Hypomagnesemia occurs with both loop diuretics (furosemide, bumetanide, torsemide, and ethacrynic acid) and thiazide diuretics (chlorothiazide, hydrochlorothiazide, indapamide, and metolazone).
Even when people are very conscientious about their diets, they may be taking medications that can undermine healthy magnesium levels. Diuretics like furosemide (Lasix), bumetanide, chlorthalidone and hydrochlorothiazide often deplete magnesium along with potassium.
A variety of drugs including antibiotics, chemotherapeutic agents, diuretics and proton-pump inhibitors can cause magnesium loss and hypomagnesemia (see Table 1) [10,27,28,33,34,39,41,42].
Very low magnesium levels may cause:
Headaches. Nighttime leg cramps. Numbness or tingling in the legs or hands. General body weakness.
Every organ in the body, especially the heart, muscles, and kidneys, needs the mineral magnesium. It also contributes to the makeup of teeth and bones.
Deficiencies due to poor absorption of magnesium from the gastrointestinal tract include: Diseases causing malabsorption such as celiac disease and inflammatory bowel disease. Gastric bypass surgery. Hereditary syndromes causing poor absorption of magnesium (primary intestinal hypomagnesemia).
Chronic magnesium deficiency is often associated with normal serum magnesium despite deficiency in cells and in bone; the response to oral supplementation is slow and may take up to 40 weeks to reach a steady state.
Diabetics or individuals with other blood sugar abnormalities, such as insulin resistance – because of increased urinary excretion, decreased dietary intake, and increased need. Individuals who consume a diet high in pastries and other junk foods – which are basically devoid of magnesium.
Statins: Cholesterol-lowering medications, such as Lipitor, are intended to lower levels of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol and triglycerides. These prescription drugs bind to fats that are necessary for mineral absorption, reducing the body's capacity to use magnesium.
One study found that very high doses of zinc from supplements (142 mg/day) can interfere with magnesium absorption and disrupt the magnesium balance in the body [17].
You might have trouble absorbing magnesium from food if you drink too much alcohol, have kidney problems, take certain medicines, or have celiac disease or long-lasting digestive problems.
Quite the dilemma. The good news is, stress and chronic fatigue that might result from low magnesium levels can be reversed. Supplementing with magnesium is shown to reverse low red blood cell magnesium and improved energy, emotional state, and pain levels in people with chronic fatigue syndrome.
Mg is essential in the metabolism of vitamin D, and taking large doses of vitamin D can induce severe depletion of Mg. Adequate magnesium supplementation should be considered as an important aspect of vitamin D therapy.
Fruit juices such as orange juice, cherry juice, and watermelon juice are all good sources of magnesium, potassium, and phosphorus. According to the FNDDS, the average school container (124 grams) of 100% orange juice provides : 13.6 mg of magnesium.
As noted previously, magnesium deficiency reduces cardiac Na-K-ATPase, leading to higher levels of sodium and calcium and lower levels of magnesium and potassium in the heart. This increases vasoconstriction in the coronary arteries, which can induce coronary artery spasms, myocardial infarction and arrhythmias.
Hypomagnesemia associates with inflammation and risk of diabetes and hypertension, which may contribute to kidney function decline.
Dietary deficiencies of magnesium, coupled with excess calcium and stress may cause many cases of other related symptoms including agitation, anxiety, irritability, confusion, asthenia, sleeplessness, headache, delirium, hallucinations and hyperexcitability, with each of these having been previously documented.
If symptomatic and especially if the magnesium is <0.4 mmol/L recommend urgent admission. Magnesium may be given orally in a dose of up to 24 mmol Mg2+ daily in divided doses.
You can test your magnesium levels by purchasing a simple at-home finger prick test kit which is then analysed at an accredited lab. Forth offers a number of blood tests which include magnesium such as our Nutri-check test and Menopause Health blood test.
Can you take vitamin D and magnesium together? Yes. In fact, it's probably best to take both together. Because so many people have low magnesium levels, vitamin D supplements on their own aren't very helpful for a large portion of the population.
Vitamin D can enhance intestinal absorption of magnesium, particularly in people with low magnesium levels. This allows the mineral to be more efficiently used by the body. In one human study, obese women given a vitamin D injection had a significant increase in their blood levels of magnesium.