Mag-Tab SR Adverse Reactions

The most common side effects with oral magnesium salts are loose stools and diarrhea.
Tolerability: Mag-Tab SR is generally well-tolerated and no serious adverse reactions have been reported. In well controlled double-blind, placebo controlled studies that employed up to 42 mEq of magnesium L-lactate dihydrate in sick cardiac patients, side effects including loose stools and diarrhea occurred no more often than placebo. Hypermagnesemia would be classified as: Toxic Serum Levels: >5 mEq/L; Magnesium Toxic Serum Levels: >12 mEq/L lactate; Lethal serum levels: greater than 25 mEq/magnesium.
A number of studies in the USA and Europe have demonstrated the safety of magnesium lactate. In one study, subjects received 3 g/day for 30 days, followed by 1.5 g/day for at least another two months. Tolerance was described as "usually perfect". Another study of 40 subjects following the same dosage regimen reported excellent tolerance in all but one subject.
In a study of 22 subjects treated with 3 g/day for six months, no intolerance was reported. A second study evaluated long-term magnesium lactate supplementation in 82 subjects reporting only minimal side effects: headache in one subject and diarrhea in another.
A recent double-blind study found that chronic oral administration of magnesium lactate, amounting to 12 mmol daily for one month, was well-tolerated in thirty healthy volunteers.
Mag-Tab SR contains L-lactate as the anion. The levorotatory (L-) lactate salts are more soluble and better tolerated than the dextrorotary (D-) and racemic (DL-) salts.
Lactate, or lactic acid, is a normal constituent of the body. It is produced during glucogenesis by active skeletal muscle and erythrocytes. The lactate formed by the active muscle through a series of chemical reactions is converted into glucose by the liver.
The daily lactate turnover in humans is 2 grams per kilogram of body weight, or on the order of 120 to 140 grams daily. Two to four tablets of Mag-Tab SR will add 1.246 to 2.492 grams of lactate daily - a negligible addition to the physiologic load that is normally handled daily. Although human studies defining a maximum lactate load are not available, on the basis of utilization of lactic acid in intermediary metabolism it has been concluded that the acceptable daily lactate intake need not be limited.