MSM Powder Warning

[Yvette]

MSM is touted as a wonder supplement. It claims to make your skin clear and radiant, make your hair strong and thick, increase flexibility and relieve pain etc but this is not the full picture. I want to tell you my experience of msm because I have been mislead about this substance and I don’t want others to go through what I have.

My mom and I had heard such good stuff about msm so we were in no doubt about its safety when she stated taking it four months ago to grow her hair. However shortly after taking it she had some worrying side effects . She was taking one teaspoon each morning for two weeks, and then in the second week something strange happened with her sleep cycle and she started sleeping only once every two days, or in other words she would sleep one night and then the next night be awake all night. By the end of that week it dawned on her that it was the msm that had done this, so she stopped it immediately and thought in a few days or so she would go back to normal, but it has now been four months in all and she still cannot sleep!
It was definitely the MSM that disrupted her sleeping cycle as she is on no medication, healthy and was not taking any other supplements, the strange thing is that the MSM seems to have caused some kind of blockage in her body and nothing seems to cut through this blockage and make her better.


She has now spent hundreds of pounds trying every sleep remedy in the health shop and ayurveda and acupuncture and nothing worked at all. She has had to resign to sleeping pills from the doctor, the only thing that will allow her a few hours sleep a night.

We are so desperate to know how to reverse this side effect of the msm. Everywhere we look for information says msm is completely harmless and non toxic and yet it has caused this major side effect for my mom. We have emailed the raw food company we purchased it from (Detox your World) and called them about the situation and were very disheartened when they completely refused to know and kept declaring that msm is so wonderful and couldn’t possibly have caused my mom’s sleeping problem. But we know 100% that it did.

We have come to the realisation that even so called ‘harmless’ things are harmful to some individuals, and it really hurts when people refuse to believe you when you tell them that it has caused a problem. I am so sorry I ever found out about raw foods now, because if I hadn’t I would not have known about MSM, With raw food companies there is no comeback if you ever have any problems with their goods. Right now me and my mom feel so alone with this problem and we wish someone would help us.

I have watched her health go downhill, she is barely recognisable to the person she was before and it has been such a strain on the family. She is 60 years old and until now has been remarkably healthy and never had to take medication for any health problem. But since this has happened she has become suicidal and I’m worried if she doesn’t find a way to get better she will take her life. She often blames me for recommending the msm to her, but I never knew it could be harmful to anyone, everyday I live with the guilt that I have contributed to her distress, and if she doesn’t get better I will never forgive myself.

At the time she took it we were not aware msm is such a powerful liver detoxifier. She has spoken to a very qualified Harley Street Nutritionist whom she is going to see soon who told her over the phone that he believes the msm have upset her nervous system due to the liver (sulfation) pathway it detoxifies. As of now, we don’t know if this can be reversed but we are hoping it can be cured.

In my research on MSM I have also found on a particular forum that many people have terrible vivid nightmares when taking MSM. So bad, that many have had to discontinue use of it.

It is all too easy to get carried away with the good things to do with the raw food lifestyle, but by sharing the bad side it can help others. So if anyone has had a similar situation on MSM or any other side effect please share. If any one can help me with any suggestions on how to cure this problem I would be so grateful.

[Aleesha Sattva]

i am sending hugs your way... first and foremost! (((hugs)))

is your mom raw? i would recommend she becomes raw. perhaps even does a juice feast to assist with cleansing her body. if the msm was doing a detox on her liver and this happened i would guess that her liver was not the picture of health you both assumed it was. hence, why i would do a detox on it.

i know you said, "But we know 100% that it did." unfortunately the reality is, we have no way of knowing that. (we meaning the royal we) it may have been something that was coming and it happened at the same time. my mom's hubby is the same age and has stopped sleeping as well. they can't figure out why and nothing works to assist him. it's odd and we haven't been able to remedy the situation for him either.

again... sending you huge (((hugs)))

[Zella Juice]

"I am so sorry I ever found out about raw foods now, because if I hadn’t I would not have known about MSM"

Regarding this quote. Putting blame on the wrong thing does not help the situation. That is like your mother blaming you. You told her to take the supplement out of love..not because you wanted to hurt her. So get over feeling guilty. And if she tries to make you feel guilty...set her straight.

Now you just need to focus on getting better. And I agree that she should be eating more raw foods to get better so that she may cleanse it out. But, if she has not been a raw foodist..it might not be wise to go 100% right away. She needs lots of blended greens (ie green smoothies) and fresh juice..to flush out that stuff from her system. It's probably still hanging out in the bowels. I would suggest start her on a ton of fresh juice and green smoothies to get things back on track.

Being angry with raw foods is not going to help anything. They are still the foods that heal. And your mom needs to heal.

Be there to support her, and you both will get through this. And by telling others about your situation..you might save someone alot of trouble.

Thanks for your post. Hang in there. (((((hugs))))))

[Yvette]

Thanks Aleesha and zella juice for your replies. My mom is not raw but she is vegetarian and mostly avoids wheat and dairy and eats a fair amount of fruit and vegetables. She has never done any sort of specific detox before so I’m not sure if that is why the MSM had such a adverse affect on her body. In my opinion she was healthy before this happened but like you say , you just don’t know. I think the MSM shook up her system a bit and maybe it was too much too soon for her and caused a kind of healing crisis. I think she just regrets tampering with her body in the first place because she was happy with her level of health. In hindsight if she had known it was a powerful liver detox she would not have done it. I have suggested to her that we could do a detox together. We were considering doing the master cleanse, do you think this would be good?

[Zella Juice]

If she was a vegetarian..then yes..a detox would be helpful. As long as there are tons of blended greens. I have not been able to get to the point to do a juice fast..but just by having mostly juice and blended greens..and avacodo, red peppers and onions..my body is doing much MORE cleansing than after a year of green smoothies and mostly raw. I wasn't expecting this but it showed me that I was holding myself back by eating things that slowed down the digestion process. Even some raw things..like bananas ..were making it difficult to cleanse.

This is just my opinion and I wish I could say check with your doctor. But there aren't many doctors that are going to be helpful with this.

[Aleesha Sattva]

She has never done any sort of specific detox before so I’m not sure if that is why the MSM had such a adverse affect on her body.

I think any cleanse would be a good idea to be honest. 60 years of eating and drinking things which are processed or cooked... 60 years of possible medications... 60 years of breathing in pollution... 60 years of not cleansing your body once!

Think about that for just a moment and then realize... her body may be 'coping' well but it isn't necessarily healthy on the inside like she thought.

Any form of cleansing - master cleanse, juice feasting, green smoothie feast - will benefit her (and you) greatly. :) Do it together and make it fun!

We support you both! (((hugs)))

[raven]

I'm sorry for what you and your mom are going through. Are you sure you didn't buy synthetic MSM? I've found that products which are labeled raw MSM can be synthetic. It's hard to know what's genuinely effective and what isn't and what can be potentially harmful. I hope you find a way to help your mom.

Suzy

[queenfluff]

So sorry to hear about your mom.

Regarding the MSM, I am always recommending it to people myself for hair and nails etc. It is also good for arthitis and such. My mom starting using it for her knee after surgery for scar tissue and she said it was working great.

The thing is that 1 teaspoon is a very low MSM dosage for one day. I take a 1/2 tablespoon. David Wolfe takes up to 3 tablespoons a day! (not recommending anyone do that). MSM only stays in your body for 12 hour periods so if your mom was only taking 1 teaspoon in the morning - it was probably out of her body by the evening - it doesn't stay in there too linger about.

Yes, MSM is a detoxer not just for the liver but for your whole body- but that is a good thing. But honestly the 1 teaspoon your mom was taking probalby wasn't doing to much detoxing. Your mom isn't raw so she probably has some cleaning to do. When I was veg, I thought I was pretty healthy too - well, I ended coming hairs away from developing colon cancer - I was lucky I caught it in time. You might feel fine on the outside but there could be problems waiting on the inside.

Detox comes in many forms - insomnia can be one of them.

I would recommend doing the MC - it is great for cleansing out the colon and kidneys! And stop taking the MSM (obviously). But you might want to look into doing a liver and gallbladder cleanse if you are worried that the liver is detoxing out. When you cleanse you will be tried too because you don't eat anything so you will get sleepy. I just did an MC and I was pretty tried during some of it.

I know you are worried about your mom and it seem really easy to blame the MSM because this problem came when she was first taking it but I really think that there might be something else underlying that was stirred up at this time. Maybe the MSM released it?

If it were me I would keep cleansing and detoxing. I would stop taking the MSM while I was cleansing though (you aren't supposed to take supplements while you cleanse).

My personal belief is that sleeping pills make things worse.

It could be possiible that you got a some bad MSM? Although Detox your World being a raw site - I wouldn't think so. I would definatley not take any MSM that isn't pure - meaning no MSM with caking agents in it.

If you can get a chance, David Wolfe is the expert on MSM. If you can get to see him in person and maybe ask him that would be great!

Keep us posted on how your mom is doing. Hang in there! Sleep will come back when your body wants it - you just have to have a little faith - your body knows what it is doing. :)

[cherries]

How does one tell if it is synthetic or not? I have some MSM and the bottle says that it is methylsulfonlmathane? I read another post on MSM and it said that MSM comes from garlic. I read this site and it said that it is imposible to buy natural MSM, but that, on the other hand, MSM is identical in structure regardless of if it is natural or synthetic.

http://www.bulkmsm.com/research/msm/page33.htm
Hence, the only viable method for producing large commercial quantities of these life-giving sulfur compounds is by using chemical technology. Therefore, one can not buy "natural" MSM. It is not commercially possible. Instead, one must rely on chemical engineering and the skills of chemical engineers to produce commercial quantities of MSM. . . .

The process nature uses to produce MSM is rather similar to how humans produce it commercially. But MSM is not "natural," rather it is a synthetic product. The confusion in qualifying the source of MSM as "natural" or "synthetic" comes from the fact that MSM is identical in structure whether it comes from the factory or is found in nature.

[Anastazia]

{{{{{{{{{{{{HUGS}}}}}}}}}}}
First of all, please, pelase please, talk it through & work it out to forgive yourself & let go of the blame, anger, regret....the past can't be changed, but the toxic emotions held onto will harm BOTH of you, & your relationship!
Ask her for her forgiveness, recieve it, & please agree together to let go of that part of it...
...have you looked into her taking melatonin to sleep? It's a hormone our brain naturally produces, but the levels lessen as we age (which could be the root of what she's experiencing, & it can hit suddenly) & it really works! You take as little as possible, some take 3-5 milligrams(?) but I found even 1 was enough for me...(too much can cause intense dreams, & if you take it every night, it can slow down your brain's own production of it, but if that's already happening anyways, it's extremely benficial!)

I'll be keeping you both in my prayers, I know from experience that going without enough sleep is extremely stressful...remind her to pace herself thru the day, rest/nap whenever she can, & keep searching for answers! "Seek & ye SHALL find!" {Suicide is not the solution!!!}

~Anastazia~

[carolg]

I am so sorry to hear about the MSM effect on your mom's sleep pattern. You meant well for your mom suggesting this just like I would have done for a friend. I am wondering if she had a severe allergic reaction to it that messed up her system? Since I am going through NAET, allergy elimination with acupuncture this comes to mind as a thought. What about Ion cleanses done with a machine that releases lots of toxins?

What part of town are you in?

I know there are alternative egroups you may consider posting this too with herbalists, etc. on it. Maybe some of them also has heard of this before. I haven't. I am part of AlternativeAnswers there. It's not a sudden post, then reply group however. I believe emails are screened and then posted which can be a day or two before responses come forth.

My prayers are with you and mom. Please keep us posted. What part of town are you in? What about holistic doctors in your area? Post your location and maybe we can figure out something to help you both here.

I know drfuhrman is a medical doctor. What about curezone.com for some additional help? Maybe you can find suggestions and very active.

carolg

[lioness]

I had a bad reaction to MSM too when I started to take it like 6 months ago. I noticed that I got really constipated when I took it. It made my stools hard and I think I was getting hemorrhoids something I've never had before. I stopped taking it and the problem went away. I think that some people myself included shouldn't take MSM especially if you have liver problems. I also did some research on MSM and on one website it says that you shouldn't take it if you have liver problems because it can cause a severe detox reaction and I think that's what happended to me. Maybe your mother needs to do a liver and bowel cleanse and that will help her to move that MSM out of her system and repair her liver. Because the liver is one of the major cleansing organs and if your liver is impaired then your bowel and other organs are too. If your mother eats meat I'm quite sure her liver has been compromised in some way because meat is heavy on the liver, kidneys and bowels as well as the lymph system. So maybe slowly converting her to a raw foods diet is the way to help her get well. But I wouldn't blame raw foods for her condition, I think that you just feel guilty because you introduced your mother to it and she is now sick. Guilt and feelings of resentment is not the way your mother is going to get well because that's negative energy and you can't heal on negative energy. So instead of her blaming you and you blaming yourself turn that into positive energy by encouraging her and getting more info on ways to help her. It will get better just hang in there and know that your mother will get better. I know how you feel my mother has diabetes and there was a time that she was in and out of the hospital every week, but I took her to a naturopathic doctor and now she's much better. She hasn't been to the hospital in months. So I know how you feel and how your mother is feeling. My mom was giving us the death speech when she was in the hospital, the you're going to have to learn how to get along without me speech. I told her that I wasn't going to accept that and as soon as she got out of the hospital I took her to the naturopathic doctor and now she's better, no more "death" talk. She now has hope and knows that it will be alright. You have to fight for what you love sometimes. Be encouraged.

[Harleybabe]

msm is great unless you have impaired sulfur oxidation.... which I JUST found out I have....

basically you cannot get rid of the sulfur, impaired sulfur oxidation..... I am still in the research phase ... sorry I cannot be of more help right now.

[Yvette]

Thanks for all your responses.

Harley babe did you take msm? and can you please give me more information about impaired sulfur oxidation. I posted the same topic on another raw foods forum yesterday and a guy gave me a link to a comprehensive website about msm and its side effects. I read something about how people with autism cannot metabolise sulfur and so msm is very bad for them. Is this what you meant?

Before I recommended the msm to my mom I was taking it my self on and off for varying periods of time. I did not get the problem with insomnia like she had, but looking back recently since my moms problems I have been really worried about the effect it may have had on me. There was a time when I suddenly started experiencing vivid bad dreams and nightmares, and looking back I realise that I was probably taking msm during the particularly bad times.

I have done some more research and while I do not have autism I have had an anxiety disorder since I was about 3 years old and anxiety is classed as an autism spectrum disorder. I’m worried I may have damaged my body by taking sulfur. They say people with autism spectrum disorders usually have high levels of mercury in their body. They recommended getting a hair test done to confirm this. I think I will have to do this. My anxiety disorder has been worse since the msm and if there is toxic metals in my body sulfur will only shift them around my body and make my symptoms worse.

When I told my mom that I remembered that msm had caused me to have nightmares she said how could you not have known it was the msm. But I told her that I always had it in mind that msm was completely harmless so never attributed it to that and I thought it was just caused by my anxiety disorder. At the time I was going through a lot of stress and trauma and I just thought there was something wrong with me, now in hindsight after all this research I realise it was the msm that had messed me up. I don’t know if I can reverse the damage, I am so scared.

[Zella Juice]

How long have you been on Raw Foods?

Raw foods have been known to reverse alot of things. Miracles have happened to many people on this site.

Think positively. Juice like crazy every day. Blend leafy greens with your juice. Just make it a regime and tell yourself you will get through this.

My husband is not even 100% raw but he started juicing a couple years ago. At 24 he thought he would have to have surgury on a hemmorid. He could not have a bowl movement without blood coming out ever since he was a child. At 24 he started juicing every day and having green smoothies and it went away on it's own. To me that is a miracle. He stopped eating meat and cheese and has a mostly raw diet. All from juicing. He was not going to go on a diet. He didn't want to change the way he ate. He didn't know how it was possible. But adding the fresh juice made him see it was possible.

Juice Juice Juice. You WILL get better.