Magnesium is essential for our well-being, playing a key role in over 300 bodily functions, from regulating muscle and nerve activity to maintaining stable blood pressure and enhancing immune response. Despite its importance, many people do not meet the recommended daily intake, leading them to rely on various magnesium supplements. But care must be taken with these supplements or any medications that contain magnesium, as they can interfere with other drugs.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) outlines the following daily intake recommendations for magnesium:
- Men (19-51 years): 400-420 mg
- Women (19-51 years): 310-320 mg
- Pregnant Women: 350-360 mg
For adults over 51, it’s advisable to aim for the upper limits of these ranges based on gender.
But as we mentioned earlier, many medications can have adverse interactions with magnesium, potentially affecting their efficacy. So, before adding magnesium to your health regimen, it’s essential to know which medications may interfere with it.
Here is a full list of medicines that you must not take along with magnesium:
Antibiotics
- Tetracycline antibioticsMagnesium interferes with the absorption of tetracycline, demeclocycline, doxycycline and minocycline. To reduce the potential for interaction, it is advisable to take magnesium at least one hour before or two hours after these antibiotics.
- Quinolone antibioticsOther medications such as ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin, moxifloxacin and ofloxacin also show low absorption when taken with magnesium.
- Diuretics or water pillsLoop diuretics and thiazide diuretics can cause renal magnesium loss, leading to deficiency. Therefore, magnesium supplements should be taken with caution if one is using the aforementioned medications.
Thyroid medications
- LevothyroxineAntacids containing magnesium can reduce the effectiveness of levothyroxine, a medication for the treatment of hypothyroidism. The timing of magnesium intake and levothyroxine should be separated.
Cardiac medications
- DigoxinThis medication for heart disease may lead to more serious side effects, particularly if the patient has low magnesium levels. It is important for patients on digoxin to closely monitor their magnesium levels to prevent side effects.
- SotalolSome medications for atrial fibrillation may have their effectiveness affected by magnesium supplementation.
Calcium channel blockers
Drugs such as amlodipine and diltiazem can interact adversely with magnesium, potentially causing side effects such as dizziness and nausea. It is important to be cautious whenever these drugs are administered together.
Chemotherapy drugs
Some cytotoxic drugs can cause renal loss of magnesium, resulting in deficiency. Patients receiving chemotherapy should be mindful of such products and seek medical advice before consuming magnesium supplements.
Proton pump inhibitors
Long-term use of omeprazole and esomeprazole in conjunction with magnesium can lead to hypomagnesaemia.
Bisphosphonates
Alendronate, used in the treatment of osteoporosis, may have decreased bioavailability when combined with magnesium supplements.
If you are using any of the medications mentioned above, please consult your doctor before introducing magnesium supplements into your regime.
