Magnesium Project

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During years of research I kept seeing low magnesium (Mg) as a possible cause of my symptoms (insomnia, anxiety, depression-like symptoms, fatigue, malaise, attention deficit, muscle fasciculations and cramps, hand tremors, drug seeking, irritability, anger, short temper, pessimism, frequent thoughts of death, increased startle response, pounding heart, irregular heartbeat...) so I had my serum magnesium level checked and it was 1.89mg/dl (normal range 1.90-2.70mg/dl). I had not heard of the RBC Mg test yet.

I have never been suicidal nor am I now. The reason I mention that here is that since doctors incorrectly diagnosed me with depression and treated me for depression that diagnosis will be in my medical record forever. And should I die of anything other than natural causes, with that diagnosis, then they could easily (but wrongly) conclude suicide.

As of now, magnesium levels are not routinely checked with blood tests. I had to ask to have it checked and they only checked the serum Mg which represents up to 1.0% of the Mg in the body and it fluctuates instead of checking red blood cell Mg (RBCMg) which represents about 40% of Mg in the body. Insurance will not pay for these tests as of now. The RBCMg test cost around $100 to $150 at the doctors office and around $50 at private labs with a quicker turnaround time.

Supplements did not work for me. This may be due to an inverse relationship between the amount of Mg in the gut and the amount the body needs at the time or other factors. If a large amount of Mg is available then only a small amount may be taken into the blood and if the amount normally found in food is available then more may be transported in.

Magnesium Project is here to enlist the help of the general public to help determine the scope of low magnesium (hypomagnesemia).

Join Magnesium Project in getting the word out. Get your level tested. Email us with your results excluding personally identifiable information (PII). We will create and publish a database once enough data is available.

Funding: This site and research is self funded. I have spent around $250,000 to get a $50 diagnosis. Donations will be much appreciated! I intend to show what role low Mg has in human health.