If low magnesium (hypomagnesemia) goes untreated, it can lead to serious, potentially life-threatening issues like seizures, severe muscle spasms (tetany), abnormal heart rhythms (arrhythmias), coronary artery spasms, and even cardiac arrest, affecting the nervous and cardiovascular systems significantly. Long-term deficiency increases risks for high blood pressure, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis, and mental health problems like depression.
The prognosis (outlook) for hypomagnesemia depends on its underlying cause. People who have hypomagnesemia from an identifiable cause have a good prognosis for complete recovery if they receive treatment. Dangerously low levels of magnesium have the potential to cause fatal cardiac arrhythmias.
Magnesium deficiency is commonly encountered in clinical practice. The key is to find the primary cause. Asymptomatic patients can be managed with supplements prescribed as outpatients. Symptomatic patients need admission and parenteral magnesium.
Your body needs magnesium to function normally. Symptoms of magnesium deficiency include low appetite, nausea or vomiting, muscle spasms or tremors and abnormal heart rhythms. A blood test or urine test can be used to diagnose magnesium deficiency.
Yes, magnesium can cause headaches, but usually only when you have too much (hypermagnesemia) from high-dose supplements or impaired kidneys, while a deficiency in magnesium is a common cause of headaches and migraines, making magnesium supplementation a popular treatment for prevention. So, headaches can signal either too little or too much magnesium, depending on the context.
The side effects of magnesium include nausea, diarrhea, stomach pain, arrhythmias, dyspnea, hypotension,... To minimize the risk of side effects and drug interactions, magnesium supplements should only be taken as prescribed by a doctor.
Migraine Attacks: One study showed intravenous magnesium sulfate can relieve an acute migraine within 15-45 minutes. Bowel Movements: Magnesium, especially magnesium oxide and citrate, can act as a laxative, with effects seen within 30 minutes to 6 hours of ingestion.
Among the known magnesium deficiency causes are prescription medications such as diuretics, antibiotics, painkillers and cortisone, which can deplete magnesium levels in the body by impairing absorption or by increasing excretion by the kidneys.
You can conveniently measure your serum magnesium levels with our at-home Magnesium Blood Test kit. You'll receive everything you need to take a blood sample using a finger prick test kit and return your sample to our lab, to receive your result within 2 working days.
For drinks high in magnesium, opt for mineral waters, fruit juices (especially orange, cherry, watermelon), plant-based milks (soy, almond), and homemade concoctions using raw cacao, coconut milk, or magnesium powders mixed with water or smoothies, with hot chocolate (made with raw cacao) and herbal teas (like nettle) also being good choices.
Treatments for hypomagnesemia
Your doctor will likely want to treat that, too. Other treatments for hypomagnesemia include: Getting a magnesium supplement directly into your blood through an IV if your levels are very low. Eating foods that are rich in magnesium, such as nuts, legumes, avocadoes, brown rice and greens.
Intravenous magnesium sulfate has been proven to be effective in the treatment of various dysrhythmias, and there is sufficient support for its use in myocardial infarction, preeclampsia, and eclampsia to warrant the attention of emergency nurses.
“This is because most of the magnesium in your body is stored in the bones and soft tissues, and only a few percent of it is found in the bloodstream. This simply means that your blood tests may not be able to capture the total magnesium levels in the body effectively,” added Dr Agarwal.
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. Magnesium is needed for many functions in the body. This includes the physical and chemical processes in the body that convert or use energy (metabolism).
Recommended dosing by the Critical Care Pharmacotherapy text for patients with GFR >50 ml/min: Mild hypomagnesemia (1.6-1.8 mg/dL): weight/16 = grams of IV magnesium sulfate over 24 hrs. Moderate hypomagnesemia (1.2-1.5 mg/dL): weight/8 = grams of IV magnesium sulfate over 24 hrs.
Magnesium deficiency can cause a wide variety of features including hypocalcaemia, hypokalaemia and cardiac and neurological manifestations. Chronic low magnesium state has been associated with a number of chronic diseases including diabetes, hypertension, coronary heart disease, and osteoporosis.
Signs of low magnesium
People with low magnesium often experience restless sleep, waking frequently during the night. Maintaining healthy magnesium levels often leads to deeper, more sound sleep. Magnesium plays a role in supporting deep, restorative sleep by maintaining healthy levels of GABA, a neurotransmitter that promotes sleep.
Culprit medications linked to hypomagnesemia include antibiotics (e.g. aminoglycosides, amphotericin B), diuretics, antineoplastic drugs (cisplatin and cetuximab), calcineurin inhibitors, and proton pump inhibitors.
Chocolate – Chocolate cravings can indicate a hidden magnesium deficiency. If you frequently reach for chocolate, incorporate more magnesium-rich foods into your diet, such as nuts, spinach, raspberries, pumpkin seeds and raisins. Salty snacks – When only potato chips will do, you might have low potassium levels.
Magnesium homeostasis is largely controlled by the kidney, which typically excretes about 120 mg magnesium into the urine each day [2]. Urinary excretion is reduced when magnesium status is low [1]. Assessing magnesium status is difficult because most magnesium is inside cells or in bone [3].
Bananas are the richest fruit in magnesium. If eaten dried, its magnesium content is higher. More generally, dried fruits such as figs, dates and apricots are an important source of magnesium. Recipe idea: Try a banana-spinach smoothie.
Magnesium deficiency may increase the excitability of muscle and nerve fibres. As a result, the muscles in the shoulder and neck area become tense, which can also trigger common tension headaches. Magnesium deficiency may also cause the blood vessels in the brain to constrict, leading to migraine attacks.
Dietary magnesium — an essential mineral found in foods like beans, nuts and spinach — influences blood pressure. High circulating levels of magnesium are associated with lower blood pressure, suggesting that magnesium deficiency, which is common, may contribute to the pathogenesis of hypertension.
Magnesium supplements do not usually produce an immediate effect after the very first dose. As a general guide, you may start to notice subtle benefits within about a week of consistent daily use, although for some people it can take several weeks for magnesium levels to build and for symptoms to improve.