Thanks for all the info. This sounds inane but I was really going by the packaging of Epsom Salts which usually cautions against using it as a laxative frequently. I can see where some magnesium might be helpful, especially if what you don't need washes away.
I can deal with swallowing things that taste bad, along with handfuls of supps. My family thinks I'm nuts of course. My husband advised me last night that the ache on my right side under my rib cage couldn't possibly be my liver ("which is, like, down around here") and that I should just get a job with health insurance and go to the doctor. 0_0