The mineral magnesium plays a role in many of your important body functions, including nerve signal conduction, muscle contraction and heart rhythm control. The most common symptoms of a low magnesium level consist of non-specific complaints that also occur in other electrolyte disturbances and medical conditions. Therefore, even if you believe you have low magnesium, a definite diagnosis of magnesium deficiency requires a blood test after evaluation by a physician.
Fatigue
Magnesium deficiency makes you feel fatigued or tired. Low magnesium, found frequently with decreased levels of other electrolytes, interferes with your body's ability to produce energy. You may also experience nausea, vomiting, sleepiness and difficulty concentrating at moderately low levels of magnesium -- giving you an overall "unwell" feeling. A diet rich in dark, leafy green vegetables, as well as whole grains and beans provides an adequate supply of magnesium.
Muscle Aches
Some medical conditions and medications cause increased loss of magnesium from the body. If you suffer from Crohn's disease or have chronic diarrhea from another condition, your body loses too much magnesium. Muscle aches, twitching and cramps commonly indicate magnesium deficiency, notes the Office of Dietary Supplements. If you use laxatives on a regular basis, you risk lowering your magnesium to levels where symptoms develop. Tell your doctor about all prescription and over-the-counter medications that you take.
Palpitations
Control of electrical conduction through your heart depends on complex interactions of chemicals and structures. A regular heart rhythm requires a proper balance of electrolytes such as calcium, potassium, sodium and magnesium, explains the reference text, "Brennar and Rector's: The Kidney." If you have a deficiency of one or more of these minerals, disordered conduction results. Symptoms of moderate deficiency manifest as "palpitations," which are the uncomfortable sensations of your heart beating forcefully in your chest, perhaps accompanied by the feeling of pauses or skipped beats. If magnesium drops into the severely low range, serious and even lethal changes in the heart rhythm occur.
Numbness and Tingling
The complex process of signal transmission between nerve cells requires magnesium, explains the textbook, "Cecil Medicine." Deficiency of magnesium in the nervous system leads to twitching, tingling and eventually numbness -- most evident in your face, fingers and toes. If you abuse alcohol, you may develop a "neuropathy," partially as a result of low magnesium levels. Alcoholics tend to have decreased food intake, lower nutritional status and increased kidney excretion of electrolytes, including magnesium.
References
- MedlinePlus: Magnesium in Diet
- National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements: Magnesium
- "Cecil Medicine"; Lee Goldman, M.D. and Dennis Ausiello, M.D., editors; 2008
- "Brenner and Rector's: The Kidney, 8th edition"; Barry M. Brennar, M.D., editor; 2008
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