# Pregnancy and Magnesium Suppliments (NEED HELP!)



## LK2 (May 17, 2007)

Hi Ladies, I'm newly pregnant (yay!) and just went for my first doctor's visit and I left there crying after she told me she wasn't sure if I should be taking magnesium suppliments for my IBS-C while pregnant. She recommended I take fiber suppliemtns - which will absolutely kill me with gas and bloating I'd previously mentioned to her that my husband and I were going to starting try to have a baby and when I mentioned the magnesium she said that she didn't see any problem with it. Of course now that I am pregnant she could not provide me any useful informaiton on the topic ... She also is moving practices, does not do deliveries... and basically just generally pissed me off yesterday (and just when I though I wasn't getting too hormonal yet!).







Anyhow, I have done some research on this topic and it seems that some amount (varied depending on the source) of magnesium supplimentation should be allowed during pregnancy, and I've noted that others on the board have also been allowed to take this.Does anyone know the answer of how much magnesium is okay to take during pregnancy? (Preferably with some sort of reference or doctor's approval).Thanks in advance. In the mean time I've cut my dose base to the RDA of 350mg and am planning to see a new doctor and find a dietician. The lower dose of magnesium seems to be be working so far, but I'm getting worried...and eating a lot of salad. Linda(formerly member ID lk, but I can't seem to re-register)


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## Jannybitt (Oct 13, 2006)

Hi;I'm sorry no one has replied to you, but I think it's because when someone is pregnant, at least for me, I tend to be very careful about the advice I give. I can only suggest that you find a doctor that maybe someone has referred you to, and get the answers from that doctor. I'm sure that's something you are already working on, so hopefully, would be able to get an appt. quickly. Even if you don't have the appt. a nurse at the doctor's office might be able to help you with that question until you actually get to see the doctor. Congrats on your pregnancy and may you have a happy and healthy baby!! And also very little pregnancy sickness!!


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## LK2 (May 17, 2007)

Thanks for your response and well wishes Jan!I'm making some progress. My husband has a friend who is a dietician and she has recommended the name of a local dietician who specialises in IBS issues - I just need to get a referral now. In the mean time I also called this "dial-a-dietician" line and I have found out that is is fine to take up to 350 mg in suppliments daily during pregnancy. This is the same number I found doing my own on-line research so I'm comfortable with sticking to that. This is still less than I normally take, but it seems to be working well still. She also connected me with a Pharmecist hotline, where I found out that Lactulose can be taken regularly (with doctor's approval) during pregnancy if I'm stuck. I am also making sure to eat more of the veggies that I can tolerate and I bought some prunes just in case (they used to work well for me once, but made me very gassy). Thanks again. Now I just need to track down a new doctor... (and keep my fingers crossed that my luck with having no morning sickness will keep up!) Linda


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## overitnow (Nov 25, 2001)

The supplements I use, which use only clinically recommended amounts of vits and minerals and are made by a US-registered pharmaceutical company, offer a pre-natal which, combined with the Cal Mag that is also recommended, give 400 mg a day, from Mag oxide, citrate, and lactate. (The three sources offer a longer distribution time and, thus, better absorption.) Because of their exceptional absorbancy to the cellular level of 96%, these will provide at least twice the magnesium to your body as a chelated brand, and close to 10 times what you are getting from a non-chelated source. Consequently, you would probably be "safe" with even a higher dosage of what you are currently using, as the unabsorbed portion will pass through you.As a sidebar, the mother of the quints born in the US several years ago used the same brand of vits during her pregnancy--and she was bed-bound for some portion during the last trimester--and she and her children all turned out fine. Find a doctor who knows something about nutritional supplementation. (It takes some work, but is worth it, in the end.)Enjoy this time and congrats to you and your husband.Mark


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## LK2 (May 17, 2007)

Thanks for the info Mark. It looks like we're neighbours, I'm in Vancouver. I had similar thought on the incomplete absorption of the magnesium if I were taking a higher dose. For a laxative effect do you want to absorb more or less of the magnesium? I always thought that it was the non-absorbed protion that was causing the laxative effect - but I'm not sure anymore. I find magnesium citrate works better for me thatn magnesium oxide - do you happen to know which is absorbed more?Thanks.Linda


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## overitnow (Nov 25, 2001)

It IS the unabsorbed part that is helping your IBS. As to absorption rates, I don't know, only that they absorb over a longer period of time when they are different compositions. The thing with minerals is that they rebond with other elements iin your digestive system, making most of them too large to be absorbed. (That was why chelated minerals were first develooped.) Given that anything that just passes through should make no difference to your baby, and that the 400 mg of completely absorbed Mag did no harm to the quints, you can presumably take 800 mg of a chelated or significantly more of an unchelated without worrying about getting too much in your bloodstream. I would imagine there are prenatal nutritionists you could get in touch with at VGH who could give you more definitive answers.Nice day, today, in Sooke. I hope it is the same over there.Mark


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