Magnesium deficiency help!!!

I was taking magnesium malate 425 mg everyday for at least a month as directed by my lyme doc. I had some symptoms of magnesium deficiency like occasional chest pains that would get better if I ate magnesium rich foods, lots of muscle twitches and tightness. I had to go to the hospital for several days this week and about 2 days in I started getting shooting pains from my lower back down to my calves that were so bad I needed pain pills. I was crying for hours until it all kicked in. They did an x ray and no problems with the spin thankfully. I get these in the night sometimes but never that bad, when I am sleeping in uncomfortable beds like futons. But before may when I got lyme I never got this and would camp on the hard ground, sleep wherever when I traveled etc. the leg pain has it has gotten a little better and I thankfully don't need the pain pills any more. They did check my magnesium and the hospital and said it was low so they gave me an iv of it and continued to give me it orally too and I'm back to my daily supplement but still having magnesium deficiency symptoms. I'm getting terrible muscle cramps in my calves whenever I stand but only when I stand or leave my feet hanging from something. I can only stand for less than a minute and then need to sit. I am getting cramps in my fore arms and wrists too and more muscle twitching than usual. Just sick if these cramps and they are supper limiting as I can barely walk right now so any advice would be great. I'm checking in my my lyme doc Monday. They gave me muscle relaxers and I've been hesitant to try them but honestly don't know how much more I can stand this so I may see if it helps if I can't get relief. I kept thinking the leg stuff was for being in a bed so much and it probably is part of it but my arms are hurting too. The leg cramps feel like Charlie horses.

Hi Green33:

Welcome! Are you on any other meds such as antibiotics? Did you test of other vitamin deficiency? My son was diagnosed with vit D deficiency and once the level went up, most of his pain decreased. Are you detoxing? If you are on abx and are not detoxing, the pain may be caused by a herx reaction. I was pregnant and I could not detox, as this is not recommanded during pregnancy, and I was in a looooot of pain, and couldn't even take good pain killers. You said your xray is ok, but did they check the nerves? I am not sure they can see if a nerve is pinched on the XRAY. I believe only MRIs can show this. THe shooting pain you are describing may be due to a pinched nerve. What pain killers did they give you? Neurontin or gabapentin or something from that group?

If you are vitamin difficient, it may take a while for the symtoms to subside. My son stuggled with the vit D difficiency pain for months! I guess it takes a while for it to work.

Because you have already been supplementing with magnesium, it seems that your body is unable to absorb the magnesium.

Excessive alcohol drinking or being on Proton Pump Inhibitors (PPI's) will cause this. So will issues with the kidneys and Crohn's disease.

As it was mentioned above, Epsom Salt Baths are a good way to provide your body with magnesium. You may also want to try other types of magnesium which have a significantly higher absorption and bioavailability such as magnesium chloride, magnesium lactate, and magnesium citrate. your body may absorb them better. Stay away from magnesium oxide, it absorbs poorly.

You may also want to talk to your doctor about doing transdermal magnesium intake in case your GI tract has issues absorbing magnesium.

I researched the Source Naturals magnesium malate and that brand seemed fine. However, I did find out that various people found different types more effective. Everyone is different. What works better for one person might not work better for another. You could try a different type and see if it works better for you.

You can try doing Epsom salt foot soaks if you don't have cuts on your feet. I tend to feel better overall when using Epsom salt. Maybe that will help.

Otherwise, something else could be going on. You should follow up with your LLMD. Pain can be caused by many things. It's tricky to figure it out. I hope you feel better soon.

Remag.