Magnesium

Following. I take magnesium citrate for multiple reasons including nerve and muscle health for my back pain, migraine prevention, and normal bowel. When I asked my MO about my supplements, he would not engage in a conversation and said to take what I want after standard treatment. I never thought about stopping magnesium, but now I will question it. Thanks.

My IMD has had me on 200-400 mg magnesium daily since diagnosis (Optimag Neuro by Xymogen). My SpectraCell soon after diagnosis showed that I was deficient.

I looked magnesium up in the book that I have been reading by Dr. Mark Stengler and Dr. Paul Anderson (2018: Outside the Box Cancer Therapies, Hay House Inc.). Here's what they say on pg 54 about magnesium supplementation during chemo:

"Alkylating agents that are platinum-based... are given to approximately half of all patients undergoing chemotherapy... These anticancer agents have shown in multiple studies to cause magnesium deficiency." It says that cisplatin, carboplatin, oxaliplatin, pyriplatin and phenenthriplatin are platinum-based. It then goes on to describe the symptoms of magnesium deficiency (muscle cramps, fatigue, insomnia, etc).

It further reads, "Research has shown that between 41 percent and 100 percent of patients receiving low dose cisplatin became deficient in magnesium. Research has also shown that magnesium supplementation during platinum-based chemotherapy signfiicantly reduces the degree of low magnesium levels. It is recommended that everyone on this type of chemotherapy take supplemental magnesium either orally (400 mg daily) or intravenously. Speak with your oncologist and integrative doctor about magnesium supplementation as part of your treatment."

I really like this book because they include over 300 footnoted studies in each chapter, and I had never seen the majority of the studies they highlight. Here are the studies to which they were referring here:

TC Johnstone et al, "Understanding and improving platinum anticancer drugs- phenanthriplatin" in Anticancer Research, 2014, 34(1): 471-476.

JE Buckley et al., "Hypomagnesemia after cisplatin combination chemotherapy," Archives of Internal Medicine, 1984 (sounds like an old study), found at https://doi.org/10.1001/archinte.1984.003502200630...

E. Hodgkinson et al., "Magnesium depletion in patients receiving cisplatin-based chemotherapy," Clinical Oncology (Royal College of Radiologists (Great Britain), 2006 Nov, 18(9):710-8.

Blessings,

Esther

I have a copy of one of those articles wavestostars if you want it - the first one. It's more about the cell biology & how during early oncogenesis the cell take up a lot of Mg. lmk if you want it.

They also linked to this article which is open access; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC47594...

"The inverse association of higher total magnesium intake with all-cause mortality was primarily presented among postmenopausal women and was stronger among women who had a high Ca:Mg intake ratio (>2.59). There were no clear associations for prognosis with intake of calcium. We found that magnesium intake alone may improve overall survival following breast cancer, and the association may be stronger among those with high Ca:Mg intake ratio."

I did find increasing Mg helped with muscle cramps (calf) while taking Tamoxifen 2009-2014. At the tie I was taking Ca/Mg that had reocmmended 100% Ca and 50% Mg. I was not worried about Mg since it seemed abundant in many foods I ate. When I switched to 100% Mg and 50% Ca, the cramps almost disappeared. Also I was a little worried about how much Ca since too much ( how much is too much??) seems to be linked to heart issues for women. I eat quite a bit of yogurt, cheese, milk. NIH fact sheet on Mg. I guess I'll use more pumpkin seeds on the salads. I wonder if kobocha or some of the other sweet squashes I planted have it. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Magnesium-HealthProfessional/