Lithium, Magnesium and Overcoming Fatigue

Lithium, Magnesium and Overcoming Fatigue

In the video below Dr Rhonda Patrick says that we all need to be able to re-absorb magnesium from our urine to avoid magnesium deficiency. (Listen from 2m 00s).

When taking lithium tablets “…dehydration is due to lithium inhibition of the action of antidiuretic hormone, which normally enables the kidney to reabsorb water from urine. This causes an inability to concentrate urine, leading to consequent loss of body water and thirst.” from Wiki

With lithium disrupting the hormone, that allows our kidneys to reabsorb water, does this also decrease our ability to re-absorb Magnesium?

Looking at what I can find on this subject it does not seem clear cut (see this medical textbook), but just supposing excess lithium can make a magnesium deficiency worse. With less magnesium we will have less energy levels (and tend to feel older), while bursts of energy, that could be seen as mania will be less frequent. Unfortunately, low magnesium is associated with more rapid aging, more illnesses and earlier death, so this may just be another reason to only take as much lithium as needed and no more.

As I have said again and again, it is so very important not to suddenly stop taking lithium. Talk with experts. If you are going to reduce your use of lithium you need to do this very gradually. Well designed withdrawal programs with many small downward steps over many years tend to work well. I came off lithium over a period of several years and have now been free of all prescribed drugs for more than 4 years. It is not easy to go ‘med-free’. With the right help I believe most people can do it.

In the meantime, as the doctor in the video says, you may wish to get your magnesium level checked. Possibly the only Magnesium test worth having is for the Magnesium that is inside your red blood cells. The test I have had in the past for the Magnesium between the blood cells (in the plasma) does not provide any useful information.

Getting this test privately in the UK is likely to cost you £34: http://drmyhill.co.uk/wiki/Magnesium_test_-_red_cell

I am going to ask my GP about getting this test paid for by the NHS because so many people lack magnesium and this has been a known driver for mood disorders for decades.

You can watch and learn more about the importance of Magnesium in this short video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWBCnVMoFZA

I do not have much free-time but if you are serious about getting rid of disorder from your life and going on to help others then please feel free to contact me.

If you know more about things like:

“Mechanism of Li inhibition of vasopressin-sensitive adenylate cyclase in cultured renal epithelial cells.“:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2461098

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