Posted by mattdds on January 1, 2004, at 14:20:43
In reply to Re: Matt's sleep issues and magnesium » mattdds, posted by Ron Hill on January 1, 2004, at 12:20:56
Hey Ron,
> I'm bipolar II and in the past I have had insomnia problems. I will not bore you with the details of my prior sleep woes except to tell you what fixed the problem (for me, YMMV).
I've often wondered whether I could get a diagnosis of BP II if I found the "right" doctor. I know sleep issues are a large part of bipolar spectrum disorders. Do you take a mood stabilizer? Does that help the sleep?
>I take 800 mg of magnesium (measured as elemental Mg) at bedtime and it is the best sleep aid I have ever used (and I used several over the years). Currently I take 200 mg of Mg citrate, 400 mg of Mg malate, and 200 mg of Mg glycinate. As soon as I get around to ordering it, I plan to substitute 200 mg of Mg taurinate (sp?) in place of 200 mg of Mg malate just to see if I like it.
>Wow! 800 mg? Isn't that a pretty whopping dose? Also, why so many different forms?
> I can't take magnesium during the day because it makes me too sleepy-tired. Also, if I increase above about 1000 mg/night of Mg, diarrhea results.
>
> Have you ever tried magnesium at bedtime? If not, it might be worth a trial.
>
> -- Ron
>Actually, I trialed Mg supplements (Mg citrate), but for anxiety. It did have a very subtle effect, in that it seemed to augment Klonopin slightly (there's actually evidence it does do this).
The problem? I would get poopy-pants at about 400 mg. So maybe I wasn't able to get up to a high enough dose to make it work. However, I was under the impression that 400 mg was the target dose.
I never tried it for sleep though. Your idea sounds like it's certainly worth a try, judging from your success with it.
Next time, perhaps I'll titrate up slowly, to prevent diarrhea. I don't want to wake up with a big mess in my bed - not a great way to start the day ;).
Mg seems promising. A while back, Larry posted a bunch of abstracts for Mg and mitral valve prolapse (I have MVP without regurgitation).
One last thing. Have you tried conventional sleep aids like Ambien? Ambien worked incredibly well for a while, but seems to have pooped. If you have tried these, how does your experience with Mg compare with e.g. Ambien, as a sleep aid?
Thanks for you input!
Matt
poster:mattdds
thread:295133
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20031218/msgs/295405.html