Posted by Annie Z. on March 10, 2002, at 14:14:50
In reply to chronic pain -- it's baaaak, posted by Elizabeth on March 9, 2002, at 2:25:20
Elizabeth,
Before I found relief, I suffered from myofascial pain in my wrists, my forearms and upper arms for about a year (and intermittently before my year-long struggle). I went to a Rheumatologist, tried physical therapy, and tried to take strong NSAIDs. Everything worked somewhat, but I was still very disabled. Cleaning, typing and even rolling the grocery cart around in the store, all hurt.
Finally, I tried SAMe (S-adenosylmethionine). After about three days on two, 200-mg pills, my pain was almost completely gone. Shortly thereafter, my pain disappeared completely, and I never had pain in my arms again -- that is, until I stopped taking the SAMe. I tried to stop SAMe, and my pain returned, as painful and annoying as it was before. (By the way, after I started the True Hope supplement (about 28 pills/day), I no longer needed to take the SAMe, but this is another story.)
SAMe has been shown in several published studies to be specifically effective as a therapy to reduce the chronic pain associated with fibromyalgia. Please see the journal article that follows.
Unfortunately, as you probably know, SAMe is very expensive. Also, a lot of the companies that make SAMe do not put the labeled dose in their product. In fact, you are a lot more likely to be ripped off in buying SAMe than in most other supplements. For this reason, to get a reliable source of SAMe is imperative. I bought my SAMe from the “Life Extension Foundation, (LEF),” because I believe they are very professional and, I think, a non-profit foundation. They have an independent lab, which evaluates all of their products.
As far as the price, you can buy 200 200-mg pills from LEF for about $43. 400 to 800 mg of SAMe is the is the dose for SAMe that LEF suggests. That will run you about one dollar to two dollars per day. I only needed to take 400 mg of SAMe.
I hope you try this strategy, because I think our diagnoses are similar; and this may very well help you.
Annie Z.
Evaluation of S-adenosylmethionine in primary fibromyalgia. A double-blind crossover study
Tavoni A, Vitali C, Bombardieri S, Pasero G
Institute of Medical Pathology I, University of Pisa, Italy.
Am J Med 1987 Nov 20;83(5A):107-10
The effect of S-adenosylmethionine (SAMe) and placebo was evaluated in a short-term crossover study of 17 patients with primary fibromyalgia. Eleven of 17 patients had a significant depressive state as assessed by either the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale or the Scala di Autovalutazione per la Depressione (SAD) rating scale. The number of trigger points plus painful anatomic sites decreased after administration of SAMe (p < 0.02) but not after placebo treatment. In addition, scores on both the Hamilton and SAD rating scales improved after SAMe administration (p < 0.05 and p < 0.005, respectively), whereas they did not significantly change after placebo treatment. In all the patients, there was a good correlation between scores on the Hamilton rating scale and the number of trigger points. Thus, this preliminary study confirms the close relationship between primary fibromyalgia and psychologic disturbances, particularly with regards to a depressive state. SAMe treatment, by improving the depressive state and reducing the number of trigger points, seems to be an effective and safe therapy in the management of primary fibromyalgia.
poster:Annie Z.
thread:97162
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020307/msgs/97355.html