Well I need my calcium too of course, so I take it at a different time to my magnesium. Yeesh, I know what you mean about this all being very difficult!! Funny you say calcium helps you sleep..... when I was on my cal/ mag supplement I started sleeping like a baby (I used to suffer really bad insomnia) but since switching to 100 % mag I've noticed the insomnia creeping back a bit. How about that! Perhaps I'll up the amount of calcium I take and see if it makes a difference. Well you really do learn something new every day!
As for the cal inhibiting mag uptake, its interesting, because most mag supplements have cal in them!? As if life wasn't hard enough to understand as it is!! So do you still have problems with C or are your BMs improving with the mag? Mine improved dramatically when I started mag/cal, probiotics & digestive enzymes, but them I started getting really C again, after a couple of months. But the problem was this was when I was just starting Heathers diet so was cutting out veges and was trying wheat again (urghhhh). So I think it was a combination of the cal inhibiting the mag uptake, plus changing my diet. Nevertheless, when I changed to straight mag, my bowel problems cleared up within days.
I don't know, too hard! Give it a try anyhow, let me know if you notice any difference.
Luv T xx
-------------------- ~ Live life, don't let life live you ~