Quote:
Originally Posted by nbritton
I have no idea, I'm left guessing because magnesium is not part of the regular suite of lab panels. You're doctor would have to request an additional electrolyte panel. Even then, a persons complete magnesium status is hard too tell because most of it is stored inside bones and cells, the lab test only measures serum levels.
I just presume my magnesium intake is low and supplement accordingly. I'm a 34 year old caucasian male, and using the tables below, my median dietary intake of magnesium is 326 mg/day. Referring to the Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA) table, the RDA for my age group is 420 mg/day. Subtracting 420 from 326 leaves me with a daily deficit of 96 mg/day. Thus I take 1000 mg of magnesium glycinate (100 mg elemental magnesium) every day, in addition to the 50 mg of elemental magnesium supplied in my multivitamin.
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I just had my magnesium level checked and I was severely deficient, it measured 1.6 mg/dL on a serum test. A result that low on a serum test generally means you've exhausted your reserve supply, and some doctors actually consider this an emergency event. I think it's clear now why I was so fatigued, and psychotic. The reason we think it was this low is due to being on a
proton pump inhibitor for over two years and also because I've had a gastrectomy.
I read that it will take over a month for my RBC (Red Blood Cell) magnesium levels to return to normal, but I'm already feeling better after just a week of extra supplementing. I'm taking like a ton of magnesium gluconate and glycinate now, I'm following the bowel tolerance protocol. In a few months I'll have her do an RBC magnesium level check.
I had to ask my doctor to run the magnesium test, she would not have done it if I had not asked her to. Additionally, she ran the wrong magnesium test, she ran the serum magnesium test, which is generally only sensitive enough to detect severe deficiency. The lesson to learn is if you think you could be at risk you should ask your doctor to do a RBC magnesium test.