MSM side effect

Thinsposa

Hi all,
Just wondering if anyone else is on the supplement MSM (Methylsulfonylmethane), I've been taking it for about a week now for joint pain and also hair growth, and am experience these insanely vivid dreams, to the point where I can tell you what happens from start to finish, they can be somewhat dark at times too. I'm not complaining or anything, it's really quite entertaining when I wake up and recap, I was only wondering if anyone else is experiencing this? Tah.

_Refried_

These possible side effects included:


Nausea
Diarrhea
Bloating
Headache
Fatigue
Insomnia
Trouble concentrating
Signs of an allergic reaction, such as:
A rash or hives
Itching
Swelling of the mouth or throat
Wheezing
Difficulty breathing.
Think I would take Tylenol for the joint pain!! Whats the name of it at the store, I love those lucid dreams because I rarely remember mine.

NWCountryGal

Yes, I've been having weird dreams and also, little sort of upper intestinal pains. I'm going to quit using it. denise

I didn't like the "dream" I had either, it was more of a nightmare:(

spud_chick

I did notice a difference in dreams, but I was also in the process off getting off of a prescription sleep aid when I started taking MSM again, so it's hard to tell which affected the dreams most. Interesting that this was one effect you and others experienced. I've found magnesium to be very helpful for sleep (magnesium citrate tablets taken with dinner).

This is long, but I'm writing it because while there's a lot of information out there on MSM, it doesn't always include information about what to expect when taking it. I found a lot of this belatedly. I'm sharing what I've learned by reading and actually taking it. There is a lot of information out there about the variety of things it can benefit (like diabetes) and how it works, which you can easily find. I'm just giving my own experience here.

I've started a short-term (couple months) high-dose MSM cycle to address a few issues, mainly joint repair and helping my skin keep up with weight loss. It's a very popular supplement for skin/hair/nails as well as for joints and general health. It can be very helpful for people who are sensitive to shellfish and can't take other joint supplements like glucosamine/chondroitin, and indeed a lot of joint products include it.

MSM itself is very safe if you are taking a pure, well-manufactured supplement, but there's a lot of junk out there containing nasty by products or simply trace amounts of other products if the mfr. standards are lax.. Buy MSM from a good, well-known brand. Opti-MSM is a high quality licensed form that is used by many supplement manufacturers, so you can look for that on the label if you want to play it safe.

The three big things to know--

1. there's a detox/adjustment period when you start taking it, during which side effects are most likely to appear, and you should gradually increase your intake to best manage the adjustment period.

2. you MUST drink lots of water to help your body clear out the wastes MSM eliminates, especially when starting. VERY IMPORTANT.

3. MSM works best when taken with vitamin C, so boost your C when you boost the MSM.

There's an adjustment period when you start taking it, with side effects that are, according to reports, usually temporary. Also, working up gradually (in 500mg increments, waiting a week or two between increases) tends to produce fewer side effects by giving your body time to adjust. Although you can do high doses (5000-10,000mg) safely for strategic purposes like chelation/detox or just to build up the system quickly before going to maintenance, the typical target daily dose is 500-1000mg, best taken in the morning or daytime as it is stimulating to energy production and thus not particularly restful. Even when taking 'conventional' doses, there can be an adjustment period.

WATER is extremely important when taking MSM, and you will want to drink more even if you think you drink plenty. MSM works to build healthy new cells everywhere in the body and improves permeability, enabling cells to better dispose of wastes, toxins and irritants. That's why it's good for reducing inflammation. Because of this, especially if your cells haven't been functioning well before you started taking MSM, your body will start getting rid of a backlog of garbage. Basically, it's a detox effect. Whenever your body is disposing of lots of waste, you need lots of water to replace the water that's trying to flush out your kidneys and other waste handling bits. Otherwise you can become dehydrated, experience bloating/constipation/headache etc. The initial cell waste dumping is the reason for most of the side effects people notice, although most of them subside with adequate hydration. Avoiding or limiting alcohol and caffeine (and of course Junk in general) while your body is adjusting helps facilitate this process and helps keep hydration levels up. This is a struggle for me as I can't live without coffee, but I am dutifully drinking more water to make up for it (and peeing every hour, day and night, sigh).

I am having side effects, but I expected some because I'm at 2500mg daily and working up. I was taking 500mg daily as part of a joint complex and started boosting it again a few weeks ago. The first side effect was craaaazy hunger, which freaked me out as massive eating was never the reason for my weight gain (inactivity due to chronic pain was my problem). I fought it for a few days but then read that it's common, and I felt hungry in my very skin and bones, so I switched to maintaining my current weight for a while to give myself more calories while the MSM was doing its thing. I felt sooo much better after I started eating more, and now after about two weeks the hunger is starting to normalize. I'll probably give it one more week before I return to a deficit. At the same time, I seemed to want to sleep and rest more, although I didn't feel *bad*; it felt like I was actively healing and just needed more rest. I didn't stop exercising but did cut back a little, again, listening to my body. I know what you're thinking, eating more and doing less.... but no, the scale has actually started creeping back down after a long lull! It could be a metabolic boost from eating more after 6 months at deficit, could be the MSM, and I don't know which it is, but my point is that obeying the hunger and the rest did not make me gain weight. To be fair though, I have read that some women experienced weight gain after getting on MSM, but from what they wrote it appeared they were not tracking their diet and likely ate a LOT more when the hunger came on without realizing it. I've also read that MSM helped people get rid of the last few stubborn pounds after generally good results with weight loss, so as long as you're aware of what you're eating, MSM does not need to equal weight gain.

One of the side effects for women which is NOT well communicated on most pages about MSM is that it can temporarily affect your menstrual cycles. Some women report shorter (more frequent) cycles but also lighter, shorter periods with fewer PMS symptoms and less pain, and that is what I'm experiencing. 27 days went to 25, but with a lot less low back pain and cramping. Normally my back is messed up and my abdomen feels heavy for days beforehand, not now. PMS is one of the conditions it's used for, although information about MSM and female functions is hard to find. Most information is anecdotal. There is no feeling that my hormones are out of whack or anything, indeed I felt so little fluctuation that the TOM surprised me without the usual warning signals. TOM always made the inflammation all over my body snowball, and although I didn't have crazy PMS before, I didn't have any chocolate cravings or feel 'weepier' leading up to the TOM last time. I'll take the shorter cycles thank you, especially if it's not permanent.

On the positive side, I noticed an improvement in my joints within a week, recovering better after exercise and less 'chatter' out of them through out the day. Same with the skin; it feels firmer and tighter already and looks better both on face and body. It seems like the keratitis pilaris that started creeping up on my arms a couple of years ago is diminishing, which is very nice. My nails seem to be getting stronger. Too soon to know if it will alter my hair. Some people report that their skin gets worse initially during detox and then improves, especially if they have acne or other skin problems. I didn't have that experience but then I take detox baths regularly.

I do believe that you might not see the benefits of MSM as quickly if you are not getting enough of your basic building blocks (vitamins, minerals, protein, etc.) I realized I had a magnesium deficiency back in January and was already supplementing that to very good effect when I started the MSM ramp-up.

Hope this helps.

DancingMoosie

I take it daily and have not noticed any side effects. I get mine from Swanson's, and it is usually BOGO.

FitGuyWillDoIt

Not sure. I do use MSM for joint pain but not regularly and with no noticeable side effects. Thanks for posting and I'll let you know if anything happens. Have taken as much as 5,000 mg. and use Solgar brand.

spud_chick

Not everyone reports problems, but of course that might have to do with how much detox/repair you're in store for. If you've had a lot of health issues and/or maybe have a few more years on you, it seems like you'd have more detox to do.

One of the reasons I got on it was because magnesium deficiency can result in excess unusable calcium collecting in organs and joints, since magnesium not only helps calcium do its job but also helps remove excess free calcium from the system. Since MSM is a mild chelator, I am hoping it will break out and clear up any 'loitering' excess calcium/deposits that shouldn't be there (along with any other junk). I've always had high calcium levels according to bloodwork so an excess was a real possibility.

FitGuyWillDoIt

Just want to add that my first experience with MSM was about a year ago. I was shooting this video production and one of the guys is a nutritionist at a hospital. He gave me five pills of 1,000 mg of MSM with about four more of glucosamine / chondroitin. I was in serious pain. He said two thing: A) It's common for pro athletes to do this and The body flushes it out. It did work too.

I only take it occasionally when the pain is 11.

WAnnB

bump

EDesq

Will Try!

spud_chick

Just want to add that my first experience with MSM was about a year ago. I was shooting this video production and one of the guys is a nutritionist at a hospital. He gave me five pills of 1,000 mg of MSM with about four more of glucosamine / chondroitin. I was in serious pain. He said two thing: A) It's common for pro athletes to do this and The body flushes it out. It did work too.

I only take it occasionally when the pain is 11.

This is interesting for me because I have not seen this kind of short-term, 'critical' use of MSM described before. Usually it's one of those things you expect to start helping after a few days to few weeks at conventional dosages. I would not have thought it could do a fast pain repair. Nice to know it can attack acute inflammation like that.

Usually it's recommended to take it daily (long term) with the option of shorter high-intake periods to cleanse and rebuild. I plan to continue daily use at 1000mg when the intensive program is over because it's supposed to aid cell rebuilding, which goes on constantly and probably needs more help as you get older.

sammniamii

What is the "safe" dosage? I take a Glucosime + MSM combo mix, 3 pils = 1500mg Gluc & 1500mg MSM

spud_chick

What is the "safe" dosage? I take a Glucosime + MSM combo mix, 3 pils = 1500mg Gluc & 1500mg MSM

According to what I've found, it's *safe* to take even 10,000mg safely, but most people seem to take between 500 and 2000 as a regular dosage. Supplement bottles themselves often have between 1500-1800 as the daily recommendation. Ladies on the long hair forums seem to take 2000-3000 to feed their tresses, about the same for the skin problem forums. Your dosage sounds typical and certainly enough to make a difference based on my own experience. I'll probably go back to 1000mg daily when I feel this rebuild has run its course and do periodic boosts when necessary. Daily needs likely vary for everyone.

AFAIK the only time MSM might be a problem is if you have impaired kidney function, and even then it's apparently not 100% contraindicated. If you have kidney or liver problems you should be running this stuff by a professional anyway.

sammniamii

Many thanks - I was thinking of adding a stand alone MSM (1000mg) to everything as the current dosage isn't doing everything I hope (IE: still have alot of painful joint issues). I wish I could go back to Sam-E, but side effects made me go hunt up something else (the msm).

MSMFirsttime

HI, i been taking MSM Powder Jarrow Brands for 2 weeks now i start it with only one scoop and work my way on the 2nd week to 2 scoops, i notice a day before the 2nd week i was going to get a cold sore on my lip were i usuealy get it once a year but i haven't had one sence 2011... so i notice i was getting the read bump but i imediatly i took my MSM and it just didn't develop and i was super happy but!!!!!!!!!!!! 2 days i walk up and Bam!!!! there it was already develop and it was a bit bigger then i normally get it My question is, Dose this have to do with MSM detoxing my body? and the reason why i am getting a cold sore also i notice back pain when i was hoping it didn't do that lol... any suggestions?

thank you in advance!!!

spud_chick

I'd think it was a detox effect, myself, yes. You are starting off with a much higher amount than I did, I would have probably started at a half scoop and worked up adding half scoops per week from there. So, you are probably having pretty intense detox effects, and it might be harder for your body to keep up with. If I were you, I'd cut back a bit on the MSM and make sure you're drinking LOTS of water to help your body get rid of the wastes. How are you feeling now? I see this post was a few days ago.