Erythromelalgia is a rare, often inherited pain syndrome which causes pain and redness of hands and feet. I just saw another woman who had both erythromelalgia and migraines. My observation of several patients who had both diseases does not mean that these conditions are connected since migraines are very common in the general population. However, magnesium is known to help both conditions, so it is possible that there are common underlying causes. In fact, a sodium channel mutation which is responsible for erythromelalgia was also found in a family with familial hemiplegic migraine. Magnesium is involved in the regulation of sodium channels (as well as calcium and potassium channels) in all cells of the body. Most people who are deficient in magnesium and suffer from erythromelalgia and/or migraines respond well to oral magnesium supplementation, but a small percentage requires monthly intravenous infusions. We give intravenous infusions to those patients who do not tolerate oral magnesium (get diarrhea or stomach pains), those who do not absorb it (as evidenced by persistently low RBC magnesium levels) and those who prefer a monthly infusion to taking a daily supplement.
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