Sarah Myhill recommended magnesium injections some 4-1/2 years ago, but my doctor wouldn't order them. I was thinking of finding another doctor to do it, but now wonder if the injections would be a good thing or not.
Dr. Myhill recommends magnesium injections (as do Drs. Paul Cheney, Derek Enlander, and various others) for a very simple reason - they're the best way to get substantial amounts of magnesium into the body on a daily basis, and most PWME benefit from the added magnesium, often by a great amount.
My guess is maybe I'm having trouble utilizing the magnesium in my body?
No; many people simply can't absorb enough magnesium through their gut. So the magnesium simply passes through you; it doesn't stay in your body. This is a basic fact of magnesium biochemistry that is unfortunately still unknown by most people, and contributes greatly to the magnesium deficiencies seen both in healthy people and in us - even in many among us who take good oral supplements daily.
So though I have enough of it I can't use it
No; because it passes right through you, you don't have enough of it. Since large amounts of magnesium in the gut can cause diarrhea, many people reach their gut tolerance for magnesium before they have taken what they need to supplement their body's magnesium. You definitely sound like one of these people.
and injections just may not be a good idea?
They're an excellent idea if you can find a doctor to prescribe them for you. The best formulation I have seen is from Dr. Paul Cheney:
Many patients benefit from magnesium injections, which are virtually painless with the addition of taurine. The Magnesium used by most is Magnesium Sulfate—standard 50% solution—1/2 cc drawn into the syringe first, followed by 1 1/2 cc's of Taurine. The Taurine is compounded at 50 mg/cc. The taurine makes the injection virtually painless and the ratio eliminates the hard knots many are familiar with. The injection is intramuscular, given in upper, outer quadrant of either buttock. Both require scripts from a doctor.
It's a puzzlement - any ideas would be appreciated!
If you can't find a doctor to prescribe magnesium injections, there are various other alternatives that range in efficacy and that I describe in
this recent post. It's also important to know what other electrolytes need to be supplemented when you raise your magnesium levels. I address this and various other issues, including the many symptoms of magnesium deficiency, in
this recent post.
I should have clarified. I am taking mag glycinate as my primary source with no problem, but when I added in extra, it was mag citrate. So that may be why it kinda just went right through me .... but if my cellular magnesium is good, then I don't think I need more magnesium anyways, I was just trying it out. I do wonder though why it's so low on hair analysis - it could be because I was low in B6 - there are so many variables - it can drive you nuts!
It's quite easy to be very low in magnesium and not realize it. That was my case for years. I took the proper supplements, and I thought that was sufficient. But my health kept going downhill. Then I found Dr. Myhill's quote where she says that magnesium injections "are so helpful that it is pointless progressing onto other things without trying these first." As my doctor wouldn't prescribe them, I started administering magnesium by nebulizer on my own, and immediately noticed significant improvements. As magnesium has a long half life in tissues (40 to 80 days), these improvements just kept on going; it takes close to a year for magnesium levels to stabilize after a rise in intake. After three months, my severe angina and shortness of breath problems, which had gotten totally debilitating, had completely disappeared.
As autonomic benefits such as this (along with various other benefits) may require more than just the recommended amount of magnesium for healthy people, I strongly agree with Dr. Myhill's statement that I have quoted above. She has also given complete instructions on using magnesium by nebulizer; I have cited those in my first post referenced above.
The best way of getting nebulizers and magnesium for them depends on where you live; the various alternatives have been discussed in a number of threads here. Dr. Myhill has given instructions for getting a nebulizer in the UK; you just have to make sure that the magnesium you use is pharmaceutical grade. In
this post, I give instructions for both getting a nebulizer and magnesium for people living in the U.S.
The form of magnesium generally used with nebulizers is magnesium sulfate. Even if you cannot tolerate sulfa drugs and/or sulfites, you should have no trouble with magnesium sulfate, as sulfates are a sulfur compound that does not cause reactions in people.