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.

Hi Elixir, thanks for sharing your story on MSM and am really sorry to hear about your mum.

MSM can get heavy metal contamination, therefore getting good source is very important also some MSMs have toxic exipients in them and wondered if either of these could have caused the metabolic disturbance you described, did the harley street nutritionist run tests to confirm exactly what metabolic pathway has been harmed, because I'm sure there is a solution.

I don't think sleeping pills will be less harmful than MSM, those things really are poison, loaded with more metals exipients and synthetic stuffs than MSM and will wreck your metabolic pathways, I received some damage myself from anti depressants.

Some info here on MSM and metals exipients etc http://www.a1msm.co.uk/msm_crystals_flakes.htm

and here http://www.msmguide.com/msm-facts/manufacturing.html

perhaps you could ask for a lab report on the MSM to see if heavy metal contamination is the problem.

I hope you find a solution to the problem, what does the nutritionist reccomend for healing the pathways?

Hi Elixir, someone posted a similar question to David Wolfe in a recent interview was it you?

Personally ive had great experiences with MSM and everyone else who I have heard using it seems to say the same things also. A book has been written on MSM by Stanley Jacob ,his email adress is available on the site, you could contact him with your query.

As for the insomnia these two products are definetly worth trying http://www.qnlabs.com/product_pdfs/Tranquility%20Complex.pdf and http://www.qnlabs.com/product_pdfs/Melatonin%20Nano%20Plex.pdf. If you contact them they will be able to give you much more info.