MSM Side Effects: What You Need to Know Before You Take It

The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.
Insomnia
Posted by Kim (Macomb, MI) on 08/15/2008

It was good to read it's not just happening to me. I've been taking a liquid form of MSM, glucosamine, & chondroitin for one week STOPPING today. I have been experiencing rapid heart rate and chest tightness/pain. One night I didn't sleep at all. I've taken the gluc/chon before with no issues, so I'm sure it's the MSM. No more. Also of note, I'm allergic to sulfa as many women are, and I just learned that a person allergic to sulfa shouldn't take MSM. It was good to read your feedback. I hope mine helps someone too.


Rash
Posted by Art (California) on 06/14/2023 2326 posts

Dimitra65, I would suggest a topical pain reliever that is available here in the US, but I'm sure it is not going to be available down under. One thing you can try since you already have the MSM and it worked well for your purpose is to use the MSM topically. Take one level full teaspoon of the MSM and add it to 2 ounces of water and stir until dissolved. Choose a sensitive spot on your inner forearm about a half inch in diameter. Using a q-tip to apply a small amount of the liquid to that small circular spot on your inner forearm. Apply to this same spot 3 times per day for 3 days, all the while watching for signs of a rash or other allergic reaction. If no reaction after the three days is complete, then you can try applying the liquid to your lower spine where you have the pain. Again, pay close attention to watch for signs of a rash or other allergic reaction. If no bad reactions after 3 days and assuming it does offer you pain relief, you can then do this same 3 day experiment on your painful neck. MSM in this liquid form can also be used simultaneously with the mag oil. A tip about mag oil, after applying the first time in the day and after the pain relieving effect has stopped, reapply just water over your original application area as this will reactivate the remaining magnesium chloride on the skin and should offer pain relief similar to the original application. Using water for the second application of the day will use less mag oil and reduce the potential for skin irritation to the mag oil. By the way, does ibuprofen or aspirin offer you any pain relief at all? Keep me posted. Art


Rash
Posted by Dimitra65 (Sydney, Australia) on 07/28/2023

Art,

I have been drinking 1/4 of a teaspoon of MSM powder in a glass of water every day for the last 3 weeks plus 2 drops of molybdenum every night and have had no side effects at all. I have had great results with the pain in my lower back subsiding by 90%. I do hope this is it. I feel almost like my old self again. the magnesium oil is doing a great job too. Thank you for all your advice Art. God bless you.

Regards,

Dimitra65


Depression, Exhaustion, Mental Fog
Posted by Caroline (Greenville, SC) on 08/08/2022

It seems to me that you were taking an abnormally high dosage so no wonder you had side effects. I was told to take 4 grams which equals 1 teaspoon. This has help my arthritis but with no side effects.


Depression, Exhaustion, Mental Fog
Posted by Russia (Gaborone, Botswana) on 10/08/2022

Try soaking in warm/hot water bath with sea salt for 20-30 minutes daily. Some of these toxins might pass out through the skin. That worked for me, though my symptoms were nowhere near what you sadly experienced.

Take some charcoal and clays- bentonite, diatomaceous earth.


Depression, Exhaustion, Mental Fog
Posted by Neco (Austria) on 06/08/2023

Hallo MSM ist nicht Giftig

Das was MSM gemacht hat war das Eigene Körper Gift raus zu holen. ich nehme seit Jahren MSM 2-4 Gr am tag meine Sülfür depos zu füllen und nicht krank zu werden. Wenn sie 2 jahre lang Gift im Körper tragen kommt nicht einfach so raus, dafür muss man Ausleitungen machen Darm und Leber und mehr.. Bitte Informieren sie sich.. Danke

Hello MSM is not toxic

What MSM did was get your body's toxins out. I've been taking MSM 2-4 grams a day for years to fill my Sülfür depos and not get sick. If you carry poison in your body for 2 years, it doesn't come out just like that, you have to clean out your intestines and liver and more. Please inform yourself.. Thank you


Dry Mouth
Posted by Shelley (Québec) on 09/14/2017

MSM: So far I am having great benifits. Been 2 weeks. I was taking msm in pill form to start, then capsules. Now I am taking crystals. Pain is no longer keeping me awake at night but dry mouth is. Could the dry mouth have something to do with the product coming in contact inside the mouth or did it just take me that long to develop it. I really do not like the pills or capsules. This dry mouth is really annoying. I have to sip water all night.


Cough
Posted by Rsw (Oh) on 01/23/2017
★★★★☆

BETTER BUT WITH SIDE EFFECTS

I have been reading about the many health improvements that can come from taking MSM, so I ordered some 100% OptiMSM Silicon Dioxide. I had read it could help with muscle pain, stress, seasonal allergies, sleep, etc, and I did notice that a couple of hours after taking 1/4 tsp., I could breathe through both sides of my nose, not usual for me. However, at the same time I began coughing, which I thought was a fluke.

The next day, I took another 1/4tsp. and the same thing happened. Clear nose, increased coughing, until I woke up this morning with a lost voice, much coughing and tightness in the chest. Has anyone else had a similar response?

I have no temperature, so I am not sick. I was pretty much unable to understand the article that Art posted, (my lack of knowledge, nothing against the article, Art) so if that was a warning, please post in simple terms so I will understand.

Could this be an allergy to MSM? Maybe just a fluke?

I also want to let people know that I stopped taking my LDN for all of December in order to try Daisy's recommendation for non-alcoholic Essiac tea tonic, (which I feel helped to detox my system, but did not alleviate the Lichen Planus as it did for her), and I have been very achey, and feeling less well than normal. I will not be doing that again!

I didn't realize how much better I felt all the years I have used it, and I can't remember even having a cold in over six years that I have been taking it. I am thinking about trying the GAPS diet soon to see if I can rid my body of these autoimmune problems.

EC: Hi RSW,

Have you looked at the feedback on the MSM Side Effects page here? https://www.earthclinic.com/supplements/msm4.html#se

Chest tightness is one of the reported side effects.

Sore Gums
Posted by Mk (Usa ) on 05/19/2018

Sore gums is due to vitamin C deficiency.. you may have already had a slight deficiency and the MSM made it worse. As you detox, you are also losing nutrients. I would stop taking the MSM, get an organic whole food form of Vitamin C, not ascorbic acid, and start on it for about a month before taking msm again. I would take no less than 2,000 mg daily and break it up as much as possible.


Insomnia
Posted by Alike (Wales, Uk) on 11/08/2013

The body does a lot of healing and cleansing at night, so taking elements that help this process can trigger insomnia.

Some say that taking MSM late can keep them awake, but it's more likely the healing and detox response. Also some people may be unaware they have parasites. They become active at night. Taking MSM can help to deal with them, but initially it may make them very aggravated, and trigger a lot more activity.

Persevering with the MSM will usually find those detox or other issues resolving. Sulphur (MSM) aids the detox process and helps the body assimilate and use nutrition far better, so healing responses are often enhanced.


Anxiety
Posted by Denise (Brooklyn, New York) on 08/10/2008

I just started taking 1000mg of msm with 1000 mg of vitamin c and GSE to treat my melasma but today my third day I am feeling kind of strange, anxious, restless and nauseos I dont know much about this supplement and am a little concerned. As much as i want to get rid of the melasma my health is first does anyone know if this passes I already suffer from insomnia and this is making it worse. Would the vitamin c and GSE work on its own?


Burning Tongue and Lips
Posted by Annie (Seattle) on 07/18/2024

We respond to vaccines, medicine and supplements differently for we have different genetic makeups.
What works for you might not work for others.

Even in one family. My grandma and mom take LDN for their health problems and it works wonderfully, I, on the other hand, can't take it for more than 3 days for it affects my brain causing brain fog etc. Mom and grandma are Rh positive and I am Rh negative, different blood type. Maybe that is the reason why I have different response to pretty much everything. There are many reasons why your BF is responding differently to MSM.


Rash
Posted by Dimitra65 (Sydney Australia) on 06/13/2023

Dear Art,

thank you once again for your tips and further references. As I have had several MRIS and they have shown that the lower part of my spine healed after the accident at a very acute v shaped angle so the vertebrae will always get in the way of the nerves and cause excruciating pain. I have been doing yoga for at least 23 years now and that keeps me walking and supple but as I mentioned that doesn't help so much with the pain. I have asked neurosurgeons if I should get an operation done and they all said that with my situation surgery would not help and it actually could cause more suffering. I rarely take any pain killers because I wouldn't have any kidneys or liver left with the years that I have this problem. Hence my delight when I started the MSM. I will start taking a lower dose and Molybdenum as see how I go. I will keep you posted. Wish me luck. Oh and by the way, thank you for the Magnesium oil tip. It has helped me somewhat with my neck pain and my migraines. Kindest regards to you Art.


Rash
Posted by Art (California) on 07/28/2023 2326 posts

Dimitra65,

I am glad that the MSM and mag oil are working very well for you and thank you for the update! A 90% decrease in your back pain is awesome!

Art


Fatigue, Heart Palpitations
Posted by mmsg (somewhere, europe ) on 12/15/2022

Githe, why don't you try staying at 1/4 tsp. for the benefit without the side effects?


Anxiety, Dry Skin, Cold, Panic
Posted by Ana (Germany) on 09/27/2022

I have been taking MSM for 2-3 months. From the beginning, I had strong side effects, but I figured it was just the initial worsening of the symptoms. I was very excited, suffered from insomnia, my skin became increasingly dry, I developed severe dryness lines, my body was downright cold, my hands and feet tended to have a bluish/black discolouration.., Feeling dry in the throat.., fears, panic.. Now 6 months after stopping MSM, I am still having side effects and my skin has not fully healed.

I appreciate any feedback or help

Anxiety, Dry Skin, Cold, Panic
Posted by Pam E. (SW California) on 06/05/2024 148 posts

I have to wonder how many of those reporting negative reactions to MSM may have been taking 'low quality MSM', because my DH bought an 'off brand' for me from once, & when I tried to test it (dissolve some in water), that white powder/crystals 'sat' very high atop the water & would not dissolve at all ... whereas Pure MSM does not float, & readily dissolves in water!


Depression, Exhaustion, Mental Fog
Posted by corin (North Carolina) on 04/05/2023

You started with too high a dose. You need to start with a slow dose and go extremely slow if you want to avoid the detox herx reaction


Hair Loss, Fatigue
Posted by Denise (Norfolk ) on 05/14/2022

I have been taking MSM in crystal form approx 1-2grams, although the knee pain in my joints improved, I noticed that my hair was coming out a lot! I have also taken DE for about 3 years which thickens my hair and makes my nails so strong. But my skin has gone crepey and dry ( I noticed this when starting DE, and was told to drink more water and eat more vegetables and fruit.)

My husband is now on MSM for pain and is experiencing much more fatigue. I think I will have to stop for a while to see if it is the MSM, maybe stop DE too, as my skin is painfully dry and my hair still falling!!! Any advice please 🙏

Eczema
Posted by Jude (Albany, NY) on 12/22/2020

Wanted to thank you for posting the page of side effects from MSM.

I started taking it for joints (had a bum shoulder), skin and hair.

Started 1 capsule of 1,000 mg in the morning. Second day took 2.

Bottle mentioned therapeutic dose was 4 capsules. Day 3 I took 4.

Also had used 2 different skin lotions at the time on my face. My face sometimes reacts to serums and lotions.

Day 5 my face was reddened with several round red raised areas. They were only mildly itchy, at most. They turned into raised eczema patches which have persisted for 3 weeks now.

I wasn't sure if it was lotions or msm. Searched online but didn't see anything that said that msm could CAUSE a reaction. In fact, many sites mentioned that it was a treatment for eczema.

I couldn't see an ingredient that was unusual in the lotions. I searched again and came across this site. Now I'm certain. Thank you!


Anxiety, Insomnia
Posted by Cheryl (Philadelphia ) on 05/06/2017 2 posts

I have had insomnia for a long time. I currently had it under control when put on nature throid for Hashimoto's. I also take sleep mess which weren't really working before. Then I started MSm and started with 1 gram and increased by a gm/ day for 10 days. Fine until the 10th day when I started to become anxious and couldn't sleep and had a massive headache for 3 days. I cut back to 1gm and the headaches and anxiety went away but I still have the insomnia. Don't sleep at all for 2 nights and 3rd night sleep 3-4 hours. Thinking of stopping the MSm for a few days to see if it helps the sleep. I was using the MSm because I have chronic neck pain and some back pain and most recently injured my rotator cuff and want to avoid surgery.


Joint Pain
Posted by Joan (Ny) on 10/25/2016

MSM causes joint pain...

I now realize that msm is the culprit behind my wrist pain. I had stopped taking it about 1 year ago and I just restarted. I am taking .5 tsp. of Kala health OptiMSM.


Insomnia
Posted by Zmerrill4361 (Upstate, Ny) on 04/29/2016

Since it oxygenates your blood it gives you energy. so start with small doses and take it first thing when you get up. I take it instead of coffee. never before bed. (I learned that just like you did.)

Good luck.


Palpitations
Posted by Karen (Seligman, Mo, Usa) on 01/15/2011

Could someone help. This is strange. I started talking MSM a couple days ago and after second dose had palpitations and they don't stop and have been going on 24 hours now. I stopped taking MSM after it began and its still happening. Breath is hard to catch sometimes and I do not have these but maybe 2 a month and it's usually once. My BP is spiked at times and I have always had LOW LOW blood pressure. This is really creepy. I am also getting off white sugar at the same time and using brown for 4 days. So what's going on here? Don't yang about going to a Dr. If I hadn't already I wouldn't be here. They say nothing wrong but anemia.

Tips for Anxiety from MSM
Posted by Tom (Regina, Sk) on 11/26/2010
★★★★★

Any 'anxiety' reaction to the MSM is not seen in the majority, and even when it is it is likely simply the reaction to the body having too many waste products moving around at the same time due to MSM's nearly unique property of opening up cell membrane porosity for better efficiency moving things in and out across that membrane. This is for ALL organs and tissues, so in fact one minor problem but one to note well is that in addition to this temporary condition, there may well be a reaction ALSO caused by taking RX meds at the same time as being on a MSM regimen, because the increased porosity will cause the RX drug dose to be in effect multiplied, maybe 25%, 50%, or even double or triple! And what is one symptom of too high a dose of anti-depressant/anxiety medication? Why, it's ANXIETY! (Just do a Search. )

Also, remember it takes days at least even once stopped taking any RX drug for it to be really well cleared out by the liver and kidneys. So even if one goes off the drug in order to take MSM, it is best to wait several days at least before starting MSM. (one can lessen this down to non-existent by simply slowly increasing the daily MSM dosage, a week at a time, starting at the lowest dose for body weight and then after a month or two getting up to the highest). BTW, the antidepressant RX drugs have what must be the highest placebo effect of any drug class, at least for 'depression'(placebo effect for this drug class on other prescribed conditions like OCD, anxiety, etc. not given):www.newsweek.com/2010/01/28/the-depressing-news-about-antidepressants.html

It seems I am not alone in having moral qualms about blowing the whistle on antidepressants. That first analysis, in 1998, examined 38 manufacturer-sponsored studies involving just over 3,000 depressed patients. The authors, psychology researchers Irving Kirsch and Guy Sapirstein of the University of Connecticut, saw as everyone else had that patients did improve, often substantially, on SSRIs, tricyclics, and even MAO inhibitors, a class of antidepressants that dates from the 1950s. This improvement, demonstrated in scores of clinical trials, is the basis for the ubiquitous claim that antidepressants work. But when Kirsch compared the improvement in patients taking the drugs with the improvement in those taking dummy pills clinical trials typically compare an experimental drug with a placebo he saw that the difference was minuscule. Patients on a placebo improved about 75 percent as much as those on drugs. Put another way, three quarters of the benefit from antidepressants seems to be a placebo effect. Remember this is NEWSWEEK talking, THE Establishment mass news outlet, so for them to put it out there means it's already long obvious to most.

Did you read over the ANXIETY section?:
https://www.earthclinic.com/cures/anxiety.html

If anything, there's too many things there you can try! So pick one that's cheap, easily available, and has some YAYS behind it.


Depression
Posted by George (Melbourne, Australia) on 08/28/2010

Side effects: Insomnia and severe depression after taking msm for 3 weeks.


Boils
Posted by Alex (London, England) on 07/05/2009
★★★☆☆

BETTER BUT WITH SIDE EFFECTS

I have just started taking MSM for IC cystitis. I feel an improvement already but have come out in big spots over my head and neck like boils. Has anyone else experienced this? Is this part of the detox? Love to you all Alex


Dehydration
Posted by Joanna (New York, New York) on 10/25/2007

WARNING!

I started taking 2 grams of MSM per day for about 9 days (NOW Foods brand in capsule form). As soon as I swallowed a capsule, I became excessively thirsty. I'd even wake up in the middle of the night to drink 2 full glasses of water. I perspired much more (perhaps from all the water I drank), which didn't bother me because I liked sweating more in the sauna. I got pains in my body, especially in my arms and hands - I felt like I was getting arthritis/tendonitis, which was weird because I thought MSM was supposed to help if you have that. My bowel movements increased from 1 per day to 4. At night I'd notice my heart was beating fast. I can usually walk for miles but I got really scared when I found I had trouble walking fast and breathing well on a fairly short walk. I was searching the web for allergic reactions to MSM but couldn't find any. The only other supplement I was taking at that time was 50mg of Ubiquinol (CoQ10). So I stopped taking both. The thirst and breathing/heart problems went away fairly fast, but the pains in my arms lasted a few weeks. Since the time I stopped taking it (probably 1.5 months now), I've been getting sharp pains in my upper abdomen (left and right sides), which have been slowly getting better.


Depression, Exhaustion, Mental Fog
Posted by Victim of the Hype on MSM (Munich) on 07/18/2022

Hello there,

MSM was aggressively recommended to me, as a "natural Remedy" to cure my strange, mysterious Leg-Infection, which had defied ANY Treatment yet so far, for over 1 Year.

I was told to start with 2000 Gramms per Day, which is 40 Times the MAXIMUM Dose, that is recommended by the official Doctors. ( 50 Milligramms). And then I should continously INcrease the Dose per Diem up to 8000 Gramms !!!

I took 2000 Gramms for about 3 or 4 Day each. But when I started feeling a bit "unwell", I somehow UNfortunately decided to INcrease the Dose to 4000 Gramms per Day. But I only did that 1 Time... then the Side-Effects hit sooo horribly HARD on me, all of a sudden, that I needed to STOP immediately !:

It was like a very short electric Shock, running through my Brain:

All of a sudden I felt sick, tired, exhausted and ill.

From THAT Day on, I never took ANY MSM again, and threw away the Rest of it. But my horrible, serious and severe Side-Effects from that short MSM-Intake just STAYED, ...even worse: They rather WORSENED all by themselves:

(1.) I now suffer from a DEEP Fatigue, with such a fatal Exhaustion, that I had become "life-tired / tired of Life" as we say in German. (When My Grandmother died in April 2022, I just wanted to JOIN her in her Grave !!!)

(2.) In my Brain (somehwere right behing my Forehead) an EMOTIONAL BLOCKADE established itself ! Something in my Brain now PREVENTS me, from truely being myself. (Like some mental Pincers/Tongs/Forceps at my Brain !!!)

All these extreme Side-Effects now continuously have existed and never vanished, ever since the Middle of March 2022.

The ONLY fair and critical Information I ever have read on MSM, was THIS Article on EarthClinic.com:

https://www.earthclinic.com/supplements/msm-side-effects.html

where I found ALL my Symptoms written and described! Unfortunately, I only found this Internet Page AFTER I took MSM.

What might have "co-caused" the whole Misery ADDITIONALLY, could be the many, many Vitamin-Supplements, which I took at that Time. I surely (still) have a "Hypervitaminosis", although I now completely stopped using Supplements at all.

Does anybody know these Kind of Side-Effects, and does anybody know any slightest Hint of WHAT could ease these massive Problems of suicidal Exhaustion/Fatigue and the emotional Blockade in my Forehead? Any Idea of a (natural) Relief for this MSM-caused Misery, please?

Thanks in Advance already

Depression, Exhaustion, Mental Fog
Posted by Michael (New Zealand) on 07/18/2022

"This too will pass" (from my favorite Aunt).

Cheers from Down Under


Depression, Exhaustion, Mental Fog
Posted by Windsor (Destin) on 07/19/2022

Hot sauce. Cayenne/hot peppers are euphoric and stimulating, and decongestant.

Coffee

Green/black tea

Ginger

Thyme

Tomatos


Depression, Exhaustion, Mental Fog
Posted by Zel (Doncaster, England) on 09/18/2023

2000 gram is 2 kilograms!!! No wonder!!! Dose is 2000 Milligrams or 2 gram in a large glass of purified water or orange juice/vitamin C.

Hope you are ok.



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