true for magnesium and Neurontin. Neurontin has poor absorption anyway, and this would make it much less.

It is also true for some antibiotics, which will complex with calcium, iron and magnesium.

MrsD,
 

I used the CVS lotion last night and it's really helping w/ the burning & numbness. Thanks for suggesting it.

I am glad it is working for you. I like it on my legs too, it seems to relax them. I've also done my sore right arm (the shingles arm) and I don't wake up with the pain like I sometimes do.

It seems to be relaxing also and helps me fall asleep!

Our close CVS stopped carrying it! We found another in a store 3 miles away. I sure hope they are not discontinuing it permanently?

It still appears on their .com for sale that way. I'll be very disappointed if after finding it, this just becomes unavailable! :rolleyes:

I got it @ cvs online.
 

There was a free ship/$10 off $50 CVS offer and I bought 2 bottles of it. Maybe we need to stock up before it disappears! Amazon had a similar product but it cost 2x more.

What is the Amazon product called?

The Kirkman cream is about twice a much $$ for less quantity I seem to recall.

It's called "Epsom-It Body Rub Lotion." It costs $19.95 and $9.95 for shipping! Who makes the Kirkman brand? Is it a Costco product?

Kirkland is Costco...

Kirkman is a separate company:

http://www.kirkmanlabs.com/ViewProdu...roup_ID@1.aspx

The benefit is that the dosage is known. This product is mostly targeted to autistic children, where dosage is important.

I became curious, so looked up the ingredients of both the Epsom IT lotion and CVS':

Epsom It:
from their website:
http://www.epsom-it.com/

CVS Epsom lotion:
The only difference I see is that Epsom It ...has methyl salicyclate in it (an aspirin analog).

Also Epsom It appears much more expensive, but there are places competing...
http://www.myfootshop.com/detail.asp?ProductID=899

Epsom-It Body Rub + S/H
 

I really don't think the aspirin analog is necessary for most of us, PNers. It is for aching muscles and/or tendonitis/arthritis.

I use Salonpas for my arthritis in my feet, and I don't see it impacting my PN much. But it is good for the sesamoid inflammation I am prone to getting. Also the tendonitis I have in my surgical foot instep.

I think the CVS lotion is fine...the goal is to deliver magnesium instead of using oral supplements. And also location, to the extremities where circulation may be poor.

BTW, I had to pick up my thyroid RX yesterday, and they got in 12 more bottles of the lotion. Must have been "out of stock". Since hubby saw 8 bottles there when he picked up the first one for me, I suspect a trainer or someone from the upscale gym nearby maybe bought them all ?

I think the only way to know for sure about the difference between the two similar products is to use them both. Either one on the left and the other on the right, or sequentially. I'd start without the aspirin analog one, and then do the Epsom It...after. Methyl Salicylate is in Ben Gay and other rubs similar.

I've been doing my right arm, which is my shingles arm, and it is working well for the terrible aching I get when sleeping on it.

I am pleased with the CVS product so far... it is nice, no weird odor to have to endure in bed, and not expensive. It was 5.99 on their website this week, with 5.95 shipping. If you buy like 3 bottles, ahead, there can be quite a savings. I almost did that in fact. But I have also seen that site change prices quickly too.
I've seen 7.99 and 9.99 there too.

I am wondering how the use of topical magnesium affects total magnesium levels in the body. Did you say above that total intake should be half the RDA or approx. 150-200 mg? (BTW, my bottles don't specify "elemental magnesium" values.) Does using magnesium lotion — or, for that matter, old-fashioned Epsom salts foot soaks — significantly raise total magnesium levels?

Thanks!

Yes, it does. The Kirkman product targeting children is designed to deliver 100mg/ gram of cream.

It is unclear to me how much would be absorbed from the lotions we are discussing. They do not give concentration values on their labels.

So I have suggested in this thread and others that if you decide to use the lotion every day on large areas, or in large amounts to cut back on oral supplements. In a normal person with normal kidney functions, magnesium in excess can be excreted easily.
In small children or the elderly this is not as likely. Most of the poisonings with children or elderly come from over use of magnesium containing laxatives and enemas.

When you swallow a mineral like magnesium, it is going to go into the blood stream and be sent all over. When you apply it topically, it will enter where you applied it, and slowly make its way to other sites. This would be slower IMO and depend on the circulation of the area you applied it. The GI tract is designed to allow things into the body more efficiently than topical application. Much of the magnesium applied topically may be utilized right there, and not make it to the general circulation.
Magnesium is used in hundreds of metabolic enzyme systems and will be taken up everywhere.

We see certain therapeutic things made into transdermal creams for local application. Knees, joints, etc. These have drugs in them that get to the local site in higher concentration than they would if taken orally. But they do disseminate finally into the body itself, as evidenced by the toxicity of diclofenac in topical RX products, getting to the liver and causing damage there.

Topical success in reaching the blood stream depends on the vehicle delivering the magnesium. Soaking in water would be less efficient, than a transdermal cream which carries the magnesium "deeper".

Basically I think if one were to use the lotions, you could give up the oral forms instead. As far as toxicity potential existing, that is unclear. People have died using Ben Gay (a young woman recently) who abused this cream and it interacted with her poor kidney functions. But I believe I read that only 12 people in 50 yrs have had problems like this with Ben Gay.

Again, people with normal kidney functions don't need to worry about the magnesium in the lotions IMO. However, people with poor or damaged kidneys, should consult a doctor before using lotions in large amounts...to make sure their bodies can handle it.