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I get a lot of email from people about my site who have many of the conditions listed such as fibromyalgia, neck pain, scoliosis, anxiety, depression, heart palpitations, migraines and floaters, and many of them also have obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). So tonight I looked OCD up on the Internet to see what it was about. After reading up on it, my best guess is that it is related to magnesium deficiency. I say this because OCD appears to be closely related to other conditions which are often linked to low levels of magnesium (hypomagnesia), especially tics and twitches.

I've never been diagnosed with OCD, but I can see some attributes of myself in the the description of the disorder, such as compulsive hair pulling. When I was in college I remember twisting my hair in the back of my head on my right side until it actually broke off and was much shorter than the hair on my left side. I knew it looked weird, but I couldn't stop pulling at it for some reason. I wonder now if it wasn't from a magnesium deficiency, which seems to cause all sorts of weird personality traits, including anxiety and depression. I remember also having lots of problems with insomnia and heart palpitations when I was in college, conditions that I now know are linked to low levels of magnesium. So I suspect the involuntary hair pulling may have been caused by my poor nutritional status, as well.

One of my close relatives has the classic OCD signs of germ phobia and frequent hand washing. At one point he was even carrying around a spray bottle of germ cleaner. He was a less extreme version of the Monk character on TV. I think in his case his problems were related to magnesium deficiency because the OCD symptoms seemed to coincide with increased levels of anxiety, tics and twitches, conditions with well established links to low magnesium levels. In his case his main symptoms appeared when he started taking supplements that contained many magnesium antagonists.

When he switched to a different nutritional supplement with a different mix of nutrients and started eating healthier, including more magnesium rich foods, his compulsive tendencies improved considerably. He is still more aware of germs than most people, but he no longer carries around the spray bottle of germ cleaner with him wherever he goes and is more within the bell curve on the hand washing front.

Interestingly, OCD is also linked to excessive hoarding, a condition that my father suffered from along with many other conditions linked to magnesium deficiencies, such as anxiety, depression and diabetes.

Interesting Links:

Obsessive Compulsion and Tics Linked to Sore Throats (Strep Throats) - Some doctors think strep throats cause OCD. I suspect they may be mistaking a complex multifactorial association for cause and effect. People who are low in minerals such as zinc and magnesium consequently may have low hyaluronic acid levels, which allows strep bacteria to take hold. Step invades the body by emitting an enzyme that breaks through the body's hyaluronic acid barrier.

Related pages:

Magnesium - lists conditions linked to a deficiency of this important mineral.

The Hypomagnesia & Migraine Headache Connection

Tics in Children - Facial and Eye Tics from Magnesium Deficiency

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