Guidelines for Magnesium Injections

Some people, very few, may need to build back their magnesium status using magnesium injections. You need to do this with a doctor. Here are some guidelines.

• A prescription is necessary both for the magnesium (usually as magnesium sulfate) and the hypodermic syringes.

• The injections are IM (intra-muscular) not IV (intra-venous). They can be made in the muscle of the buttocks or upper thigh.

• These injections can cause pain AFTER the injection for anywhere from 10 minutes to ½ hour. Some people have reported that they hurt more when their magnesium status is low, and that when the magnesium status of the body has built up, the injections hurt less, for less time or not at all.

• For people who need these injections long term, regularly, lumps can form in the muscle. This can be minimized by using extra long needles.

Here is the regime suggested for treatment of magnesium deficiency using injections with 50% MgSO₄ solution in addition to an I.V. route. It gives an idea how safely magnesium can be administered when a deficiency state exists.

Day 1 - 2.0 grams every 2 hours for three doses, and then every 4 hours for four doses.

Day 2 - 1.0 gram every 4 hours for six doses.

Days 3 - 5 - 1.0 gram every 6 hours.

From: Flink EB: Therapy of magnesium deficiency. Ann N Y Acad Sci 162:901-905, 1969. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Citation&list_uids=5259579

An alternative to magnesium injections for intense therapy is the Intravenous Nutrient Therapy of the “Myers’ Cocktail”, an injection of several essential nutrients including Magnesium as the chloride hexahydrate, calcium as Calcium gluconate, vitamin C and vitamins of the B complex including B12, B6 and B5.

This intense nutritional therapy has been used to treat Asthma, Migraine, Fatigue, Fibromyalgia, Depression, Cardiovascular disease, upper respiratory tract infections, and Narcotic withdrawal. It must be remembered that such therapy only “helps” when the condition is a result of an actual nutritional magnesium deficit or imbalance. Side effects can be light-headedness and syncope, hypotension, and aspects of Calcium deficit such as leg cramps. Special care must always be given to im or iv nutritional therapy and must only be conducted by an knowledgeable, experienced health professional.

From: Gaby AR: Intravenous nutrient therapy: the "Myers' cocktail". Altern Med Rev 7:389-403, 2002. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&dopt=Citation&list_uids=12410623