# Magnesium Citrate/Oxide



## janetmtt (May 28, 2007)

What's the difference between these two forms of magnesium?Also if magnesium draws water into the body - does this make you bloated?Only ask as I took magnesium citrate on Friday night and had a BM Saturday which was great but my stomach was more bloated than it has been. Would the magnesium do this?Also does MOM bloat the tummy if you take that?Just tired of under belly button bloating all the time and would love to get rid of it.Anyone help with this?


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

It is used to draw water INTO the colon, not into the body. When the concentration of magensium is higher in the colon than in the body the water comes in to join it.So it shouldn't cause edema, but some people are prone to bloating pretty much no matter what is going on in the colon so it could bloat some people. Not because teh colon becomes 10X bigger around 250 mgs is not going pull in gallons of water or anything. It also isn't going to cause edema (fluid retension) so you aren't going to have the abdomen fill up with water outside the organs from this, either.Most of the bloating in IBS seems to be from the abdominal muscles relaxing to take pressure off the colon, so if the small amount of added volume hurts your colon more than having hard dry stool in there does it could make you feel a bit bloated. They don't cause the increase in gas volume that a fermentable fiber does.Citrate vs Oxide is just which magnesium salt it is. That really doesn't matter as it the magnesium ion in the salt doing the work. MOM is just another salt of magnesium, but it can also reduce stomach acid.


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## redrachel76 (Jun 28, 2009)

I only take magnesium citrate powder that can be dissolved in water. It does not help me much with the C unless I overdose. I take it more as a magnesium supplement than a laxative. As long as there are not too many artificial colours and flavours it's OK with me.


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## janetmtt (May 28, 2007)

KathleenIf MOM reduces stomach acid would that help bloating? Is betaine hydrochloride good for bloating and constipation would you know?


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

I really don't have a good answer for that. Most of the "need more stomach acid so take HCl" info is based on theory and anecdote rather than clinical test data and there isn't really any head to head testing of taking more acid vs reducing acid for treating anything.


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## Mary5 (Apr 17, 2006)

Janet, how much magnesium citrate did you take (on Friday) so that you had a good bm on Saturday? I have, but have not tried yet:A bottle -Magnesium Citrate complex from Vitamin Shoppe- each capsule has magnesium as magnesium citrate,oxide, 160 mg says 1 to 2 capsules per day.The powder, PG's Natural Vitality, each 3 teaspoons 615 mg of magnesium elemental from magnesium citrate says 1 - 3 teaspoons a day.Kathleen, what dose do you recommend and does it make a difference which one to take?Also, my gastro gave me Dicyclomine 10 mg for the gas and bloating (trade name Bentyl). He said it should not interfere with the peristaltic activity (even though it clearly says one of the possible side effects is constipation!)


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## Kathleen M. (Nov 16, 1999)

Usually for a daily BM type of dose, rather than a stronger laxative don't care if you get diarrhea dose is in the 250-750 mgs a day range.They usually recommend for daily use to keep total magnesium under 1000 mgs. A usual dose of MOM is more in the could cause diarrhea range (like 1200-2000 mgs).Most people clear excess magnesium pretty well, but you should try to stay under the 1000 if you are going to do it every day. Just sometimes people don't know they have mild kidney problems and may not clear things quite as efficiently as they should.I think the anticholinergics are more of a drying problem then stop peristalsis kind of reason for causing constipation. It dries everything else out so it might make you more likely to get a drier stool.


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## janetmtt (May 28, 2007)

Mary I didn't really take a lot - less than one full tablet but I only went once. Still taking the B6 with magnesium in at the moment.


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