Does magnesium help weakness/fatigue? Options

[Madge]

While the internal shaking, ear ringing, sensitive, watering eyes, and tiredness were somewhat better for awhile, it all seems to have come back.  I've spent the last week trying to go to dinner with friends, do household chores, etc, with no energy.  Last night at dinner I felt SO weak and tired that I ate very little and after visiting a while (a real effort) I went home to bed.  I feel jittery inside, although I don't shake visibly.  My neck and upper back have an odd sensation of stiffness or weakness, and while my heart is not beating abnormally fast,it is beating hard.  I'm on a statin (which I hate) and a low dose of a water pill, to bring down a high blood level of c reactive protein. My blood pressure seems to be in the normal range (home blood pressure kit says 116/76 with pulse of 79). But I feel so tired and weak! Because of the meds I'm on,I can't use decongestants to help the fullness and pressure around my eyes and ears. But I can live with that.  The real problem is feeling shaky and weak.  My friends, who are older than I am (I'm 60) love to shop and travel and all I can do is lie around lately, although I do get out a lot and force myself to participate.  (I love life and don't want to miss anything.) Anyway, does magnesium help the tiredness?  I average 5  or 6 hours of sleep a night, although I wake up several times with the internal jittery feeling  and sweats. I'm hoping I don't have to have all the blood tests again that I had five years ago.  Lyme's, blood sugar, thyroid, lupus,  all were normal.  I know some of you have said that magnesium helps the jitters, so I'll get some. But what about the total lack of energy and constant yawning?  I really need some help here, and I'm sure my doctor would just want to put me back on Zoloft.  (That was a mistake!) Any advice?

[WhiteHorses]

Hi Madge:

I was waiting to see if anyone else would answer your post before I did, who might have had the same situation.  I might have a few helpful comments to make.  

I have taken magnesium in the past and had it help me out of a situation of fatigue, extremely low pulse and blood pressure that had me gasping for air and resting in bed most of the time.  (I was pretty scared too.)   A cardiologist checked me out and suggested magnesium.  He said the soil in that area was magnesium deficient, plus my diet of cheese and lots of coffee and coca-cola with poor nutrition was destructive to the magnesium balance in my diet.  I was also under a lot of stress and was allowing myself about 5 hours sleep.   I was not peri-menopausal to any extent at that point.   I took a variety of nutrients including magnesium and recovered in a few weeks.  However... I would be reluctant to suggest  that your fatigue has the same cause as mine did.  

You are taking two different medications, you say, so can you check out the side-effects of those medications with a pharmacist please.  I also think that new symptoms should be reported to your doctor...  I also have some questions about your health issues though.  I wonder if people will be familiar with lowering creatine protein.  I may post more later but I am feeling a bit off and tired.  ... Also you need more than 5 or 6 hours sleep, lack of sleep just by itself can cause fatigue and other health problems.  Dearest suggested using the site search for "depression" to me recently.  You could search for that and for "insomnia" too.  

Hope I'm making sense.  I need to take some magnesium too, as I have felt some of that internal shaking lately too.  I keep wondering if the floor is shaking, and sometimes it is me, sometimes it is the floor.

Please post again and let me (us) know how you make out.  I would like to know, and knowing what has helped  you could help someone else too.

[Madge]

I just checked my multivitamin and I'm already getting 500 mg of magnesium  (250 mg. twice daily).  And about 1000 mg. of calcium.  I doubt that most people know much about c reactive protein yet, but they will in the future as the test and its implications become more widely known and available.  I plan to mention my symptoms to my doctor, but I know he'll say that I should go back on  Zoloft.  He was quite upset with me when I went off it three years ago, since he pushes antidepressants quite a  bit.   I can't make him understand  that I actually feel better off Zoloft than on it.  I know how you feel about the shaking.  I feel the shaking in my chest, stomach , and back.   Strange. eventually it passes and I can relax.  Today I still have pressure in my head, ear, and neck, but the pain in my ear is gone, and the ear ringing back to its low (normal) level.  I still feel tired, though, despite seven hours of sleep.  I'll let you know what I find out about all this, if anything.  I keep hoping I don't have some awful, life-threatening disease that's causing the high c reactive protein levels and tiredness.  

[Dearest]

Madge, if you feel better off the Zoloft, for goodness sake, don't go back on it -- no matter what your doctor thinks. In a desperate attempt to alleviate my own internal shaking, which has been my nemesis throughout my menopausal years, I tried Zoloft and it didn't help. My doctor didn't push it. We just discussed possibilities of treating the internal shaking which, in fact, is definitely a vasomotor symptom of menopause, of imbalanced hormones -- and, whether you believe it or not, it will eventually diminish as you become postmenopausal and your body becomes more accustomed to the lower levels of hormones.

As for the magnesium, I agree with what WhiteHorses has said. I have been talking about the wonders of this much underrated mineral for many years. Magnesium is highly effective in treating palpitations, fatigue, a host of nervous symptoms and can be helpful for the internal shaking, but it wasn't the total answer for me for the internal shaking. I believe, in my case, the internal shaking is a combination of internal anxiety plus hormone issues -- and it's a vicious cycle because the anxiety comes from the hormonal issues.

I will tell you what I do, but I don't necessarily recommend this for anyone else. I have some naturally compounded estradiol and micronized progesterone in a transdermal cream base. My bouts with internal shaking are fewer now that I've been postmenopausal a few years, but when the shaking rears its ugly head, I use the transdermal cream for a few days only and it helps. I get mine from Dr. Erika and The Natural Hormone Pharmacy. I like the combination in one applicator. Again, I don't take it every day because I prefer not to. I've asked a few doctors if the way I'm using it is acceptable and the resounding response has been, "Sure, if it works for you." I don't know if you want to explore this avenue, but it's always a possibility. Again, this is what works for me personally. Power Surge doesn't recommend that all women use naturally compounded hormones in the same manner.

The internal shaking can drive you to distraction. I know. I have been there for years and the suffering you describe resonates loudly and clearly.

Dearest

[Lupe]

Dearest,  Thank you so much for  everything you do for everyone going through these  difficult times of  our lives.  I am 2  1/2 years postmenopausel.  I didn't have much of the the symptoms during peri as I am having now.  I have internal shakes, palps, gastro problems (IBS), heartburn, fatigue, anxiety, sore achy muscles.  It seems these things come and go in spurts.  I will be fine for a month or two then they come back with a vengence.  I am so glad I found these boards because it helps to see that other people are going through the same things.  But I hope that soon down the road things will start to get better !!!!  Thank you so  much!

[40something]

Lupe-

I am in peri menopause and have had the palps, internal shaking, anxiety, and depression.  What helped me most was 500 mg of Magnesium at bedtime.  This eliminated the palps and internal shaking.  Also Revival Soy has helped the anxiety and depression.  I have a little more energy and sleep better.

Let me know how it goes.

Sandy