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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 7 of 7. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by LOOPS on February 14, 2006, at 12:10:00
Hi -
It's been awhile now, but I've been taking Mg religiously, along with some taurine, fish oil, multivit, B complex.
Initially I did great, and finally was sleeping really really well. I had to take a little calcium to really sleep through the whole night, but never very much. I was mixing Mg glycinate, mg citrate, mg lactate etc.
Anyway, one night after about 2 months I just couldn't sleep. Since then, I have been stuck in a horrid nightmare of depression, anxiety and heart palpitations. My hands would shake, I couldn't concentrate on anything and I was sweating and overheating all day. I reduced my Mg dose and added in more calcium, but things aren't getting better.
Luckily the heart palpitations went away with the extra calcium, but now I've been thrown into deep depression. My insomnia has returned with a vengeance, so I have to take zopiclone to sleep. Not even 5htp is helping. The zopiclone is not helping how I'm feeling during the day, although it's allowing me to get some sleep.
Nothing in my cupboard is working.
WHAT IS GOING ON????
Please help me - this really is not good. I'm in hell.
Thanks
Loops
Posted by LOOPS on February 14, 2006, at 12:35:34
In reply to HELP!! MAGNESIUM REVERSE EFFECTS, posted by LOOPS on February 14, 2006, at 12:10:00
BTW, I tried cutting Mg altogether, and things didn't seem to get better - in fact if anything worse.
I really think I've screwed my system up. Last night all I could do was roll around in bed crying and praying for it to all end. I haven't been like this in ages.
ANY advice right now would be so much appreciated.
Posted by blueberry on February 14, 2006, at 19:02:21
In reply to HELP!! MAGNESIUM REVERSE EFFECTS, posted by LOOPS on February 14, 2006, at 12:10:00
Wow, I'm so sorry for the way you are feeling. You know what, I've been there so many times in the last few months and could be again at any moment. So I can definitely feel for you.
I wonder though if it was the magnesium? Maybe it was the taurine? Or some synergy between the two that took time to build up? It's so hard to tell.
But have you screwed up your system? Everything you are taking is healthy, so I doubt it. There is probably something else going on.
I wish once we got things right they would stay right! Even my trusty prozac and zyprexa after 5 good years finally screwed up on me in a bunch of weird scary ways.
Posted by nolvas on February 14, 2006, at 20:16:30
In reply to Re: HELP!! MAGNESIUM REVERSE EFFECTS » LOOPS, posted by blueberry on February 14, 2006, at 19:02:21
I'm sorry to hear you are feeling unwell at present. I have severe anxiety and I will go through phases where stuff works or I don't even need to take anything and I feel ok, then suddenly out of nowhere it gets severe and nasty again for a little while and for seemingly for no reason.
One thing I do know is that the bad times don't last permanently. The tricky part is trying to keep things stable. I know this doesn't quite relate to depression but the two conditions are related I'm sure. I hope you feel better soon.
Posted by LOOPS on February 15, 2006, at 6:48:25
In reply to Re: HELP!! MAGNESIUM REVERSE EFFECTS, posted by nolvas on February 14, 2006, at 20:16:30
thanks guys - I really needed to hear some kind words.
Well yesterday saw a complete turnaround, which is not unusual for me - I often seem to reach complete despair then if I'm lucky something snaps and I feel better for awhile.
So yesterday I was constantly on the brink of tears - I even had to fight to hold them back during a tennis lesson. You may know what I mean - that awful pain inside that never seems to completely go away was really jamming me up. My DH then appeared with a huge bunch of flowers, which actually made me want to cry even more!
He was so worried he did what he usually does when I get very bad - he cooked me a huge curry. That was sweet.
I found some Holy Basil (the one thing I had not taken in awhile) and felt really quite a lot better within half an hour. I mixed it with 50mg 5htp (100mg deals with anxiety but makes depression worse generally for me). Anyway I was wondering if the 5htp raises cortisol; holy basil reduces cortisol and anything that does this usually makes me feel MUCH better.
Also, I didn't take any zopiclone last night. This morning I feel tired but better than usual - I'm convinced that stuff makes me depressed. So for sleep, apart from eating too much curry, I took 100mg 5htp, 30mg zinc (I had been forgetting to take enough of this recently), 500mg C,100mg B1 (seems to help sleep) and the usual melatonin 1mg, 200mg Mg glycinate and 350mg coral calcium. I actually managed to sleep for 6 hours, so it is possible.
I can only think the zopiclone was really having some weird effects (I don't have a problem with either occasional benzos or zolpidem) during the day.
Also I recently reduced my dose of fish oil due to cost - but now I'm thinking that was a bad idea. I'm going back to 2g EPA. If anything it makes the other things I take much more effective.
Zinc can be sedative right? I think we have a lot of copper in our water here (along with arsenic - great) so am I right in thinking I can take up to 50mg per day?? I have problems with racing thoughts at night.
Waffle waffle- needed that.
Loops
Posted by blueberry on February 15, 2006, at 18:09:00
In reply to Re: HELP!! MAGNESIUM REVERSE EFFECTS, posted by LOOPS on February 15, 2006, at 6:48:25
I didn't think about it until you mentioned it, but zopiclone...bingo! In my experience with eszopiclone (lunesta) it is usually kind to me, but every now and then it will do something weird that puts me in a great mood the next day, puts me in a deep depression the next day, or gives me anxiety in the afternoon the next day, or do nothing at all the next day. It's a weird one. The change in fish oil might have been at play also, like you said.
Magnesium, taurine, zopiclone...all these things are inhibitory. So maybe the accumulation of them over time just dampens things down too much and that severe depression kicks in. Through my trials over the last few months where I've been through many of those quick deep depressions, I've discovered some quick remedies, but not longterm remedies. Tyrosine lifts me up in hours. DLPA can too. Pycnogenol does in about a day. Rhodiola in about 8 hours.
Posted by LOOPS on February 15, 2006, at 19:30:12
In reply to Re: HELP!! MAGNESIUM REVERSE EFFECTS » LOOPS, posted by blueberry on February 15, 2006, at 18:09:00
Hi blueberry -
interesting - I could never tolerate N-acetyl-tyrosine and have never tried the 'normal' l-tyrosine. However I have a 'mental edge' formula which can be very useful as it contains tyrosine, but can certainly make me on edge mentally (ha ha)if I take too much or don't balance it with 5htp/tryptophan. Dopamine precursors generally make me irritable. Fish oil seems to raise dopamine for me, but not excessively.
I was interested to read your experiences with 5htp/tryptophan. I had a great run with tryptophan once, but ended up taking too much and getting some scary symptoms (sweating, shaking) - I wasn't even taking that much really. 5htp is by no means a wonder pill for me, but it has been a mainstay over quite a few years. It does seem to help with anxiety and sleep, but sometimes I worry about it screwing up my sleep even more, as I get early awakening with it. I would no way take even half a sleeping tablet without backing it up with something like 5htp and some B6 - I'd be awake after about 4 hours.
The zopiclone I noticed the very first night I took it I was monged and depressed the next day. Ironically it does really help with sleep, but I've NEVER had weirdo psycho effects lasting into the next day with either zolpidem or even midazolam (mega benzo).
Anyway I really try to not take any med for sleep, but recently I get to about 2am and if I feel I'm really not going to sleep I take half a tablet. The back-up 5htp/cal/mag usually extends whatever sleep the pill initiates.
I noticed you had a trial with Mg - have you taken it up again? That was why I was taking the taurine in addition to anti-anxiety/mood - to balance out the glycine in the Mg glycinate I take at night.
After all my experiences, I still wouldn't ditch the Mg/Ca/taurine - I think something else made me freak out. Still, don't want to be back there anytime soon - I can be a delicate emotional mess at the drop of a hat.
Loops
Tryptophan always made me HUNGRY, but it felt more natural than 5htp. I wonder for me, if 5htp increases serotonin in too many parts of the brain i.e. sometimes it makes me depressed whereas tryptophan never did - I'm pretty sure my brain just used what it need from the tryptophan, but the 5htp tends to have a 'blanket' effect and the brain can't control what it takes. Dunno.
This is the end of the thread.
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