What Do You Take? Supplements for Fibromyalgia & Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
What supplements are you taking for fibromyalgia (FMS) or chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS or ME/CFS)? The answer to that question varies with who you ask.
What supplements should we take, and what evidence is there to show what's effective? The answer to those questions also varies with who you ask. That makes researching this topic a huge, complicated, convoluted, controversial, self-contradictory headache. (Trust me, I know - I just spend two weeks up to my ears in it!)
To save you the agony, I've put together a review of some of the most common supplements recommended for FMS and ME/CFS:
Vitamins & Supplements for Treating Fibromyalgia & Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
It covers:
- Vitamin B12
- NADH
- CoQ 10
- Magnesium malate
- DHEA
- Carnitine
It's not a complete list, but I plan to add on to it over time, and it's a good place to start. The information is based on accepted medical science and is approved by About.com's Medical Review Board.
What supplements do you take? Do you notice a difference? What would you like to know more about that's not in this review? Let us know by posting a comment here or in About.com's Fibromyalgia & Chronic Fatigue Syndrome forum.
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Comments
I am learning what helps me and what doesn’t an have altered my diet slightly as well as increased the amount of suppliments I take. Here in the UK they haven’t banned aspartame, but I completely avoid products that contain it.
Suppliment-wise I take the following: Magnesium (I can’t find the Malate version over here on its own at the moment), Calcium (as I have a deficiency), Co Q10, Starflower Oil. I also take something called ‘Berocca’, I personally have found it to help me a lot! Main ingredients include Magnesium, Zinc, Vitamin B and Vitamin C.
I take Vitamin C, D, Omega3 and a multi. I think it would be wise to add…check with your doctor before taking any type of supplements as it may not work well with other medications.
Hi again,
Your list is good but I’d like to add something that comes under the category of Alternative Medicine. This is very controversial but take it from someone who was helped by it, acupuncture really can help - it depends a lot on the practitioner - and the type of ME/CFS/FM you have.
We all know by now that there are many subtypes. The researchers will be determining all that for years to come. But I had a very good experience with an M.D. who was my PCP and had studied acupuncture in China.
Once she figured out my “sub-types” she helped me a lot. I used to go about once a month once she had me figured out for what I called a tune-up or jump start depending on whether I was in a serious flare or just feeling punkier than usual.
But choose your practitioner carefully. Do a lot of homework - word of mouth is the best - from a fellow ME/CFS/FM person. A bad practitioner - particularly one who doesn’t really believe in ME/CFS/FM - can put you into a serious relapse.
Nancy
Nancy,
I agree - I’m a huge fan of acupuncture! I’m fortunate that my rheumatologist is trained in Chinese medicine, so she’s my acupuncturist as well.
A lot of Western research now supports acupuncture, in general and for treating our conditions. There’s more info here:
Acupuncture for Treating Fibromyalgia & Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
I am surprised that no one has mentioned SAMe. It gets me through the day sometimes when nothing else will. Granted, it is expensive, so I can’t take it as often as I might like to, but when I am in bad shape, it is an immeasurable help!
I find I am ill or catch more things if I dont religiously takr vit c , multi vit and eve primrose. I have tried several times to stop taking them but each time I do im ill. The illness Im talking about isnt just my fibro symptoms but also viruses of one sort or another.