Intravenous Magnesium

[sele]

Since there's no easy way to increase Mg levels, I was thinking of taking Magnesium Sulfate through IV to increase my magnesium levels and sleep better.

Any opinions? Would this screw me up in any way?

 

[honeybee]

Hay you tried transdermal? You can make it yourself from magnesium flakes and water. Its much cheaper this way.
I use it on my feet at night and take 1/2 tsp in juice per day. works great. Sleep really well too.

 

[BingDing]

Can you do that yourself? Opens up some interesting possibilities if you can.

This site is about nebulizing magnesium (and sodium bicarbonate).

This site has information on using magnesium chloride.

 

[sele]

Hay you tried transdermal? You can make it yourself from magnesium flakes and water. Its much cheaper this way.
I use it on my feet at night and take 1/2 tsp in juice per day. works great. Sleep really well too.

Yes, I've tried transdermal. I've found two things wrong with it. First, the absorption rate is very low. Second, my skin itches all night and I can't sleep.

 

[sele]

Can you do that yourself?

I can obtain a IV saline bag and an ampoule of MgSO4 and have a friend, who's a nurse, help me.
Nebulizing is interesting but I think the above method will be cost effective for me.

 

[aguilaroja]

Can you do that yourself?

I can obtain a IV saline bag and an ampoule of MgSO4 and have a friend, who's a nurse, help me.
Nebulizing is interesting but I think the above method will be cost effective for me.

No, it is NOT wise to give yourself IV magnesium solo, even with a medical background and careful self-monitoring. The concentration range of safety for minerals is fairly low, compared to some nutrients. IV application will cause swifter absorption. While high blood magnesium may be comparatively less dangerous than excess of some minerals, that is different from being safe:

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

You can read on the forum about different ways of augmenting magnesium, different from IV.

It is NOT clear to me:

(a) if "there's no easy way to increase Mg levels",
(b) if low magnesium is the main difficulty, and
(c) whether even the intracellular magnesium lab tests (whole red cell, epithelial, etc.) fully indicate how much magnesium in aiding metabolism in the cells. It is better to avoid a risky method for an uncertain situation.

Even when magnesium absorption is the issue, sometimes (as in some folks I know who had hypothyroidism) other metabolic factors are key rather than simply re-filling magnesium. (I am not saying the issue is necessarily thyroid either.)Yes, IV magnesium can be helpful in a number of circumstances. But it is best to be clear about its use, and when applying it, to have experience and supervision.

http://raypeat.com/articles/aging/trans ... acts.shtml
"Thyroid hormone is essential for maintaining adequate carbon dioxide production, for minimizing lactic acid, cortisol and prolactin, for regulating calcium and magnesium, for avoiding hypotonicity of the body fluids, and for improving the ratio of palmitic acid to linoleic acid."

 

[HDD]

"Getting enough sodium in the diet helps to retain magnesium, but both of them are lost easily when thyroid function is low; when the thyroid status is good, the requirement for magnesium is easily met by ordinary foods. The things I most often recommend for magnesium are the water from boiling greens such as beet, chard, turnip and kale, and coffee. Magnesium carbonate is a very good supplement, except that it can cause intestinal irritation. People tell me that they don't have bowel irritation from magnesium glycinate. Either Mg chloride or Mg sulfate with baking soda can be absorbed through the skin."

http://peatarian.com/peatexchanges

 

[haidut]

I don't see anybody mentioning magnesium bicarbonate. It is ionic magnesium so it should absorb very well. I have never had gut issues or loose stools from it, which indicates good absorption since I used to take up to 1,500mg of magnesium per day that way (drinking 1l bottle of MagBiCarb provides 1,500mg elemental magnesium).
There are threads on the forum about making it using carbonated water (club soda) and Milk of Magnesia from any grocery store in the USA.