The Wednesday Wellness threads are meant to encourage users to ask for and provide advice and motivation to improve their lives. It isn't intended as a 'containment thread' and any content which could go here could instead be posted in its own thread. You could post:
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Requests for advice and / or encouragement. On basically any topic and for any scale of problem.
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Updates to let us know how you are doing. This provides valuable feedback on past advice / encouragement and will hopefully make people feel a little more motivated to follow through. If you want to be reminded to post your update, see the post titled 'update reminders', below.
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Advice. This can be in response to a request for advice or just something that you think could be generally useful for many people here.
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Encouragement. Probably best directed at specific users, but if you feel like just encouraging people in general I don't think anyone is going to object. I don't think I really need to say this, but just to be clear; encouragement should have a generally positive tone and not shame people (if people feel that shame might be an effective tool for motivating people, please discuss this so we can form a group consensus on how to use it rather than just trying it).
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You're very welcome, I only hope it's of some use to you. I'm glad to hear you're using Cronometer already. It's both intimidating and liberating to realise you have to take your health into your own hands.
Maybe Cronometer is using a European RDA for potassium. The American FDA increased theirs to 4700mg in 2016, partly because the average American was so much heavier than when they set the original RDA. Cronometer also set an incredibly high target for protein by default, something like 1.8g per kg of body weight. If it works for you that's great, but I think that's a target for athletes rather than the everyman. Reflux is a pain like that - I found sticking to the fodmap diet reduced the symptoms, and as you reintroduce food it helps you pinpoint which are giving you trouble. For example I've found I tolerate dried figs, apricots and dates well, but apples, pears and raisins still cause discomfort. It's worth experimenting if you're struggling to get the potassium, but obviously you know your own body best. Never try and ignore obvious pain just because someone thinks it shouldn't happen, whether that’s a medical doctor or some anonymous poster online.
I understand the worry when supplementing. I suspect if you're the kind of person who spends time on here you will be ok - the fact you're worried means that you're also researching this and you’re bright enough to do so successfully. There are certainly studies showing high dose magnesium (up to 1500mg supplemented) was effective in rapidly reversing treatment resistant depression, but I don't know enough to vouch for how strong those studies are. There are also plenty of testimonies online from people who have taken high doses for a variety of ailments, usually attached to warnings not to take it if you have kidney issues. If you're worried you can always discuss it with a doctor, but it's possible they won't be open to the idea. There are plenty of articles like this online, with doctors lamenting how little they are taught about nutrition. That's probably why no doctor you visited has mentioned it, nutritional approaches are not a major part of their tool kit despite how useful it can be. I buy magnesium from a brand called Heiltropfen, but I don't have any particular loyalty to them - they were the only company I could find selling magnesium chloride flakes that were listed as food grade. The cheaper versions marketed as bathing salts are probably fine, but I didn't feel the need to risk it at that price.
If you find the loose stools too unpleasant to deal with, Magnesium Glycinate, Taurate, Malate, and L Threonate should not have that particular side effect (although they may have others instead). The most important thing when taking high magnesium is to keep calcium/phosphorus/sodium/potassium at least as high as the RDA.
In terms of calcium, I was taking around 1500mg when the ectopic beats felt like they were pounding in my chest, but once I increased it to 2,400mg the beats only felt out of rhythm, not worryingly forceful. I think my situation is unusual, the high dose thiamine I'm currently taking means I need a higher calcium intake for now. In your situation it could be the relation between any of the electrolytes being too high or too low, but I think that is worth investigating.
I'm not so experienced with the heel drops, but it's worth looking through youtube to see the variety (and other exercises). Some people say that having your arms raised when you do them makes a huge difference, and there's probably other tricks. I hope you can find something else that helps there, though, and hey, it’s free.
Did the symptoms get worse when you were on your left side, or did they just become more noticeable? If it definitely gets worse then that indicates it could be related to the vagus nerve becoming irritated by the posture, or alternatively because it's changing the position of your heart - but this also something I've only just started reading about, so take this as an avenue to explore rather than something that is definitely the problem. Like so many other things, there are arguments for sleeping on either side. Sleeping on the right side avoids stimulating the vagus nerve but it's worse for acid reflux, so I don't see a good option there. But it might be useful information to narrow down what's affecting you.
Vitamin D can be tested privately and cheaply, if your doctor isn't willing to do it themself. The test can be ordered by post with the kit to take a tiny blood sample and return it. Your ability to synthesise vitamin d depends on a lot of nutritional factors. Bruce Hollis, the researcher I mentioned in the earlier post, says that when he started supplementing magnesium (I think it was 400mg, it definitely wasn't a huge dose) he saw his vitamin d level rise by 10ng/ml in his blood work, from something like 50 to 60 ng/ml. Sorry, it's late here and I haven't got the time to pinpoint it, but it was in one of those two videos. On the other hand, too much vitamin d can cause issues too, usually from absorbing too much calcium. I think that's mainly in people taking huge doses, or life guards who have really high sun exposure. It sounds like you've got a lot of this under control already, so I think it's unlikely to be an issue, but testing lets you know for certain instead of guessing.
And maybe I was too harsh on carbohydrates! We need them too, and there's a big difference between a healthy diet that involves decent portions of rice/potatoes/pasta, and a diet of purely hyper processed carbohydrates like pizza. It sounds like you're doing a lot better with your diet now compared to when you initially fell ill. I really hope you find some relief soon.
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