One Man's Recovery from Depression Using Magnesium

[Hardenbergh]

Many of us have struggled with depression at times and I found a story about a man who used magnesium. This might be of interest to people who don't like prescription drugs. The document contains a great deal of information. He said magnesium oxide, magnesium aspartate and magnesium glutamate are inferior forms of magnesium.

From early 2000 to summer of 2003, this essay focused upon magnesium glycinate as the preferred source of magnesium. Now, in late summer of 2003, I have shifted emphasis from magnesium glycinate to magnesium taurate, which appears superior to all other forms of magnesium in treating treatment resistant depression due to its content of taurine (more on taurine here). Other effective magnesium compounds mentioned throughout this essay are ranked well behind magnesium taurate and are not recommended unless magnesium taurate can not be obtained. After years of study, I remain truly amazed at the tremendous benefits of magnesium and other nutrients in treating and preventing depression. In particular, I see magnesium as an important research topic for survival considering its limited availability from our Western diets and due to its ability to inexpensively cure and prevent many expensive diseases, life threatening or not. As you will see from this essay, our dietary choices and our over consumption of certain foods are contributing to much illness, including depression.

I have major PRECAUTIONS at this link concerning potentially harmful magnesium compounds and at this link concerning ineffective compounds of magnesium for treating depression. For brevity and simplicity: (a) magnesium oxide and magnesium hydroxide are ineffective and (b) magnesium glutamate and magnesium aspartate are potentially harmful.

http://www.coldcure.com/html/dep.html

[Abbyas]

Interesting article, but how do we know it was the magnesium that cured his depression and not something else without a controlled study?

[Hardenbergh]

Interesting article, but how do we know it was the magnesium that cured his depression and not something else without a controlled study?

He took Zoloft in the beginning and it worked for awhile but it stopped being effective.

I know how bad depression can be, because I spent September of 1999 through April of 2000, in a clinical depression that worsened from the beginning. By Christmas the depression suddenly became much worse, nearly suicidal in intensity, and remained that way for four more months. I had always thought that I was a mild hypo manic-depressive, not a suicidal idiot. In my highs I was capable of deep, insightful thought and amplified abilities in general which I considered to be an advantage. Never did I think that things could go so wrong with my biochemistry that it would cause me to have suicidal thoughts and tendencies. How wrong I was. I had been taking Zoloft (an antidepressant) since 1987 which seemed to take care of my depression. I lived on Zoloft, but by September of 1999, it stopped working - and I knew that something was really wrong.

I am also worried about toxic overloads of heavy minerals (lead, cadmium, mercury, etc.), and the critical role of other nutrients in mental health, which have only recently become of interest to physicians. The brain is a chemical factory that produces serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, and other organic brain chemicals 24 hours a day. The only raw materials for their syntheses are nutrients, namely, amino acids, cholesterol, essential fatty acids, vitamins and minerals. If the brain receives improper amounts of these nutrient building blocks or receives toxic heavy metals, which take the place of essential nutrients (particularly minerals) in the brain, we must expect serious problems with our organic neurotransmitters. For example, some depression patients have a genetic pyrrole disorder which renders them grossly depleted in vitamin B-6. A pyrrole is a basic chemical structure that is used in the formation of heme, which makes blood red. Pyrroles bind with B6 and then with zinc, thus depleting these nutrients. These individuals cannot efficiently create serotonin (a neurotransmitter) since B-6 is an important factor in the last step of its synthesis. Some people report 500 mg B6 to be needed daily to stabilize their mood. Many of these persons appear to benefit from prescription drugs like Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, or other serotonin-enhancing medications. However, as with all non-nutritive mind-altering drugs, side effects occur and the true cause of the mental difficulties remains uncorrected. Similar - and more healthful - benefits can be achieved by simply taking sufficient amounts of B-6 along with supporting nutrients such as magnesium, boron, taurine and essential fatty acids. If you want to test your brain neurotransmitters, you can get them tested by using a neuroscience test kit supplied by local physicians. To find a local physician that tests neurotransmitters, contact NeuroScience, Inc. Succeed! Depression is not a psychosis!

[blutoski]

He took Zoloft in the beginning and it worked for awhile but it stopped being effective.

I think what Abbyas meant is: how do we know his depression didn't naturally come and go? He admits that the condition had alternating good/bad periods.

Depression is a condition that has ups and downs, depending on a lot of factors. He does not actually tell us what sort of depression he was experiencing. It sounds like he has a history of manic episodes, which include, among other things, periods where you think you're a genius and have solved all the world's problems. He was possibly having another one when he wrote this.

My wife is a psychiatrist, and always likes to follow up on these patients who self-medicate and drop out of the sessions, three, six, twelve months down the line. Without exception, they're worse, and have not only stopped talking about their 'wonder cure', but have tried and lauded a few more since, and are on yet another.

[ChristineR]

It's not uncommon for medications to work for a while and then stop being effective, and it's not uncommon for depression to lift on its own. One person's experience does not justify taking dangerous amounts of magnesium. Amazingly, he was taking both lithium at the same time he took the magnesium, yet rejects the hypothesis that lithium helped him. Lithium is a natural (if dangerous) substance that has been used to treat depression for thousands of years and has ample clinical evidence in its favor.

[Hardenbergh]

It's not uncommon for medications to work for a while and then stop being effective, and it's not uncommon for depression to lift on its own. One person's experience does not justify taking dangerous amounts of magnesium. Amazingly, he was taking both lithium at the same time he took the magnesium, yet rejects the hypothesis that lithium helped him. Lithium is a natural (if dangerous) substance that has been used to treat depression for thousands of years and has ample clinical evidence in its favor.

Lithium can be dangerous if not closely monitored and that's why he decided to stop taking it although I wouldn't dare to take as much magnesium as he was taking. He doesn't take that much now, however (just the recommended amount).

Looking back over the last year, I now realize that the increases in lithium that I was prescribed (a gradual increase from 300 to 1050 mg lithium carbonate per day) was associated with progressive reductions in feeling of well being (sort of a placid zombie-like feeling) and pending damage to thyroid function (excess lithium causes hypothyroidism). On December 5, 2000, I decided that it was imperative for me to stop lithium because I did not want to have to be dependent upon thyroid extract for the rest of my life due to the toxicity of lithium. Even though lithium is a mineral element, it is not found in the human diet except in trace amounts (which are related to even temperament). However, magnesium is a vital to life essential human nutrient. I.E. there is no RDA for lithium (or any drug), but there is for magnesium! Actually, lithium is a drug that is being used to substitute for a nutrient, magnesium! How tricky of those docs! What a way to drum up business!

Surprisingly, I began to feel better, even better than I felt in June when I first started taking low-dose lithium and high-dose magnesium. After several months off of lithium, people say I look ten years younger. I feel much sharper and my mental capabilities have returned to what is normal for me. I hope that I will never again take lithium. I now strongly suspect that the main biochemical function of lithium is to raise magnesium levels in the blood as mentioned above, with the mental benefit coming not from lithium but from lithium induced increased magnesium blood levels. This idea could account for the 40 percent failure rate of lithium in preventing future depressive episodes. That is to say, if dietary magnesium intake is so low that not even lithium can return it to normal levels, then one succumbs to depression or other magnesium deficiency disorders.

[ChristineR]

Thanks for the quote, Hardenbergh. There's no question that lithium has serious side effects and can be dangerous. However there is ample evidence that it works, at least for some people some of the time. It's entirely possible that someone would feel worse on lithium, and therefore shouldn't be taking it.

There doesn't seem to be any evidence for taking magnesium, other than this guy's anecdotes.

[bigred]

Depression is a condition that has ups and downs, depending on a lot of factors. He does not actually tell us what sort of depression he was experiencing.
Exactly. Some forms are much more "come and go" than others. Some just come and stay.

[Hellbound]

You know, I sufferred from depresion.

Then I went into combat in a warzone in summertime Iraq for a year.

I felt better.

So there you have it. Living in a dusty tent in 140 degree weather with nightly explosions and occassional sniper attacks cures depression!

:D

[Hardenbergh]

He does not actually tell us what sort of depression he was experiencing. It sounds like he has a history of manic episodes, which include, among other things, periods where you think you're a genius and have solved all the world's problems. He was possibly having another one when he wrote this.

He refers to it as clinical depression in one place.

[blutoski]

He refers to it as clinical depression in one place.

That's not a 'type' of depression, though. It means he has noticeable symptoms. eg: dysthymia is the most common type of clinical depression.

It sounds like he has a Type I bipolar, but hard to say without more information.

[Dancing David]

Looking back over the last year, I now realize that the increases in lithium that I was prescribed (a gradual increase from 300 to 1050 mg lithium carbonate per day) was associated with progressive reductions in feeling of well being (sort of a placid zombie-like feeling) and pending damage to thyroid function (excess lithium causes hypothyroidism).


What the Fark!

Was this guy self dosing. Lithium should be perscibed according to titration and a blood level! You start at a low dose and then draw blood to determine the actual dose. But there should be regular blood tests done at least every six months, preferably every three.

You will note he does not give any evidence that his TSH was rising or that any of his metabolic panels were out of kilter.

Warning!!!!!!

[Dancing David]

Exactly. Some forms are much more "come and go" than others. Some just come and stay.


this is very true and there are compounding factors:

1. Major depression only requires that a person meet the critria for two weeks, so it is possible to have a cycle of major depression that is very short in duration. Although in assesments I tend to use Adjustment Disorder if the person states that there depression is of less than two months duration.(I can only give a diagnostic impression because I am not a doctor.)

2.People get used to beiong depressed and the onset is often many years in the past before people get help. So they only call the really bad days 'depression', they are often still depressed but they don't recognise it except when it is really bad.

3.Substance abuse can make symptoms much worse and so people will often cycle do to thier use of mood altering substances, especialy alcohol and stimulants.

[Pup]

Anecdotal evidence: My wife suffered from depression for about 7-8 years, self diagnosed and also diagnosed by a psychotherapist. It got better sometimes and worse sometimes, but it was an ongoing problem in her life, unrelated to any specific circumstances. She was on prescribed antidepressants for a while, that didn't seem to help, so she quit taking them.

About five years ago, we both switched our diets around to make sure we got 100% of the daily recommended vitamins and minerals pretty much every day, mostly just from eating the right stuff, with some fortified foods (energy bar, Total cereal, that kind of thing), but no pill-type supplements.

What caused us to change was a bout of potassium deficiency that I suffered after exercise, so we particularly made sure to get enough potassium, which it turned out our diets were extremely low in, and because one also needs enough magnesium to balance the potassium, enough magnesium, which our diets were also low in.

About that time, to our surprise, her depression improved dramatically, and it's stayed at that same improved level (what I'd call "normal") ever since, both from her viewpoint and in my opinion.

I didn't notice any mental change in myself, though depression wasn't a problem for me. Post traumatic stress was and is, and it didn't seem to help the symptoms of that at all. (Bummer!) Physically, though, I noticed I healed much faster from muscle injuries and could exercise in the heat with much less fatigue. And of course, never any more hypokalemia.

I've read about magnesium supplements being used to cure depression, so if I had to point to anything in the dietary change as an explanation, it could be that. There were no other non-dietary changes in her life or health at that time, but since everything in her diet was changed together, it might be any vitamin or mineral that had an effect.

Not being a doctor, not really caring about the larger implications, other than to be grateful our lives have been improved, if I were forced to form any hypothesis to explain what happened, it would be this:

In some people who are sensitive to low magnesium, like my wife apparently, a chronic deficiency causes depression, which disappears when they get enough in their diet (probably in balance with potassium and other nutrients). In people who aren't sensitive, like myself apparently and perhaps like the vast majority of people, a deficiency doesn't cause depression. In other cases of depression, perhaps the vast majority of cases, the cause is something else.

Thus one can run into testimony from people saying that magnesium cured their depression, as well as testimony from people saying that magnesium doesn't help, and they both could be reporting accurately.

Now all I need to do is go back to college, get a degree in a medical field, and get lots of grant money for studies to see if there's any truth to it. :)

[Dancing David]

Potasium would make more sense that the magnesium, it is one of the channel ions in maintaining the osmotic voltage difference in cell membranes. I think it is the one that helps to recharge the cell differential, but it has been many years ago that I studied that stuff,

B vitamins seem to help a lot of people who have a sort of generalized fatigue, although I am not aware of what the science is on it.

On another note, PTSD does respond well to talk therapy, not for all people, but quite a few, and then there is the EMDR. Which looks crazy but supposedly works well.

[bigred]

2.People get used to beiong depressed and the onset is often many years in the past before people get help. So they only call the really bad days 'depression', they are often still depressed but they don't recognise it except when it is really bad.
Which also can cause depressed people to think they are being "whiny" if they are experiencing their "normal" depression vs something more severe. Bravo. This is rarely realized/understood and should be mentioned a LOT more often.

[elaine]

this is very true and there are compounding factors:



2.People get used to beiong depressed and the onset is often many years in the past before people get help. So they only call the really bad days 'depression', they are often still depressed but they don't recognise it except when it is really bad.

.

I've recently started treatment for depression, therapy and an anti-depressant, because of a major episode. Looking back in my life, though, I'd have to agree with this statement.

[supercorgi]

2.People get used to beiong depressed and the onset is often many years in the past before people get help. So they only call the really bad days 'depression', they are often still depressed but they don't recognise it except when it is really bad.
This is so true. I was depressed all through childhood. I used to pray to god that I die in my sleep. It was severe depression accompanied by eating disorders. It wasn't until I got suicidal my senior year in college that I got help and realized I was suffering from depression. It's been a really long road for me. I was hospitalized for quite awhile. It's hard to admit that -- there is a stigma attached to mental illness even though many, many people experience it.

I was anorexic. I went through many, many antidepressants. Many didn't work but some did. Some work for some people but not for others. I guess it's because all of our body chemistry is a little different.

I had a family history of depression -- my father was chronically depressed with sleeping disorders but he could never admit it. His father (my grandfather) commited suicide. I guess with me there is some biochemical basis for my depression. But much of it is also situational and learned behavior. I still suffer from depression and am on medication, but now I can function. I no longer suffer suicidal thoughts. There is help for people. You can get better.

[elaine]

Thank you to everyone who is opening up about their own experiences.

As mentioned in a post above, I just recently began dealing with my own depression. Although the experience/recovery is not exactly the same for everyone, I hope to learn things that I can apply to my own recovery.

[3bz]

Concerning research with magnesium in relation to depression, there are both some more recent and some older articles about it. Here are the abstracts from two recent ones:

Med Hypotheses. 2006 Mar 14; [Epub ahead of print]

Rapid recovery from major depression using magnesium treatment.

Eby GA, Eby KL.

George Eby Research, 14909-C Fitzhugh Road, Austin, TX 78736, United States.

Major depression is a mood disorder characterized by a sense of inadequacy, despondency, decreased activity, pessimism, anhedonia and sadness where these symptoms severely disrupt and adversely affect the person's life, sometimes to such an extent that suicide is attempted or results. Antidepressant drugs are not always effective and some have been accused of causing an increased number of suicides particularly in young people. Magnesium deficiency is well known to produce neuropathologies. Only 16% of the magnesium found in whole wheat remains in refined flour, and magnesium has been removed from most drinking water supplies, setting a stage for human magnesium deficiency. Magnesium ions regulate calcium ion flow in neuronal calcium channels, helping to regulate neuronal nitric oxide production. In magnesium deficiency, neuronal requirements for magnesium may not be met, causing neuronal damage which could manifest as depression. Magnesium treatment is hypothesized to be effective in treating major depression resulting from intraneuronal magnesium deficits. These magnesium ion neuronal deficits may be induced by stress hormones, excessive dietary calcium as well as dietary deficiencies of magnesium. Case histories are presented showing rapid recovery (less than 7 days) from major depression using 125-300mg of magnesium (as glycinate and taurinate) with each meal and at bedtime. Magnesium was found usually effective for treatment of depression in general use. Related and accompanying mental illnesses in these case histories including traumatic brain injury, headache, suicidal ideation, anxiety, irritability, insomnia, postpartum depression, cocaine, alcohol and tobacco abuse, hypersensitivity to calcium, short-term memory loss and IQ loss were also benefited. Dietary deficiencies of magnesium, coupled with excess calcium and stress may cause many cases of other related symptoms including agitation, anxiety, irritability, confusion, asthenia, sleeplessness, headache, delirium, hallucinations and hyperexcitability, with each of these having been previously documented. The possibility that magnesium deficiency is the cause of most major depression and related mental health problems including IQ loss and addiction is enormously important to public health and is recommended for immediate further study. Fortifying refined grain and drinking water with biologically available magnesium to pre-twentieth century levels is recommended.

Psychiatr Pol. 2005 Sep-Oct;39(5):911-20.

The role of copper and magnesium in the pathogenesis and treatment of affective disorders]

[Article in Polish]

Siwek M, Wrobel A, Dudek D, Nowak G, Zieba A.

Klinika Psychiatrii Doroslych CM UJ.

Magnesium and copper are important modulators of NMDA-receptor activity. Recent data indicate that disturbances of glutamatergic transmission (especially via NMDA-receptor) are involved in pathogenesis of mood disorders. Magnesium deficiency, the same as disturbances in turn over of copper, are related to a variety of psychological symptoms especially depression. There are many reports indicating significant changes in blood levels of magnesium or copper during a depressive episode. Moreover magnesium exhibits antidepressant-like and anxiolytic-like effects in animal models of depression, in rodents. This article reviews the alterations in central and peripheral magnesium and copper homeostasis in relation to pathophysiology and treatment of depression.


and two older ones:

Nutr Neurosci. 2002 Dec;5(6):375-89. Related Articles, Links

Magnesium and affective disorders.

Murck H.

Laxdale Ltd, Stirling, UK. haraldmurck@yahoo.de

There are several findings on the action of magnesium ions supporting their possible therapeutic potential in affective disorders. Examinations of the sleep-electroencephalogram (EEG) and of endocrine systems point to the involvement of the limbic-hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenocortical axis as magnesium affects all elements of this system. Magnesium has the property to suppress hippocampal kindling, to reduce the release of adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) and to affect adrenocortical sensitivity to ACTH. The role of magnesium in the central nervous system could be mediated via the N-methyl-D-aspartate-antagonistic, gamma-aminobutyric acidA-agonistic or a angiotensin II-antagonistic property of this ion. A direct impact of magnesium on the function of the transport protein p-glycoprotein at the level of the blood-brain barrier has also been demonstrated, possibly influencing the access of corticosteroids to the brain. Furthermore, magnesium dampens the calciumion-proteinkinase C related neurotransmission and stimulates the Na-K-ATPase. All these systems have been reported to be involved in the pathophysiology of depression. Despite the antagonism of lithium to magnesium in some cell-based experimental systems, similarities exist on the functional level, i.e. with respect to kindling, sleep-EEG and endocrine effects. Controlled clinical trials examining the effect of Mg in affective disorder are warranted.


Int J Psychiatry Med. 1989;19(1):57-63.

Depression and magnesium deficiency.

Rasmussen HH, Mortensen PB, Jensen IW.

Department of Geriatric Medicine, Havrevangen 1, Denmark.

The psychiatric symptoms of magnesium deficiency are unspecific, ranging from apathy to psychosis, and may be attributed to other disease processes associated with poor intake, defect absorption, or excretion of magnesium. Serum magnesium should be determined when there are symptoms consistent with magnesium deficiency and/or in conditions which can lead to a deficiency, e.g., malabsorption, malnutrition, alcoholism and diuretic treatment. A low serum value suggests magnesium deficiency, but the diagnosis is reinforced with analyses of magnesium in the urine and a loading test with magnesium. Magnesium can be given orally or intramuscular/intravenously.

It seems like there has not been any controlled studies as of yet, but atleast there seems to be a few more or less plausible ideas of how magnesium could have an effect.

[Dancing David]

Thank you to everyone who is opening up about their own experiences.

As mentioned in a post above, I just recently began dealing with my own depression. Although the experience/recovery is not exactly the same for everyone, I hope to learn things that I can apply to my own recovery.

I too had severe childhood depression with obsessive compulsive disorder and sexual trauma.

I of course didn't get treatment until i had been a mental health professional for five years, when I was thiry nine years old. I did get a lot of group therapy as well. I once had no health insurance for two years and could not afford the medicine, i was miserable. I feel much better now, and have treated my sleep apnea as well.

[elaine]

Thanks Dancing David!

As you're in the profession, perhaps you can answer a couple of questions I have.

Is anyone ever actually cured of depression? Or is it something that becomes managed?

Do you have any suggested reading? And I don't mean anything in the pop-psychology, self-help genre. I know nothing about the brain, chemically or biologically speaking, and not much about depression in general, other than my own experience. I'm looking for more information about the whole shebang. There's alot out there, but I don't know a good source from a bad one.

[supercorgi]

Thanks Dancing David!

As you're in the profession, perhaps you can answer a couple of questions I have.

Is anyone ever actually cured of depression? Or is it something that becomes managed?

Do you have any suggested reading? And I don't mean anything in the pop-psychology, self-help genre. I know nothing about the brain, chemically or biologically speaking, and not much about depression in general, other than my own experience. I'm looking for more information about the whole shebang. There's alot out there, but I don't know a good source from a bad one.
I don't think you can be cured of depression. I think that it's something that can managed like diabeties. Some of it's brain chemistry, a lot is learned behavior. If you can overcome the trauma that contributed to your depression, it can be greatly alleviated, but I don't think it's anything that can be completely cured. You learn to live with it and make the best life that you are able to.

[elaine]

I don't think you can be cured of depression. I think that it's something that can managed like diabeties. Some of it's brain chemistry, a lot is learned behavior. If you can overcome the trauma that contributed to your depression, it can be greatly alleviated, but I don't think it's anything that can be completely cured. You learn to live with it and make the best life that you are able to.

Kinda' what I thought. Looking back, I think I've had more slightly depressed periods in my life than not. I also remember what I was doing during the what should be "normal" periods. Eating right, exercise, keeping mentally active, not isolating myself, trying new things, not getting into a rut.

I'm hoping therapy will help me to understand my patterns and behavior better, so that I don't get this bad again.

I have to say......modern medicine......gooooood. Tom Cruise should try it.