View Full Version : Magnesium and Anxiety
Hello all,
I was wondering if anybody here has had any success in treating anxiety with magensium?
Personally i found it to be the root of 90%+ of my anxiety problems and whilst everybody is different, i think it can help everyone with anxiety, at least to some extent and could probably "cure" many people.
A brief back story on myself, In late 2009 i was living in south america and after an extended period of not eating, i started to develop panic attacks. I had no idea what they were at the time so i thought i was either a) dying b) going insane or c) both!
I came back to the UK and had tests done and even saw a cardiologist at one point as i thought my heart was faulty. The tests come back all clear and my anxiety gets worse and worse and i end up getting citalopram by my GP. 4months of recovery later and i consider myself pretty much normal again. Anxiety still popped up occasionally, especially when i was travelling abroad but other than that i was fine. Fast forward to the start of this year and i come down with another attack like i did in south america, again, after an extended period of not eating that much. I get back to normal within a couple of weeks but the same thing happens around mid april, through not eating once again but this time i didn't really have a choice on the matter.
Anyway i'm pretty fed up at this point, i don't want to spend the rest of my life having to stuff my face to ward off the anxiety. After a bit of googling i fortunately stumble across the site that's linked in my signature. It's created by a man named George Eby who suffered repeated bouts of depression throughout his life and cured it with magnesium supplementation. The site goes into a lot of depth and it's worth a read in my opion.
he ran a study on the use of magnesium for mental health and here are a few case studies from it.
"A 59 y/o "hypomanic-depressive male", with a long history of treatable mild depression, developed anxiety, suicidal thoughts, and insomnia after a year of extreme personal stress and bad diet ("fast food"). Lithium and a number of antidepressants did nothing for him. 300mg magnesium glycinate (and later taurinate) was given with every meal. His sleep was immediately restored, and his anxiety and depression were greatly reduced, though he sometimes needed to wake up in the middle of the night to take a magnesium pill to keep his "feeling of wellness." A 500mg calcium pill would cause depression within one hour, extinguished by the ingestion of 400mg magnesium.
A 23 year-old woman with a previous traumatic brain injury became depressed after extreme stress with work, a diet of fast food, "constant noise," and poor academic performance. After one week of magnesium treatment, she became free of depression, and her short term memory and IQ returned.
A 35 year-old woman with a history of post-partum depression was pregnant with her fourth child. She took 200mg magnesium glycinate with each meal. She did not develop any complications of pregnancy and did not have depression with her fourth child, who was "healthy, full weight, and quiet."
A 40 year-old "irritable, anxious, extremely talkative, moderately depressed" smoking, alchohol-drinking, cocaine using male took 125mg magnesium taurinate at each meal and bedtime, and found his symptoms were gone within a week, and his cravings for tobacco, cocaine, and alcohol disappeared. His "ravenous appetite was supressed, and ... beneficial weight loss ensued.""
from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/evolutionary-psychiatry/201106/magnesium-and-the-brain-the-original-chill-pill
Anyway, i was just hoping to spread the word a little bit and maybe help a few people relieve some or all of their
anxiety. Magnesium is also excellent for a good nights sleep.
A few important notes
- You MUST AVOID magnesium asparate and glutamate, these will make your mental health worse
- be very careful to not take too much, you will get diarrhea at a certain point and this will cause your mental health to worsen
Summary
i cured my anxiety with magnesium supplementation. i recommend following the advice on the website and taking magnesium glycinate with taurine.
good luck :)
mandshere2000
27-05-12, 14:06
Hi
What a interesting post, i am considering taking magnesium
but there's a few different types, I have magnesium citrate, would you
recommend this
Would love a chat with you on this subject if that's ok
Is anyone else taking magnesium and found it helps
Manda
Hi Manda,
i used citrate for the first few weeks and it gave me diarrhea which made me even worse! I was taking high doses however (1500mg per day), it's very unlikely to give you any trouble at lower doses.
If i were you i'd start off at say 100-150mg a day then work yourself up from there. As soon as you start getting loose stools you know you've hit your bowel tolerance and you just need to take a little less.
feel free to pm me if you want to talk about it more.
mandshere2000
27-05-12, 17:21
Hi
So glad you posted about magnesium, I've had a bottle
sitting here for 2 months to scared to take( I know it's not good I seem to be scared of most meds etc at the moment) but hey guess what after your post I took
my first one at 2 today, it says on the the bottle to take 2 daily and that gives 400 mgs
you think that's ok
How long did it take before you noticed it working
Manda
Everybody is different and i don't really like giving advice on these matters as i am by no means qualified!
It's very unlikely that you'll have any problems and the only possible problem you could really have would be diarrhea, if that's the case take less tomorrow.
As far as how long it takes, i personally feel a difference about 90mins after i've taken one, but again everybody is different.
let me know how you get on.
I bit the bullet yesterday when I woke up feeling totally lousy. Could barely breathe, so tense, emotional, anxious....you know the drill. Took some magnesium and by mid afternoon I was showered, dressed and had been shopping with no panic attacks - that in itself is amazing as I have real problems with busy places.
Maybe psychological or it really does work that fast? Anyway, it was a good day yesterday. I take some more today and see how that goes :)
littleredhen
31-05-12, 09:59
this is really interesting because about a hundred years ago :blush: I had some allergy testing and the tests also showed deficiencies and i was shown to be very deficient in magnesium. This was thought to be because I was then a vegan and magnesium uptake is associated with calcium. So for a few years I did take supplements of calcium and magnesium and looking back I think that those years were actually better for me re depression and anx. Anyway, I stopped being a vegan and stopped taking calcium and mag and, actually, I think my mental health has been worse. So, I'm going to try this again.
thanks for posting.:yesyes:
I suffered my first big panic attack 3 years ago which resulted in me becoming agoraphobic. Six months later I started taking a daily magnesium supplement and I definitely think that it has had a calming effect on me. I would recommend it for anyone suffering anxiety.
mandshere2000
31-05-12, 12:17
Hi to all,
I also had a bottle of magnesium sitting there as you will
read on my previous post, and after reading on here I also got the courage
up to take one ( going through awful time at minute) and yes it did help me
I felt calmer but I took magnesium citrate and with in 2 hours i had to run to the
toilet with the runs apparently this is quite normal, the tablets were 200mg ones
but later on that night I was extremely anxious again, so I now have the stupid
thought in my head that it was the magnesium and dare not take any more
so angry with myself because at the moment I seem to be scared of taking anything
Was thinking is it possible if a persons not deficient in it would it cause problems
Does anyone know if this is the case
Manda
Hi, I was prescribed magnesium supplements actually for muscle tension ... supposedly relaxes your muscles. This was by a homeopathic doctor/accupuncturist. Well, I didn't take it for long because it made me dizzy so I can't say if it worked or not, but it is interesting and there must be something to it if everybody has relaxation responses with it.
3 days on, and the physical symptoms are much improved, which is really a relief since they were causing anxiety in themselves.
I'm still feeling really ropey mentally, but won't be able to give a clear answer on if they improve that side of things since I restarted citalopram.
A few important notes
- You MUST AVOID magnesium asparate and glutamate, these will make your mental health worse
- be very careful to not take too much, you will get diarrhea at a certain point and this will cause your mental health to worsen
I don't come here that often, but searched this thread. As a chemist I must point out that there is no evidence to this. Those are all well absorbed forms of magnesium. Once absorbed, all salts go to the same in the blood stream. The aspartate by itself may be another thing. But you eat all kinds of stuff, everything has some aspartic acid except bleached flour.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspartic_acid
Glutamic acid, and magnesium glutamate are two things to avoid
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glutamic_acid
if you react to Chinese of Japanese food with it. Most people do not.
Mg oxide is cheapest, but may give diarrhea at the doses where it is effective.
There is a book on Magnesium in Amazon. Read if interested.
I took this for 20 odd days but didn't notice any difference in myself. It was magnesuim citrate i think. Maybe I didn't take it long enough.
Probably no effect on you. some people have low magnesium due to some food absorption or other related issue. It does in fact cause anxiety then.
Anxious_gal
28-08-12, 04:35
Take a suppliment, if you're low on anything it can cause you anxiety!
Even being slightly dehydrated can make you more anxious
I'm taking magnesium malate which I bought online. I couldn't stand the magnesium oxide at all (it made me run to the toilet asap) but I can handle the malate pretty well.
Natural Calm, available in orange flavour - lovely!! The standard stuff was too metallic for me to take for very long!
I am convinced that this cured my heart arrythmea, and has helped subsequently with my anxiety symptoms. That and Valerian root.
I do take the chelated magnesium now. Have been on the oxide, low dose a while. The diarrhea is only temporary in most cases.
Only problem is for me to test it. My anxiety deals with a phobia and of course I avoid the phobia situation as much as possible.
So study of one so far inconclusive. Possibly some placebo effect. Also take low dose zinc, 30mg.
My phobia, driving, has been better a couple of days, maybe 3. I don't expect to be cured. I still get quite anxious in dark and in bad weather. Chelated magnesium is the only new thing for two weeks.
As I understand it, Magnesium Oxide is the least well absorbed of Magnesium types and therefore results in wasted money and opportunity. It results in diarrhea and little to no benefit.
Magnesium Taurinate or Glycinate(with Taurine) are better absorbed. Magnesium Chloride - found in Magnesium Oil is best absorbed and avoids most of the gastro disturbances.
Glutamate or Asparate may make symptoms worse.....read what George Eby says here : http://george-eby-research.com/html/depression-anxiety.html#nutshell
Personally, I used Magnesium Bisglycinate(150mg) from Holland and Barrett - which was good, but I found Carlsons Chelated Magnesium(200mg) far more effective.
Magnesium is very effective mineral offering relief to many conditions, like reducing muscle pain and fatigue or relieving anxiety.
It is also quite effective against headaches and migraines. It works best if taken with group B vitamins, especially vitamin B6.
One way to increase magnesium intake are supplements. However, in this case choose organic forms, for example magnesium citrate or chelate – they have higher absorption rate compared to non-organic forms like magnesium oxide.
My preferred way is to take magnesium as part of regular food. In that case the absorption rate and bio-availability is the highest. Here is a list with many magnesium rich foods: foodtips.org/magnesium-foods
Hi im a 22 yr old male living in ireland, told I had panic disorder and depression in 2009 , my panic attacks got worse and worse over the months, countles... I mean countless A&E visits and hospitalization for artial defibulation . Also 5 weeks in a psychiatrict hospital.
Magnesium saved my life. No doubt in my mind. Valium and ativan worked but I got hooked on them. Sertraline works temporaily but it just masks the anxiety, ur anxiety will re appear on them and the psyiological effects eg heart complaints, feeling of death will resurface and be much more intense.management of Anxiety + stress is all down to nutrition, and this mean supplementation with chelated magnesium. Today I take 800mg (which is only x2 of the rda) and I got my life back. Honestly, I wouldnt want to have lived if I would carry that anxiety hell daily. Educated yourself.
Dr caroyln deans book " the miracle of magnesium" buy it. (Amazon)
Watch the documentry called " food matters" (netflicks +youtube)
And finnally I use solgars 100 tablets of chelated magnesium , v, good company, its about 10 er a bottle. But its a small price to pay. Especially when you consider how much the hospital and counsellor costs! Peace and love
Paul
---------- Post added at 20:27 ---------- Previous post was at 20:23 ----------
Also feel free to mail me if you want to chat! Word needs to get out there about magnesium
Pablo, how many tablets do you take? Are they 100mg tablets
I take 150mg daily made by quest.
I would of thought 800mg to be a lot? Did you build up to that much?
Yes I take what i feel I need and if im streesed eg work/ life problems I make sure I take enough. If u feel too relaxed on them, drink a glass of milk, the calcium will counteract the magnesium in the bloodstream. Its that simple. You cannot die from taking too much magnesium. Ur kidneys, if healthy, will removenall unused magnesium salts from the bloodstream. Remember magnesium is a water soluble salt so it cannot build up in ur system like some fat solible vit as mins like A and D. 150mg is only like 35 per cent of your rda. U need more. In fact may people think even 400mg is far too low for todays high sugar and salt diets and stresses etc also I take chelated magnesium or magnesium glycinate bescause the mg salt id bound with an amino acid and much more readily absorbed into the body than citrate or oxide. Citrate and oxide should be avoided because you onlynabsorb very little and they give u the shits. Peace and love, paul
NE21 worrier
27-05-14, 23:21
Sorry for bumping an old thread... just didn't want to duplicate something already on here.
Also, I'm not sure I'm even bumping it for the right reasons as I'm getting myself in such a state that I'm probably looking for a bit of a quick fix which I know is not the answer for anxiety.
I'm just wondering what experiences anyone has had with magnesium supplements. How effective it has been for your anxiety? How long it took to work? I get terrible pain in my rib cage muscles when I've got myself wound up. Would you expect that magnesium can help with this?
Thanks,
Peter :)
Catherine S
28-05-14, 00:28
Hi, I didn't even know this thread existed, and just last weekend I started a thread about the same thing...not that anybody seems interested in it though. I had been suffering with really painful cramps and my hubby had heard that magnesium was good for this, and when I looked into magnesium deficiency I was really surprised at how much our bodies rely on this mineral. I've only been taking it for 5 days but can already feel a difference to be honest. My blood pressure has come down and my 'missed heartbeats' seem to have lessened already.
The article I read was written by a doctor who takes 500mgs daily but recommends starting on around 200mgs which I'm taking. I can only see what further positive results might come my way in future, after suffering since my 20s and now i'm many years further on with health problems.
ISB x
NE21 worrier
28-05-14, 20:20
Ah sorry I didn't pick up on your thread. Interesting stuff you've written there - was the doctor you read George Eby by any chance?
Also, if I may ask, what type of magnesium do you take?
Peter :) x
NE21 worrier
03-06-14, 20:09
OK, so as I'm not on ADs at the moment, I'm going to take the magnesium route as I have heard good things about it and, personally, my diet could be better so I have little doubt I am deficient in magnesium (and probably other minerals too!)
I've ordered some Magnesium Glycinate off Amazon and will update my progress on them.
When I saw this thread I just had to register here so I could reply. I have dealt with anxiety, panic attacks, and agoraphobia off and on for years. Well... the last few months things started to get worse and worse, my blood pressure was high (and I usually run a healthy bp) I was feeling lethargic all the time, I could hardly get a good night's sleep, my extremities were tingly sometimes, and worst of all, I was suffering panic attacks every single day. After research, I realized that my diet was incredibly poor, I ate basically nothing that had magnesium in it, and I was drinking several diet sodas a day. Well, I stopped drinking soda, and I started taking 500mg of magnesium citrate daily...
My panic attacks, my anxiety, my physical symptoms (like tingling arms), my insomnia, my high blood pressure. All GONE. I mean... completely eradicated, and it happened almost instantly, like, the day after I started taking it. I feel like magnesium is a miracle.
This is a great thread and a great help
busterrufus
13-01-17, 21:04
I looked at the old thread months ago when I was trying to find out more about magnesium supplements. Many of my symptoms eg. Twitching and burning legs and feet, nausea etc etc seemed to fit in with mag. Deficiency and I was desperate to try anything. I did realise from my internet searches that magnesium supplementation was being strongly advised by people with a financial interest in it, either selling the mag. , or the books written about it.
Nevertheless there were some good reccomendations and reviews for it, so I decided to give it a go. As I was advised by a very knowledgeable contributor to this forum, getting the correct form and dosage of supplement can be tricky.
I went for magnesium citrate, but you have to check how much elemental magnesium you are getting per tablet , as the citrate forms part of the tablet. I also had Epsom salt baths 4 or 5 times a week. Added to this I used magnesium oil. This went on for about 5 months. I noticed no improvement at all. From what I,ve read, an improvement should have been noticed within a few weeks. Maybe I,m not deficient, maybe magnesium oil used cannot really be absorbed transdermally?
I,m sure there is no ham in giving it a go tho, hopefully it will work for you. Just be careful if you use mag. Citrate , build it up slowly to avoid urgent toilet trips.
Best wishes
As an added benefit for the ladies... my wife finds that a magnesium supplement (recommended by her doctor) helps with crampiness during Aunt Flo's monthly visit.
Positive thoughts
Hi Manda,
i used citrate for the first few weeks and it gave me diarrhea which made me even worse! I was taking high doses however (1500mg per day), it's very unlikely to give you any trouble at lower doses.
If i were you i'd start off at say 100-150mg a day then work yourself up from there. As soon as you start getting loose stools you know you've hit your bowel tolerance and you just need to take a little less.
feel free to pm me if you want to talk about it more.
Hi I am new to this forum what is a good dose of magnisum and vb12?
I also am battling anxiety and it greatly affects my concentration and my entire life. I think I will try magnesium supplements as they have been so highly praised. Can someone advise on the dose that works best.
ChildOfTheKing
23-03-17, 21:52
Willing to try anything. Any more info on good dosage? I'm 5'3 in height and about 107 lbs.
Bittersweet05
27-03-17, 18:58
I started with my anxiety4 years ago.. Magnesium oes help. I take magnesium Taurate. I like it because your body absorbs it more. Others just cause diarrhea. I take 125mg 3 times a day as bottle instructs. Good for your heart as well.
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