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Mike (my husband)
Scratch that!Nothing is clear about the magnesium/calcium load in my body.
What is clear is that the leg cramps were not a result of either of those two minerals.
Here's what happened: Monday I stopped taking the magnesium, and two Bs - 5 & 6. I took my multi, anti-oxidant, evening primrose, C, and then cal-mag before bed. Slept great, had no problems, awoke feeling great Tuesday morning, went for a walk before going to work. But Tuesday I resumed the Bs and a very small amount of mag. By the end of the day I was back in crampsville.
And last night I awoke with twitching, etc.Since I had to stay up and walk around, I decided to research the issue further. I own a few good reference books on medical conditions and their remedies, so I started there.
Lo and behold! I found the culprit.
B6, aka pyridoxine, taken in large doses for 6 months or more is known to be toxic...
Large doses mean 100 mg/day or more. I was taking 150, plus whatever was in my multi! And I have been taking this for 6 months, b/c my naturopath (the one who retired) prescribed it. Hmmmmm.
In another place I found that B6 overdose exhibits as numbness and cramping in the appendages, especially the legs and feet.Ya know, the week before the leg cramps started, I had this weird numbness in my arm and hand...
Today was a non-supplement day. Tomorrow will be more of the same. I need to 'dry out' as it were.
This morning I did a bit of online research, and found out that the solution to this toxicity is to stop taking the supplement, and the symptoms should cease within a reasonable time frame. Here is one source of excellent info, the NIH. It is fortunate that the symptoms of B6 toxicity will disappear once the culprit is no longer introduced into the body.
Anyway, I am feeling a bit better this evening, and have high hopes for sleeping tonight.
Oh, one other thing about last night; as I walked around my house at midnight I drank 3 glasses of water. An hour later I made the first of three or four lovely doodies. By two a.m. I was mostly relieved, and the cramping and twitching eased up too - enough to allow me to relax and get a bit of sleep. I saw a definite connection here between eliminating wastes and relief from pain. If I could graph it, I would draw a positive correlation line...
I admit I was concerned about minimizing the magnesium and adding the calcium - what effect on my regularity? Magnesium relieves constipation, while calcium binds. Yikes!
However, I thought about that and realized I cannot allow my journey to perfect health to be marred by a crutch of any sort.
The upshot of this experience is some more self learning - a bit more painful than I can usually tolerate, but all the more poignant I guess.
The lesson? Be aware of one's body; notice when something is awry, and pay attention! Your body will always talk to you. It will tell you when something is not right. Granted our culture has not taught us how to communicate with our bodies, so interpreting the signals is a bit difficult.
Nevertheless.
Pay attention. Sooner or later you will figure it out.
posted by LST 8/1/2001 08:17:29 PM
31.7.01
A quickie: The muscle cramps (calves and feet!) got really bad, so I decided to up my intake of magnesium. The problem is I haven't been taking calcium as a BALANCE...So the cramps didn't get better b/c I was out of balance - in other words, it is clear that I am no longer deficient in magnesium, and that I now need to coordinate my intake of supplements a little better.
Spoke with the doc, and have an appt for this coming Friday. In the interim, I will cut back on Magnesium and add calcium to the roster.
Funny, same amount of pills, just a different mix. (I hate taking pills).
Yesterday I took no magnesium whatsoever, and did take Tylenol every 6 hours to relieve the muscle cramps and soreness. It worked. Today is a much better day.
More later.
posted by LST 7/31/2001 07:12:52 AM