My daily dates with magnesium

 Photo: UNSPLASH

In recent weeks, I’ve had discussions with several men and women with regard to aging well via nutrition and supplements, notably magnesium. Approximately ninety percent of the world is deficient, which poses significant harm to those who are challenged with physical and mental health problems. Supplementing would alleviate much of their distress. 

Copious medical and scientific literature speaks to the importance magnesium and what magnesium deficiency looks like. Why aren’t more doctors checking for it? If they asked the right questions and ordered bloodwork to confirm, a lot of patient suffering could be alleviated. Psychiatric drugs could potentially be replaced with a daily dose of magnesium.

I have a vested interest in exploring ways to age well and safely with limited pharmaceutical intervention. Pain management medications are sedating. A sedated walking spastic diplegic is an accident waiting to happen.

When it comes to health and wellness, I’m my own best advocate. I’d venture to say that I’m an expert in living with cerebral palsy and how aging affects the physical body challenged by this neurological disorder. How the emotional health is affected is a discussion for another time.

Because I walk the walk, I feel that I can, with a certain degree of authority, talk the talk. I know one thing for sure — medicating/sedating an uprightly mobile person such as I is the wrong approach if clinicians, doctors  and therapists charged with physiotherapy or occupational therapy intent on insuring our quality of life, want to contribute to our independent living in our own homes with minimal supports required. 

For several decades I’ve researched how lifestyle, nutrition, supplementing and emotional engagement enhances our daily living. Of particular interest is how the brain, insulted by cerebral palsy is impacted by various minerals and vitamins; more specifically, magnesium, which has contributed to ease of movement, pain management, regulating heart rhythm, mental acuity, and more restful sleep.

  Magnesium deficiency has long been held as the one of the most under-dignosed and therefore undertreated conditions plaguing both young and old; deficiencies have been implicated in ADHD, depression, dementia, sleep disturbance, joint/muscle pain. The list is long. Even dogs and cats can suffer from magnesium deficiency. Yes, it’s ‘a thing’.

I am not a doctor nor do I play one in the media. What I am is an aware consumer of medical/health and wellness goods and services, aging in very good health with very few prescription drugs, with only one taken regularly. And that, my friends, is what has kept me on my feet for close to 70 years. Proper nutrition, exercise/movement, proper rest and lots of water do it for me.

Features of magnesium deficiency: chronic fatigue, lethargy or low energy, chronic headaches or migraines; high blood pressure; rapid or irregular heart rate; anxiety or panic attacks; lack of appetite; confusion or difficulty concentrating; mood swings; feeling irritable; twitching, tics, or restlessness; restless leg syndrome; shortness of breath; sensitivity to loud noise or light. Each of us may have a different experience with deficiency. Doing an internet search for ‘symptoms of magnesium deficiency’ and then another search for ‘benefits of magnesium’ will allow you to make decisions about whether you are deficient and whether you’d benefit from supplementing.

It’s intracellular and not serum magnesium levels that must be checked because magnesium flows between blood, the bones and inside cells. Ask your physician to order a magnesium red blood cell test (Magnesium RBC), with a repeat test after taking magnesium supplements for a few months. Keeping a journal will allow you to monitor changes in your body with regard to symptoms lessening or disappearing altogether.

My experiences with magnesium supplementing began decades ago when I started taking it to reduce muscle spasticity, fatigue and bone pain related to aging with cerebral palsy and coping with concurrent fibromyalgia and aortic insufficiency. I continue to take a therapeutic dose of magnesium — a tablet at breakfast and at bedtime. A regular dose would be once a day. Since it functions as a sleep aid/muscle relaxant, I’d recommend taking it at bedtime. As with all things, consult with your physician before undertaking any supplementing protocols. What works for me may not be appropriate for you.

In discussions with those living with chronic disease or fixed neurological condition, I always advise them to have conversations with treating physicians, especially if supplementing with magnesium may allow them to reduce or eliminate one or more pain medications, or a sleep aid, or a daily antacid preparation. Magnesium is critical to the functioning of the entire body, so if you don’t have enough, it’s not difficult to see just how many problems can pile on top of each and how you might be simply masking the symptoms with pain management drugs without ever addressing the root cause — the deficiency itself. If you have relatives, parents, children, grandchildren or others who fit the magnesium deficient profile, have a conversation with them about seeing their doctor for appropriate tests.

Geriatric Maltese terrier, Miss Lexie, will be 18 years old in October. She’s been getting a small piece of magnesium each morning – it helps regulate heart rhythm and improves cognition. She has slight lapses but hasn’t fallen totally into canine cognitive disorder

Magnesium may be appropriate for senior/geriatric individuals who experience mental confusion and sleeplessness; in the  clinical care setting that would be a win-win for all, as restorative sleep is critical to wellness.

Lullabye and goodnight.

Carla MacInnis Rockwell is a freelance writer and disability rights advocate living outside Fredericton, NB with Miss Lexie, a rambunctious Maltese and Mr. Malcolm, a boisterous Havanese. She can be reached via email at Carla MacInnis Rockwell

First impressions can be misleading

 

Source: Pexels

Yesterday, when I was young …. I learned a great deal about impressions; how we are initially seen by another person and how we view them. What about them inspired that second look?  I’ve lived almost 70 years with a particular feature of my physical body that is not immediately apparent, so the first impression one might get of me is of someone reasonably attractive, clearly intelligent and well spoken and able to hold her own in a debate. 

I’ve always been a listener and a watcher. I enjoy watching people interact, noting the changes in facial expressions, how they might lean in or lean away from a person speaking. Intentions are made clear by even the most subtle of cues.

Our first impression of another person is based on a visual inspection — the attractiveness quotient. Alas, that measure can be and often is misleading and in many cases irrelevant when it comes to the quality and character of an individual.

Let me take you back to a time in my life when the first impressions held of me, a woman living with spastic diplegic cerebral palsy, were totally and soundly squashed. Admittedly, I played a bit of a trick on the unsuspecting parties, males in this case, with the help of a partner in crime, a friend of many years who fully appreciated and appreciates my quirky sense of humour.

Back in the '70s when I was in university, I was part of the typical student scene and enjoyed frequent Friday night club stops at The Cosmopolitan Club in downtown Fredericton, New Brunswick. On this particular occasion, my friend and I decided to have a night out after a week of brain drain. I had asked my friend to at least make an effort to be ready on time — no need to take three hours to put a face on; I never did. Now, as then, I am a minimalist in that regard. Anyway, why mess with perfection?

We made it to the club to find it was totally packed, but the doorman spoke to one of the wait staff and a table was found for us, probably because he took pity on me, the poor wee thing on crutches. Poor wee thing, indeed!

Since we were dateless that night, where we were seated had two empty spaces. My crutches happened to be positioned behind my friend, propped up against the wall, fully visible. Reminiscent of the Tiny Tim thing where his crutches were stood up in a corner. I’m all about the dramatic effect when a situation warrants.

Eventually two guys passed near our table, both military men, still in fatigues. They looked us over, and I knew straight away they saw the crutches behind my friend's seat. I gave her "the look" - the one that told her I was up to something. Knowing I was a student of human nature, she fell into step instantly. It was I who invited the young men to join us, one taking up a space beside me, and the other beside my friend.

It didn't take long for them to ask her about the crutches. She wasn't sporting a cast, so she had to say something. She lied! She told them that she lived with cerebral palsy and it affected her balance and gait. Immediately, their attentions moved from her to me. I wasn't surprised but gave nothing away. For quite some time, they engaged in conversation with me barely including my friend, though I made sure to draw her into the banter.

But inside, I was boiling, so wanting to speak up and put an end to this crap. But I held on till I could hang on no longer — I had to go to the bathroom. The guy beside me rose. With a smile, I asked my friend to pass me the crutches. The guys looked at me, then her, then each other. Finally, I spoke: "Bet you're wondering about the crutches? We share them!" Then, with an awkward gait typical of a spastic diplegic, I walked away from the table.

Upon my return, I came clean, explaining that my friend had no mobility disorder of any kind and that she went along with my experiment to illustrate that first impressions can toss persons with disability to the sidelines with rarely a chance to be included, unless they are tenacious enough (as I am) to speak up and assert themselves.

I apologized for playing a trick on them and followed that with a question — I asked them what they thought about what had happened. Both became aware of what they had done — that they had pretty much ignored my friend, whom they were told had cerebral palsy. I pointed out that doing that made her feel that she wasn’t of value to them as part of the impromptu gathering.

The lesson for them was this — choosing people to associate with based on their "packaging" doesn't just deny them, it denies you as well.

As we venture forth into 2024, let’s try to be more inclusive across all aspects of daily living. The measure of ourselves is evident in how we respond to the struggling. What we view as a small thing is often a huge obstacle for someone with mobility, intellectual or mental health challenge.

Let us be uplifting.

Carla MacInnis Rockwell is a freelance writer and disability rights advocate living outside Fredericton, NB with Miss Lexie, a rambunctious Maltese and Mr. Malcolm, a boisterous Havanese. She can be reached via email at Carla MacInnis Rockwell