Hypomagnesemia (patient information)

For the WikiDoc page on this topic, click here.

Hypomagnesemia
Overview
What are the symptoms?
What are the causes?
Diagnosis
When to seek urgent medical care?
Treatment options
Where to find medical care for Hypomagnesemia?
Prevention
What to expect (Outlook/Prognosis)?
Possible complications
Hypomagnesemia On the Web
Ongoing Trials at Clinical Trials.gov
Images of Hypomagnesemia
Videos on Hypomagnesemia
FDA on Hypomagnesemia
CDC on Hypomagnesemia
Hypomagnesemia in the news
Blogs on Hypomagnesemia
Directions to Hospitals Treating Hypomagnesemia
Risk calculators and risk factors for Hypomagnesemia

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1] Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Charmaine Patel, M.D. [2]

Overview

Hypomagnesemia means low levels of magnesium in the blood.

What are the symptoms of Hypomagnesemia?

Common symptoms include:

• Abnormal eye movements (nystagmus)
• Convulsions
• Fatigue
• Muscle spasms or cramps
• Muscle weakness
• Numbness

What causes Hypomagnesemia?

Several conditions can cause hypomagnesemia, including:

• Alcoholism
• Chronic diarrhea
• High blood calcium levels (hypercalcemia)
• Hyperaldosteronism
• Malabsorption syndromes, such as celiac disease and inflammatory bowel disease
• Malnutrition
• Medications including amphotericin, cisplatin, cyclosporine, diuretics, and aminoglycoside antibiotics
• Excessive urination (polyuria), such as in uncontrolled diabetes and during recovery from acute kidney failure

Sweating

Diagnosis

Your health care provider will do a complete physical examination to help determine the cause of your symptoms.

Signs include:

• Electrocardiogram (ECG) changes
• Low blood calcium level (hypocalcemia)
• Low blood potassium level (hypokalemia)

Blood and urine tests will be done. Other tests that can confirm hypomagnesemia include:

Comprehensive metabolic panel

• Magnesium blood test
• Urine magnesium test

Where to find medical care for Hypomagnesemia?

Directions to Hospitals Treating Condition