Magnesium and Sleep

My migraines have been getting worse lately. My sleep, migraines and fibromyalgia are all intertwined, so when one is off, it makes the others worse. When I have a migraine, it makes it hard to sleep and then triggers a fibromyalgia flare-up, where it’s painful to just get out of bed.

My history with magnesium

I’ve tried a lot of holistic options for migraine as well prescriptions medications. I've been living with migraine and sleep apnea for more than two decades, and the only thing that helps for sure is magnesium IV infusions. I’ve gotten them off and off for years. The only thing that's different now is that for the the first time, I’ve started the infusions while using my CPAP every day.

I’m trying to make better decisions to help minimize pain and take care of the body I have. However, having multiple chronic conditions makes sleep, functioning and just daily life harder, so I was pleasantly surprised to find the IV treatment had some unexpected effects.

What happened when I tried magnesium infusions?

I noticed after two magnesium infusions that it not only helped my headaches, but I was falling asleep faster. I was putting my CPAP on and falling asleep before I even had a chance to turn on my sleep sounds, meditations or sleep stories! Additionally, I usually wake up two to four times throughout the night. After the second infusion, I noticed that I only woke up once during the night.

Oral magnesium supplements

I know that a lot of the natural sleep supplements have magnesium in them, but I’ve never noticed a difference in my sleep beyond a month or so -- they seemed to help in the beginning, only to then stop working. There was the same problem taking the supplements for migraine. I’ve never been able to notice a difference, so I usually stop.

My current sleep pack from Pure Essentials includes small doses of magnesium, so this has been the longest that I’ve taken a supplement consistently. I’m waiting for my next appointment to talk to my s1leep doctor about having the new magnesium infusions in addition to taking my sleep supplement. I haven’t had any adverse side effects, but I’ve still been sure to talk to all my doctors about it. Since I’m getting it via IV, my biggest concern was getting too much magnesium.

What did I learn?

So much of this process is trial and error to see what works and what could continue to work in the long term for me. In between infusions I’ve started taking a magnesium supplement and I’ve noticed I feel a little more relaxed, and my sleep has been better. My currently high blood pressure is lower after an infusion, and it remains significantly lower even a few days later. I don’t know if it’s a fluke, but until I started researching, I didn’t realize how important magnesium is to the entire body, not just for quality sleep or preventing migraines.

Have you ever tried magnesium supplements for sleep? Let's talk about it in the comments.