i like this mg-related info i found before, pertaining to fibromyalgia but still neuropathic pain and the role of magnesium.
http://web.mit.edu/london/www/magnesium.html
if you follow the link it's well referenced to pubmed abstracts.
here are some highlights:
And unfortunately, urinary magnesium loss can be increased by many factors, both physical and emotional. Magnesium loss increases in the presence of certain hormones. Stress can greatly increase magnesium loss...
...magnesium is also the activating mineral for at least 350 different enzymes in the body, more than any other mineral, so it is crucial for many of the metabolic functions in the body. Magnesium is necessary for almost all the enzymes that allow the glycolytic and Krebs cycles to turn the sugar and fat we eat into ATP. Low levels of ATP have commonly been found in people with fibromyalgia, and it is believed that this plays an important role in many of the fibromyalgia symptoms...
low atp? axon degeneration/death?
Adequate magnesium is necessary for proper muscle functioning. Magnesium deficiency promotes excessive muscle tension, leading to muscle spasms, tics, restlessness, and twitches. This is due to an imbalance of the ratio of calcium to magnesium, as calcium controls contraction, while magnesium controls relaxation...
Magnesium may also help Myofascial Pain Syndrome...
i'm looking for more info on that myofascial part...
And it's because of magnesium's ability to regulate nerve functions that other fibromyalgia symptoms occur. Migraine headaches, mitral valve prolapse, and Raynaud's phenomenon, all problems commonly found in people with fibromyalgia, are also problems that have been associated with a magnesium deficiency.
Without enough magnesium, nerves fire too easily from even minor stimuli... emotional reactions will be exaggerated, and the brain will be too stimulated to sleep...
Not only that, but magnesium also affects carbohydrate metabolism in a different manner, as a magnesium deficiency appears to create resistance to insulin, Insulin resistance increases levels of insulin, which may result in a form of diabetes. Additionally, insulin resistance by itself can distrupt intracellular magnesium levels...
Magnesium also appears to be able to also affect the nervous system by regulating the release of hormones, which occurs due to many different forms of stress...
Many forms of oral magnesium supplements are hard to assimilate. The most common, magnesium oxide and citrate, happen to be the worst to assimilate, which is why both have a strong laxative effect. If you suffer from that effect when you take magnesium, it is often not because you are taking too much, but because you are not assimilating it well. And it may take long term use of supplements before magnesium levels are raised in all the tissues, and for damaged cell functions to be restored...
A magnesium deficiency increases cell membrane permeability...Changes in cell membranes and subsequent intracellular imbalance in cells reduces the body's defenses against toxins...
lots of links to the kinds of issues people have here.