# MSM cured my IBS



## mikeralph (Jan 27, 2003)

yes that is correct. MSM (methyl sulfonyl methane)gave me 3 1/2 months of almost symptom free relief. that was after 20 years of uninterrupted suffering from cramping, bloating and constipation. I also had to eliminate sugar and cut back on carbs but the MSM was the UNMISTAKEABLE component to my recovery. now the bad news. i had to quit taking it (15 grams/day) because it caused a horrible bout of anxiety, energy (which had an upside), insomnia, and eventually depression. my theory is that it increased my methionine levels and therefore my adrenalin levels through the roof which also caused a severe drop in my histidine/histamine levels. the loss of histamine may be the cause of the anxiety and insomnia which escalated into a full blown depression. i also think it dropped my serotonin levels (prozac went from 2mg. to 20 mg.)fortunately i was able to quickly reverse it by stopping the MSM and taking some 5-HTP (quit the prozac) and some N-acetyl-L-tyrosine. now i am once again hopeless -- I knew it was too good to be true. this curse will be the death of me yet.


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## mikeralph (Jan 27, 2003)

it was truly unbelievable. for the first time in 20 years i had normal peristalsis. i also had very large well-formed bowel movements. all i had to do was take 15 MSM's every morning. plus it gave me loads of energy and it also repaired my badly damaged knee. the only drawback was that it created a nasty chemical imbalance in my brain. now if only i can figure out why it worked i might be able to find a substitute product.


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## mikeralph (Jan 27, 2003)

the effects were noticed the very NEXT day!!! i took approx. 15 grams per day. the doctor who wrote the book, The Miracle of MSM, wrote that it does provide swift relief for constipation, relief for allergies, it is anti-viral, anti-parasitic, and as a methyl and sulfur DONOR it helps rebuild critical membranes and tissues.the amazing thing is that this "so called" swift relief was NOT diarhea but instead perfectly formed stools.


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## flux (Dec 13, 1998)

> quote: The Miracle of MSM, wrote that it does provide swift relief for constipation, relief for allergies, it is anti-viral, anti-parasitic, and as a methyl and sulfur DONOR it helps rebuild critical membranes and tissues.


There is no evidence that MSM does anything other than make your wallet slimmer: http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelate...cs/DSH/msm.html


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## mikeralph (Jan 27, 2003)

yo flux....i read that review a long time ago from quackwatch. i have never read such flawed logic in my entire life. that idiot dietician makes the claim that "none" of us could possibly ever be deficient in methionine because it is in every food on the planet. what a moron!first of all, many of us who have horrible digestion and have trouble breaking protein chains may very well have amino acid deficiencies. also, people who are under a constant, severe allergic attack become deficient in almost everything including B6, folic acid, B12 all of which are critical for the processing of the sulfur amino acids.read the research from the Princeton Biobrain institute and you will see that in cases of chronic illness the most common foulup is in the way our bodies handle sulfur/methionine!!!that fool sold herself out for a lousy $1000. Quackwatch does a lot of good but they sure hosed that one up pretty good.quackwatch is funded by powerful lobby groups that are out to protect large corporate interests.the founder is a pillpushing psychiatrist with an ax to grind.


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## mikeralph (Jan 27, 2003)

overall quackwatch is a BIG JOKE!according to Quackwatch people who claim to have IBS are nothing but a bunch of malingering, head-cases who are looking for extra sick days or just want to whine about something.


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## flux (Dec 13, 1998)

> quote:first of all, many of us who have horrible digestion and have trouble breaking protein chains may very well have amino acid deficiencies. also, people who are under a constant, severe allergic attack become deficient in almost everything including B6, folic acid, B12 all of which are critical for the processing of the sulfur amino acids.


Nobody with just IBS has any physical problem with digestion, nor do they have any nutrient deficiencies. Food allergies are generally not associated with IBS and they don't normally cause nutrient deficiencies either.


> quote:you will see that in cases of chronic illness the most common foulup is in the way our bodies handle sulfur/methionine!!!


Most diseases have nothing at all do with either of these chemicals.


> quote:according to Quackwatch people who claim to have IBS are nothing but a bunch of malingering, head-cases


Another fabrication: http://www.quackwatch.org/03HealthPromotion/ibs.html


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## mikeralph (Jan 27, 2003)

Nobody with just IBS has any physical problem with digestion, nor do they have any nutrient deficiencies. Food allergies are generally not associated with IBS and they don't normally cause nutrient deficiencies either._________________the above is a quote from FLUX (a man desperate for attention because no woman wants anything to do with him)_______________you are sooooooooo wrong! everyone has trigger foods. one of my worst is wheat, but for 10 years i did not know it. the villi in my small intestines were damaged due to this food intolerance which caused all kinds of problems with my digestion. from there everything snowballed.when your villi are flattened and damaged it becomes very difficult to extract the proper nutrients that one needs. when your body starts reacting to almost everything you eat because the person is unaware of what is going on then the body becomes very malnourished.i have numerous test results that show i was deficient in every mineral except calcium which was in the normal range.flux you are sooooooo twisted it is almost scary. you are the type of guy who is likely to become one of these psychopathic serial killers. your every thought is negative. i guess it is better that you are relieving your hostility here than on some innocent women and children. get help. being ugly and undesirable can't be that bad can it?


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## flux (Dec 13, 1998)

> quote:everyone has trigger foods.


It doesn't necessarily mean that a person is allergic or even intolerant to it. IBS can exaggerate normal body responses.


> quote: when your villi are flattened and damaged


What you are describing is celiac disease, not IBS.


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## Guest (Feb 2, 2003)

Whatever works for you is great!







willie


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## Sues (Dec 5, 2001)

Mikerralph At the risk of sounding lazy,would you post the places where I could puchase the MSM and two other products that jumpstarted your peristalis, as I am facing a Surgeon who feels that my IBS-C will be eliminated by total colon removal. I have no peristalic movement and have not had any in years. Thanks, Sue


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## Guest (Feb 2, 2003)

I'm pretty sure you can find MSM at Walmart, GNC or other health food and nutrition stores...Its worth a try..can't hurt.


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## hiprise (Nov 19, 2002)

I took MSM for awhile a couple of years ago for another condition and I don't remember it helping with my constipation. It probably works in people differently. I'd like to try it again and see if it makes things better or not. I got my MSM at GNC. It really helps with people who have rhematoid arthritis.


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## mikeralph (Jan 27, 2003)

sue,i have been following your messages. at one point i actually said to myself, "thank God I don't have her problems ------- yet"MSM can be found in any health food store. it is gaining in popularity mostly due to word of mouth. I believe in investigating and research before i make any purchases. therefore i recommend that you read the book, "The Miracle of MSM" by Dr. Stanley Jacob. he emphatically states that it offers "swift relief from constipation".as hiprise states, "it works differently for different people". prior to taking it, i was regularly seeding my intestines with probiotics but that still did not help. all i know is that i took VERY large doses and it just flat out worked. but i also remember that my heart beat became very strong ( it was constantly thumping in my chest), and i felt stronger than in years. the whole problem was that it induced anxiety and insomnia. i was able to calm things down with SSRI's before i switched over to 5-HTP and i also had to take a mood stabilizer to quiet things down.personally, i'd rather suffer from IBS than go through that hell again.however, i think i jumpstarted peristalsis once again without the MSM (although it is nowhere near what it was when i took the MSM)i was on diflucan (yeast killer) for 3 weeks...(it made me extremely sick for 2 weeks), i learned that L. Bifidum causes problems for some people (i think it caused problems for me), so i switched to just acidophilus, and the other thing was heavier dosing of 5-HTP which i learned from this bulletin board stimulates peristalsisgood luck to you


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## kyestar (Nov 26, 2001)

Mikeralph, why don't you leave Flux alone? He may be abrupt (and sometimes rude) in his posts, but there is no need for that type of cr*p.


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## mikeralph (Jan 27, 2003)

flux is a big boy.... he knows he brought it on himself. he needs to just back off. he has screwed with too many people over the last few years. i am tired of it.there is no need to play games with people who are facing life threatening problems.


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## Guest (Feb 3, 2003)

I agree that there is no need to play psychological games on this board as people are already suffering. I'm hard on Flux when he's hard on me. I'll back off when he does-those should be the rules. I assume when he persists on replying to people's posts there must be part of him that enjoys taking and giving abuse. No one should be catered to b/c they have personality issues-whether its loneliness, anti-social, grandiosity or manipulation or arrogance. Its hurtful to quote people and make fun of their logic/ideas just to show your arrogance. If you don't want to upset people then you must learn how to act accordingly. Flux deliberately does this to get at people. Its not an accident. Yeah he's a big boy and he can take it indeed. People who are sensitive and easily hurt do not invoke negative reactions to others-=they are much more likely to be peoplepleasers. I don't really think Flux is a peoplepleaser!! LOL! Anyway, I think if someone is acting like this then they deserve and would probably benefit from some plain talk about their own problems/confusions.


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## Guest (Feb 3, 2003)

Mike-Also, I'm wondering if you were taking the MSM while taking Prozac. B/c Prozac and Paxil both gave the the exact reaction you describe-lots of energy, total insomnia like nothing I've ever had before and for Prozac-serious anxiety to the point I was freaking out every minute. Paxil did not give me anxiety. I just wonder if the MSM had nothign to do with the bad reaction you had. It really sounds like Prozac to me.


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## Guest (Feb 3, 2003)

I hope it turns out to be the Prozac! Honestly, it gave me literally every symptom you describe and was one of the worst experiences of my life. I just hope you can take the MSM again if that is what helped


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## Sues (Dec 5, 2001)

Hi Mike, Willie, and board, Well it's payday, went shopping, purchased MSM, and probotica,Walmart. Going to Whole Foods for enzymes,(from Genny's post) although I heard mention on board that a doc presc enzymes to a pt here.Wonder if there is a differnce in strength or effect, OTC versus presc.ha, money?. Mike, I should have taken a pic when I started taking MSM's counting out from bottle, thought to myself,he said he took 15, well here goes!! And yes, you advised that I read the book first, but has been the pattern of my life, I just usually forge forward, do things backwards. I was on Prozac for yrs,and weened myself off of them about 2 yrs ago..about same time I quit drinking..(found something else, to keep me sane.







But, if I have to go back on them for the results I am looking for, then so be it. I drank for several years while taking prozac. I had a 300ZX and passed out at the wheel on my way to Xmas party, car flipped several times, went to hosp, didn't get DWI?, came out and drank again, until I just stopped one day..I know the drinking was a temp escape from my misery, my misery was the hopeless of this disease..but amazingly enough through sobriety I've found happiness, peace, friendships, yada, yada, yada... What is really wierd is that even though the disease is worse, my attitude is better about my life, my family, my work, my day to day with people I meet. **My own little reasoning as to why I have this dreaded ""thing"" is that it has humbled me which is probably what I needed badly. My job consist of helping patients for a hospital I contract with to get on medical coverage, either SSI/RSDI, medicaid, etc..I have seen trajedies galore, some too horrendous to mention..I found that I was able to be tender to these people in need and MAYBE, JUST MAYBE that is why I have this disease.... Thanks for all the help from this board..I will keep you posted on my progress or lack of,, ha







who knows...Sue


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## Bewitched (Jul 24, 2002)

Sues-I hope it works for you-Let us know how it goes!


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## mikeralph (Jan 27, 2003)

Joanofarc,thank you for backing me up on that. your comment was perfect. however, i need to cool it a little bit. there is no reason why i should let that guy get to me. actually there is..... he is intelligent and that makes him "seem" credible even when he is being ridiculously illogical just to screw with someone.i take this entire health matter very seriously because for me it is life or death. therefore, i don't enjoy some lonely, borderline sociopath coming in here (especially when he has none of the symptoms) and trashing other peoples ideas.granted my logic is not always correct, but that is what science is all about. coming up with a hypothesis and then setting about to test its validity.


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## mikeralph (Jan 27, 2003)

joanofarc,i am positive that it wasn't the prozac. the first time i ever took an SSRI was in december of 1996. for 2 days all i did was pace the floor it made me incredibly high and pretty much what you described (but the feelings were more positive than negative) after the second day i crashed and from there on out they all did the same thing. eventually all SSRI's leave me very tired, they cause insomnia (which is paradoxical), i usually waken around 3 a.m. -- they help but i really don't like them.5-HTP is what i really like. 5-HTP is one step away from converting to serotonin in the body. it gives a much more natural effect, and it seems that my body is in need of more serotonin. i also need to supplement with tyrosine or n-acetyl-L-tyrosine which gives rise to more dopamine and norepinephrine in the brain and gut. from everything i have read this is excellent for stress and for increasing alertness. it really has helped.there is no question in my mind that the MSM is what caused the thumping heart, increased strength, the insomnia, the anxiety, and eventually the depression (it was the anxiety type of depression where you get really paranoid from lack of sleep)(it wasn't the type of depression where you feel like a blank wall)as i think about it more and more, i was also taking lots and lots of free form sulfur amino acids. they helped tremendously with my allergies especially to mold. but i read that too much cysteine (sulfur amino) can lead to too much cysteic acid in the brain and this is neuroexcitatory and it can cause problems when the levels get excessive. i believe that i was poisoning my brain.another example would be the liberal use of both glutamic and aspartic acid. they both are powerful neuroexcitatory aminos. they can actually lead to stroke or seizure.the MSM (as a sulfur donor) also was increasing my methionine supplies via homocysteine and other pathways. plus i was supplementing methionine (a sulfur amino acid), and NAC (n acetyl cysteine -- more sulfur).i definitely think i overdid it. but i will say that despite the horror show that went on in my head there were many positive outcomes.the most important was this horrible brain fog that i had (it was especially intense after prolonged mold exposure where i used to live)anyway, the brain fog completely cleared up. however, much of that was also due to the complete elimination of sugar.


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