As a retired physician, i can assure you.that your physician knows sqaut about supplements - not part of their training. Personally, i take magnesium threonate that works just fine. I suggest you google it
Examine.com and LifeExtension offer useful advice. Good luck!
Peter, thanks for your note. I had considered magnesium L-threonate, due to its reported ability to cross the blood-brain barrier and improve mood, sleep and cognitive function. Do you find it has all those effects? Or if not all, which, if you don't mind me asking?
Threonate for me definitely removes brain fog in the morning! I started it for vestibular migraine at a high dose but now I just take 100 mg in morning. It wakes me up so much I can’t take threonate before bed. (I do take 100 mg glycinate at night).
Lucinda, thanks for that data point. I think I may try mag threonate (in the proper dose, of course) instead of oxide for a spell and see how that feels.
"Check with a clinician." I am so effing tired of, and cross about, these endless disclaimers. These lies. They know nothing about alt med, and are actively hostile to it in most cases. So why the heck do you keep this BS afloat?!
Erin, thanks for making this point. I'm sorry that sentence irritates you so much. It's not a disclaimer, just a way to ensure that readers do not view my post as medical advice. You can blame American tort law for that. I don't believe all clinicians can be categorized as knowing nothing about alt med or as being actively hostile to it. In fact, my D.O. is quite the opposite. I assume readers understand which clinicians are worth asking and which aren't.
Yeah, then your guy is unusual. I know what you are saying, it's just... such bullshit, y'know? Maybe you could put it somewhere in "about" and quit saying it over and over?
And there is nothing wrong with regular people sharing "medical advice." We've always done it. Thank you for that. :-)
I feel like the topic of over supplementation is under discussed. More isn’t always better but does anyone know how much is enough? It seems obvious to me that you should put back only to replace the lack. Nobody talks about this, let alone what taking too much can do. Because, perhaps , we don’t really know, and we seem to operate under a ‘more is better’ bias.
I think I had a bit of that "more is better" bias, invisible and unintended as it was. Easy to adopt that mindset if you don't understand the bio-consequences of it; a lesson I learned the hard way. Going slow, listening to expert guidance and seeking credible information before starting a supplement are three must-dos, imo.
For years I saw a great PCP at the UCLA East West Center. When I first saw her I was taking a lot of supplements. She asked me if I noticed anything - any changes - after taking them. "Well, no," I reported. "Then why take them?", she asked. It was a startling mindshift for me. I had started taking many supplements because it seems like the "right" thing to do - I hadn't stopped to question if it had any actual positive impact. I went home and threw out many (but not all) of the supplements I took. Not only my body approves, but my pocketbook approves, too.
Heather, thanks for making this excellent point. Taking supplements only because we're used to taking supplements is not a good reason to continue taking them. Care to share which you were taking and then stopped taking? Just curious what that was like.
I honestly don't remember but I do recall that I was impressed with how much money it saved me every month. It was an array of adaptogens, anti-inflammatories, vitamins, and such. Now I primarily take magnesium, Omega-3, vitamin D, and adrenal support.
I appreciate you sharing that, Heather. I take anti-inflammatories in the form of NSAIDs as needed, which is usually a couple tomes a week. And also O-3s.
I’ve gone to Hell and back with all different types of magnesium, and glycinate worked for a few months and then got worse. It actually increased my blood pressure and gave me the jitters.
Magnesium Theronate is the winner.
Another option is, if you can’t tolerate taking magnesium, you can buy a mix of DMSO and magnesium spray. Usually a ratio of 60% DMSO and 40% magnesium. And you can use that on your skin, especially and muscles that are sore, and then absorb the Magnesium that way.
thank you for sharing this! I, also, had a similar experience changing brands and types of magnesium and had similar symptoms. It's something that we rarely think about, but super important!
Paul, I'm lucky that my gastroenterologist has knowledge about supplements. He told me his hobby is studying about vitamins. In fact, I have an appt with him in October and your question is what I'm going to ask him. A while ago, he prescribed Magnesium Oxide 500 mg once a day. I was complaining of muscle spasms in my legs early in the morning. Recently went through an all night sleep study in Santa Barbara. It's important to get checked with a doctor. I was diagnosed with sleep apnea. I have to be my own advocate in my health as where I live, Arroyo Grande is limited in medical services and doctors. In San Luis Obispo, I sought out a dentist who specializes in sleep apnea, oral surgeon in Arroyo Grande, and three doctors, Sleep, ENT and Pulmonary doctors who are located in Santa Barbara. I'm very lucky that I'm starting to get answers and finding out the root cause. Now four days now using a cpap. It's an interesting experience and I'm seeing a difference. :-) Sleep hygiene is a hot topic. I say to everyone not to give up and keep on searching for answers.
Lucinda, you seem To be doing a lot of good things for your own health. More power to you. If you think of it, in October, report back on what your gastroenterologist says about supplements and vitamins. I'm going to Start using magnesium oxide again, but only 500 mg at a time, to ease back into it. For now, I'm enjoying not being bloated and inert. Keep going!
Yes, I'll keep you posted! This doctor is from Taiwan. He introduced me to former FLCCC now called Independent Medical Alliance. When I caught COVID, I followed their protocol. The Sleep doctor suggested Zepbound to loose significant weight. What is the definition of significant weight? I'm going to ask him about this too. I wish he was my pcp. Wonderful doctor who is caring. After considerable research it's not the weight, not having enough sleep can put on weight and what about stress. Last February, I lost my mom. It's a combination of things going on. On youtube, Dr. Vic Veer is wonderful in explaining sleep apnea. If left untreated, we are talking about a 5 year life span. I'm running . . . . LOL
First of all, as someone who tore their rotator cuff three years ago, I can empathize with the pain, although I never got surgery. Second, oh yesss I have misadventures with supplements. I recall one in particular like 13 years ago when I was having horse chestnut for circulation. I did not think of this when I started feeling nauseous in the morning and sometimes throwing up. I thought I may be pregnant in my late 40s! Anyhow, I finally pinpointed the supplement, stopped taking it and all symptoms disappeared. I am sure I have more bc I love taking supplements! Glad you figured out the high dose and higher bioavailability was the culprit.
Lorraine, thanks for sharing your story about your supplement misadventure. Those symptoms sound gnarly; I'm glad you figured it out in short order. Also: congratulations on avoiding shoulder surgery. A good time it is not. But hopefully I emerge better than I was before it.
Ah. I need to say it took me three years to fully recover and I will never be the same. That being said I am mostly pain free and I did my fist unassisted pull-up at 61 so I will take it. You are going to be fine!
Yes, but it was a mixture of misdiagnosis, not dialing back enough on workouts and finally a doctor hitting the nail on the head and getting me the correct physical therapy. All in all it was an eye-opening and humbling journey for sure. Thank you!
As a retired physician, i can assure you.that your physician knows sqaut about supplements - not part of their training. Personally, i take magnesium threonate that works just fine. I suggest you google it
Examine.com and LifeExtension offer useful advice. Good luck!
Peter, thanks for your note. I had considered magnesium L-threonate, due to its reported ability to cross the blood-brain barrier and improve mood, sleep and cognitive function. Do you find it has all those effects? Or if not all, which, if you don't mind me asking?
Threonate for me definitely removes brain fog in the morning! I started it for vestibular migraine at a high dose but now I just take 100 mg in morning. It wakes me up so much I can’t take threonate before bed. (I do take 100 mg glycinate at night).
100mg for the win, with glycinate, I guess. Maybe I should try that. Thanks for that information!
Today I visited my dentist. One who is very knowledgable about vitamins, supplements, etc. He takes the magnesium threonate. "It's very good for you."
Lucinda, thanks for that data point. I think I may try mag threonate (in the proper dose, of course) instead of oxide for a spell and see how that feels.
Paul, I think that's a good plan. I was prescribed oxide for muscle spasms but it times, I still have them. PT said it's normal and goes with age. LOL
"Check with a clinician." I am so effing tired of, and cross about, these endless disclaimers. These lies. They know nothing about alt med, and are actively hostile to it in most cases. So why the heck do you keep this BS afloat?!
Erin, thanks for making this point. I'm sorry that sentence irritates you so much. It's not a disclaimer, just a way to ensure that readers do not view my post as medical advice. You can blame American tort law for that. I don't believe all clinicians can be categorized as knowing nothing about alt med or as being actively hostile to it. In fact, my D.O. is quite the opposite. I assume readers understand which clinicians are worth asking and which aren't.
Yeah, then your guy is unusual. I know what you are saying, it's just... such bullshit, y'know? Maybe you could put it somewhere in "about" and quit saying it over and over?
And there is nothing wrong with regular people sharing "medical advice." We've always done it. Thank you for that. :-)
My guy is a girl.
I feel like the topic of over supplementation is under discussed. More isn’t always better but does anyone know how much is enough? It seems obvious to me that you should put back only to replace the lack. Nobody talks about this, let alone what taking too much can do. Because, perhaps , we don’t really know, and we seem to operate under a ‘more is better’ bias.
I think I had a bit of that "more is better" bias, invisible and unintended as it was. Easy to adopt that mindset if you don't understand the bio-consequences of it; a lesson I learned the hard way. Going slow, listening to expert guidance and seeking credible information before starting a supplement are three must-dos, imo.
For years I saw a great PCP at the UCLA East West Center. When I first saw her I was taking a lot of supplements. She asked me if I noticed anything - any changes - after taking them. "Well, no," I reported. "Then why take them?", she asked. It was a startling mindshift for me. I had started taking many supplements because it seems like the "right" thing to do - I hadn't stopped to question if it had any actual positive impact. I went home and threw out many (but not all) of the supplements I took. Not only my body approves, but my pocketbook approves, too.
Heather, thanks for making this excellent point. Taking supplements only because we're used to taking supplements is not a good reason to continue taking them. Care to share which you were taking and then stopped taking? Just curious what that was like.
I honestly don't remember but I do recall that I was impressed with how much money it saved me every month. It was an array of adaptogens, anti-inflammatories, vitamins, and such. Now I primarily take magnesium, Omega-3, vitamin D, and adrenal support.
I appreciate you sharing that, Heather. I take anti-inflammatories in the form of NSAIDs as needed, which is usually a couple tomes a week. And also O-3s.
I’ve gone to Hell and back with all different types of magnesium, and glycinate worked for a few months and then got worse. It actually increased my blood pressure and gave me the jitters.
Magnesium Theronate is the winner.
Another option is, if you can’t tolerate taking magnesium, you can buy a mix of DMSO and magnesium spray. Usually a ratio of 60% DMSO and 40% magnesium. And you can use that on your skin, especially and muscles that are sore, and then absorb the Magnesium that way.
That's interesting. I hadn't known about the spray. DMSO stands for dimethyl sulfoxide, a compound that aids in absorption. Some info and caveats here: https://www.webmd.com/vitamins-and-supplements/dmso-uses-and-risks
thank you for sharing this! I, also, had a similar experience changing brands and types of magnesium and had similar symptoms. It's something that we rarely think about, but super important!
thanks for reading, and for your note. interesting that you had similar symptoms.
Paul, I'm lucky that my gastroenterologist has knowledge about supplements. He told me his hobby is studying about vitamins. In fact, I have an appt with him in October and your question is what I'm going to ask him. A while ago, he prescribed Magnesium Oxide 500 mg once a day. I was complaining of muscle spasms in my legs early in the morning. Recently went through an all night sleep study in Santa Barbara. It's important to get checked with a doctor. I was diagnosed with sleep apnea. I have to be my own advocate in my health as where I live, Arroyo Grande is limited in medical services and doctors. In San Luis Obispo, I sought out a dentist who specializes in sleep apnea, oral surgeon in Arroyo Grande, and three doctors, Sleep, ENT and Pulmonary doctors who are located in Santa Barbara. I'm very lucky that I'm starting to get answers and finding out the root cause. Now four days now using a cpap. It's an interesting experience and I'm seeing a difference. :-) Sleep hygiene is a hot topic. I say to everyone not to give up and keep on searching for answers.
Lucinda, you seem To be doing a lot of good things for your own health. More power to you. If you think of it, in October, report back on what your gastroenterologist says about supplements and vitamins. I'm going to Start using magnesium oxide again, but only 500 mg at a time, to ease back into it. For now, I'm enjoying not being bloated and inert. Keep going!
Yes, I'll keep you posted! This doctor is from Taiwan. He introduced me to former FLCCC now called Independent Medical Alliance. When I caught COVID, I followed their protocol. The Sleep doctor suggested Zepbound to loose significant weight. What is the definition of significant weight? I'm going to ask him about this too. I wish he was my pcp. Wonderful doctor who is caring. After considerable research it's not the weight, not having enough sleep can put on weight and what about stress. Last February, I lost my mom. It's a combination of things going on. On youtube, Dr. Vic Veer is wonderful in explaining sleep apnea. If left untreated, we are talking about a 5 year life span. I'm running . . . . LOL
First of all, as someone who tore their rotator cuff three years ago, I can empathize with the pain, although I never got surgery. Second, oh yesss I have misadventures with supplements. I recall one in particular like 13 years ago when I was having horse chestnut for circulation. I did not think of this when I started feeling nauseous in the morning and sometimes throwing up. I thought I may be pregnant in my late 40s! Anyhow, I finally pinpointed the supplement, stopped taking it and all symptoms disappeared. I am sure I have more bc I love taking supplements! Glad you figured out the high dose and higher bioavailability was the culprit.
Lorraine, thanks for sharing your story about your supplement misadventure. Those symptoms sound gnarly; I'm glad you figured it out in short order. Also: congratulations on avoiding shoulder surgery. A good time it is not. But hopefully I emerge better than I was before it.
Ah. I need to say it took me three years to fully recover and I will never be the same. That being said I am mostly pain free and I did my fist unassisted pull-up at 61 so I will take it. You are going to be fine!
Wow. Three years. That’s a lot of pain and hardship, it seems. Keep going, Lorraine.
Yes, but it was a mixture of misdiagnosis, not dialing back enough on workouts and finally a doctor hitting the nail on the head and getting me the correct physical therapy. All in all it was an eye-opening and humbling journey for sure. Thank you!