Tag: supplement

A Little Bit of Magnesium Goes a Long Way!

Bones

the-tonik-5Lbyao5bzbc-unsplash

I have been feeling, as a general rule, more achy and grizzly these past few weeks.  I’d put it all down to the stress – both mental, emotional, and physical – of moving and getting set up in a new place, unpacking, and the terror of finding out my exam is this week, not next week as I had thought.

I asked my flatmate if I could borrow some of his epsom salts for a bath on one particularly painful day, and we got to discussing how the primary benefit of the epsom salts is the high magnesium content, and the absorption of it across the skin.  Well I hopped out of that bath feeling a million bucks!  The lovely non-achy feeling continued until the next day, but by the one after that I was a little bundle of aches again.

I finally got my hands back on some magnesium supplements.  Magnesium was something I was taking, along with numerous other supplements, a few months ago, but stopped due to the expense of maintaining the high level of supplementation and the need to spend that money on other things.  Stopping magnesium turned out to be a stupid move.

I’ve started back up with my relatively high dose of magnesium (I think it was 1000mg or something like that) and I think I’m feeling a difference already.  I may do another epsom salt bath in celebration after this exam just to really kick things off.

It just reiterated the importance of appropriate supplementation, especially of magnesium, when you have chronic pain.  So magnesium is a pretty awesome mineral.  It has an essential role in regulating muscle contraction, blood pressure, and insulin metabolism, among other things.  It helps with nerve transmission and neuromuscular coordination.  It also plays a protective role in preventing over excitation of the nerves, thus preventing neuronal death.

There was a study testing the administration of magnesium (300mg) and amitriptyline (10mg) or just magnesium across a small number of women with fibromyalgia, and all noted a reduction in tender points and reduction in pain.

Because of its wide ranging positive influences on the nervous system, magnesium is really something I should have kept on with, and it’s probably something you should try, as well.  It’s a good thing to have at night, as it also helps with sleep.  I always notice a reduced time between head hitting pillow and unconsciousness when I’m on magnesium.

Addition of Citicoline

Bones

ekaterina-kuznetsova-1147441-unsplash

I have spent the last year playing with supplements.  The primary supplements I aim for is appreciable levels of Vitamin D, a good B blend, and Magnesium.  I don’t get a lot of vitamin D in my everyday life, so supplementing it helps me stave off seasonal depression.  A vitamin B blend helps to manage my stress levels.  Magnesium helps to keep me relaxed and sleep better.

Last week I went into a new pharmacy with a friend to pick up some more B vitamins, as I’d run out.  Said friend saw a thing about brain improvement, and impulsively, we split the cost and bought it.  It was citicoline 250mg.

Since taking citicoline, the fibro fog has lifted, I am more alert, my recall is superior (even for language things, which I’ve always found difficult).  It has improved my overall mental alertness throughout the day.  Waking up is still a pain to do, but once I’m up and moving, staying up and moving is easier.

It hasn’t assisted with the fibromyalgia pain at all, but that’s okay.  It’s moved a huge amount of mental fog and really helped with my ability to function.

At the moment I’m only on 250gm every morning.  I’ve ordered a larger pack (30 capsules was $40 at the pharmacy, but $40 for 150 capsules from a reputable online store), and once that’s here I’ll increase it to 500gm.  I’m really interested to see how doubling the dose affects my alertness – you can go up to 2,000mg without concern of toxicity.  I probably won’t go quite that high, but I’m definitely going to play around with it.