Hello!
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<br>I have been taking magnesium since I was pregnant with my son 7 years ago and someone clued me in to magnesium. She is a mom with a grown child with CF and had done A LOT of research into Mg and CF. And it turns out I have some classic magnesium deficiency symptoms but never realized it. So I do see some definite improvement - better sleep, better heart rhythm (I get tachycardia), less asthma symptoms, etc.
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<br>It is not only albuterol that can deplete the body. Just about any drug and even stress can do it. I wouldn't hold out too much hope of her nutritionist knowing anything about Mg. I told the dietitian at my clinic that I was taking it because I knew by my symptoms and drugs that I take that I was Mg deficient and she told me that hardly anyone is Mg deficient (not true by a long shot- most of the US population is probably Mg deficient).
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<br>I did not get my Mg levels checked and you probably don't need to. The common blood test isn't going to give much info since less than 1% of the body's Mg is in the blood. If I were in your shoes I would just go off the assumption that she is deficient and go from there. The best Mg Supplement you can get is *Chelated Mg*. Only a few Mg supplements on the market are chelated ( in a process patented by Albion labs). I take Solgar but you can also get it under Carlson, one other I can't remember, and even Vitacost now has their own Albion labs chelated Mg. Do not use the other ones. I ran out of chelated Mg once and so I started taking one of the other ones (mg citrate I believe) and my symptoms only got worse. It just plain did not work. Once I got my hands on my normal stuff I started feeling better.
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<br>Along with Mg you also need calcium and vitamin D. They all work together to aid absorption. Also if she takes any antibiotics at all you need to make sure that they are not taken together. I believe you need to not have Mg 2 hours before and 4 hours after an antibiotic dose. And it is best to break the Mg dose into a few smaller doses through the day.
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<br>As for the dose, start with the RDA for her and go up slowly from there and see if she sees any improvements.<br><br>--- I forgot to ad that there are some CF clinics now starting to realize the importance of Mg and are telling their patients to take it. The word is spreading but very very slowly.<br>