Tag fibro

The Importance of Magnesium in Fibromyalgia

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We hear it all the time, another supplement that we should take. Something else to swallow, but why? My personal opinion as a Fibromyalgia patient is that I’ll swallow 30 supplements over 30 prescriptions any day. The human body is designed to heal, if we feed it naturally. How did we last this long in the role of evolution, if we weren’t designed to grow, learn, heal, and adapt?

Magnesium is necessary for human bodily function. In fact, for the role of a patient that has neuropathic pain and pain hypersensitivity magnesium can decrease this effect. Magnesium blocks the calcium influx that decreases that hypersensitivity and inhibits central sensitization from happening in the first place. What’s important to note is that as we age our magnesium consumption seems to lower, and our capability of absorption decreases leading to inflammatory stress and poor sleep quality.

A study titled Psychological and Sleep Effects of Tryptophan and Magnesium-Enriched Mediterranean Diet in Women with Fibromyalgia actually concluded with the following information.

“Daily consumption of a Mediterranean-diet enriched with a high dose of TRY and MG (60 mg of TRY and 60 mg of MG) by middle-aged women with fibromyalgia during 16 weeks had modest beneficial effects on emotional processing, decreased fatigue, anxiety, and depression, and reduced possible eating disorders and dissatisfaction with body image, but did not modify sleep quality,” states the MDPI website on Environmental Research and Public Health.

I’m certain, as a patient myself, that most of us do not get proper nutrition with the varying different co-morbid conditions that we have. Especially for ones that suffer from heartburn influxes, and irritable bowel, and swallowing issues. After all our central nervous systems are all dysfunctional, our receptors are on full volume, we are lucky to have the energy to cook let alone consume food at all somedays.

“Several research studies have shown that patients with chronic pain do not follow the recommended dietary intake of most vitamins and minerals; and such deficiencies have been associated to several pathological conditions of chronic pain, including FM. Additionally, studies have investigated the impact of magnesium (Mg) on pain improvement. Mg is an important trace element for many metabolic functions, also vital for the activity of over 300 enzymes. Mg deficiency has been associated to headache, migraine, fibromyalgia, increase in C-reactive Protein (CRP), osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, and other conditions,” states the BMC website on Advances in Rheumatology.

Fatigue, muscle weakness, irritable bowel, and paresthesia are similar to the symptoms of deficiency in Mg, which are all symptoms of FM. If a Mg deficiency does exist, it may have a shared link among stress, inflammation and metabolic syndrome, this may cause an inappropriate response with the activation of intracellular calcium (Ca). So it stands to reason to supplement Mg when necessary. Magnesium (Mg) deficiency actually has a name, it’s called Hypomagnesemia.

“Although more than 99 % of the total body magnesium is located in the intracellular space, intracellular magnesium measurement is not included in daily basis in the clinical laboratory, being measured in serum and/or plasma. Hypomagnesemia – considered when serum magnesium concentration is below 0.7 mmol/L– is common, especially in subjects with comorbid conditions. The causes of hypomagnesemia can be broadly classified into four categories: gastrointestinal loss, renal loss, secondary to medications, and decreased intake. The prevalence of hypomagnesemia depends on multiple factors and varies according to different healthcare scenarios: 2.7 % in the general population, approximately 10 % in hospitalized patients, most commonly in critically ill patients, 14.7 % in patients with chronic kidney disease, 30–80 % in persons with alcohol use disorder and 10–60 % in patients with diabetes. Mild deficiency can remain undetected because it often presents non-specific symptoms, such as irritability, nervousness, mild anxiety, muscle contractions, weakness, fatigue, and digestive problems. A more pronounced magnesium deficiency can cause more severe symptoms of neuromuscular, cardiac, or nervous disorders,” states the De Gruyter website.

Okay, the big question, which is the best magnesium to take?! There seems to be a plethora of them to choose from. Personally, I take a triple form of Magnesium. The most highly absorbable is actually organic magnesium salts. If you can tolerate Magnesium by mouth, using Magnesium Citrate, Glycinate, Malate can help. Be forewarned that Magnesium Oxide is the one that has the tendency to have the most pronounced gastrointestinal issue effects. I highly recommend especially for FM patients to avoid Magnesium Oxide especially if you already have IBS, we want our small bowel to absorb the magnesium to help ourselves at the intracellular level rather than reject it.

“A daily dose of 800–1,600 mg (40–80 mEq [20–40 mmol]) can be used to treat moderate to severe hypomagnesemia. Patients with gastrointestinal disorders that are not easily correctable can be challenging to treat because oral magnesium preparations can cause diarrhea and potentially worsen the deficit. Oral preparations should be started at the lowest dose and only gradually increased. Magnesium oxide tends to cause more gastrointestinal intolerance than other oral preparations” states the De Gruyter website.

What got me started on the Magnesium pathway to begin with is that my blood pressure was all kinds of crazy and no heart medicine they put me on did anything for it. I had paresthesia in my veins (where they shrink) and in my carotid arteries to my brain. Once I started my supplementation my blood pressures started to calm down a bit, they are not perfect but doing way better than they used to be.

Like many other vitamins and minerals that work hand in hand. It is important that if you are supplementing with Magnesium that you are also taking a Vitamin D supplement for maximum potential of absorption.

“Magnesium absorption and excretion are influenced by different hormones: 1,25 dihydroxy vitamin D can stimulate intestinal magnesium absorption, estrogens are known to stimulate TRPM6 expression and parathyroid hormone (PTH) is involved in magnesium reabsorption in the kidney, absorption in the intestine, and release from bone excretion” states the De Gruyter website.

Stopping for a Moment for Lifetime Wisdom

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There’s been a lot happening in my life that doesn’t happen to be anything about my chronic illnesses, however they directly have an effect on my wellness. Remember, that just because you are doing everything possible to control your illnesses, the outside world and uncontrollable influences can send you into a flare. I’m really allergic to stress, even emotional stress. How can I tell?

I have this superhuman ability to gain like 5 to 10 lbs. overnight, which my kidney specialist told me one time was absolutely impossible. No one can eat or drink that much in one day for that to just appear. No doctor had an answer. However, here I was being this fabulous super growing and shrinking woman depending on what was going on in my life. Never did we realize at that point in time, it was directly correlating with the stress that I was under. Yet here I am, rocking it, even when my body was in a peaceful state as far as illness the day before.

So, I’m going to share with you some wisdom, that has seemed to come to me over the past few years. It took a group of my family elders and myself along with an example that shortly followed that brought me to this outright wisdom.

In Parenthood and Life, “It is okay to be human, but it’s always best to be a GOOD human.”

It takes nothing to be a Good Human to Yourself. Picture Credit: Engin_Akyurt/Pixabay

There’s been many different times I’ve asked myself over my lifetime, why certain people just choose to be a bad human. Then you wonder what kind of people would raise such a human. I am naturally a curious person and a people watcher. I even studied a bit of psychology when I was young in high school prepping for college, along with any and every child development course I could and even though I didn’t follow through with any type of degree, it certainly helped me in some pretty tight spots myself.

You can meet some of the most insanely nice people and then there are just inherently bad humans, ones that steal, lie, cheat and or abuse others. However, you meet their families and parents and question “How is that even possible?” No matter the upbringing, humans are responsible and should be accountable for their own actions, and sometimes they just aren’t, and refuse to.

It’s going to directly affect you in one way or another, but you still have the choice to still be a Good Human, and act accordingly if someone does something to you that hurts you. You have control on how you react to certain situations. You do not have to bow down to their tactics, walk their path, you have the ability as a human to walk away. Even good humans, still make mistakes, choose the wrong path inadvertently, but eventually they find their way back on the right path. It takes time and it takes patience for them to catch back up, but everyone has to make their own path, and that’s okay. Like I said, it’s okay to be human.

You personally, for your well-being (and sometimes health), have to be willing to allow yourself the patience and kindness to remove yourself from that situation. You have to remember “I am human too; I have offered my help, my love, and my advice, that’s all I have to help a fellow human. I can only maintain the things that are within my control.” Whether it’s a family member, or just another human friend, sometimes you need space, and that’s okay. As a Good Human, you also have to be a GOOD HUMAN TO YOURSELF AS WELL.

Let peace reside in your heart as much as possible, to reach the best possible feeling of well-being whether you are chronically ill or not. Love and Guide where you can and forgive the ones that choose differently because it’s out of your control. –Wellness wishes from your Author

L-Serine Update

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Recently I have been doing a lot of series work on Fibromyalgia for Newsbreak. I have been sharing a lot of information there on the research I had recently done. One thing that during my research I discovered a lack of L-Serine was discovered in Fibro patients’ urine. L-Serine is an amino acid that our bodies use daily, and usually produce, and there is a block.

I threw caution to the wind and went ahead as promised, and used myself as a guinea pig, and so far one week in, I’m going to give you a little update. I was actually having great success with improvement on brain function and sleep just by methylating, and that is fabulous in and of itself. My sleep has been so restful I’m barely dreaming now. When I first started, all the chips were stacked against me. I am taking 4 L-Serine tablets, which by the bottle says is a 2500 mg dose, morning, noon, and dinner, along with the methylfolate x 4 and the vitamin b complex x2 that I also take. (I did also read that it is highly suggested to have the proper b vitamins to process your amino acids anyway, so “Methylating” is a better choice so that you know the nutrients you are ingesting are doing their proper jobs in cell reproduction, repair, and healing as well.)

What I mean by the chips were stacked against me, was that it literally was a weeklong barometric pressure drop, my muscles were beginning to burn in my neck and shoulders. Long periods of time sitting and just reading research was really starting to get to me, so I actually pulled out my TENS Unit Portable Rechargeable Massager. Now if you follow me on Newsbreak, you can do that by following my link to the electrotherapy article to see how well this unit is helpful for you, you know that I have a tendency to write articles that either 1) are directly affecting me in the moment or 2) something the readers have reminded me of, that at one point I also struggled with. As I continue this journey of “healing” I know that there is not a cure, but there sure are things that have alleviated such a great deal of what I used to deal with, that I seem to “forget” at the times, the worst of moments. I really don’t forget them, they just are locked away in that box, that I don’t have to pull out near as often as I used to *I count my blessings*.

Muscle pain can be helped with L-Serine and Electrotherapy. photo from Pixabay

So far using L-Serine seems to be allowing my body to rest more completely and comfortably. It’s also providing me a level of comfort and analgesic type effects when the muscle pain is at it’s highest, and I’m good with that as well. It doesn’t make it entirely go away (Depending on how long they’ve been aching and burning) but it seems to “warm up” my muscle tissue in that area at the moment, and then fade, like an internal type “old people rub” (the best way I describe Lidocaine that I use when trying to sleep sometimes). So I’m going to continue on using the L-Serine as a supplement. I will probably drop down my dosage next week to see if it does change things.

Since my body does respond to external stimuli and barometric pressure and weather changes, it’s hard to wage the differences for myself, let alone if you are following in the journey with me. Just remember, one day you could feel great, and think things are going good, and then the barometric pressure drop or something crazy, and stay that way for days, overloading yourself. This week in particular I had not only external issues, but I also had emotional stress as well, so much over stimulation I had to take a few mid day naps to make it through. Not going to lie, a few cocktails as well just to help me smile. That’s a story for another day. Remember, have patience with yourself, with the things you do to try to navigate this life and heal, always be mindful of your need to rest, when life gets to be too much. If you don’t stop and say, “This is too much.” Then you go hide in a quiet place, to return to a state of homeostasis. If not, you aggravate your pain levels even more and your anxiety. Even if it’s just for a few minutes, but a few hours always does me well. You don’t even have to have chronic pain or illness to know where your boundaries should lie, everyone gets overwhelmed from time to time. Much love light and wellness wishes to you all! –Your Author