# Magnesium Citrate safe for blockages?



## Bill Z

If you read my other post, I'm either really blocked up or I have an actual blockage. The one thing I haven't tried is Magnesium Citrate. Is it safe for theoretical blockages or would it just make the discomfort a lot worse and produce almost no results (my fear) ? And how much to take if I try it?I need some help soon, because I'm barely able to have a bowel movement anymore. These past 2 weeks have been *really* bad. About 4 days ago I managed a half-decent bowel movement, but before that only small amounts, and just today almost nothing.Please respond,Bill Z


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## poohandtiger

Bill the Magnesium Citrate can work a little, If you can't get to a doctor and get the Gallon of Colite. Try the enama with the rubber bad it should bring you some relief.


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## Pilgrim

I've used Citrate of Magnesia recently and it worked quite well. The only thing I would not do again is take the kind that is red. It kind of freaked me out when I got to the end of pooping. Stay by the bathroom.


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## Kathleen M.

If you are completely blocked and not even passing any gas you need to see the doctor ASAP.If you are just not quite going very much every few days that usually isn't a blockage and an osmotic laxative clean out may temporarily ease the constipation. It won't prevent you from constipating up again, but it gets what is too dry to move well out of there.Long term low dose osmotic laxative use can help with the chronic issues (assuming this isn't just a one off thing for you). That keeps enough water in the stool you can move things along easier even if they are slow.


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## Bill Z

Kathleen M. said:


> If you are completely blocked and not even passing any gas you need to see the doctor ASAP.If you are just not quite going very much every few days that usually isn't a blockage and an osmotic laxative clean out may temporarily ease the constipation. It won't prevent you from constipating up again, but it gets what is too dry to move well out of there.Long term low dose osmotic laxative use can help with the chronic issues (assuming this isn't just a one off thing for you). That keeps enough water in the stool you can move things along easier even if they are slow.


I'm still able to pass gas but usually I'm bloated down there. I'm able to have a bowel movement but not without stool softeners, seemingly. I've had to take 2 stool softeners per day lately (up from my usual 1 per day) just to ensure that I can get rid of anything in the first place.Does Magnesium Citrate in pill form, taken as a daily supplement, help some people?


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## Kathleen M.

Some people take Magnesium supplements in pill form. A lot of people are taking the Magnesium Oxide ones but I think either could work. You want one that doesn't claim to be highly absorbed as you want some to stay in the stool.Typical daily doses are in the 250-800 mgs per day range. The USRDA daily recommended max for all magnesium (and you get some in diet) is 1,000 mgs. Most people are OK to go over that if they are just doing magnesium occasionally as a laxative. You probably want to stick closer to the daily max if you are taking it every day. Usually people do not have problems even if they go over the max as the kidney usually clears out excess effectively. However if you have some kidney issues and don't know about it you could run into problem. Unbalancing the minerals too much can mess up your heart rhythm, so you do want to be careful.


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## Bill Z

Kathleen M. said:


> Some people take Magnesium supplements in pill form. A lot of people are taking the Magnesium Oxide ones but I think either could work. You want one that doesn't claim to be highly absorbed as you want some to stay in the stool.Typical daily doses are in the 250-800 mgs per day range. The USRDA daily recommended max for all magnesium (and you get some in diet) is 1,000 mgs. Most people are OK to go over that if they are just doing magnesium occasionally as a laxative. You probably want to stick closer to the daily max if you are taking it every day. Usually people do not have problems even if they go over the max as the kidney usually clears out excess effectively. However if you have some kidney issues and don't know about it you could run into problem. Unbalancing the minerals too much can mess up your heart rhythm, so you do want to be careful.


Well I have a lot of other health problems. I have a list of at least 25 symptoms of some unknown condition or condition(s). Some of these symptoms line up with possible magnesium deficiency or deficiency of another vitamin/nutrient. I'm already testing out the B12 deficiency hypothesis by supplementing with one daily Jarrows MethylB12 5mg lozenge, one 3mg adenosylB12 lozenge, one B-complex tab, and one 800mcg methylfolate tab. I appear to be getting a favorable response from the B12 stuff so it could be part of my problem. From what I hear, B12 and its derivatives do not cause imbalances of other vitamins/minerals so I'm hoping I'm safe here.But back to the magnesium: I think I could be helping two problems if I tried the Citrate instead of the Oxide (I get no noticeable response from oxide): testing to see if I get a better response from the absorbable magnesium, and helping with constipation. Let me know what you think.


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## Kathleen M.

I don't know that we have a lot of data to go on, so it is worth trying to see what works for you.The modern diet tends to be fortified with enough stuff it is kind of hard to get a severe nutritional deficiency, but it can happen. It may be worth inputting your diet into something like fitday.com for a few days that will give you a nutritional breakdown of your diet. May be better at helping you see where to tend to be low than trying one vitamin/mineral at a time.


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## Bill Z

You mention nutritional deficiencies being rare these days. In that case, is it possible that a seriously disturbed digestive system (severe constipation and IBS-C symptoms) could cause a lot of strange symptoms elsewhere in the body?Or perhaps.. could being "all clogged up" impair absorption of nutrients?Theoretically a highly disturbed digestive system could impair B12 absorption, because it requires a very complex process to be assimilated from food, requiring intrinsic factor which some people are low in to begin with.thanks for all your help so far,Bill


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## Kathleen M.

Generally even in the most severe cases of IBS-C or slow transit constipation you don't see any disruption in your ability to absorb.Some things that cause damage to the small intestine can, but they typically cause diarrhea as well as other symptoms that would lead to testing for them. Usually they don't have just constipation.Constipation usually isn't a problem in the stomach and small intestine. Those usually are doing OK. The colon really doesn't play much if any role in absorbing nutrients. It doesn't stop your stomach from producing intrinsic factor or things like that.People with functional problems and the stress they cause on the body often have other symptoms other than just constipation or diarrhea. Being in pain all the time is going to effect the rest of the body even if you have perfect nutrition.


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## Bill Z

Kathleen M. said:


> Generally even in the most severe cases of IBS-C or slow transit constipation you don't see any disruption in your ability to absorb.Some things that cause damage to the small intestine can, but they typically cause diarrhea as well as other symptoms that would lead to testing for them. Usually they don't have just constipation.Constipation usually isn't a problem in the stomach and small intestine. Those usually are doing OK. The colon really doesn't play much if any role in absorbing nutrients. It doesn't stop your stomach from producing intrinsic factor or things like that.People with functional problems and the stress they cause on the body often have other symptoms other than just constipation or diarrhea. Being in pain all the time is going to effect the rest of the body even if you have perfect nutrition.


So I gather that you think malabsorption problems would be associated with symptoms other than constipation.But can IBS-C, constipation, and/or digestive problems in general, cause a lot of symptoms elsewhere in the body?I have always thought the root of my problem is in the gut.


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## Kathleen M.

Generally the health problems that cause malabsorption (crohns or celiac for example) damage the small intestine and are associated with diarrhea.Diarrhea by itself doesn't cause malabsorption, it is the underlying thing causing it. Constipation is usually a colon thing not a small intestinal thing. You do not absorb your food with the colon.Any health problem of any kind is a physical stress, and a lot of them are also mentally stressful. Anything that puts physical or mental stress on you will cause any other body part that has a problem to act up.So you may have other symptoms that act up when your constipation is bothering you but it doesn't mean there is some direct mechanism that the hard dry stool is specifically doing to you to make whatever other symptom you have. A lot of people find when the constipation is bothering them other things bother them, but it seems to depend more on whatever in them would be bothered by any stressor. What bothers any given person depends on what in them tends to act up under stress.Just because two things track together doesn't mean one is specifically and directly the cause of the other. Also the stress of the other health problems could also be making the constipation act up. It isn't always the gut causing all other problems in the body.


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## Sean

Bill,Mag citrate should be relatively safe to use for chronic constipation. I have had severe chronic constipation since I was 16. I have tried mag citrate in the past and found it relatively ineffective. But for most people, it cleans them out and fast. I just don't respond to laxatives very well, especially saline laxatives like milk of magnesia and magnesium citrate. I have found one combination of laxatives that works very well and does clean me out. I take 2 dulcolax tablets at bedtime. Normally, I would need more than that to get a result. But, I set my alarm for 6 AM, and drink an entire bottle of magnesium citrate liquid. By 11 am or so, the combination starts cleaning my system out. Maybe you should give this combination of a saline laxative and a stimulant a try if your constipation is as bad as you say. I haven't used the combo for a while. I am getting good results from either 3 or four dulcolax tablets at bedtime. I do that twice a week so that I can go to the bathroom twice a week. Tap water enemas (1 to 2 quarts) are also helpful if things are really bad. Feel free to send me a message if you want to chat further. Sean


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