Magnesium Injection

Magnesium Injection: has anyone had a magnesium injection & can tell me how long it stays in the body & or how long between injections? I've been using the powder but I continue to have charlie horses/cramping throughout my entire body. This has been going on for nearly a year & I'm at my breaking point. I toss & turn a lot at night & with each turn at least one foot will cramp. Sitting on a step to put shoes on, my stomach will cramp. My eye lid twitches all the time. Those are a few examples. Thank you!

Leg cramps can be  caused by a number of things.  

Are you getting at least 64 ounces of fluid?  Dehydration can cause leg cramps. Try increasing your fluids.

Low potassium can cause leg cramps.

Low ferritin/iron can cause leg cramps.

Low vitamin D3 can cause leg cramps.

When did you have your last set of labs drawn?  It may be time to take a look at your numbers/ trends to figure things out.

Hello! I had labs done in Sept. I struggle with low magnesium & my body doesn't store iron. Thank you for highlighting the iron. I'll call tomorrow & ask if I can have a recheck. 

Drinking caffeine gives me horrible leg cramps.  I gave it up entirely a few years back.  Last week, I had about three ounces of Diet Pepsi and had cramps that night.

Beside what everyone else said - low sodium diet can cause that also. Pickles are my to go "fix" natural, no sugar added. 

What works for me even now is mineral - electrolytes mix from emergen-C. 

I also use the "natural calm" but the magnesium in that can cause more like "runs" pulling more water from my body to my guts ....Than to get absorbed into my body. Often if I drink that I can feel my muscles starts cramping..

You may need to change the type of magnesium. Or don't use as much in one serving. 

https://www.amazon.com/EMERGEN-C-ELECTRO-MIX-Lemon-Lime-4-2/ dp/B002HWRY5S

I use that more often when I deal with cramps. 

I take 1000mg magnesium every day for this reason.  It also helps keep my BM regular.

I have never heard of a magnesium injection, I have personally had it given IV. I had it IV, when I was hospitalized for a horrific stomach flu. It is not like getting an iron infusion. Your body does not really store magnesium, so it constantly needs to be replaced. For the stomach flu, I was in the hospital 5 days, 4 of those days I needed IV mag.  How much and what type of magnesium are you taking? 

I take a heaping teaspoon of what is in the picture above.

I suffered from chronic magnesium deficiency after RNY, with foot, leg, thigh and hand cramps that would literally have me yelling and hollering in the middle of the night.

I solved it by adding large doses of Magnesium Citrate daily to my vitamin regimen.  The magnesium in most multivitamins and drug store brands is magnesium oxide, which is cheap but almost completely UN-bioavailable to the human body.  It's a great laxative, but that's about it.

The mag citrate is not cheap, but Amazon has some nice deals sometimes... and Walgreens etc does have it (but at 20+ dollars per bottle, ugh).  But not waking up screaming any more?  Priceless!!!!!  If I miss more than a week, the cramps come back... so I know I found the right solution for me.

Audrey

Thank you everyone for your suggestions. I am going to see the doctor again for this issue as it's affecting my sleep & then affects my daily life. Here are what my labs showed in Sept. 

MAGNESIUM 2.0 mEq/L 1.5 - 2.2 mEq/L
Vitamin D Total 37 ng/mL 30 - 96 ng/mL

IRON 118 ug/dL 22 - 146 ug/dL
Vitamin B1, Whole Blood 169 nmol/L 70-180

PREALBUMIN 21.4 mg/dL 11.0 - 36.0 mg/dL
TIBC 423 ug/dL 200 - 400 ug/dL

TIBC is usually higher than normal when the body's iron supplies are low. This can occur with: Iron deficiency anemia. THE LAST 3 YEARS TIBC HAS BEEN OVER 400 AND ONCE 503.

VITAMIN B12 1067 pg/mL 213 - 816 pg/mL
FOLATE 19.1 ng/mL 7.0 - 31.4 ng/mL
FERRITIN 58 ng/mL 10 - 200 ng/mL

SODIUM 141 mEq/L 134 - 143 mEq/L
POTASSIUM 4.3 mEq/L 3.4 - 5.1 mEq/L
CHLORIDE 105 mEq/L 99 - 110 mEq/L
CO2 30 mEq/L 19 - 29 mEq/L
GLUCOSE 91 mg/dL 70 - 100 mg/dL

WBC 3.7 10**9/L 3.4 - 10.7 10**9/LBUN 19 mg/dL 5 - 24 mg/dL
CREATININE 0.78 mg/dL 0.40 - 1.00 mg/dL
GFR CALC >60
GFR Normal: >60 mL/min/1.73 m2
CALCIUM 9.6 mg/dL 8.4 - 10.5 mg/dL
PROTEIN, TOTAL 7.0 g/dL 6.0 - 8.0 g/dL
ALBUMIN 4.3 g/dL 3.5 - 5.0 g/dL
ALK PHOSPHATASE 27 IU/L 40 - 150 IU/L
ALT(SGPT) 16 IU/L 6 - 31 IU/L
AST(SGOT) 18 IU/L 10 - 40 IU/L
TOTAL BILIRUBIN 0.7 mg/dL 0.2 - 1.2 mg/dL
ANION GAP 6.0 3.0 - 15.0

RBC 4.93 10**12/L 3.70 - 5.40 10**12/L
HGB 15.2 g/dL 11.7 - 15.8 g/dL
HCT 45.1 % 33.2 - 48.0 %
MCV 91.4 fL 82.0 - 99.0 fL
MCH 30.8 pg 27.0 - 34.0 pg
MCHC 33.7 g/dL 32.0 - 35.7 g/dL
RDW 12.9 % 11.0 - 15.0 %
PLT 155 10**9/L 150 - 400 10**9/L