What sort of magnesium?

[grotbags]

Who here takes magnesium for their anxiety? What sort do you take? At the moment I'm using a cheap one from H&B but I have heard magnesium chloride is the best to take. Any thoughts or suggestions? Obviously I am totally skint but if there is a decent supplement out there then I will splash out.

[PanchoGoz]

Magnesium citrate is fine, around 3 - 4 pounds in hollands. I never got round to trying it though so.
Apparantly you start to feel better after a month.

Word of advice if I may: Try not to spend too much on your anxiety, supplements make you feel better but they don't stop anxiety. If it's to help you "engage" with therapy or self help, then it can be super helpful to have that extra kick in the butt attitude but not as an indefinite treatment on its own...It's tempting to buy everything that has the potential to soothe and relax, but they will ultimately seem so insignificant if you worked on the cause of your anxiety and dealing with the thought cycles in comparison. I have a cupboard full of kalms, propranalol, rescure remedy, vitimins.....made me feel a bit better but never really helped. I ended up being quite annoyed with myself for spending money on these things when the cure was inside me after all :)
Lecture over lol, thats just one opinion on things. you take care x

[eight days a week]

I take it by absorbing it through the skin in the form of Epsom Salt baths, which I adore and will never give up now :) You need about a cupful per six inches of water and so it's best to buy in bulk (my local chemist had a small tub on display for a couple of quid that would only do one bath, but when I asked if they had bigger packs they brought some out from out the back - about six or seven times the amount for less than twice the price!)

It's probably the more expensive way to do it, but this way your skin and muscles directly get the benefit (just google to see what it can do for skin problems!) and it also acts as a very relaxing bath and a detox :yesyes: I also personally believe that these chemical tablets aren't absorbed as well as natural substances from food etc. I can only urge you to at least try it for a week or two!

I made a thread about Epsom Salts:

http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=102249&highlight=epsom+salts

PanchoGoz has made, for me, a universally useful point, but I'm 50/50 on it. If you're deficient in vitamin D, for example, (which many people can't absorb adequately through diet) you increase your chances of heart disease. No talking therapy would change that. Nor would diet or exercise (unless either were out in the sunshine!). In the same way I believe certain deficiencies at least contribute to anxiety and depression, and those things need to be balanced PLUS (often, but not necessarily always) other approaches. Just my own view on things :)

Please let us know how you get on!

[PanchoGoz]

An excellent point as always eight days a week, I get low on iron and that does contribute to depression now you mention it - hmm now I'm just wandering how does one know if they are deficient in something... I heard if you are deficient in magnesium you need a "mineral kit".. dunno what that is, maybe it's worth a blood test to see if you have any deficiencies? Who knows, anyway let us know how you get on grotbags.

[eight days a week]

Very kind of you PanchoGoz (I am intrigued by your username by the way!) :)

I've heard there are blood tests for deficiencies, but mostly from American friends (and they will send you for any tests you like over there, I think, because the more they do the more they get paid!)

How did you find out you get low in iron?

[PanchoGoz]

PanchoGoz? Oh it came to me in a dream and became my identity for ever more. ..... :huh:
Anyway, er, I went to the doctors a couple of years back (before I knew I had anxiety) and told them I was feeling "muh" and had stomach problems. He sort of knew what I meant by "muh" and gave me a blood test to check for helicobactor plyori and found my iron levels were very low and put me on a course of iron, but that was through not eating due to the stomach problems. Anyway, it helped a lot with energy levels and I know when I get that low iron ("muh"?) feeling and go back on the course for a while every month because of...certain...things that contribute to that deficiency. :)
So, to comprimise, I reckon check with doctor/mineral kit/americans and see if you have any deficiencies and give them a boost, see how you feel. Take care.

[eight days a week]

Thanks, very interesting (including about the dream!) :)

Ah, it sounds like GPs here can and will send you for tests then (mine needs nagging though to send me for anything!) I guess iron deficiency is quite a common one perhaps, magnesium I've no idea of course (and others like vitamin D, which is one of the ones I worry most about myself)...

[grotbags]

Ooooh epsom salt baths!! I used to have a giant bag of epsom salts which I loved! I wasn't aware that they were a source of magnesium. I'll have to order some more.

Pancho, can I ask what sort of therapy you are referring to that helped you so much? I have dabbled with CBT and all sorts, but I haven't found anything to be useful so far.

[PanchoGoz]

Not exactly therapy - Mostly self adapted CBT and mindfulness from a number of sources! Been keeping diaries and such which helped me found out all my negetive beliefs and doing a lot of mindfulness meditation and research...

But you have tried therapy of all sorts but nothing has worked so you are having to just manage with your anxiety how you can, is that right?
It's interesting nothing has worked for you, would you know why possibly? CBT is usually the all round solution for people, but it's not something you "dabble" with if you mean what I think you mean, you have to put your heart into it and stick it out, it's taking me months, but I find it easier with mindfulness.
Sorry grotbags I'm sort of stealing the heart of your thread here :blush: ...epsom salts, focus on the epsom salts

[grotbags]

Don't worry about the change of subject. I am finding that at the moment I'm being led to CBT so it's something I will explore again as soon as I move house. I have had a really bad experience with the mental health system which I won't go into here, and it has put me off going along for more CBT or anything.

General therapy is out for me. I have tried years of that and trying to dig around for childhood trauma that didn't happen is tiring and damaging.

Are there any books that you can recommend?

[neil1975]

Hi Grotbags,

Magnesium Taurate is meant to be one of the most absorbable forms of magnesium.

The Doctors Best brand is also good which is chelated magnesium (magnesium glycinate/lysinate).

I've just read a book called At Last A Life which is really good.

Basically it uses Claire Weekes' method of acceptance in a way. I'd recommend Claire Weekes' books if you haven't read any of them too.

Best Wishes,

Neil

[grotbags]

Thanks Neil. I will get that sort of magnesium when my current ones run out.

Yes, I've read the Claire Weekes books and I will try to get hold of the one you have recommended :)

[PanchoGoz]

I was going to suggest Claire Weeks too even though I haven't receieved my "self help for you nerves" yet lol. Her advice is behind the basic principles of CBT. I'm got the online course CBT4PANIC which is very well priced considering you get a 30 day free trial which lets you keep the DVD with everything on it even if you cancel the course - so that's my advertising bit!
Books I've read include True Happiness by Dr Mark Atkinson, lots of info on diet health and lifestyle which you might like, also a cheap "INTRODUCING CBT - a practical guide" book, but I haven't come accross any groundbreaking books really, hated "Feel the fear...", I mostly have used free articles and videos I've come across.
You're right, if there's no exact trauma there's no point looking, it's usually an accumulation of negetive beliefs that make up your anxiety which do step from past experiences, but not trauma necessarily.

Anyway, if you're up for a long but very relaxing watch on mindfulness: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nwwKbM_vJc&list=FLy25X9k9BgWf0I7CbxTJFjw&index=3&feature=plpp_video
(mindfulness enables you to watch your thoughts patterns and which thoughts are unhelpful, and what is a more helpful way to think)

My favourite amatuer hypnotherapist: http://www.youtube.com/user/Eddini?feature=g-u-u nothing serious, but great for mini phobias and things I found

An article on how one person recovered by doing nothing (this is basically a book) http://nothingworks.weebly.com/ no trauma diggin there

Enjoy - along with your magnesium!

[neil1975]

Yes I second that http://nothingworks.weebly.com/
Like PanchoGoz says it's basically a book and it's free.
I actually printed it out in case the site ever gets taken down it's that good. 60 odd pages I think :)
I think the writer used to post on here.
What he says makes total sense and is definitely worth the time to read at least once.

[grotbags]

Thank you Neil and Pancho! Those are the kinds of things I'm looking for.