Magnesium Citrate

[Colicab85]

Hi,

Just looking for a little bit of advice.

I've read in numerous places that magnesium can help with fatigue, muscle twitching and anxiety in general.

Just ordered 6 months of Mag Citrate 200mg, is this is suitable amount to take? I'm not gonna mega dose and my insides prolapse or owt?

Cheers.

[SLA]

I've found magnesium to be helpful on occasions.

It certainly improved my sleep, which is always a good thing.

[MyNameIsTerry]

Does it say on the label how much "elemental" magnesium is in it? That's the only figure that matters when it comes to magnesium, everything else is another substance or a filler of some kind.

For instance, if you buy a 200mg per capsule dose you WON'T get 200mg of elemental magnesium as it's impossible since magnesium citrate is magnesium plus citric acid. So, people often think they will get 200mg but you won't.

What you will likely get is 11.23% of as elemental magnesium. That's how much it would have by weight. It can differ based on what else is in there will it and some manufacturers put on the bottle the elemental value. BEWARE a con manufacturers are getting away with if the elemental magnesium quoted is the same as the dosage i.e. 200mg value for both, this is not possible as stated above but I've seen some labels like that.

The medically advised level of elemental magnesium per day is 320-420mg, which differs by sex & age group. This figure is not necessarily right for anxiety since we are burning through the stuff (stress causing a leeching effect from the bones) so experts out there often quote higher values.

Also, magnesium citrate is primarily a laxative. However, this kicks in at higher doses. Ever wondered what they put in those colonoscopy preps? Yep, magnesium citrate at higher doses.

Sticking to advice on the label may avoid all that, and spreading smaller doses out might help too, but whether you will then get enough elemental magnesium is very debatable. People often say "this didn't hep me" but did they know they were likely only getting 11.23% of what they thought they were? I suspect they didn't because until you research all this and get into things like atomic weights, you won't know.

If it's not enough, switch form. There are other types. I've put some advice about magnesium in this thread and the links in there which take you to some interesting other forums where they dig into a lot of detail:

http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=182186&highlight=magnesium

[SLA]

Cracking post. I will definitely look into it more.

[Colicab85]

I wish I could find out how much elemental is in it.

I bought it from Amazon because it had awesome reviews.

Company is Nu U if that means anything to you?

Really appreciate all the info and help.

[MyNameIsTerry]

Yeah, the people asking the same question on Amazon didn't have an answer.

It says 200mg Magnesium Citrate on the front and then Magnesium 200mg on the back with a 53% RDA. But since around 11.23% of Magnesium Citrate is actually elemental magnesium, how big would be the capsule be to get 200mg of actual elemental magnesium? Probably big enough to make it a suppository! The daily values I posted above are based on elemental magnesium so I would highly doubt that supplement delivers 53%.

Weigh the pill if you have a scale that will go under 1g, like a jewellery scale. This pill weight would have to be substantially more than 200mg to get 200mg of elemental magnesium in it.

As an example, compare it to a magnesium citrate supplement where they have declared the elemental magnesium value like this one (I have no idea about the quality of this product, it was the first I found so I'm not recommending it):

https://www.cytoplan.co.uk/magnesium-citrate-500mg

That's a 500mg capsule with 80mg of actual elemental magnesium as they state. It should be 56.15 per the 11.23% but I've found these supplements do vary, which I'm not sure why on. With their value it's 16%. Even if you apply 16% to your product it will come to 32mg of elemental magnesium per capsule. Using the 11.23% it comes to 22.46%.

It does get more complicated with some forms like magnesium chelated forms (those added to an amino acid) such as magnesium taurine (magnesium + taurine) as I've seen some of those where the magnesium % is very low and tons of taurine in them, basically because they have been engineered that way. So, maybe with citrate they can do the same to a certain degree.

I've just done a bit more digging and there is a form of magnesium citrate with a 3:2 ratio in it and that has a 16% magnesium weight. Yours could be either because there are 1:1 and 3:2 solutions so it would mean doing some digging on the manufacturers website in case they have a factsheet for the product. However, it won't be more than 16% tops.

[NoraB]

Hi,

Just looking for a little bit of advice.

I've read in numerous places that magnesium can help with fatigue, muscle twitching and anxiety in general.

Just ordered 6 months of Mag Citrate 200mg, is this is suitable amount to take? I'm not gonna mega dose and my insides prolapse or owt?

Cheers.

I started off taking 200mg and the world dropped out of my backside so I dropped it down to 100mg which takes the edge of my anxiety and is helpful by keeping me, er, regular. :shades:

Everybody is different. I reckon most people will tolerate 200mgs plus with no problems at all. I'd start on the lowest dose and work your way up. If you find yourself suddenly sprinting up the stairs two at a time to use the toilet, you're taking too much.

Oh, it helps with my muscle twitching as well.:scared15:

[Colicab85]

I started off taking 200mg and the world dropped out of my backside so I dropped it down to 100mg which takes the edge of my anxiety and is helpful by keeping me, er, regular. :shades:

Everybody is different. I reckon most people will tolerate 200mgs plus with no problems at all. I'd start on the lowest dose and work your way up. If you find yourself suddenly sprinting up the stairs two at a time to use the toilet, you're taking too much.

Oh, it helps with my muscle twitching as well.:scared15:

Thanks Nora,

You are right. The first few days my trips to the lav were numerous, explosive and often quite urgent.

Seems to have calmed down a bit now. I think they are helping, not sure if its just a placebo though.

[MyNameIsTerry]

Well it is a laxative, it's not for anything else.

If it doesn't appear to help outside of the laxative effect, switch form because most of the others will allow you to go to far higher dosages. Remember though, "elemental" is what you need to understand and also some of the other forms have other bonuses with them for us, like glycine which can help you to sleep.

[Colicab85]

I'm thinking its working a little.

My calf twitching is a lot less than where it was a couple of weeks ago. whether that is down to this or just a general reduction in my anxiety I don't know.

I don't really care either well, even if its helping via a placebo then I'm all for it :)

[Hania22]

I use this and to make it work quicker I heated it up and drank it hot and in about 30 minutes it was working---just ensure you are home and close to the bathroom. Also have a few hours of running back and forth--and drink plenty of water; but by far a great product to have on hand, just a little salty.

[eight days a week]

Try magnesium oil sprayed on your skin - you actually absorb more than if you take the tablets, and it doesn't have the laxative effect :)

[NoraB]

I'm thinking its working a little.

My calf twitching is a lot less than where it was a couple of weeks ago. whether that is down to this or just a general reduction in my anxiety I don't know.

I don't really care either well, even if its helping via a placebo then I'm all for it :)

It's the magnesium. That's what it does - it relaxes the muscles.