If you have tendon, cartilage, joint, ligament or other connective tissue problems, it’s a distinct possibility that these were caused from a chronic lack of magnesium.

I know that you probably think that you couldn’t possibly have magnesium deficiency, but if you problems with any of these body structures it’s actually most likely that you absolutely DO have moderate and maybe even SEVERE magnesium deficiency- and that you’ve had it for many years.

The reason that you probably think that you don’t have magnesium deficiency is that you simply aren’t aware that the Signs of Magnesium Deficiency include common problems like:

 

Constipation

Anxiety

Insomnia

Feeling stressed

Low back pain

 

And a whole host of other problems that people consider a ‘normal’ part of living in a stressful society. But these are NOT ‘normal everyday’ problems, they are distinct symptoms of magnesium deficiency that neither you nor your doctor recognizes. The fact that everyone has these symptoms doesn’t mean that they aren’t problems with a real and fixable cause- and there ARE doctors who DO recognize these problems as being from magnesium deficiency. The doctors who DO understand this, such as Dr. Caroline Dean author of The Magnesium Miracle and Dr. Marc Sircus author of Magnesium Medicine, know that magnesium deficiency is epidemic and actively promote magnesium supplementation in the vast majority of their patients.

 

Connective Tissue Synthesis

While most of the problems mentioned above can be corrected within several weeks to several months of aggressive magnesium replacement, connective tissue problems are both less recognized as being due to magnesium deficiency as well as requiring a longer to correct. As a result, most people can’t imagine these problems as being caused by magnesium deficiency since the long term nature of the connective tissue degeneration makes it hard to link the two since it might take years or even decades for this problem to manifest.

Magnesium is a critical component of collagen formation and repair, but calcium will fill up cells and ‘calcify’ cells in magnesium’s place when there is a deficiency of magnesium. This can lead to defective collagen formation over time in the presence of a chronic magnesium deficiency. One study explained it by showing that magnesium ‘hinders the mechanism by which fibroblasts (collagen creating cells) degrade defective collagen’. In other words, when magnesium deficiency is present, the old collagen cells that need to be replaced get replaced with unhealthy calcified cells rather than flexible new healthy cells. In the case of connective tissue such as joints, ligaments and tendons, this can lead to a susceptibility to joint problems, tendonopathies, fibromyalgia (meaning literally connective tissue pain), worn cartilage, osteoarthritis and even certain heart problems that are related to connective tissue dysfunction.

 

Quinolone Antibiotic Toxicity

Another extremely concerning area for readers is not JUST the fact that long term magnesium deficiency can weaken connective tissue and lead to the problems above, but long-term magnesium deficiency apparently makes one more susceptible to the damaging effects of a common class of antibiotics called the Quinolone Antibiotics.

The problems that occur from these antibiotics are called Cipro Tendonitis or Quinolone Toxicity and they are of particular interest to me as I’ve done extensive research and work with people suffering from this disabling life-altering problem and have written the book The Levaquin Tendonitis Solution in response to the great need for an effective solution to this problem.

One of the questions about the damage from Quinolone Antibiotics is why certain people are more susceptible than others to the effects of these drugs. When millions take these drugs every year and only a small percentage is affected, the problem is baffling to both researchers and sufferers alike. One of the answers lies in the fact that magnesium deficiency is epidemic and long term magnesium deficiency weakens and replaces healthy connective tissue cells with calcified unhealthy cells. To show this point, a study done on rats with magnesium deficiency were given dosages of Quinolone Antibiotics and their joints were examined. (3,4)

 

 

The joints of all of the animals showed damage and swelling- regardless of whether they received the Quinolone antibiotics or not. In other words, magnesium deficiency BY ITSELF created painful and swollen joint lesions in these animals from the unhealthy calcium deposits that the magnesium deficiency allowed. The unhealthy cells created by magnesium deficiency allows small amounts of damage to the existing healthy cells become a HUGE problem of cellular death and destruction that can lead to widespread connective tissue pain and even tendon rupture with just a few doses of these toxic drugs.

While there are certainly other factors involved in being susceptible to Levaquin Tendonitis, chronic long-term magnesium deficiency is most likely one of the most predominant risk factors. Unfortunately, for various reasons, few people or their doctors are recognizing magnesium deficiency. But when you understand the powerful effects that magnesium has on the body, then you begin to see many ‘chronic health problems’ through the lens of being symptoms of the avoidable problem of magnesium deficiency.

 

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

 

PS: If you found this website helpful, please consider using the
Easy Immune Health Product Store the next time you purchase your supplements online. Your support allows me to keep this site running and educating as many people as possible. Thank you!

 

Research

1) Magnesium deficiency in the pathogenesis of mitral valve prolapse.
2) Synergistic Effect of Ofloxacin and Magnesium Deficiency on Joint Cartilage in Immature Rats
3) Integrins on joint cartilage chondrocytes and alterations by ofloxacin or magnesium deficiency in immature rats
4) Magnesium deficiency induces joint cartilage lesions in juvenile rats which are identical to quinolone-induced arthropathy

Question:

I have been Vitamin D deficient now for almost a year. They have had me on 50,000 units once a week until recently and have now bumped me up to 50,000 twice a week.

However, I am still deficient. I am always tired, have to force myself to do things most days, and have major mood swings… My body hurts all over, so they said, “oh you have Fibromalagia.” Now this new Doctor says it’s all caused from the lack of vitamin D…..

Do you have any suggestions, or help for me? I am at my wits end!

Sincerely,
K
Dallas, Texas

 

Answer:

Hi K,

Wow, that sounds like it hasn’t been a very fun year. At least your doctors were aware enough to check for Vitamin D Deficiency, but it sounds like they are missing a few things.

First, a possible solution

Since you live in Dallas, you might be able to remedy this situation in a few weeks by GOING OUT IN THE SUN! Get outside in a bikini, or nothing at all if you have some privacy and are inclined to do so- and get as much sun as you can every day to the point of BEFORE you get burned.

Sun is the way that we were MEANT to get vitamin D. So, if that is at all a possibility, then do that. You can protect your face with sunscreen and a big hat, but otherwise, let your entire body get as much sun as you possibly can- just don’t burn.

You can make up to 20,000 IU’s of Vitamin D per day by exposing your skin in this very efficient Vitamin D Deficiency Treatment.

 

What your doctor is doing wrong

So, one of the things that your doctors are not doing right is giving you a PRESCRIPTION for your Vitamin D. Prescription Vitamin D is in the form of Vitamin D2 and researchers have stated, “Vitamin D2, or ergocalciferol, should not be regarded as a nutrient suitable for supplementation”. So, print out this study, sit down with a highlighter pen and highlight any questions that you may have for your doctor and ask him why he chose to use Vitamin D2 to treat you instead of the far superior form of Vitamin D3 that he can’t write a prescription for, but nonetheless is widely available and inexpensive.

 

 

Why You Might be Deficient

So, one of the reasons that you may still be deficient is that you are taking Vitamin D2 which has up to one-tenth the bioavailability to the body. The other reason that you may be deficient is that you are not ABSORBING the vitamin D that you ARE getting, and THAT is a critical component of illness that doctors almost always completely overlook.

You see, under certain circumstances (and I’ll talk about those in a minute), it’s possible for people to develop a condition called Increased Intestinal Permeability or “Leaky Gut Syndrome”. Doctors seem to think that this condition is something that alternative practitioners made up, but there are THOUSANDS of references to increased intestinal permeability in the literature and several different easy to do tests to test for this.

 

It is very real and can cause you not to be absorbing nutrients.

 

Also, if you have been unable to absorb vitamin D, what ELSE have you not been absorbing? Doctors seem to think that if they find vitamin D deficiency, then they have found “The Answer”, because they haven’t been able to find anything else wrong with you. But really, that should provoke a lot more questions- like WHY you are not absorbing your vitamin D and what else are you deficient in. Your doctor says that your problems are all because of the vitamin D, but has he tested your Vitamin B12 level? How about your Carnitine level, coenzyme q10, folic acid, RBC Magnesium and other nutrients?

So, you might want to ask him why he hasn’t tested you for any of those, even though you can test all of those and many more in an inexpensive in-home urine test called The Organix Profile. This is not some “woo-woo” test, although your doctor will make you believe that it is. It is based on years of research on substances called Organic Acids that are produced and excreted in urine in differing amounts depending upon what is going on in the body. This test is has published PEER-REVIEWED studies as to its accuracy, and yet your doctor just simply will not do it because he has not been told about it.

But you ABSOLUTELY need to insist that your doctor test you for Vitamin B12 deficiency using a test called a METHYLMALONIC ACID TEST, or MMA. HE will WANT to get a “Vitamin B12 Level”, but don’t let him. That is NOT the test that you want to get, you want an MMA. It is much more accurate and many studies show that it is MUCH more sensitive for vitamin B12 deficiency than is a “Vitamin B12 Level”.

 

What is Causing this Malabsorption

So, if you get back your MMA and it is HIGH (HIGH MMA is indicative of LOW Vitamin B12), then you are not ABSORBING properly. Why wouldn’t you be absorbing nutrients? Well, a couple of possible reasons.

1) You might have Undiagnosed Celiac Disease. Undiagnosed Celiac Disease is a HUGE problem, even though your doctor will think that it is “RARE”. It is NOT rare, it is common- possibly up to 1 in every 33 people! So, if your MMA is high, you should INSIST on being tested for Celiac Disease, and here are Some Research Studies for you to print out and take to your doctor.

2) You might also have the H Pylori Bacteria causing inflammation and malabsorption in your stomach- EVEN IF you have no stomach problems!! Doctors seem to think that you MUST have stomach problems for H pylori to be a problem, but research just doesn’t show this to be the case. People with ASYMPTOMATIC H pylori can have inflammation and malabsorption.

So, there is SO much more that I could tell you, but that is a start. So, here is your action plan:

1) Print out the study, “The Case Against Vitamin D2′ and ask your doctor WHY he is choosing to use it when researchers say that he shouldn’t be.

2) Insist on getting tested for MMA or Methylmalonic Acid. Your fatigue is certainly a justifiable reason to test for Vitamin B12, as if your malabsorption of Vitamin D.

Good luck,

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

 

Question:

Hi! I have been having body pains and my Dr and I thought it was fibromyalgia. I have a vitamin D level of 6 mg/nl that can cause the pains I am told, and the diagnosis is now a Vit D deficiency not fibromyalgia. But when I read up on fibromyalgia I was shocked that I have 70 symptoms that are the same as the Early Symptoms of Fibromyalgia!

I have 16 out of 18 tender points. Also, severe eye pain that feels like a ‘headache’ in the eye, burning and painful heels, IBS, seborrhoeic dermatitis, post nasal drip, mucus in my stool, stiff neck, sleep problems, dry eye, short term memory loss, foggy brain, extreme fatigue, ridges on my nails, depression, noise and light sensitivity, sugar and carb cravings, PMS, cold hands and feet, excessive sweating, deep hip pain, fibroids, sore spot on top of my head, morning stiffness all over the body, itchy skin, dry mouth… What does this sound like to you? I also have cervical spondylitis.

Look forward to your reply. Thanks
Mona

 

Answer:

Hi Mona,

This is a very interesting question that I have been wanting to address for a while. Yes, you have a lot of Symptoms of Fibromyalgia, but what does this really mean? It means that you have a collection of symptoms that doctors have grouped together in order to help classify it. All of these symptoms, when put together, doctors have got together and argued and debated and decided that THESE particular symptoms, when grouped together, will all me considered Symptoms of Fibromyalgia- or better yet Fibromyalgia Syndrome.

Contrast this to someone who comes into the emergency room with lower right sided abdominal pain, weakness, nausea and fever. They have a collection of symptoms that you might call “Right Lower Quadrant Abdominal Pain Syndrome”, but doctors go looking for the cause. Often, they will find the CAUSE, call it the DISEASE of appendicitis and do surgery.

 

 

If they DON’T find the Disease of Appendicitis or the condition of Constipation or the condition of a ruptured ovarian cyst, then they say that they don’t know what it is and send you home with the instructions to return if you get worse.

They either find a disease or disease process or say that they don’t know why you have it. The terms Fibromyalgia Syndrome, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome etc. have come about because so many people have these ongoing problems that have no answer as to why they are occurring that doctors had to name them SOMETHING.

But when you have lower abdominal pain and they diagnose appendicitis, this is based on the fact that you HAVE symptoms and they have found the cause. When you have Fibromyalgia Syndrome, you get this label because they CAN’T find a cause! This is a big difference. And this is why your doctor is holding off on the diagnosis of Fibromyalgia in favor of an actual problem that he can find- Vitamin D Deficiency.

 

 

Whether you get better when your vitamin D deficiency is corrected, depends upon a lot of factors, but what if your doctor never LOOKED for vitamin D deficiency. Then he could not say that you have Vitamin D deficiency, right?

 

I know that sounds stupid, but bear with me here for a minute.

 

So, doctors like problems that have ONE answer:

Abdominal Pain —> Appendicitis

Arm Pain —> Broken Arm

They do very well with these, but what they do NOT do well with are problems with MORE THAN ONE cause. And that is generally what most ‘chronic’ health problems or syndromes have- MORE than one cause. And what if those causes are things that doctors just don’t look for? How will they ever know WHAT is causing it, if they ‘Decide’ that it is Fibromyalgia Syndrome, they now have a diagnosis and so they don’t HAVE to go looking for a Fibromyalgia Cause

According to medical wisdom, Fibromyalgia is a collection of symptoms that no one knows why you have and it’s “incurable”, you can help to manage symptoms with certain drugs, but that’s it- and sadly enough, they are even beginning to diagnose Fibromyalgia in Children more and more.

Now, I ask you, do you want your doctor to ‘give up’ on trying to find out what is wrong with you in favor of a diagnosis? And what if your doctor can’t find out what is wrong with you because he is not looking in the right place?

These are Vital questions to ask because generally your doctor will stop looking for problems when he gives you a diagnosis of ‘Fibromyalgia Syndrome’ AND he is also not looking in the right place anyhow.

 

What is Fibromyalgia

So, in my experience, there is not simply ONE Fibromyalgia Cause – it is NEVER just one thing. Fibromyalgia sufferers may have any and all of the following problems:

Gluten Sensitivity
Other Food Allergies
The H pylori Bacteria
Intestinal Parasites
Increased Intestinal Permeability
Intestinal Candida Infection
Heavy Metal (Mercury or Lead) Toxicity
Vitamin D Deficiency
Magnesium Deficiency
Chemical Overexposure
Vitamin B 12 Deficiency
Chemical Overexposure
Other Nutrient Deficiencies
Inability to Detoxify Substances
Adrenal Gland Fatigue

 

Has your doctor looked for, or even suggested that you might have even ONE of these? Except for Vitamin D deficiency, he hasn’t. Nor has he looked, nor will he (he might look for Vitamin b 12 deficiency and magnesium deficiencies, but his test will likely be the wrong test and won’t find it anyway…).

So, in my practice, I look for and often find these problems using laboratory testing that doctors COULD do, but choose not to for various reasons. I use the following tests and almost always find something that can improve Symptoms of Fibromyalgia to some degree.These are REAL tests that have peer reviewed studies showing their accuracy. They are not some ‘woo-woo’ tests that require you to see how you feel about something. They are laboratory tests that are sometimes even more accurate than the ones that your doctor is using- and they WORK!

Adrenal Gland Testing
Intestinal Pathogen Testing
Urine Porphyrins for Heavy Metals and Toxin Exposure
The Organix Profile-this test tells you:
Fatty Acid Deficiencies
Carbohydrate Metabolism Abnormalities
Cellular Mitochondrial Deficiencies
Markers of Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth
How well you detoxify substances
B vitamin deficiencies
Amino Acid Deficiencies
Food Allergy Testing- this test tests for over 100 different food allergies in 3 separate ways. And they Guarantee that if you follow their instructions that you will feel better!!

If you doctor tested you for these problems and corrected them when he found them, it is unlikely that we would NEED the labels of Fibromyalgia Syndrome and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.

So, I have no problem with anyone getting a diagnosis and seeking a diagnosis for their problems. In fact, I INSIST that all of my clients get a full medical workup before seeing me. It is inappropriate to treat a Parathyroid tumor with Vitamin D. It is inappropriate to treat a bleeding ulcer with Vitamin B 12. So, by getting a diagnosis, at least you can be sure that you have no severe medical problems that will kill you or that you may need surgical intervention for.

But once you have that diagnosis, what is next for you. A diagnosis of Fibromyalgia syndrome dooms you to a life of pain and minimal functioning and some symptom control with pain medication and antidepressants. Not an exciting proposition. But once you have that diagnosis and your doctor can’t find anything ‘wrong’ with you, then come see me and I may be able to find the UNDERLYING cause of your problems and to correct these imbalances and make you feel better.

In the meantime, get some help for your fibromyalgia with 7 Fibromyalgia Tips!!

 

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