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I also began taking magnesium (a few years ago) for running, not depression.

I probably log 50-80 miles per week and low magnesium levels are notoriously low in endurance athletes. I also follow a ketosis diet for as many as 6 months at a time, low magensium is also common with Keto diet.

I take up to 10 vitamin/mineral supplements, but kind of cycle them at various times. It’s impossible to really pinpoint anything, but I tend to think I personally got great benefits to my running through the addition of fish oil, vitamin B, vitamin D and magnesium. Specifically I feel benefits to both energy and anti-inflammation, at one point I scaled up to a half marathon everyday and was never even sore, whereas previously I’d run maybe 5 times a week and sometimes be stiff the next day following 7 mile runs. It’s definately not magic, these supplements don’t run the miles for me, but I do feel better during the runs, recover better, and it just creates this feedback loop where it feels I am growing/improving.

Anecdotical but for years I had various anxiety and mild depression problems (edit: and various muscle “twitches”). As it was not severe I was always recommended Magnesium. Never had any improvement. Then 2 years ago I started taking vitamin D (thanks to HN discussions) and nearly all my symptoms disappeared (also changed job, started meditation, so the datapoint is not clear but magnesium alone didn't do much).

Also I recommend you get tested for Magnesium as contrary to popular belief (at least here in France) deficiency is not common (contrary to vitamin D).

Hello French "brother"

Serum levels of vit D and Magnesium are not reliable indicators. As stated in the study for Magnesium. For Vit D, efficiency of a supplementation of Vit D3 is also not on par with real sun exposure, the skin and subcutaneous fat don't seems to respond the same way.

I sadly did not had any improvement on my side from getting my Vit D level from 15 (which is barely above the deficiency level) to a whooping level of 60 in a few month with Bio-D-Mulsion drops (Vit D3). My mag must be high as I eat a very rich diet in this nutrient, without any dairy from more than a decade now

> Serum levels of vit D and Magnesium are not reliable indicators. As stated in the study for Magnesium. For Vit D, efficiency of a supplementation of Vit D3 is also not on par with real sun exposure, the skin and subcutaneous fat don't seems to respond the same way.

Didn't know that, thanks.

> I sadly did not had any improvement on my side from getting my Vit D level from 15 (which is barely above the deficiency level) to a whooping level of 60 in a few month with Bio-D-Mulsion drops (Vit D3)

Given how well my state (physical and mental) noticeably improved these last few months I'm think the main factors were psychological instead of a deficiency (notably getting more financially secure with personal business taking off and going abroad and working remotely). Before that I was already working out and eating well for years, and even if that helped the changes weren't as noticeable. Or maybe it was all of that combined and it just took time to cross a threshold.

I had a physical a few years ago and it was noted that I had a low level of vitamin D. I took supplements for that as well (my first time ever taking a supplement). I actually stopped that after the bottle ran out because I read various things over time that said that Vitamin D deficiency was overstated and that the supplements just gave you expensive piss. I tested fine for all other levels, though I am not sure they covered Magnesium in that test.

Perhaps I could give it another go, with Vitamin D + Magnesium, thus far I just try to drink milk to swallow down the Mg pills and get a bit of Vitamin D in nutrient form.

I am personally very wary of taking supplements, it seems like a dicey business. I wasn't planning on buying another bottle of Magnesium after this one runs out either.

I'm interested in this, because it was suggested to me that I get tested for Vitamin D deficiency, and apparently I have it. I haven't started any particular supplementation, but I have read that Vitamin D has some connection to calcium absorption. I wonder if it is a good idea to take either calcium or magnesium with a D supplement. I also take medication that I'm told may remove calcium from bones as a side effect.

200mg per day is below the therapeutic range.

The RDA is 350-400mg.

The supplementary range is 300-800mg per day.

Magnesium oxide is useless, orotate, citrate, and diglycinate are far superior.

Refer Henry Osieki’s The Nutrient Bible.

From the study: "Useful Mg compounds are those that have a sufficiently low first stability constant to be bioavailable and include magnesium acetate, chloride, citrate, gluconate, glycinate, lactate, malate, oxalate, succinate, sulphate and tartrate (Furia, 1968)."

What kind of Magnesium are you taking? There’s a huge differential of bioavailability of different magnesium types.

People mentioning their experiences here should definitely mention what form they're taking. Magnesium oxide is pretty commonly sold but it doesn't get absorbed very well - to the point where I think it should not be sold at all. I've had good experience with chelated magnesium.

Exactly this. Magnesium oxide is terrible at being absorbed, people need to take chelated Mg.

IIRC, Magnesium Oxide can be useful because it's poorly absorbed, making it a better osmotic laxative than chelated forms / free magnesium. I agree it shouldn't be advertised as benefiting anything other than that though.

Chelated magnesium is definitely better, I've also felt benefits from free magnesium (you can buy drink mixes w/ MgCO3 + Citric acid that fizz off CO2 when mixed).

Magnesium biglycinate and Magnesium l-threonate generally have the best effect with the least laxative side-effects (unless you want that); however, l-threonate is quite expensive because of patents, and l-threonate can have (potentially desirable, however potentially dependence building) effects of its own.

One form I haven't tried or researched yet is sucrosomial magnesium, which may have superior bio-availability to both biglycinate and l-threonate with relatively reasonable pricing characteristics.

I personally stopped taking magnesium a little while back, as it seems any bioavailable form pretty reliably causes insomnia for me. YMMV with magnesium, but you gotta make sure you buy it from a reliable source in a good form if you want to give it a proper chance.

I don't have the bottle handy with me, being at work, but I do know I did some basic research on this and its "chelated", not sure what exact type it is beyond that.

Agreed though that bioavailability of any nutritional supplement is always a highly debated topic, I see that the article cites a powdered form, other comments have liquid drops.

200mg is a decent bump on average daily intake (360mg), and mag isn’t managed as well as other ions. If you don’t already, please have your doc check your mag levels every couple of months while you do this. Hypermagnesemia is no joke.

Damn I take tums after every meal and 5 pills of chelated magnesium throughout the day...

Tums after every meal is actually a really good way of getting electrolyte imbalances, to the point of developing kidney stones from the amount that the kidney has to excrete to try and keep things on an even keel. If you need tums after every meal, you should be talking to your doc about a PPI.

edit: Now I think on it, actually, depending on (variables), you might need a specialist visit more than a PCP visit for some antacids. Shame on me for assuming it's just unmanaged acid reflux.

PPIs cause long-term damage, it’s better to try an H2 blocker first.

And a source for that?

There have been some very weak recent studies on PPIs and long-term dementia risk that look very flimsy. Other than that, I’m unaware of “long term damage.”

I take it because any acidic meal literally deactivates the positive effects of my stim meds and gives me a pounding headache. The only way to reverse this is with half a tums.

Kidney stones scare me, I've heard horror stories of the pain it causes. Is half a tums alright after acidic meals? How much more likely am I to develop kidney stones?

I hesitate to give anything resembling medical advice to someone whose medical details I do not know, and can't follow up with.

Speaking in broadest generalities:

1. The kidney stone risk a/w calcium carbonate intake has not been well-quantified. In a couple of studies of post-menopausal women the risk elevation was estimated to be in the range of a 20% bump. It has not been quantified any better in any other demographic segment, that I am aware of (nota bene: I'm not a nephrologist or urologist).

2. Timing-wise, the closer to the bulk of the meal the tums goes in, the better. You get calcium stones due to calcium oxalate crystal formation - when you take the calcium with food, the calcium is prone to crystallize with oxalate in the gut and get shat out, rather than both getting absorbed and crystallizing in the urinary tract.

3. The other risk of constant tums supplementation is an acid-base condition known as milk-alkali syndrome (a combination of hypercalcemia and metabolic alkalosis). Please, get your basic bloodwork done.

4. I can't speak more usefully without understanding what medications you're on and the timing of their administration. I'd strongly recommend having that discussion with a trusted physician, because this really shouldn't be your baseline condition, full stop. If you want to share more details so that I could suggest more specifically what sort of specialist you should see, if you don't currently have a trusted physician, let me know, and I'll arrange a way of sharing contact information.

You need to make some changes and get your acid reflux under control. I had bad acid reflux. Here are things I do to keep it under control: 1. Sleep on a wedge pillow. 2. Meditate. Seriously. When I quiet my thoughts and focus on my stomach, my stomach starts to move and push the food+acid bolus down into my intestines. It happens every time. 3. Don't delay bowel movements. This prevents acid reflux during the day. 4. Drink enough water throughout the day. This helps with the bowel movements. 5. Avoid acidic foods at night: chocolate, tomatoes, and citrus. 6. Mostly stopped drinking alcohol. 7. Stop eating when I'm full.

If you're playing with magnesium/calcium i think boron should be included as well. It will allow you to utilize magnesium/calcium.

Do you have any sources for that statement? I haven’t read anything to that effect, and I’d be interested in finding out more.

Great idea to get a work up and find out about any deficiencies in the mix of stuff in your blood.