CellMins: Potassium & Magnesium - Supplements Descriptions

CellMins:
Potassium & Magnesium
(Twinlab)

by Gary F. Zeolla

I suffer from a condition called neurological "tics." These are minor, involuntary muscle movements that can be very irritating, and when they occur at night, can disturb sleep. Magnesium (Mg) is the most generally recommended mineral for this condition, but calcium (Ca) and potassium (K) can be important as well as all three of these minerals are involved in nerve transmission.

For quite some time, I had been taking three Calcium Citrate Caps each day, giving me 450 mg of calcium and 225 mg of magnesium. And that seemed to be enough to control my tics. But in November 2003, they began flaring up again. So I tried taking H.I. Biolics' K-Mg Aspartate from WebVitamins. It contains 250 mg each of magnesium aspartate and potassium aspartate (elemental K: 99 mg, Mg: 35 mg). And once I started taking two capsules a day, the tics were mostly again under control. But when the tics did flare-up, I took an extra capsule. I'd also use Bach's Vervain as it seems to help as well.

However, WebVitamins no longer carries the H.I. Biolics or any other K-Mg Aspartate product. But after some searching, I found that Twinlab makes a similar product that is also available from WebVitamins. It is called CellMins: (Potassium & Magnesium). The K and Mg are in the form of aspartate hydrochloride. Each capsule contains: K: 75 mg, Mg: 100 mg.

I started taking two capsules a a day, and my tics seemed to be under even better control than with the H.I. Biolics brand. But when I ordered the CellMins, I also ordered a bottle of Source Naturals: Magnesium Malate. I figure if the tics did flare up, I could try taking this product for the extra magnesium. Each capsule contains 70 mg of Mg.

However, after a while, my tics did flare-up. And the Magnesium Malate didn't seem to help, and neither did increasing the amount of CellMins. So I stopped both of those products and doubled my intake of the Calcium Citrate Caps to 6/day. And after just a few days, that did the trick. My tics were once again under control. As discussed in the article on the Calcium Citrate Caps, that product just seems to help more with my tics than any other. So I will stick with it from now on. But now I've found I only need to take four capsules/ day.

It should also be noted that K-Mg Aspartate has been recommended as a treatment for fibromyalgia. In fact, it was in this capacity that I first tried it prior to taking it for my tics. When taken for fibromyalgia, usually four capsules a day are recommended in divided doses. I tried it in these amounts when I was first diagnosed with fibromyalgia, but I didn't find that it helped with the fibro pain or fatigue. But still, some have reported benefits from it in this regard.

Magnesium Malate is also recommended as a treatment for fibromyalgia. Magnesium is often taken in rather high doses by fibromyalgia suffers, and some have found relief by taking malic acid. This product contains 417 mg of malic acid per capsule. I tried taking larger doses of magnesium and malic acid before, but it didn't seem to help with the fibromyalgia symptoms. But it is worth a try for those who have not done so.

Twinlab's' CellMins and Source Naturals: Magnesium Malate are available at WebVitamins.

The above article was posted on this site May 8, 2004.
It was last updated May 3, 2008.

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