Week 4-5 of increasing magnesium

It's been 4 weeks since I starting increasing magnesium . I eat more in my diet and also take a Magnesium glycinate/malate. Within this time I have decreased my daily Ventolin from 10/20 puffs to Nil and only take my longer acting fostair morning and night but I feel I don't need as much .
I didn't think my diet was that bad before and I didn't eat loads of junk food . I did stay away from nuts as when i'd had peanuts a few times I felt my asthma got a bit worse. Now I eat peanuts and almonds and I'm fine. I do eat alot of pumpkin seeds and the more I eat them the more I enjoy them.
I've also decided to reduce my wheat intake as I read up alot on asthma and diet. I feel my asthma is even better by doing this !
The change around in myself has been dramatic and I have alot more energy now. Running around after a 3 year old who also wakes me at least once in the night seems so much easier now !!!
I spoke about my husband who wasn't interested in what I was doing but a few weeks on and one day he came home and said ' when are you starting me on Magnesium then ??? . I was pretty gobsmacked and said ' are you joking' ? he said Noooooo . So i ordered him some Magnesium malate powder which he started yesterday afternoon ( 30th May 2015) He didn't wheeze on waking up this morning which he normally does . I think from watching me over the past 5 weeks nearly hes been watching silently and then realised he also could benefit.
I really hope this gets out to people out there who're suffering as it did and would be so good to feel I could give people insight to study on how to make their lives easier and not suffer with asthma as I have over the years . The thought of getting a chest infection and the winter coming really worried me as I hate not being able to breathe properly (who wouldn't hey!)
I will add some links to some good websites I have collected and learnt from over the next week , so if theres anyone out there who maybe reads this one day they can also benefit like I have.
My mum had her lung operation on 21st May and it all went well, shes now at home recovering, eating well and having her magnesium supplement which I really think has made all the difference with her healing and getting over the operation.


to be updated.......... as I really need some reading time , its been mad lately with looking after my mum and keeping a husband and 3 year old. At least now I have the energy to do it all !!!

Yes I believe in the miracle of magnesium

Yes yes yes yes , I believe in the miracle of Magnesium ! It's been nearly 3 weeks now since my journey with Magnesium started. I have gone from taking Fostair 2 puffs at night and 1 puff  in the morning plus 10 to 20 puffs of Ventolin daily to ........... Fostair 1 puff morning and night. I changed my diet  to eat more foods with Magnesium content and then added a magnesium supplement morning and night to top me up. I'm using a magnesium glycinate/malate as I read up this gives better absorption. Things were going well and on Friday 15th May I went to a hospital appointment with my mum and I decided not to have my usual milk coffee in the morning and because of all the travelling I didn't do things quite the same had I been at home . I ended up by lunch time with a headache from hell. I never normally even get a headache and this went on for the rest of the day. I thought maybe it was the stress of going on the motorway?hospital? emotional stress?change in routine ? eating? The first 4 I have done more that a few times the past month so that left food  ..........I'd had porridge with pumpkin seeds, cinnamon, honey. I hadn't had coffee , so I thought it was caffeine. That didn't work. The next morning the headache had gone and I had a milk coffee with molasses in as I'd been doing...  Was the reason for my headache the fact my magnesium/calcium was out of balance ? I'm not sure but that was the only thing I had done differently on that day. 

Yesterday I read an interesting article on the absorption of magnesium and if you aren't getting quite enough the body knows it wants more and will show signs of magnesium deficiency again to get you increase it. The body is amazing and I guess this is confusing if you've increased your magnesium and you think its not working when this happens. 

You have to keep an open mind and keep searching and reading as it really is worth it in the end ! 

One thing I have found is .... my husband knows what I am doing and he knows the benefits I'm getting but isn't interested in trying it . He doesn't take daily asthma medication though so I guess he doesn't feel the wheezing in the morning and coughing up crap is worth sorting out. Oh well, you can take a horse to water but you can't make it drink !!! 

My mum would be more interested if she wasn't going through having lung cancer . We went to see the surgeon and the operation is set for Thursday 21st May . It's a stage 3 and has spread to one of the glands. She has to have a few months chemo afterwards but she can't have radiation as it's in the same area as the breast cancer she had and you can only have radiation once in the same area ! The internet is great for finding out information but finding out online that the percentage for survival is very low for a stage 3 lung cancer isn't what I want to read ! I have to remain as positive as I can and I don't want to lose my mum yet so I have to believe she'll survive and I need to be strong for her as she's very down and depressed at the moment. I decided as it's an hour drive to the hospital we'll go down and stay close by so she knows im only 5 mins away. We can't take lucy into hospital but my husband will be there to look after her and I thought we'll all be together which will also reduce the stress. My husband was already due this week off and we were going away for a few days anyway , so this will be somewhere different to explore and keep our mind occupied during Thursday while the operation takes place. 

So all in all it's a stressful time and I think I will increase my magnesium a bit more from monday in preparation for what will be one of my greatest emotional stresses ! 

Approx 2 weeks on increasing Magnesium in my diet

2 weeks has flown past and I've only taken my Ventolin once in that time-
Our kitchen floor was leveled on 7th May and pvc sealant was used and the smell from the leveling compound really smelt horrible. This did effect my asthma and I woke to take my Ventolin about 12.30 am Friday. Since then my breathing has been stable and I also increased the pumpkin seeds so I'm having an extra 15 gms. I can now weigh what I eat with my new digital scales so that helps! 
I've been reading up and I found a good study on asthma and magnesium. It says that I should aim for 6 mg to 10 mg per kg of body weight. My primary aim is to increase Magnesium and not think too much about weight , although I don't want to put loads on as that would defeat the object ! I have stayed roughly the same weight, maybe 1 lb less. 
My husband has mild asthma and he said he was bad as a child but he doesn't take any medication now. I suggested he increase his magnesium as he's seen how improved I've been. I made him some chocolate pumpkin/almond/sesame bar and he had some of that last night as he doesn't want to eat raw pumpkin seeds. He doesn't seem that bothered but I know if he sticks with it and sees the difference he'd have more enthusiasm about it ! update .... Marks lungs we're better this morning and no bad coughing when he got up ! I wonder if he's going to have more of his treat pumpkin seed chocolate mix again tonight , we'll see ! 
Today I've been trying to add up how many mg of magnesium I've had , not as much as I thought I was getting . It's now 8.30 pm and I don't feel very hungry , so I'm not sure I can eat the pumpkin seeds and dark chocolate I have planned to increase the magnesium. I really think I need to start exercising in a different way to burn off more calories or use a supplement . I'm on the go alot with my 3 year old daughter but it's not the same as a good walk etc .....more planning needed . I did manage the supper in the end, went down nicely ! I don't normally eat that late but all seemed ok, phew ! 
My mum doesn't seem much better, but she did have a biopsy nearly 2 weeks ago and is run down. She's been called back to see the specialist on Friday, which is a bit quick  , so I'm not sure if it'll be good or bad news ! I'm trying to be positive all the way along , but when it seems they want her back in a hurry it gets you're mind wondering if it's because it's  bad news . We'll have to wait and see ! 
So much to think about lately including the flooring being done downstairs and running a house and looking after a family. I've been waking up before 6 in the mornings recently and go to bed 10.30 to 11 pm. I do feel alot brighter in myself though and fogginess I had in my head has gone.
And life keeps plodding on , but with renewed vitality and less medication !!! All thanks to eating more magnesium !!!! It should be routine for your asthma nurse/doctor to give you information on this ,,,,,, even if its just for you to research it for yourself , its totally amazing !!! I have to spread the word more to others, it really does easy anxiety with asthma , which makes a difference to your quality of life ! 

food for thought

I have been eating granola daily with pumpkin seeds, molasses , ground almonds and yogurt.I have started to add a few other things like cacao nibs, banana and other fruit I have yet to sort out some home made recipes, that's my project for next week. 
I still haven't taken Ventolin and I think its about day 11 or 12 now. I did feel a bit tighter in my chest when i went to bed last night . I had shepherds pie , broccoli, mangetout and peas for dinner. I will see how I am the next time I have it. I did have some almonds in the evening , but seeings I have ground almonds on my granola I didn't think it could be that. 
Maybe I didn't have quite enough magnesium for the day , it's hard to monitor and know how much I'm getting. I will invest in some digital scales to weigh foods. 
I'm not sure whether to start a supplement like magnesium citrate just to get say 50% of my daily amount .........
Seeings I'm  under quite a bit of stress at the moment, with a very very  demanding 3 year old , a house  that is going through having new flooring  a plasterer coming today to level the kitchen floor, everything upside down, supporting my mum after my uncle died and his  funeral on Tuesday and the fact my mums  had a biopsy a week ago ready for her big op hopefully in a few weeks for lung cancer , I think I'm doing extremely well !! 

To be continued ............ 

My first few weeks of increasing magnesium in my diet

The importance of Magnesium- the journey begins. 

It was was on one of those ordinary days and as usual I was reading some news on The daily mail on line (my little routine in the morning while my daughter watches TV and wakes up properly) when  I stumbled across  the benefits of Magnesium .  Once I started reading it sounded like I really should increase  Magnesium in my diet. 
This was about 8 or 9 days ago .......... I've lost track of the time as I've been more excited with the results. I am asthmatic and on medication daily. I thought I'd try the food route and increase Magnesium via nuts, seeds,  veg and basically anything that had higher amounts ...... even including dark chocolate.
After 24 hours of  having more Magnesium in my diet  I  stopped taking  my Ventolin inhaler and reduced my longer acting inhaler from 2 puffs in the evening to 1 . So now I'm just taking 1 fostair morning and evening .Previously I would  take a minimum of 8 puffs of Ventolin on a good day to 20 on a bad day . WOW this is totally amazing , from just  increasing magnesium ??? !!! 
My mum went for a biopsy last week and she's really run down at the moment and isn't eating that much . So at the weekend I brought her a Magnesium supplement called Floradix. I'm really hoping it will give her a bit of a boost and help her along her journey with a lung cancer operation due in a month or so.  

I really am amazed how quickly I didn't need as much medication for my asthma , I'd taken Ventolin daily since I was about 12 years old ! I have also found that I feel calmer and I've suffered anxiety since I was 21 years old on and off ........... I'm hoping over time I will see benefits in anxiety /sleep/weight/skin etc .......... my search goes on for more information...........