Effects from Magnesium Supplement?

[AnnieA]

I started DSS 9 and DSS 15 on a liquid Cal/Mag supplement yesterday. I am giving it to DSS 15 because he has pretty bad allergies and asthma as well as attention issues and based on my research, magnesium deficiencies can cause/contribute to those things. I am giving it to DSS 9 because he has recently developed 2 body/vocal tics and they came on about 4 days after receiving the H1N1 vaccine booster shot. He also has developed asthma and has attention issues so I'm trying the cal/mag to see if it makes a difference.

So here's my question. How long should it take before we see a difference? Here's the tricky part. Their mom is not on board with giving them supplements so they are only going to get it when they are at our house. So that means that there will be 5 out of 6 days when they will get it and then they will go 5 days w/out getting it. Then they will get it for two days and go 1 day w/out it. Then back to the beginning. So will the time they get it our house help? Has anyone done a magnesium supplement and seen a difference in their asthma/allergies/ADD child?

[WuWei]

The magnesium will help. But, is best given separately from calcium. I'd recommend providing info to their bio mom about the benefits.

Kenneth Bock's book, Healing the New Childhood Epidemics: Autism, Asthma, ADHD and Allergies links toxicity, inflammation, and gut health combined with our individual predispositions as manifesting in these health conditions. It's not a DIY get-your-kid-off-asthma-drugs type of thing, but a framework for seeing the situation from a higher level, and then figuring out approaches, whether a combination of doing things yourself or choosing a type of healthcare provider who can best help.

I'd suggest giving her a copy.

I'd also report the vaccine reaction to the government reporting site VAERS.


Pat

[tanyalynn]

You maybe/probably won't get the same results with a cal/mag combo as with a stand-alone mag supplement. They compete for absorption, but they also balance each other in the body, so more calcium would increase the amount of magnesium they'd need.

I give my kids stand-alone mag supplements, along with lots of other stuff, but I've seen different benefits than the ones you're looking for. I'd start to see symptoms (DD has trouble falling asleep, DS sometimes gets a bit hyper, but not always) if we skipped 5 or 6 days, but it'd be quicker to see benefits re-starting after not giving it for 5-6 days vs the very beginning.

You may want to experiment with how much they can tolerate. Mag glycinate seems to be a good form for absorption, lots better than something like a mag oxide. Diarrhea would result when you get to too high a dose, so slowly tapering up over several days would let you figure out how much their bodies need, and then they'd have more for the days when they get none.

[AnnieA]

Pat, thanks for the response. Getting their mother on board with this is not going to work. The pedi looked directly at her at DSS 9's last appt and said "He definitely has tics" and she is now trying to convince DSS 9 that one of his vocal tics is really just a tickle in his throat.

WRT to the cal/mag, I've heard that giving it as mag alone is more effective but I couldn't find a liquid mag supplement in my local stores that didn't have calcium with it. DSS 9 isn't able to swallow pills yet so it needs to be liquid. As far as gut health, we are also giving them a vitamin D supplement as well as probiotics twice a day.

With the H1N1 vaccine issue, I raised the issue with both the nurse and the pedi at the last visit. They both said that there should not be any corrolation to the fact that DSS 9 got the booster vaccine on Dec. 11 and when he came to our house on Dec. 15, his first tic had already showed up. At first, his pedi thought maybe it was PANDAS and did a round of antibiotics but it didn't make a difference and during the course of the antibiotics, his second tic showed up. His pedi has also recommended therapy but his mother is refusing so far. So I guess I'm not sure if I should report the vaccine issue?

[AnnieA]

Originally Posted by TanyaLopez

You maybe/probably won't get the same results with a cal/mag combo as with a stand-alone mag supplement. They compete for absorption, but they also balance each other in the body, so more calcium would increase the amount of magnesium they'd need.

I give my kids stand-alone mag supplements, along with lots of other stuff, but I've seen different benefits than the ones you're looking for. I'd start to see symptoms (DD has trouble falling asleep, DS sometimes gets a bit hyper, but not always) if we skipped 5 or 6 days, but it'd be quicker to see benefits re-starting after not giving it for 5-6 days vs the very beginning.

You may want to experiment with how much they can tolerate. Mag glycinate seems to be a good form for absorption, lots better than something like a mag oxide. Diarrhea would result when you get to too high a dose, so slowly tapering up over several days would let you figure out how much their bodies need, and then they'd have more for the days when they get none.

Have you been able to find a liquid mag supplement that doesn't have calcium in it? If so, can you tell me the brand? Thanks!

[tanyalynn]

Originally Posted by AnnieA

Have you been able to find a liquid mag supplement that doesn't have calcium in it? If so, can you tell me the brand? Thanks!

I give the kids powders mixed in some liquid and I've also put powders in between thin layers of applesauce, basically a sandwich.

Perque Mg Plus Guard is a nice magnesium, I understand GI Pro Health also has a mag glycinate, but since my kids are okay with magnesium citrate, I use Now foods mag citrate powder, it's cheap and available places like iherb.com and vitacost. The flavor isn't horrible, I mixed it in juice for a long time, but if yours don't like it, between the applesauce layers can hide really offensive powders (I add cinnamon to the applesauce to help with any bad smells).

The other choice would be Natural Calm, it's a magnesium powder that's meant to be mixed with warm water and is supposed to taste okay, it has some added flavors.

[WuWei]

You can report the vaccine "observation" to VAERS, yourself directly.


Pat

[tinuviel_k]

I really like the Natural Calm magnesium supplement. it is a lemon flavored powder (they have other flavors). You add a couple of ounces of hot water, it fizzes up, and then you can cooler water to drink it. It tastes good and I have found it to be quite effective.

I think they have a children's version, too.

http://www.calmnatural.com/

I get it at my local food co-op, but I've seen it at supplement stores, too. You can also get it from Amazon.

[kjbrown92]

My DS got weird symptoms (random clapping and flapping his hands) after his chicken pox booster. I gave him Mg Glycinate (I use Vital Nutrients or GIProHealth, both are in capsule form; my 4yo and 9yo take it without a problem; but you could probably put the powder in a smoothie if you needed to). 120mg a day at first, which corrected the stimming, and now he's taking 2 capsules a day (so 240mg). He stopped throwing himself on the ground all the time too (as part of "playing/sports" he always ended up on the ground for some reason and he doesn't do that anymore). I noticed when I ran out of the Mg for 3 days that the throwing-himself-on-the-ground part returned, but not the stimming. So if he's on again off again at his mother's house, she may see it returning, but it went away quickly after I got him back on the Mg, so while he's at your house at least, it will be controlled. It makes me sad when parents can't agree on healthcare issues like this.

[AnnieA]

I'm going to look for a mag alone supplement at WF tomorrow. DSS 15 could definitely swallow a pill/capsule but getting DSS 9 to do it would be tough. I noticed yesterday evening and this morning that the one vocal tic dropped in frequency but his head roll tic is still there. But his vocal tic had picked back up this afternoon. Not surprising since it seems to also be associated with stressful interactions and the custody swap was this afternoon.

The magnesium in the liquid cal/mag that I've been giving them is magnesium citrate. That's better than the magnesium oxide right?

[tanyalynn]

Yeah, a lot of people do well with magnesium citrate, definitely better than mag oxide. People who hit bowel tolerance really easily with mag citrate, or have any other odd reactions, often switch to mag glycinate with good results, but I've never seen mag glycinate locally. I buy both online, glycinate for DH and citrate for the kids.

[kjbrown92]

We use Mg glycinate here. I tried the citrate and it didn't do anything for me.