Hi All,
I am posting an email sent to both Vicki and myself, written by Jeanette
Crossley. Jeannette has asked me to post ths because she believes it may be
helpful for many of you.Jeannette who has APS 1 herself,has done valuable
research for over 30 years in this field. She organized and ran one of the first
and most valuable web sites for people with Addison's Disease If anyone has any
questions please use this forum to contact her and she will respond.

Best wishes,
Linda

I too am concerned at the high calcium dose now prescribed
> for Ryan - not
> only is it potentially harmful, but, unless there is other
> information
> not in your posting, it is unlikely to solve the
> problem.
>
>
> Low serum calcium and potassium together point to low
> magnesium. When the magnesium is low, the
> calcium and
> potassium can't be corrected to a stable
> situation. This is
> stated in several medical articles accessible on line.
>
>
> If magnesium is given by IV, the infusion must be carefully
> monitored in
> hospital because too much or too fast can upset the heart
> in
> particular. The form of magnesium best absorbed
> from the gut
> is the citrate. I buy mine online from
> Solgar. I
> also take magnesium amino acid chelate which is easily
> available
> here. Since 2005 I have taken 600mg of the
> citrate and 250mg
> of the amino acid chelate daily, in 3 divided doses.
> The RDI for Mg
> for an adult is about [from memory] 360mg.
> However magnesium
> isn't abundant in common foods, and so it is difficult
> for a large part
> of the population to get the recommended daily intake
> anyway.
>
>
>
> Magnesium and calcium compete for absorption from the gut,
> so one has to
> try to be consistent with whether one takes them together
> or a couple of
> hours apart.... easier said than done!
> Also, when
> calcium is taken with food, some of it binds to phospates,
> oxalates etc
> in the food ;which is usually good for us] but less calcium
> is absorbed
> [variable, depending on what the foods were]..
> Magnesium
> binds less strongly to phosphates and oxalates.... but I am
> getting into
> detail...
>
>
> It is important to understand the limitations of serum
> electrolyte
> results, which includes in particular potassium and
> magnesium, which need
> relatively high concentrations inside cells.
> Put another
> way, the total body potassium and magnesium are important,
> and the serum
> levels do not adequately indicate when the total body
> levels are low,
> until they are 'very low'.
>
>
> Fortunately for us, calcium not tied up in bone
> 'lives' mostly outside
> the cells, in the plasma, and we can use serum
> calcium levels to
> adjust our oral calcitriol and oral calcium. However
> magnesium
> 'lives' mostly inside the cells, where the
> correct concentration is
> critical for the function of a lot of enzyme functions in
> the body. . [I
> know this is an oversimplification, but I think it helps us
> understand.] If the serum magnesium results
> are below normal
> range, the answer for the doctor is reasonably clear - more
> magnesium is
> needed. Quite a lot, gradually, to replace
> depleted body
> stores. But it is very important to understand
> that serum
> magnesium results in the lower part of the normal range may
> be disguising
> reduced body stores and a significant intracellular
> deficiency, which
> must be corrected.
>
>
> The red cell magnesium test can be used to explore this
> more - one can
> have 'normal' serum Mg but low red cell Mg.
> However this test is
> not necessary for the clinical decision that increase in
> magnesium status
> is needed. There are several good medical
> articles about
> this, such as in UpToDate dot com, and the articles on
> hypomagnesemia in
> emedicine. It is unfortunate that many
> medical
> specialists do not seem to understand the importance of
> magnesium status
> in general, let alone for those of us with APECED.
>
>
> Low total body magnesium can explain several other
> 'things' that
> otherwise are not explainable. For example, when
> serum calcium and
> potassium are low, linked with low magnesium, blood
> pressure can be
> high. That is a linkage worth knowing - my
> doctors had not
> accepted it for a long time. I found out how
> important
> magnesium correction was for me, in 2005. And I
> was also able
> to reduce my anti-hypertensive meds [ACE inhibitor and
> ARBs] to 1/32 [one
> thirty-second] of the dose I had been
> taking. I still
> have hypertension that needs meds, but a small dose, not a
> sledgehammer.
>
>
> Low magnesium also adversely affected my mood, and muscle
> strength and
> 'stamina'. They were not miraculously
> fixed - but were
> noticeably improved. There is probably a genetic
> component [enzyme
> variants, separate to APECED genetics] that governs for
> each of us which
> of our enzyme systems are especially sensitive to a fall in
> magnesium
> status.
>
>
> I hope this helps,
>
> best wishes
>
> Jeanette in New Zealand
>
>
>
>