neck and shoulder spasms. Gum recession. face pain.

I experience jaw clenching (not grinding), neck and shoulder spasms at night. Along with this I have gum recession. My cholesterol has continued to go up and now, my triglycerides are high too. My HDL continues to get lower as well.

When I wake in the morning I feel like I have gone 20 rounds in a ring. Pain throughout neck, face, shoulders. This has progressively gotten worse over the past 3 years. Now the pain is daily and remains at a 10.

I have seen many, many, doctors & dentists. My neurologist doesn't know what this is. He is checking me again for Lyme Disease. I have been treated with splints for 5 years with no relief. Now, a new TMJ specialist doesn't think I ever had TMJ!

I just got a Vit D test back and it showed low, 29.8 mg/ml. While doing a search I ran across your site. Have you heard of the above symptoms being caused by low vit. D?

Comments for neck and shoulder spasms. Gum recession. face pain.

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Sounds like Magnesium...
by: Kerri Knox, RN-The Immune Health Queen!

Well, it probably might help if you get your vitamin D levels up to the OPTIMAL levels of 40 to 80 ng/ml, but that doesn't sound like your primary problem.

Have you had your Calcium level checked? Have your doctor make sure that your calcium level is not high, if it is, then that could be causing some of your symptoms and you will need a referral to an endocrinologist.

But if your Blood Calcium Levelis low or if it is normal, then it's likely that you are severely magnesium deficient. But regular blood Magnesium Levelsare completely inaccurate, so don't rely on them.

If you have kidney disease, then do NOT do what I am going to advise you to do, but if you do NOT have any problems with your kidneys, then this is very safe.

Go out and get some Magnesium- either citrate, glycinate, orotate or 'Chelated Magnesium', it doesn't really matter. Get either 100 mg capsules or 200 mg capsules. While you are at the store, get a big bag or box or container of cheap plain old epsom salts (only do this if you have a bathtub or have access to a bathtub).

Take 200 mg of magnesium right away, Gulp! Then that evening before bed, take 200 more and put about 2 cups of epsom salt in the warm bath and soak in it for a half hour or so- epsom salt has magnesium that will soak in to your body through your skin.

The next day, take 200 more magnesium in the morning, 200 in the afternoon and 200 in the evening and take 2 epsom salts baths if you are not going to work- one of them will be right before bed.

Continue increasing the amount of magnesium that you are taking by 200 mg per day and spread them out throughout the day- taking as much as 200 mg up to 5 times per day. At some point, you'll either feel WAY better or you will get loose stools, when this happens- decrease the dosage to the last dose that DIDN'T give you loose stools and keep taking that every day.

If you're not feeling better in a week of taking high dose magnesium and 2 epsom salt baths a day, then I'm wrong and it's not magnesium and you are out $20. But if I'm right, you will likely feel MUCH better in less than a week.

Let us know how it goes!

Take your Vitamin D at the same time too and get those levels up a little higher.

Kerri Knox RN Immune Health Queen

Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune Health Queen
Functional Medicine Practitioner
Easy Immune Health.com

Musle Spams
by: Anonymous

Seems Very useful.

Thanks for the information!

Wow
by: Tom

I can't believe the coincidence that I've found this page. I'm not nearly so far along as the original poster, but I have most of the same symptoms.

I went to the dentist last summer with tooth pain to find out that I have been clenching and grinding my teeth at night. I also have had upper back, shoulder, and neck pain and tightness for a similar amount of time. And guess what, I also have been fighting gum recession since maybe 3 months after discovering that I grind my teeth at night.

I also notice that I'm generally tense and stressed out, even when I'm trying to meditate.

I think I got myself into this mess by experimenting with too many supplements in an attempt to beat acne, but I'm going to be doing this treatment and stopping all other supplementation for a few weeks.

(I pray that this is finally the solution I've been waiting for :)

EPSOM SALT
by: Anonymous

Hello,

Instead of taking magnesium supplements can you do a foot bath once a week with 1/2 cup of salts and soak feet for 20 minutes or so ...... As I do not like the way I feel when I take magnesium supplements, I usally take the chelated kind.

Great information. Thank You.

You CAN
by: Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune Queen!

You CAN do a foot soak once a week, but it will almost certainly not meet your magnesium needs if you are deficient. If you don't like the way you feel when you take magnesium, just try a different formulation and/or try using Transdermal Magnesium Gel and/or Angstrom Magnesium.

Kerri Knox RN

Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune System Queen
Functional Medicine Practitioner
Immune System
Side Effects

TMJ Issues for years
by: Anonymous

OMG---I have been experiencing all of these same symptoms for years; tried a bite guard, muscle relaxants, NSAID's, and nothing has worked. I had severe jaw pain earlier today and took 200mg of Magnesium Glycinate and within 20 mintues the pain is gone and I can feel my jaw muscles relaxing. Thank you

Epsom Salts orally vs baths
by: Rod

Has any one tried regular oral supplementation of epsom salts for magnesium deficiency? I was reading the package label which states there is 495 mg of magnesium per teaspoon. How bio-available is the magnesium for the body in a magnesium sulfate form?

Some people do
by: Kerri Knox, RN- The Immune Queen!

Some people use epsom salts orally for the inducement of 'bowel cleansing' (which any magnesium in high doses will do, it's just convienient to do with epsom salts). HOWEVER, my personal feeling based on no evidence, only intuition, is that epsom salts are 'impure' and I don't think that they should be ingested.

There are hundreds of magnesium supplements to choose from that are designed to be ingested orally. Use those.

Kerri Knox, RN

magnesium and jaw pain, anxiety, cramps
by: Anonymous

I've been taking magnesium glycinate plus the odd epsom salt footbath and very occasionally the Transdermal Magnesium Gelrubbed on the skin for over a year now. It has helped sooooo much with menstrual cramps but the weird thing is that I get awful calf Muscle Cramps from taking it. I can't understand that paradox.

The only thing that allows me to take a reasonably high dose is by taking calcium too. And I don't like doing that since Carolyn Dean says we shouldn't take calcium at all.

I was trying to take between 400 and 800mg a day of glycinate but have had to drop way down since I started developing constant random twitches in my calf muscles during the day as well as at night, in addition to the cramps.

Since we had a really stressful time here in Christchurch, New Zealand from the 2010 earthquake and subsequent thousands of aftershocks I assumed that I was quite low in magnesium (and I've always been an anxious person) but what if I am damaging myself? I've read that the symptoms of too much magnesium are the same as too little (cramps etc). Is it common for people to get cramps from magnesium supplements?

Calcium if you need it
by: Kerri Knox, Registered Nurse

I'm with Carolyn Dean on the calcium, however, I do find that there is a subset of people who seem to need some calcium with their magnesium. I have read several studies showing that for people with higher calcium levels, that magnesium can lower those calcium levels, and so possibly the magnesium is lowering your levels and you need the calcium more than others.

It's HIGHLY doubtful that if you are doing something that makes you feel better and it relieves some of your other symptoms that you'd be harming yourself. Listen to your body. It's often wiser than what science has caught up to yet.

Kerri Knox, RN

Neck and head pain; Occipital Neuralgia?
by: Laura

I experience pain in my neck that refers pain to my head and I was diagnosed with occipital neuralgia. Came on out of nowhere. I literally just woke up with it 7 months ago. I also experience lightheadedness sometimes since this started. I recently found out my vitamin d levels were on the lower side so my doctor told me to take 2000 IU. A few days after starting that my legs started cramping at night so I did some research and found that magnesium should be taken when taking vitamin d.

I don't know if I have low magnesium levels but I've wondered. How do we find that out since a blood test won't show anything? I'm also taking a b complex. The general consensus is my muscles are tight and are pressing on nerves in my neck which is causing the pinching and stabbing pain in my head. I've been taking 2000 IU of vitamin d since last Wednesday and 250 mg of magnesium citrate since Saturday. It's only Tuesday so I don't expect to feel different yet.

I'm concerned about taking too much magnesium if I'm not even deficient. I want to help my body get back to normal not do it more harm. I am a 28 year old female and have always been healthy and my world was flipped upside down when I woke up with these issues.

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