I deal with leg cramps like other folks report.

I was taking 200 of Mag Citrate 6 times a day and 400 of Mag Oxide 6 times a day with my Calcium.  That seemed to be working for me.  I take 3600 of Calcium Citrate a day.

I had to decrease the Mag Oxide recently because I had increased the fat in my diet and was way too loose.  When I decreased the Mag Oxide from 6 times to 3 or 4 times a day my poo improved drastically but the leg cramps came back.

Would it work to increase the Mag Citrate when I need to decrease the Mag Oxide?  Is there another form of Magnesium that would work better for leg cramps?  How much Magnesium is it safe to take?

Is it true that Magnesium labs are pretty non-informative?  My last Mag lab was 2.1, exactly what it has always been, even when I was not taking any Magnesium.

My potassium was 3.7.  How much OTC potassium at .99 would I have to take to have an effect on this level?  I take a couple a day but I bet that is pretty worthless.

These damned leg cramps are horrible. 

~Becky

 Good questions Becky! I hope someone here has good answers because I am having similar issues. Thanks for articulating this so well!
~ CC

Becky,
As you know I have been battling the same issues with HORRID leg cramps, even though my labs seem almost ok. Yes a little low, but not horribly so.

After my earlier post and talking with several people and reading all the responses to my earlier post I increased my mag cit, calcium and my potassium over the last couple of days.

GUESS WHAT ?  I did NOT wake up with cramps last night. I am praying it continues ! Today my legs do not seem to hurt as much either... they were achy before and like they were ready to cramp up, and that feeling is not there today.

I wonder if it can really be as simple as upping all the supplements. I guess time will tell.

Next, the question is, do I still go to teh PCP for evaluation if the cramps stay gone another night ?  I guess time will tell on how the rest of the day goes.

What doses did you start out and how much have you increased them?   What doses are you taking now?

Thanks,

~B

Becky,

My routine is in this thread

http://www.obesityhelp.com/forums/ds/4424945/leg-and-foot-cr amps-ideas-please/#36586874

I added 1000 mg of calcium, 10 meq of potassium and 600 mg of mag citrate to the above routine.. in two days the cramps lessened... I am hoping it continues.  Not sure if it is a freak thing or a good thing yet.

Odd thing too after reading what Kayla wrote above is I have been craving salt. This afternoon I had to have a nap, I could not keep my eyes open. But we have been on the go for a fiull month and this rain promotes sleepiness ! 

That is so strange.  Magnesium oxide just has this reputation for being very poorly bioavailable.

The serum magnesium thing, I'm not sure it'll help you if I say it again, cause you probably heard it from me to begin with.  LOL  I can post some abstracts from articles about magnesium though, if that helps?

Magnesium (Mg++) is a ubiquitous element in nature, playing a role in photosynthesis and many metabolic functions in humans. All enzymatic reactions that involve adenosine triphosphate have an absolute requirement for Mg++. Levels of Mg++ are controlled by the kidneys and gastrointestinal tract and appear closely linked to calcium, potassium, and sodium metabolism. The clinical manifestations and causes of abnormal Mg++ status are protean. Testing for altered Mg++ homeostasis is problematic. Serum levels, which are those generally measured, reflect only a small part of the total body content of Mg++. The intracellular content can be low, despite normal serum levels in a person with clinical Mg++ deficiency.

Arch Intern Med. 1988 Nov;148(11):2415-20.

Magnesium metabolism. A review with special reference to the relationship between intracellular content and serum le
vels.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3056314

I don't know much about magnesium toxicity.  A lot of the articles I read when I searched for it were related to magnesium sulfate (an IV preparation) that was given to help pregnant women with pre-eclampsia symptoms.  It have no idea how much you can take safely orally.

For the oxide...I'm not sure, other than to wonder if maybe it was a coincidence? 

OK, on to potassium.  When people get Rx'd potassium, it's at least 10 meq (milliequivalents).  1 meq = about 39 mg, so 10 meq would be around 400mg...so 4ish of the tabs.  But, some people take 20 meq, and some people take 20meq twice a day!  So, we're looking at like 8 caps minimum.  I know, dizzying amount.

I do have a tip for you.  Go to the store and buy a salt substitute.  NuSalt is an example.  Comes in a little blue shaker and will not cost you more than $2.  Salt substitute is almost ALWAYS KCl (potassium chloride) + some other stuff.  1/6 of a tsp is 530 mg of potassium.  Put it in your shake cake and you won't taste it (you don't have to use the whole 1/6 tsp) - though, really, it should just taste pretty salty just like regular table salt. 

I'm really not sure what's up with the leg cramps.  Besides thinking of electrolyte imbalance, dehydration, calcium/vitamin D.  I don't know where to go from after that.  Sorry :(

Tom has hypertension so I always had salt-substitute in the house for him.  I will add it to my cake shakes.  What a good idea Kayla. 

I'm going to go back up on my Mag Oxide and drop the fat from the diet and see what happens. 

Grrr.  Why is this so hard?  My righ calf hurts today from being so cramped last night.

~Becky

I apologize for the faulty conversion.

Here's the prescribing information for the klor-con tablet.

It says it's 750mg potassium

http://www.rxlist.com/klor-con-drug.htm

NP.  I just can't figure out how much of the Nu-salt to try.

~Becky

I don't really "count" the nusalt...I just think of it as a happy bonus.  Theoretically, barring secondary health issues (primarily kidney problems), you should excrete extra potassium and sodium, should you consume too much.

Rx potassium does give a good bang for the buck though.  I needed it at one point post-op.