For the present, I think having sodium chloride or baking soda in your bath might be more helpful than the magnesium, though they could be combined. I suspect that increased aldosterone could account for the anxiety/panic, and extra magnesium, potassium, or phosphate could make it worse; sodium, calcium, and vitamin D would tend to lower it.
Psychother Psychosom. 2006;75(5):327-30.
Psychological aspects of primary aldosteronism.
Sonino N(1), Fallo F, Fava GA.
(1)Department of Statistical Sciences, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
[email protected]
BACKGROUND: Except for 3 case reports of Conn's syndrome presenting as
depression, psychosocial factors have not been explored in primary aldosteronism.
We investigated psychological correlates in primary aldosteronism using methods
that were found to be sensitive and reliable in psychosomatic research.
METHOD: Ten consecutive newly diagnosed patients with primary aldosteronism were
studied: 5 males/5 females; mean age (+/-SD) 45.5 +/- 6.6 years, age range 34-54
years; 4 with an aldosterone-producing adenoma and 6 with idiopathic
aldosteronism; systolic/diastolic blood pressure 189 +/- 20/111 +/- 7.7 mm Hg;
upright plasma aldosterone 40.0 +/- 18.3 ng/dl; upright plasma renin activity
(PRA) 0.2 +/- 0.1 ng/ml/h; aldosterone/PRA ratio 229.2 +/- 191.0; serum K(+) 3.5
+/- 0.5 mmol/l. The Structured Clinical Interview for the Diagnostic and
Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) for eliciting psychiatric
diagnoses, and a shortened version of the structured interview for subclinical
psychological syndromes, the Diagnostic Criteria for Psychosomatic Research
(DCPR), were administered.
RESULTS: Seven patients (2 with aldosterone-producing adenoma and 5 with
idiopathic hyperaldosteronism) received both DSM-IV and DCPR diagnoses, while 3
had neither. As to DSM-IV, generalized anxiety disorder was detected in 6 cases
(in 1 it was associated with panic disorder and in 1 with major depression) and
obsessive-compulsive disorder in 1. The most frequent DCPR cluster was
demoralization (5 cases), while persistent somatization occurred in 2 cases
(associated with demoralization in 1) and irritable mood in 1.
CONCLUSIONS: The occurrence of anxiety disorders in patients with primary
aldosteronism was much higher than that found in the general population and in
primary care. Since an association between hyperaldosteronism and anxiety has
also been suggested in previous animal studies, it seems worthwhile to gain
further knowledge on clinical aspects by larger population studies.