Be Patient with Magnesium...It May Take Awhile

[scisland]

I wanted to share some personal info in case others have prematurely given up on magnesium to aid in pvc's and pvc symptoms.

A little history on my heart... I've been living with PVC's in varying degrees of intensity for a few years now. My cardiologist had given me the full workup (including a 30 day event monitor) and my diagnosis was benign pvcs. He sent me on my way and told me that I was perfectly healthy and to try my best to keep my mind at ease and ignore the symptoms the PVCs were producing.

Fast forward to today.... I've been taking magnesium (300 mg of magnesium citrate) via a product called Natural Calm for about four months. Originally my family doctor (an MD with extensive knowledge of supplements) thought I should try it for my high blood pressure, but over time I've found some wonderfully surprising benefits that I didn't expect. He initially suggested a topical magnesium since you don't get the digestive issues and its supposed to be the best absorbed. I bought Ancient Minerals Magnesium oil tried it topically for a month and it didn't work. When I saw him again a few months later, still complaining of high bp, insomnia and anxiety he wanted me to try magnesium again and recommended Natural Calm. This time I noticed changes pretty soon, although not PVC's initially. After one week I was sleeping perfectly (I've had quite severe insomnia for a few years now). After about 2 weeks I saw my blood pressure start to fall and its been normal ever since. The BP has been a battle for years and I had to keep upping my dose of procardia xl and it was still high. Now I am completely off medication and the BP has been normal for months. As for the PVC's... I didn't notice any change at first, but after about three months into the supplementation I can say that it is very rare that I feel one and its usually only one or two together. In the past I would have strings of them and lots of yucky symptoms to go along with it. That has all gradually changed. Now four months after starting magnesium I notice that a day or two around ovulation i may notice one or two PVCs and then around my period each month I notice a couple, but they have GREATLY diminished. I read that if you are truly magnesium deficient (which I would also like to mention is hard to diagnose because my blood work showed my mag levels were fine) that it may take some time for everything to be restored. The body uses magnesium in hundreds of functions, so it may send the new stores of magnesium where it is needed the most first.

So if you tried magnesium for a short time and gave up, you may want to give it another try. OR if you tried one kind of magnesium you might want to try another kind to see if its absorbed better. I would stay on one kind for at least one month and see if you feel better in general, then give it another couple of months to see if PVC's are helped. My Dr. recommended I read the Magnesium Miracle, which i haven't yet, but the dr who wrote it has a great blog with lots of helpful ideas on finding the right magnesium for you.

Just wanted to share this info, because when I was researching magnesium i was skeptical from the range of success and failures people had with it. But I'm pleasantly surprised and feeling really much better with no other medication at all.

[scisland]

Great info on the Magnesium Malate, so interesting. I may try to cycle that in later. Although things are going so well I hate to rock the boat!!!!

Marileegal, I buy my Natural Calm at Whole Foods. It is a bit pricey (I think $25), but its so worth it to me I'd pay $50. Everyone should at least give it a try. It won't hurt, can only help.

[scisland]

viperron....I'm trying to find that perfect dosage that will provide me enough magnesium but no diarrhea. I was taking 300mg spread in three doses throughout the day (as Natural Calm recommends), now have backed it down to 250mg and its gotten a little better. How much angstrom do you take to replace some of the Natural Calm?

I'm also in total agreement about why cardiologists don't at least have patients give it a try. I suffered not only with PVC's, but horrible general anxiety and insomnia for at least two years. The difference has been amazing for me and I am so thankful to feel better.

[viperron]

Just remember that you can basically take all the angstrom mg you  want as your body will get rid of what it doesn't need, and no loose stool, however I think that the natural calm does a little bit better job. I usually take two level teaspoons full of natural calm a day, once in the morning and once in the evening and mix 1 once of angstrom mg with a very small bottle of orange jucie and take it to bed with me and drink it during the nite. I was taking quite a bit more of both for a long time but it seems that possibly my body may be catching up with the need for mg. If you get a chance to read all the symtoms of lack of mg you will find it very interesting....After reading the list I could place several of my problems with the lack of mg, one being kidney stones which I've suffered with during my life. Please remember I am also learning about the proper way and amounts of mg to take, as we do not have anyone or any doctors to help us out ( there is no money to be made selling mg so you can almost count out doctors and drug companies trying to help us)  Ron

[scisland]

Thank you. I think its just finding the right balance. I'll report back if I have any new news that others may find helpful.

[is_something_wrong]

Just my two cents here, be careful by self-medicating with magnesium. It may help (especially towards PACs) but it may also worsen the situation. Magnesium is a natural calcium channel blocker.

If you have AV block, slow heart rate in general or kidney problems, be VERY careful taking magnesium. If the PVCs are caused by electrolyte imbalances, be very careful too. I would ask my doctor before trying to treat a condition.

[viperron]

If you had a doctor worth 2 cents he may have already looked into helping you with mg, however he can't make any money or get a free golf trip to Augusta having you use mg. The sooner many of you realize this the better off you will probably be. Did you know the first thing that probably would be done if you have a heart attack is to be put on a slow mg drip. I don't pretend to believe for a minute that mg is the answer to all problems however I will bet it would help over 50% of the people on this blog if they would simply study it. What would be even better if the doctoc would participate in this mg experiment, as if that would ever happen. Anyone that has ever read one of my entries knows how I feel about doctors, after suffering for almost 4 decades and only getting help by what I found on the internet.....THAT simply is NOT RIGHT.. I will agree that it will in fact slow your heart rate and if you already have this problem you must be careful. I can only speak for myself and the help mg has given me. I must restate WHY did I have to find this out on my own. No one has ever tried to answer this for me, maybe you will be the first.