For many patients and doctors Fibromyalgia is a huge mystery. Magnesium deficiency is a known factor in heart disease, fibromyalgia, anxiety and a host of other problems. Another possible reason people with more optimistic attitude live longer is that they may be happier and less worried because they have sufficient magnesium levels, which in turn may also have a protective effect on their hearts.

Those with Fibromyalgia may be lacking in magnesium, and should know about the benefits of magnesium.  The adult Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for magnesium is 350 mg per day for men and 280 milligrams for women. The typical American diet provides approximately 120 milligrams per 1,000 calories, meaning that a person that consumes fewer than 1,500 calories is likely to be deficient in magnesium. The absorption rate of magnesium ranges from 24 to nearly 85 percent, while magnesium derived from metallic sources is less absorbable, whereas magnesium derived from plant sources are more easily absorbed.

Magnesium deficiency accelerates the complications of fibromyalgia, diabetes, including retinopathy, thrombosis, and hypertension. This deficiency generally is not due to inadequate dietary intake, but instead to excessive gastrointestinal losses (from malabsorption, diarrhea, or bowel resection) or renal losses (for example, hypercalcemia, alcohol abuse, or the use of diuretics, chemotherapeutic agents, or antibiotics). Magnesium deficiency also occurs as a metabolic derangement of both thyroid and parathyroid disorders, and most often is a symptom of an underlying disease.