Spasticity

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jimmylegs
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Post by jimmylegs »

hi cece, by and large yes, with a few comments:

1. coffee and tea deserve mention, not just alcohol. diuretic foods and drinks increase magnesium excretion too. it's not just the phosphates, it's the caffeine if memory serves me correctly.

2. i am not keen on the recommended cal:mag ratio. 2 calcium to 1 magnesium is status quo, but if you have issues with spasticity you'd be better off with a 1:1 ratio. in some cases even a 1 calcium to 2 magnesium ratio could be in order.

3. as to form, i use citrate if i want to take magnesium before bed. i take glycinate before meals to get it pushed down into the lower intestine. i used to take magnesium glycinate at bed time but i had a horrific acid reflux cough as a side effect. (moral of the story: do not soak your LES in nutritional muscle relaxants).

as for sou's pill breakdown:

magnesium oxide contains the highest ratio of elemental magnesium compared to other forms. but, it is the least soluble form, difficult to absorb, and because of that it is the most likely to give you the runs.

if you took two of those 400mg pills each with 350mg mag oxide, you might want to stay near the bathroom in case of unexpected surprises :S

with magnesium glycinate you can take higher doses and still have a normal day. best bet recommendations are up to 1200 mg elemental magnesium per day!! i find that hard to achieve. optimal daily intake proposed in literature = 10mg per kg body weight.

hope that helps!
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Cece
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Post by Cece »

Thanks jimmylegs! I bet my magnesium levels were affected by all that diet coke over all those years.

I struggle to read stories to my kids and maybe it's due to diaphragm spasms. Would love to see improvement in this. Magnesium it is....
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jimmylegs
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Post by jimmylegs »

fabulous.

i remember the feeling of not being able to breathe in enough to feel that full lung 'stretch', and how great it was to get that feeling back after starting magnesium.

here's hoping you get it back too :D
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lyndacarol
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Post by lyndacarol »

In view of recent questions about spasticity, I have resurrected this thread and these old posts from 2011:
lyndacarol wrote:Those people with muscle spasms, or spasticity, may find this short (less than 5 min.) video useful:

http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/your-mus ... ng-serious

The information from Dr. Oz fits so well with what jimmylegs has said many times: Spasms may stem from dehydration, low levels of calcium, magnesium, or potassium, or even if you are resting too long.

He suggests soaking for 15 minutes in a bath with 2 cups of Epsom salts dissolved in the water.

When identifying the areas where spasms are most common, he lists calves, quads, hamstrings, and around the eyes (eyes… Could muscle spasms there be connected to nystagmus?). He even says muscle spasms can be connected to hormone problems, especially thyroid problems.

Well worth 5 minutes of your time to watch!
lyndacarol wrote:I knew that there was a paper about five years ago on the use of cycling to alleviate muscle spasticity in the legs. I knew it was done at the University of Illinois in the department of kinesiology. I think I have found the paper here:
I had not known the author, but found this when I read in a couple sources (Momentum, the magazine of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society) that Robert Motl and Jacob Sosnoff at UIUC are collaborating on a study of the effects of exercise on spasticity in MS patients – Motl "is testing an exercise regimen that incorporates balanced amounts of aerobic, resistance, and balanced modes of training"; Sosnoff will have "a clinical trial investigating the effects different durations and intensities of leg cycling on MS spasticity."

Loobie, do you have an excercycle? It sounds like this might help your leg spasticity.

Since both studies are seeking participants who can be in Urbana-Champaign several times a week, if anyone is interested in being a study participant, contact the exercise neuroscience lab at 217-244-1191 or e-mail exerciseneurolab@gmail.com
Also, I recently read the personal story of Dr. David M. Dunaief, who has suffered with CP (cerebral palsy). http://medicalcompassmd.squarespace.com/personal-story/

He wrote, "I found that my increased muscle tone reduced my spasticity dramatically."


Perhaps this is the same mechanism (increasing muscle tone) at play in Dr. Robert Motl's first findings that time on an exercycle reduced spasticity in MS patients: http://www.epl.illinois.edu/files/pubs/ ... erosis.pdf

I believe Dr. Motl is to speak soon in Chicago at an MS Society function on his continued work.
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