Mineral Deficiences

[Louisa]

Hi All,

I'd be really grateful if any one could help please?

My Magnesium & Manganese (red cell) levels are always low.

My symptoms improve when I'm consuming Manganese rich foods & having lots of Epsom salts baths. But my blood levels don't improve.

I was told (by General medicine) that my low levels are high enough & wouldn't be causing me a problem but I'm not sure Dr Myhill would agree with this but I can't get a consultation with Dr Myhill to discuss as she is very busy.

Does anyone know of any private tests I could order which may help to explain why my Magnesium & Manganese are low?

I have really heavy periods & I wonder if this could be draining my Magnesium & Manganese reserves?

Many Thanks

 

[alicec]

I was told (by General medicine) that my low levels are high enough & wouldn't be causing me a problem

Mainstream medicine does tend to say things like that since it holds that we get sufficient vitamins and minerals from our diets. Well maybe healthy people who eat well do, but that leaves a lot of categories of people who might not.

The fact that your symptoms improved when you increased intake suggests otherwise. Why not just continue supplementing magnesium and trace minerals for a while and see what happens?

There could be many reasons for low levels. Since we started purifying our water supplies we have removed a very significant source of magnesium from our diets. Many people don't eat magnesium rich foods a sub-optimal magnesium, if not frank deficiency has become very common.

Soils in general have become depleted of minerals and it is estimated that dietary sources now are much lower than they once used to be.

Digestive problems can reduce absorption of minerals.

These are just a few reasons.

You don't really need more testing now, you need to try increasing mineral intake substantially and evaluate effect on symptoms. After a decent period of increased intake you might repeat the RBC tests and compare results with how you feel.

 

[Vanessa_M]

Could be a malabsorption issue - in your gut. Dysbiosis in the gut, SIBO and other issues can cause malabsorbtion. Some people get IV magnesium sulphate when they are low, that would bypass the gut entirely if you just don't seem to get enough into your system. I've heard it may be safer to do an IV Myers Cocktail, rather than straight up Magnesium, but you'd have to find a practitioner who is licensed to do this.

 

[Vanessa_M]

ARL labs has some info on testing the hair - http://www.arltma.com/Newsletters/CalciumMagnesiumRatioNews.htm Not sure if this is helpful, might be a good way to find out if you really are deficient in your tissues. http://www.arltma.com/Mineral_Information/Magnesium.html

 

[Louisa]

Thank you so much for the advice.

 

[Little Bluestem]

Magnesium 'oil' (a saturated Mg solution) can be applied to the skin if you have gut absorption problems. You can also have a nice soak in Epsom salts.

 

[mkbretsch]

Your D is low. Heavy period, impaired mineral metabolism...associated with low D. There is lots of information on it elsewhere. Conventional max recommended daily dose is 4000 iu. Many of us take more. Good to test if you can get your dr to do it.

 

[renski]

Your D is low. Heavy period, impaired mineral metabolism...associated with low D. There is lots of information on it elsewhere. Conventional max recommended daily dose is 4000 iu. Many of us take more. Good to test if you can get your dr to do it.

Can anyone comment / back this up?