This link gives the Upper Limit for daily supplements...it seems rather low to me:

http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Mag...hProfessional/

This one also gives the same chart. It appears to me to be similar to the RDA chart...

Magnesium in people with healthy kidneys is excreted when in excess.

It is very difficult to say on an individual basis. I am having good responses from the lotion that I've been using. It works well for me. I seem to get "loose" on most of the oral forms.
You can also get magnesium from foods. Nuts and beans are good sources.

Keep in mind the ELEMENTAL values, and not total weight.
The citrate 300mg may be a total weight and not elemental.
And I think any product with a mixture of oxide with a chelate will be mostly oxide, and therefore not useful. It is inexpensive and keeps the pill size down. Most chelates are HUGE and difficult to swallow. So therefore you may not be getting the elemental value of magnesium from either product that is high enough for you.

My 300 mg is Jarrow Magnesium Optimizer Citrate. Big pills.

I forgot to mention that I also use (tho not every night) epsom lotion, but it doesn't do much for me. One night this summer, I had cramps in my calves that were simply devastating and would not stop. Hour after hour of powerful cramping. Needless to say, the next day my legs were sore.

Is this the product?

http://www.iherb.com/Jarrow-Formulas...lv-Tablets/261

100mg/tablet.

Yes, it is.

thanks mrsd. i had a few generic kidney panel tests and they came back normal hrmm

i do drink a lot of water and too much black tea. i will try to cut down. not on any meds

do you know if with diabetics and their kidneys, even if their blood sugar is tightly controlled they lose magnesium in their kidneys or if it's uncontrolled?

also with the rbc magnesium tests do you know if this slowly increases over time or if the rbc swap out every three months so ?

I believe diabetics lose the magnesium whether they are well controlled or not. It is not understood why, that I can find.

The red cells do have a life of about 3 months. This is also true for potassium cycling.

Potassium and magnesium are connected.

Here is a pretty good and complex wiki article:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypomagnesemia

thanks again for the links,
i think all my electrolytes are a little off kilter because of this, if i can stop being lazy and find a decent doc i want to get the spectracell micronutrient test. it measures white blood cell nutrient status. i eat a lot of calcium rich foods like kale and dairy which worries me a bit.

it's interesting because i am pretty sure when i tested my magnesium at 4.7 i was taking more magnesium than i am now. but maybe im just eating more magnesium. at the time i tested 4.7 i was very low carbing. now im eating more carbs but not enough to spike my bs.

the parasthesias in my hands are driving me nuts

i would think tho for magnesium to cause that my rbc magnesium would have to be lower. i guess it's something else. sigh.

since the numbness changes with positions i guess its just tos. or maybe lowish on mg + muscle problems is giving me tos.

i am tempted to try mg threonate by swanson. bit expensive tho

do you guys know if eating a higher fat (HEALTHY fats) diet contributes to malabsorption of mg

ive seen it listed in places that it does but i think theyre referring to crappy american diets, not healthy fats