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Magnesium oxide dosage

SwanRonson

Senior Member
Messages
300
Location
Alabama
I know that mag oxide is poorly absorbed and that's fine for me since I have a constipation problem. I like the laxative effect it has. My question is how much can I take safely? Would 800mg be too much? Just not sure what the absorption rate is.

I'd like to take 400mg at bed time and 400mg at breakfast as long as that's not too much.

Any advice?
 

drob31

Senior Member
Messages
1,487
I wouldn't think it would be too much, but I would base it on your magnesium RBC levels. Mine was borderline low. Magnesium calm is supposedly one of the best sources for mag oxide. Some like mag glycinate for bioavailability.
 

Gondwanaland

Senior Member
Messages
5,092
I think I am the MgO expert here :D

I started taking about 150mg at bed time and titrated slowly up, giving it about 3-4 days before increasing dose. It might help building up tolerance.

My end dose was 600mg daily - 200mg in the middle of the morning, in the middle of afternoon and at bed time (always away from meals since you need stomach acidity for that).

When I tried to up my bed time dose to 400mg (making it a daily total of 800mg) I got loose stools. I am also chronically constipated, but loose stools aren't fun :meh: I just couldn't believe it didn't help with better bowel movements, but helped with many other things I had no idea it would when I first started it :thumbsup:

I could keep with 600mg for about 5 weeks, then had to titrate down quickly and adjust potassium and calcium (with vitamin A rather than calcium itself) for a while.

The first forms of magnesium I tried were Epsom salt footbaths and oral Mg glycinate. Tried Mg glycinate in footbaths and calf sprays as well. All I got from them was a burning sensation in the ureters, breathlessness, like ammonia build up.

I also read that gut bacteria would absorb MgO poorly, so there would be a decreased risk of a flora imbalance from excess alkalinization. I guess I read it here:
http://george-eby-research.com/html/depression-anxiety.html

Please report your results back!
 

SwanRonson

Senior Member
Messages
300
Location
Alabama
I could keep with 600mg for about 5 weeks, then had to titrate down quickly and adjust potassium and calcium (with vitamin A rather than calcium itself) for a while.

How did you know that you needed to do that when it happened?

I've been taking 400mg at bed time for about 2 weeks now and seem to be fine with it. I also drink about 8 ounces of Mg Mivela water with my supplements each morning. There's a Fresh Market across the street from me and they carry it. I also take 1/2 teaspoon of Douglas Labs Effer-C (1,175mg Vitamin C, 125mg Magnesium, 225mg Calcium, 50mg Potassium) about two times per week. It's very good for constipation.

When I notice it getting hard to go, I'll do a 1/2 tsp of Effer-C on an empty stomach the next morning. Then do it again the morning after. By mid-morning of the second day my stool is soft and easy to go. That effect lasts a few days and then I'll need to do it again.

The goal with trying to up the MgO to 800 at bed time is to try and reduce the need for the Effer-C each week. I don't mind the Effer-C. It's buffered, and I need those minerals anyway. I just wanted to simplify a bit.

I'll try the 800mg of MgO this weekend and report back if anything interesting happens.
 

drob31

Senior Member
Messages
1,487
Are you talking about Natural Calm? That's actually Mag Citrate. I tried it for a few days a while back and it killed my stomach. Anything with -citrate in the name tends to upset my stomach pretty quickly.

Yeah, sorry, Natural Calm.

You may also want to look into magnesium glycinate. I tolerated that one the best.

I'm thinking of trying mag l-threonate soon as well, it supposedly penerates mitochondria.
 

Gondwanaland

Senior Member
Messages
5,092
How did you know that you needed to do that when it happened?
To titrate down? The symptoms suppressed by magnesium suplementation restarted:
  • poor sleep
  • nightsweats with pounding heart
  • increased urination
  • cramps (esp. calves)
 
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