The good news is that there’s nothing wrong with my heart (other than the harmless murmur I was born with), which means that I’m probably not going to drop dead any time soon… phew! 
The bad news is that I’m still suffering symptoms very similar to angina on a daily basis. 
Although the diagnosis isn’t yet official, it’s fairly certain that I’m suffering from esophageal spasms.
I’m not yet on any medication for it other than Protonix, which has virtually eliminated my problems with acid reflux, but hasn’t done anything to relieve the spasms.
I know we’ve discussed acid reflux disease before, but I don’t recall anyone else ever mentioning esophageal spasms.
Is anyone else dealing with them, and if so, any tips on lessening the severity?
Even when they’re not painful, the spasms make it difficult to sleep… it feels just like heart palpitations, and is very annoying.
My boss has this problem, he was rushed to the hospital thinking he was having a heart attack. We were very relieved to find out it was esophageal spasm. I think he’s taking some medication for it, but I don’t know what it is. Maybe a good gastroenterologist could give you some guidance.
Good luck, it sounds painful.
Robin
Hi, Gary.
There’s a saying among integrative/complementary physicians:
“If it spasms, give magnesium.”
Muscle cells function by the opposing actions of calcium and magnesium. Calcium is necessary for muscles to contract; magnesium is necessary for muscles to relax. Some nutritionists believe that as many as 85% to 90% of the population has a magnesium deficiency. This may be easier to understand if you consider the fact that magnesium is not restored to soil in commercial farming operations. Only nitrogen, pottasium and phosphorus are routinely used in fertilizers, so more magnesium is removed from the soil with every crop, never to be replaced.
Any condition involving spasm may improve or even resolve completely with supplemental magnesium. These include back or other skelatomuscular pain, premature labor, bronchospasm, heartbeat arrythmias, etc., including, I’m quite sure, esophageal spasm. Primary hypertension can also be responsive to magnesium supplementation.
For many of these conditions, one of the drugs prescribed will be a calcium channel blocker. This reduces the action of the calcium, which in turn, reduces the tendency of the muscles involved to contract excessively. However, it is much more logical to simply correct the magnesium deficiency instead. The problem is, you can’t patent magnesium, so there’s no financial basis for anyone to market magnesium and detail physicians on how to use it for this purpose. You can patent a calcium channel blocker, so that’s what doctors learn about from the drug reps.
You can take up to 1,000 mg. or even more, of magnesium per day with only beneficial results, providing it doesn’t cause diarrhea. Magnesium has a laxative effect, which varies from person to person. I take 900 mg. per day, but Arleen can take no more than 500 mg. per day. (This refers to elemental magnesium. You have to read the label carefully to make sure they’re not giving the milligrams of magnesium oxide, magnesium carbonate, magnesium citrate, etc. instead of the elemental magnesium supplied.)
So the rule is, take magnesium to “bowel tolerance.” And, I would say, take it every day for the rest of your life. It’s one supplement I believe everyone should take, and with no misgivings whatsoever. The source isn’t important unless your digestive function is easily upset. Magnesium oxide and magnesium carbonate are slightly antacid. Some people recommend taking those forms of magnesium with food to offset the antacid effect. Or, if your digestion is sensitive, you can take a chelated form of magnesium, either amino acid chelated or Kreb’s cycle chelated (magnesium citrate, aspartate, etc.).
Unless you have access to IV or IM magnesium, it can take some time to replenish the body’s stores of magnesium, weeks or even months.
If you ask your physician if your magnesium levels are OK, s/he will probably tell you they’re fine, because doctors are only trained to look at serum magnesium. However, because magnesium is critical to maintaining a normal heartbeat, the body will steal magnesium from every other tissue to maintain normal serum levels. A much more reliable test for magnesium status would be a blood cell magnesium test, where the serum is discarded and only the level within the blood cells is measured. This still gives some falsely negative findings, which may be further checked with something called a magnesium loading test.
However, it isn’t really necessary, in my opinion, to confirm whether there’s a magnesium deficiency beyond the serum magnesium test, because you can take magnesium without any risk and with only beneficial effects. So the best thing to do is just go ahead and take it for several months and see if the symptoms improve. It won’t interfere with anything a medical practitioner might want to do or prescribe, so you can go ahead and make use of any and all medical resources available to you at the same time.
Best wishes,
Jerry
I’ve had a little acid reflux and hiatial hernia. Try not to overload with food before bed.
I keep tums on hand and watch what I eat, I take tums before it has a chance to get bad and judge it based on what I eat.
I find it difficult to believe that there is any serious magnesium shortage. Every green plant is loaded with it. Afterall, magnesium sits at the center of the chlorophyll molecule, and without chlorophyll there won’t be any sustained plant life. It is more likely that a magnesium shortage in people is due to their reluctance to eat “rabbit food.”
Eric,
Believe me, there’s a shortage. If you’re not willing to accept that there’s a deficiency in the soil, then please offer another explanation.
BTW, research on organic vs. conventionally grown foods has shown as much as four times more magnesium in the organically grown foods.
When I was office manager for an integrative physician, we did whole blood minerals tests for every patient (not as good as a blood cell mineral test, with the serum discarded, but still more indicative than a serum magnesium test). We saw that magnesium was the most common deficiency, and it was extremely common, even among a patient population that was whole foods/vegetarian oriented. These patients responded, in many cases almost magically, to IV or IM magnesium supplementation to get them started, followed by daily supplementation with oral magnesium. All of them showed “normal” magnesium levels on a serum magnesium test.
Best wishes,
Jerry
Gary, if your oesophageal spasms are associated with swallowing difficulties or even vomitting, you might have achalasia. This is a very rare disease and many doctors don’t know it, so the diagnosis is often made only after several years.
Gary,
My wife suffers from esophagel spasms from time to time. Once we thought she was having a heart attack. The doctor prescribed nitro tablets. She takes one at the onset of an attack and it immediately stops the pain. Ask your doctor about that.
Gary,
Just a warning. If you are already taking a medication for reflux, chances are it’s some form of magnesium. Mine is. But, if you are also taking medication for high blood pressure, check with your doctor before taking any further magnesium supplements. Some medications can interact badly with at least some forms of magnesium and that is not something you would want to happen.
It’s extremely unlikely that a drug that has magnesium in the name and is taken in doses of 40 mg would contain enough magnesium to be a significant source.
More drugs increase the need for magnesium than present concerns due to potential negative interactions. Here’s a list:
http://www.gnc.com/health_notes/Safety.asp
Here’s a monograph on magnesium:
http://www.gnc.com/health_notes/vitamins.asp
These are available on General Nutrition Headquarters’ website, but the information is provided by HealthNotes (http://www.healthnotes.com), a well respected source of information that is independent of commercial interests.
Best wishes,
Jerry
Chlorophyll and Hemoglobin are very similar chemically except that Chlorophyll has Magnesium and Hemoglobin has Iron. It’s like plant blood vs animal blood. That which gives life.
Vegetables are usually storage areas (roots) and fruits (tomatos, etc) are excess from the reproductive areas of the plant. You need greens to get Chlorophyll and magnesium. The average American diet greatly lacks this.