Magnesium vs magnesium oxide

Please Ozmama, try colon helper. I've posted about it before but you can easily google it and get to the website where you can order it. It's all natural herbal combination blend (includes aloe and slipperyelm), and it truly works. I take one cap every evening and I have 1 to 2 soft BMs every day.

I also noticed tonight at Walmart, that there are now several different teas (Celestia Seasons and Bigelow) that offer senna blends as a laxitive aid. You have to be careful with senna, but these will certainly get things moving.

I feel for you and was suffering from constipation before I was introduced to Colon Helper. It's been a godsend.

The most absorbable forms are magnesium citrate, glycinate taurate, or aspartate, although magnesium bound to Kreb cycle chelates (malate, succinate, fumarate) are also good.
Avoid magnesium carbonate, sulfate, gluconate, and oxide. They are poorly absorbed (and the cheapest and most common forms found in supplements).
Side effects from too much magnesium include diarrhea, which can be avoided if you switch to magnesium glycinate.
Most minerals are best taken as a team with other minerals in a multi-mineral formula.
Taking a hot bath with Epsom salts (magnesium sulfate) is a good way to absorb and get much needed magnesium.

Hi Alemama

I note that you said that magnesium sulphate is poorly absorbed, yet that magnesium sulphate as a bath works.

Does this mean that it is absosrbed poorly by the gut, but is absorbed well transdermally?

Louise

hi,
I'm interested in this thread too.
I have been using magnesium in Oxide form every evening to ensure that I am able to move my bowels without straining the next day.
This has made my life SO, so much better since prolapse and I'd love to keep taking it but don't want to harm myself.

If the Oxide form is harmful I will go through my past posts and comment to let people know because I was raving about how much it helped me... oops!

I also take Magnesium Malate but can't afford enough to help bowel movements.

I'll keep following this topic :-)

It is also about food, Ozmama. Some women swear by having a green apple last thing at night. Some find having an orange or a warm drink first thing are helpful, eg tea has substances (theophyllin) that dilate smooth muscle, like bronchial tubes. Tea is a stimulant. Maybe it works on the intestinal tract too? Green tea has lots of antioxidants too. Prunes, figs, fruit in general, particularly if not overripe, contains pectin, which forms a gel that softens stool. Ordinary old foods, ie 5 veg and 2 fruit a day are de rigeur for a healthy diet that is rich in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. If you eat lots of these food groups it doesn't leave so much room for meat, and bad fats, so you are much better off.

Trusting your body to know what to do leads to trusting your body to do what it needs to do. I do take on board that going cold turkey on the laxatives might not be the best way to go. Easing off slowly, and improving your diet at the same time, might give your body the chance to adapt better. Animals need to have their feed changed gradually if they are not to have intestinal upsets. We are no different.

Louise

I agree with Louise. A supplement might give you a good kick start in a constipation crisis, but shifting your diet will really help your body "jive." Bodies know how to get nutrients from food. Magnesium can be found in many yummy places: nuts, halibut, spinach, pumpkin seeds (pepitas), beans, raw wheat bran, and dark chocolate.

Ozmama,
I can relate to the anxiety factor. I also felt I was horribly broken, as if I had a major defect in my body...This was also the time when I was very much in a pain-panic cycle...
I am much better now, but there are still times when I am down. And when I feel down I feel out of control and generally feel worse...I have been here for about one month, I feel more in control, but still up and down...it is like learning a "new life" for me...accepting what I cannot change and working on aspects I can improve...I am still unsure about my body...but I have realised that my previous way of dealing with any symptom (going to doctors and getting medication) does not really work...I see I have to change from within...I get impatient (I want to "be fixed" at once!)...but I see I can only follow suggestions given to me and wait for the results...I am learning to mindfully follow my body, instead of getting into the state of panic...It is not easy process for me, and I cannot say I fully trust my body, but I am laerning to connect with my body (Louise, thank you for this statement!)...I also try to trust others who have managed to get better...

As I said before, my pain has gone and it feels great. I still try to figure out my BM habbits, which also include diet, experimenting with magnesium, etc. I also think very strongly that I need to work on me as a whole, especially decreasing an autonomic nervous system overstimulation...I know I need to work more on some relaxation strategies...

I wonder what helps you with the anxiety?
Ivonush

Ozmama,
it was the same with me, I used to think if only I had no pain I would be less anxious...
What helped me the most was coming here, talking, reading through past posts. I also had some doctor's apoitments and MRI scan- just to know it is nothing serious...
Now, I am working on my BM, I am still inpatient, still push to hard...For me the challenge lies in being able to trust my body and wait...I also do too much self-observation, especially when I don't do much, I feel more symptoms...

Great that you starting some relaxation, it decreases over-arousal. I drink vammomile as well. I aslo try to stick with the beginners workout every morning.
I think your bowels will move properly when you start to be calmer...
What makes you so anxious, do you know? And what helped you in the past?
Ivonush

Maybe I should introduce magnesium in the morning as well? I just take it in evening, so I am ok in the morning, but in evening have problems...
I have citrate malate form of it...
I never had BM in evening before, but this has changed...also, it all depends on my stress level. Sometimes I eat exactly the same, but I have more BMs...I think this is an "ibs" element in this...

I will try magnesium in the morning then...
Ivonush

So, In a perfect world you would get all the magnesium you need in a day from the food you eat. The sorry state of our modern diet, combined with modern farming methods, and our *cleaned* water sources means that this is very challenging to do.
So, then, you understand that Magnesium is an important and necessary part of the nutrients our bodies need- and you know it's hard to get it through food, you are left with taking a supplement.
Now, have you come to depend on this supplement? sure- but if you are asking if you will have to take more and more over time to meet your body's need for mg then the answer is complicated. It depends on so many other factors most importantly, what you are eating, how much magnesium you are getting from food sources, what other nutrients you are filling up on and missing out on, what your water intake looks like and where your water source comes from.

The best thing I have found is to have one cup of this tea Senna and Mint, around 9pm before going to bed around 10 ish it is extremely mild and softens things so that all is well the following day. It may take a few day to work if you are really constipated but i swear by it... Ideal Health Puritee 10 Tea Bags you can get on line from Amazon or Holland and Barrett (UK)